Hot Air: The Story of Brass Instruments

Hot Air: The Story of Brass Instruments

Chestnut Brass Company

This assembly by the Grammy-award winning Chestnut Brass Company opens with a brilliant jazz medley that grabs the audience’s attention immediately.  The program is built on vast research by these musicians who are among the foremost curators of the history of brass in this country.  Tracing the history of brass from animal horns and conch shells to modern day instruments, the quintet brings a carload of antique instruments with them—everything from sackbuts to cornettos to the little-known lesardon.  One particularly miraculous moment is when they put down their instruments and buzz with their bare lips in perfect harmony.  Students learn about the overtone series, and hear a seamless five-octave scale, played in sequence by all five players who sound as though they are one. The ensemble demonstrates how lip speed, valves and the length of tubing all can change pitch.  The assembly comes to a dramatic conclusion with the creation, right there on the spot, of a homemade instrument using easy-to-find materials.

Through audience participation, this program teaches students to recognize the basic elements of music (high and low sounds, loud and soft sounds, fast and slow tempi).  The goal is to generate genuine excitement about brass music. These veteran educators expertly convey their own joy in making music together, and offer a compelling case for students to pursue their own musical interests with vigor.  The Chestnut Brass Company is perfect for all-school assemblies, small workshops with middle and high school bands and for evening family concerts.   Due to an extensive touring schedule, please call well in advance to book!

Members of the Chestnut Brass Company are Jay Krush (Tuba), Bruce Barrie (Trumpet), Marian Hesse (Horns), John Zimmerman (Horns), John Thomas (Horns).

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