Canadian Brass To Play Ives Concert Hall

DANBURY — Command Performance, a nonprofit performing arts organization for greater Danbury, will sponsor an evening with Canadian Brass. The quintet will perform Renaissance and Baroque to jazz and Broadway in a concert event for the entire family.

The concert will be Sunday, April 13, at 5:30 pm, in Ives Concert Hall, on Western Connecticut State University’s midtown campus at 181 White Street.

Tickets are $30 to $35 reserved, and $25 for students. Group discounts are available.

Because a part of Command Performance’s mission is to allow student musicians an opportunity to perform at events with great cultural artists, tickets purchased for Canadian Brass will also include a pre-concert by WCSU Chamber Singers at 5 pm. The Singers’ program will include W.A. Mozart’s Six Nocturnes for Chorus and Clarinets, Te Deum for Chorus and Piano and Ave Verum Corpus for Chorus. Ticket holders will also be invited to attend a post-concert party with live jazz and appetizers.

The members of Canadian Brass are Ryan Anthony and Joe Burgstaller, trumpet; Jeff Nelsen, French horn; Eugene Watts, trombone; and Charles Daellenbach, tuba.

The career of Canadian Brass has spanned 32 years and countless television appearances. Dressed in trademark tuxes and tennis shoes, they perform an eclectic repertoire that ranges from Baroque to Beatles, Renaissance to Ragtime.

The group has a long history of recording classical repertoire. Members have a special affinity for Baroque music, which showcases the brilliance of execution and fluent command of musical structure that have become Canadian Brass trademarks. Their more than 50 recordings include works by Purcell, Vivaldi, Gabrieli, Pachelbel, Beethoven and Wagner, in meticulously crafted transcriptions that have created a new musical tradition in brass performance.

They are especially drawn to the works of J.S. Bach, most recently having recorded The Goldberg Variations on the RCA Victor label. Bach’s famed Toccata and Fugue in D minor has been recorded by The Canadian Brass several times and is perhaps their most popular concert work.

The five musicians spend most of their time on tour, and have performed with many major symphony orchestras in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. They have gained a large international following for their solo performances, which offer a large variety of musical styles.

Millions of television viewers have seen The Canadian Brass on such programs as The Tonight Show, Today and Entertainment Tonight. They have appeared as guest artists on Evening at Pops with John Williams and the Boston Pops, Beverly Sills’ Music Around the World and numerous PBS specials. The quintet has also created eight videos that have gained an international audience.