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| Empire Brass | |
|---|---|
| Name | Empire Brass |
| Background | classical ensemble |
| Origin | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Genres | Brass instrument ensemble, Classical music, Contemporary classical music |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Labels | Telarc, Decca Records, Koch International Classics |
| Associated acts | Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center |
Empire Brass
Empire Brass is an American brass quintet founded in Boston in 1971 that became one of the leading chamber ensembles in United States brass performance. The group built an international reputation through concert tours, festival appearances, commercial recordings, and collaborations with major institutions and soloists. Over decades the ensemble engaged in commissioning, arranging, and pedagogy, influencing professional brass playing across North America and Europe.
The ensemble formed amid the early 1970s chamber-music revival in Boston and drew on personnel from institutions such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Early residency ties with the New England Conservatory and performance invitations to the Tanglewood Music Center and the Carnegie Hall series helped establish its profile. Through the 1980s and 1990s the group toured extensively across the United States, performed at international venues in Europe and Asia, and released landmark recordings on labels including Koch International Classics and Telarc. Collaborations with composers and conductors led to premieres at festivals like the Aspen Music Festival and appearances with ensembles such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra.
The quintet’s roster has included prominent brass players drawn from orchestras and conservatories. Founding and long-term members have held or held positions with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and leading conservatories like the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School. Guest artists and substitutes have included soloists associated with the Metropolitan Opera and faculty from institutions such as the Curtis Institute of Music and the Royal College of Music. Personnel changes reflected appointments to orchestras like the Cleveland Orchestra and participation in festivals including the Ravinia Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The ensemble’s repertoire spans arrangements of Baroque music by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich Handel, classical transcriptions from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, Romantic works associated with Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn, and contemporary commissions by living composers. Their discography on Telarc and Decca Records includes recordings of fanfares, chorales, and original brass quintet literature as well as crossover projects featuring arrangements of George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Duke Ellington. The group premiered works by composers engaged in brass idioms and worked with arrangers linked to the Boston Brass and the Canadian Brass traditions. Several albums received critical acclaim in publications such as Gramophone, The New Yorker, and The New York Times.
The ensemble is noted for a blend of virtuosic technique, blend, and precise ensemble intonation informed by orchestral standards from institutions like the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. Their arrangements emphasize clarity of counterpoint in settings derived from Bach and transparent homophony in arrangements of Copland and Gershwin. Programming frequently juxtaposed formal recital repertoire with fanfares and popular music arrangements, a model also employed by groups such as Canadian Brass and Brass Quintet of New York. Interpretive choices often reflect stylistic principles taught at conservatories such as the Eastman School of Music and the Peabody Conservatory.
The group received critical recognition in periodicals and awards from organizations connected to chamber music and wind performance. Recordings earned praise and nominations in reviews by Gramophone and features in The New York Times arts coverage. Performance honors included invitations to national arts organizations and festival residencies with entities like the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kennedy Center. The ensemble’s touring and recording successes contributed to institutional acknowledgments from conservatories and professional associations linked to brass pedagogy and chamber music.
Education formed a core component of the ensemble’s mission, including masterclasses, residencies, and workshops at institutions such as the New England Conservatory, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, and university music departments across the United States and Canada. The group participated in summer programs at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and regional conservatory festivals, offering seminars on ensemble technique, arranging, and audition preparation. Outreach efforts included school performances, community concerts, and collaborations with youth orchestras and brass programs associated with the Herb Alpert School of Music and regional arts councils.
Over five decades the ensemble shaped standards for brass quintet performance through recordings, pedagogy, and commissioning activity, influencing ensembles and pedagogues across North America and Europe. Their model of blending orchestral training with chamber repertoire inspired ensembles tied to the Royal Academy of Music and conservatories in Canada and the United Kingdom. Graduates who worked with the quintet went on to principal positions in ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and university faculties, perpetuating interpretive approaches and arranging practices. The ensemble’s legacy persists in brass syllabi, chamber programs at the New England Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music, and the continuing popularity of brass quintet literature in concert halls and educational institutions.
Category:American brass ensembles Category:Musical groups established in 1971