The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble will be one of the featured performers at the Annual Bach Birthday Festival at 7 p.m. Friday, March 22 at the May Memorial Unitarian Society, 3800 E. Genesee St., Syracuse. The festival commemorates Johannes Sebastian Bach's 317th birthday.
The ensemble will also present the Third Annual Syracuse University Brass Festival concert at 7 p.m. April 6 in SU's Hendricks Chapel. Both concerts are free and open to the public.
On Friday, the S.U. Brass Ensemble will present several Bach chorales followed by "Concertante" by Steven Bulla, a recent composition that incorporates the same chorales. This is a required contest piece for the 2002 North American Brass Band Association competition on April 13th in Cincinnati, at which the SU Brass Ensemble will compete.
At Syracuse University, the ensemble will perform a variety of musical styles and selections. Included on the program are "Concertante" by Steven Bulla, "Overture to Candide" by Leonard Bernstein, "Lost World" by John Williams, "Comedian's Galop" by Dmitri Kabalevsky and "Sing! Sing! Sing!" by Louis Prima. SU Brass Ensemble director, James T. Spencer, who is also a professor in the University's Department of Chemistry, arranged several of the selections.
For more information about the SU Brass Ensemble, visit www.subrass.com or call James Spencer at 443-3436.
