SWAN VALLEY – On Nov. 20 Alpine Artisans’ 2 Valleys Stage is bringing five of the University of Montana’s (UM) most talented horn players to Swan Valley School. They will be performing a community concert Sunday at 3 p.m. and working with students in the local schools on Monday and Tuesday.
Called the UM Celebration Brass Quintet, the group is funded by scholarships donated by Keith and Wendy Kuhn as a memorial to their son Philip David Kuhn who died in 2012 at age 29.
Assistant Professor of Horn and Music Theory Zachary Cooper is faculty advisor for the quintet. Cooper said students who are awarded the scholarships are judged to be the best in their respective horn groups. He said generally that means the awards go to graduate students but this year’s group includes some undergraduates who have particularly excelled.
Tuba player Will Roesch and trombone player Luca Selfridge are both UM graduate students. Roesch is the graduate teaching assistant for the Grizzly Marching Band, wind bands and jazz bands. Trumpeter Jenni Long is an undergraduate as is the second trumpeter Paxton Marler who is a sophomore and the youngest in the group. French horn player Clay Kellogg is a senior pursuing a double major in music performance and physical therapy. Students usually retain their scholarships until they graduate.
Celebration Brass will play a number of pieces written for brass quintets as well as horn transcriptions of works originally written for other instruments. Their repertoire will include a transcription of “Jupiter” from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.” They also will play some Bach music transcribed for horns. In addition they will play some chamber music together and a number of different instrument pairings. The two trumpets will play a trumpet duo; the French horn, trombone and tuba player will become a brass trio.
In addition to performances at the university, the group generally performs off-campus two to three times a semester. Most recently they performed the National Anthem for the opening of the U. S. Forest Service Northwest Region Honors Ceremony. Cooper said another particularly meaningful performance was at a Naturalization Ceremony in Missoula for people being newly granted U.S. citizenship.
According to Cooper, the group is delighted to be playing a community performance in the Seeley-Swan. They are also very enthusiastic about working with the local schools.
Cooper said, “They’re thrilled. They’re really excited. Many of them, regardless whether their major is performance or education, will work with teaching younger players in the future, regardless of the path their lives take. Several of them will be music educators so that is probably on the forefront of their excitement, being able to work with young kids.”
Celebration Brass will give both informances and workshops at each of the local schools. Informance is a coined term for a mini-concert given to an all-school assembly. The performance is interspersed with relevant information about the instruments, the music or composer or whatever is appropriate to the age and interest level.
At Seeley Lake Elementary the informance will begin Monday, Nov. 21 at 10:30 a.m. followed by a workshop for band students at 11:15 a.m.
At Seeley-Swan High School the informance is scheduled for 12:56 p.m. followed by a workshop for band students at 1:51 p.m.
On Tuesday the group will go to Swan Valley School, informance 9:30 a.m., workshop at 10:15 a.m. and to Potomac School for an informance at 1 p.m. and workshop at 1:45 p.m. The public may attend any of those events. Please check in at the respective school office.
Tickets for the Sunday, Nov. 20 full concert for the community at 3 p.m. are available at the door: adults $14, senior citizens $12, students under 18 are free when accompanied by an adult.
Cooper said, “This is our premier brass ensemble at the university and these five students represent our program and they’re fantastic. They’re not only completing their own educations but they represent the great demeanors and attitudes and capabilities of our student body as a whole. They really are ambassadors for our music program.”
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