Though five brass instruments are great, six are even better.
Chamber Music on the Fox presents “A Very Brassy Christmas” featuring Third Coast Brass and trumpet player Bill Denton at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 26 at the First United Methodist Church of Elgin.
Mingling classic Christmas melodies with the works of Ingolf Dahl, Philip Glass and Oskar Bohme, the concert showcases music for brass sextet.
“While brass quintet is a much more standard ensemble, there are several monumental works for a six-piece brass ensemble,” said Mark Fry, who plays bass trombone. “It’s also very convenient that there are many great Christmas arrangements for brass sextet. I’m very excited to introduce these wonderful brass chamber music works to our audience.”
Brass music has long been a classic sound of the holidays.
“Brass music has been a part of the Christmas season since the days of the 19th-century brass band,” Fry said. “There’s been a long-standing tradition of Salvation Army brass bands performing outdoors during the Christmas holiday season.”
The three major works on the program are “Brass Sextet” by Bohme, “Brass Sextet” by Glass and “Music for Brass” by Dahl. The rest of the program will be a mix of traditional and contemporary Christmas music.
“It’s always a challenge assembling any program so that there is a flow and good balance of musical selections,” said Fry, who is also co-artistic director of Chamber Music on the Fox. “I was a initially worried with finding the right balance between standard brass sextet literature and Christmas music, but it actually works quite well on the same program.”
By popular demand, this event will be a debut of sorts.
“This will also be the first Christmas concert that Chamber Music on the Fox has produced,” Fry said. “We’ve had many requests from our patrons for a holiday concert. I’m certain that folks will walk away happy and in the holiday spirit.”
Adding to the mix will be a guest soloist — who happens to be the principal trumpet of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra.
“The concert features a very special guest on the solo cornet part of the Boehme ‘Brass Sextet,’” Fry said. “We are very excited to have Bill Denton join us for this special work.”
As for Third Coast Brass itself, the ensemble was founded in 2011 and comprises top Chicagoland brass players.
“Members of the group have performed with groups such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, just to name a few,” Fry said. “Our roster has expanded over the years, and we look forward to exploring the repertoire of a much larger brass ensemble.”
Chamber Music on the Fox presents ‘A Very Brassy Christmas’
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 26
Where: First United Methodist Church of Elgin, 216 E. Highland Ave.
Tickets: $1-$21.69
Information: 224-276-8881; www.chambermusiconthefox.org
