On Saturday, October 18 Oakland University’s Department of Music, Theatre & Dance will host their Festival of Brass. This day long event is geared for brass players of all ages and ability levels from middle school to college level students and amateurs. The festival will culminate with a Gala Concert that evening featuring internationally acclaimed tuba soloist and conductor, James Gourlay who will be accompanied by the Capital City Brass Band of Lansing, Michigan.
The festival will host clinics beginning at 10:30 am to 5:00 pm which will be presented by Oakland’s brass faculty to area middle school and high school students as well as brass enthusiasts. In addition, the Oakland University Brass Ensemble will also present concert later that afternoon.
The Oakland faculty includes members of the Detroit Symphony and Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestras, in addition to a special clinic and masterclass presented by Mr. Gourlay. With an impressive list of solo tuba recordings, James Gourlay is a well know teacher having taught at the Royal Northern College of Music of Manchester, England and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow, Scotland. In addition, he is in demand throughout Europe as a leading conductor of brass bands and wind bands.
The day concludes at 8:00 pm with the Festival of Brass Gala Concert which will feature Mr. Gourlay as tuba soloist and guest conductor of the Capital City Brass Band. The concert will feature of a newly composed Tuba Concerto written specifically for Mr. Gourlay by Bruce Fraser. He will also perform Celestial Morn by Salvation Army composer, Leslie Condon.
Later in the concert Mr. Gourlay will take up the baton to conduct British composer, Edward Gregson’s Variations on Laudate Dominum for brass band. Other highlights of the program include John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme, Cole Porter’s It’s Alright With Me featuring the band’s trombone section. The performance will conclude performance with Ottorino Respighi’s climatic “Pines of Appian Way” from The Pines of Rome. These as well as other selections will be conducted by the Capital City Brass Band’s music director, Kenneth Kroesche.
In addition, Mr. Kroesche serves as the professor of low brass at Oakland University and is the festival’s artistic director. When asked, Kroesche said “this year’s festival offers students and the public an incredible opportunity to hear one of the finest tuba soloists in the world today. We believe this will be an event people will talk about for years to come.”
The registration for the festival begins at 10:00 am runs throughout the day. The cost for student participants is $10 and includes a complimentary ticket to the evening’s Gala Concert. Adult brass enthusiasts may register at a cost of $20 which includes the day’s events and the final concert.
Those interested in only attending the Festival of Brass Gala Concert are welcome to do so. General admission tickets are $16 and student tickets are $8. The Gala Concert will take place in the Varner Recital Hall at Oakland University. All events for Festival of Brass will also take place in Varner Hall throughout the day.
