The Brassroots

INSIDER

Vol. 11, Issue 1 • Fall 2015

“South Western Ontario’s Favourite Brass Ensemble”

www.brassroots.ca226.448.7821

Newsletter design and layout by Nikki Attwell Communications • www.nikkiattwell.ca

From our music directorBram Gregson2016 WILL SEE THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY of Brassroots; but more about that later in the season! For the time being we would simply note that it was Karl Hermann, a brass student at the Western University whose vision and initia-tive was responsible for the beginnings of Brassroots. Kudos to Karl!

On September 25 and 26, Brassroots will be in the studio to record our sixth CD. This is made possible by a gener-ous grant from Good Foundation Inc. Our audiences prefer eclectic programming so eclectic it shall be! Highlights will include Jeff Christmas’s beautiful trumpet solo “Fletcher Lake and Point Pelee,” a Howard Cable gem arranged by horn soloist Tony Snyder. Good friend and pianist

Steve Holowitz will be featured in my brother Edward’s “Nocturne,” a big hit when we premiered it a couple of years ago. And Steve will be the keyboard soloist in a sur-prise jazz chart... we can’t give everything away!

Our soloists will have their turn and we will show-case our percussion team in contemporary pop and jazz arrangements. We are delighted that Wilfrid Laurier University has availed the excellent Maureen Forrester Recital Hall for this recording.

Forgive a personal note here! My first recording was in 1955 as the principal euphonium of H.M. Coldstream Guards Band. I made twelve recordings with that cel-ebrated band and two brass bands. As conductor and producer, this Brassroots’ recording will be my 30th. From 78 rpm records to tape cassettes and 33 rpm records, then today’s digital wizardry, it has been quite a trip!

Our exciting season starts on October 24 at Western University’s Brass Day. Brassroots’ concert will start at 11:30 am, then we will head over to Wortley Village for a gig in The Halloween Festivities.

Please see page four for details of our concert season. As always we look forward to seeing our longtime friends and gaining new converts! Rely on us to entertain with music for all tastes!

Bram

Brassroots is excited to announce a new concert sponsor, also celebrating their 30th anniversary. Alarmtech is a multi-year award winning London Company, recognized for its exemplary customer service. Founded in 1985, Alarmtech’s vision is to be the finest independent provider of electronic detection systems for residential and commercial accounts in the London / SW Ontario area.

Alarmtech will sponsor our February 20, 2016 concert, featuring legendary music from the movies. A warm welcome to the Brassroots’ family!

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THE BRASSROOTS INSIDER • FALL 2015

Out and about this summer ¡ As conductor of the Kitchener Musical Society DAVE

DAVIDSON led the band in their summer concert series across Southern Ontario. Slide by Slide trom-bone quartet (Brassroots’ trombone section) was busy rehearsing Kotsier’s Concertino for Trombone Quartet and Band for an October concert debut with Wellington Wind Symphony. Also, he had to coordi-nate the transition between managers and direct the realignment of responsibilities for Board members and volunteers.

¡ The highlight of JULIA VAUGHAN’s summer was the trip to New Orleans with husband Brad where they were thrilled to hear jazz greats Nicholas Payton (Grammy winner trumpeter), Jason Marsalis (percussion) and The Preservation Hall All Stars — “Awesome,” said Julia. Winning a Silver Medal, Julia also competed in six sprint triathlons with her Balance Point Triathlon Club and swam and biked to personal best times.

¡ BOB PHILLIPS plays a lot of gigs with various bands but the highlight of his summer was play-ing every day at CNE with the Mardi Gras Band.

¡ TONY SNYDER spent his time building a canoe with his niece Rachael. The reader may recall that Tony makes horn mutes, guitars and probably lots of other things. Well, horn virtuoso James Sommerville bought mutes for his Boston Symphony horn section and Tony’s mutes are being used by David Parker of Symphony Nova Scotia, Julie Fautaux, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Alene Hackleman, Edmonton Symphony, Patricia Evans, Winnipeg Symphony and three members of the Toronto Symphony. And he has sold a classical guitar to Paul Lippert.

¡ SUSAN FOLLOWS was invited to return to Germany to celebrate with people she met 30 years ago. She lived in Germany from 1985 to 1988; taught brass at the Niederrhein Music School and the Martinstift Music School in Moers and also taught trombone privately. She also founded three Posaunenchor ensembles (church brass bands) in three small towns. How great it must have been for Susan to see these three ensembles still playing today!

¡ JOHN MONKHOUSE was also in Germany for a brass and wine fest. Wow! We can’t imagine anything bet-ter than that! Too many details but apparently the highlight was the sight of John - having sunk count-less glasses of wine – dazzling his friends with his wizardry in a canoe, glass in one hand, paddling with the other in an attempt to reach a beer garden 2 kms away! For obvious reasons the Silver Fox has refused all requests for a photo!

Paul BakerWe welcome our new managerPaul Baker is a marketing and audience engagement spe-cialist. His 30+ year career has included industrial market-ing, operations research and audience engagements for numerous perform-ing arts organizations. When not on the beat for Brassroots, you can usually find Paul photographing impressionist / minimal landscapes and cityscapes, playing trombone for a community band and sing-ing in a University choir.

Paul is just the guy Brassroots has been look-ing for! We anticipate a fruitful relationship with Paul; one that witnesses a growth in Brassroots’ influence in Ontario and further afield.

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THE BRASSROOTS INSIDER • FALL 2015

An excellent way of donating to Brassroots is through CanadaHelp!

Charitable giving is vital to making our communities, country

and world a better place. The Canadian government recognizes

this, and as a result offers significant tax credits enouraging all

Canadian to give generously.

At CanadaHelps, we make it easy to calculate your savings

using our tax calculator. Reduce your tax bill by:

• Up to 35% of your donations totalling $200 or less

• Up to 53% of your donations totalling more than $200

• New to claiming charitable donations? Get an extra 25% back!

Amabile is one of Canada’s finest choral organizations.We recommend the following London concerts in 2015:

AMABILE BOYS AND MEN’S CHOIRS, WITH MUSICIANS OF ORCHESTRA LONDON

A Candlelight ChristmasDECEMBER 5, 7:30 PM AND DECEMBER 6 , 3 PM.ST. PETER’S BASILICA.

JUNIOR AMABILE SINGERS & AMABILE DA CAPO CHOIR

Have Yourself a Movie ChristmasDECEMBER 12, 6 PM. NEW ST. JAMES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

AMABILE YOUTH SINGERS & PRIMA: AMABILE WOMEN’S CHOIR

AllelujaDECEMBER 13, 2:30 PM. FIRST ST. ANDREW’S UNITED CHURCH.

Visit www.amabile.ca for details

BRASS DAY 2015 Don Wright Faculty of MusicWESTERN UNIVERSITY’S BRASS DAY will build on the success of similar events in 2013 and 2014 and will wel-come internationally-renowned trombonist Larry Zalkind (Eastman School of Music). This will be a day-long event featuring clinics and performances with their guest art-ist as well as Western’s Brass Faculty. Additionally this year’s BRASS DAY will have a focus on brass playing in our community. The day will start at 11:30 am with a concert by Brassroots. Admission to this concert is free.

For more information including online registration, visit www.music.uwo.ca

NEW MUSICwith a little help from our friends!LAST SEASON several supporters kindly donated new music. These charts have been donated so far for next season:

¡ “Air Des Espagnol” (Piccolo trumpet solo ) — $52, donated by Gloria and Patrick Smithers

¡ Splash (contemporary jazz suite in three movements by Canadian com-poser/trumpet player Vince Gassi)

— $200, donated by Ann and Bram Gregson

These are the charts we need!:

¡ “Blue Rondo a la Turk” — $92 (Dave Brubeck’s great hit)

¡ “Enormous Pink Jellyfish” — $63 (a funky gig band chart)

¡ Noel for Christmas — $75 (for brass and choir)

¡ Music for HM Sackbuts and Cornetts — $46 (by 17th c. composer Matthew Locke)

If you would like to donate music to Brassroots please contact bramgregson@rogers.com

Inside Scoop!

During the summer Bob Phillips rented a cottage at Turkey Point, the home of Karaoke, where no doubt he was tuning up his vocal chords for a solo performance with Brassroots—well, maybe! He says he is looking forward to playing his brand new euphonium with Brassroots—well, maybe! Problem is, the other trombonists also play euphonium! Draw straws, guys!

THE BRASSROOTS INSIDER • FALL 2015

Sunday October 25, 2015 | 2:30 pm

BRASS ENCORESwith guest Aaron Hodgson, trumpet, and the UWO BrassAaron Hodgson, trumpet virtuoso, is our special guest for the first concert of the season. Aaron, trumpet professor at Western University, is acclaimed as one of Canada’s best for his musicianship and dazzling technique. Brassroots will revisit some of the great charts from years past such as “Brass Cats,” “A Londoner in New York” and “Blues March.” After the intermission we will be joined by Aaron’s colleagues and talented brass students in sizzling charts for big brass. Just the thing for a beautiful Fall day! And included will be the ragtime “Easy Winners.” For sure, this show will be a winner!

Sunday December 13, 2015 | 2:30 pm

CHRISTMAS AT WESTMINSTERwith the Church Choir and Stephen Holowitz, organChristmas at Westminster—our gift to the community!The Christmas season would be incomplete without festive brass fanfares, seasonal choral favorites and the mighty organ. We welcome Stephen Holowitz and the church choir for this annual Christmas treat while Brassroots’ unique arrangements will be a cheerful prelude to Christmas. Already we have received requests for the majestic arrangement of “We Three Kings” (from a Toronto enthusiast) and the swing arrangement of “Here He Comes,” featuring the stratospheric trumpet of Paul Stevenson! Yes it’s free, so get there early!

Saturday February 20, 2016 | 7:30 pm

The MUSIC DRIVES THE ACTIONMemorable Sound Tracks from Great MoviesThe first Lego Star Wars was released in 1999, some 22 years after the first edition of this remarkable movie series. Today, kids still hum or whistle the main theme or fanfare while building their Lego. But this is only one of the magical

themes from the movies that will witness an evening of memorable entertainment. Original film scores such as Forrest Gump, Chariots of Fire, the beautifully haunting

“Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission together with some of the great music borrowed from classical composers may inspire repeat viewing of these great movies!

Saturday April 23, 2016 | 7:30 pm

CELEBRATION !Our 30th Anniversary — featuring Paul Stevenson, trumpetA twofold celebration! Brassroots’ 30th Anniversary concert and the official release of our seventh recording. Featured soloist—our own trumpet virtuoso, Paul Stevenson.

The first half of the concert is designed to whet your appetite, we hope, for an intermission purchase of our new CD. Included will be Jeff Christmas’s “Fletcher Lake,” written in memory of Paul’s father who passed away recently. It is always exciting to perform new music and we will look to the future with exciting new works by Canadian composers Roy Royer and Vince Gassi as well as super additions to our repertoire from the U.K.

After each concert please meet our musicians for refreshments!

ALL CONCERTS AT ST. JAMES WESTMINSTER ANGLICAN CHURCH115 Askin Street, London

SINGLE TICKETS FOR ALL CONCERTS EXCEPT DECEMBER 13Adults $25Seniors $20Students $5 (with ID)

Children 12 & under admitted free with an adult

FREE CHRISTMAS CONCERT Our gift to the communityDonations gratefully received

SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS Adults $65Seniors $50Deadline October 25, 2015

Subscribe to the full season and SAVE!SEASON TICKET HOLDERS RECEIVE A $5 COUPON TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF OUR NEW CD!

For Season Subscription Ticket Sales, contact Fil Cappa at 519-471-3574 or icdcappa@srh.ca

www.brassroots.ca

S P O N S O R E D BY

www.brassroots.ca

2015–16

4 Concerts for $65*

Seniors $50*For Season Subscriptions purchased by October 25, 2015.