Spanish Brass to Play Bates Recital Hall This September

Texas Performing Arts will continue its Essential Series with Spanish Brass, featuring: Carlos Benetó, trumpet; Juanjo Serna, trumpet; Manolo Pérez, horn; Indalecio Bonet, trombone; and Sergio Finca, tuba.

They will perform in concert on Sunday, September 24, 2017, 7:00 p.m. at Bates Recital Hall. Tickets at Texasperformingarts.org. Presented in partnership with Butler School of Music Brass Faculty, the College of Fine Arts Visiting Artists Chair, and KMFA-FM.

Spanish Brass was created in 1989 by five Spanish musicians as an innovative project that quickly gained international notoriety for its performances, educational activities, and creative collaborations. After they won the First Prize in the 1996 Narbonne (France) International Brass Quintet Competition, the most prestigious event of its kind in the world, trumpeter Bernard Soustrot said, "Of all the First Prize winners of the Narbonne Competition, the Spanish Brass is the best since the competition was founded in 1986."

Spanish Brass has given hundreds of concerts across the globe, in such prestigious events and venues as the Great American Brass Band Festival; the New York Brass Conference; the Juilliard School of Music, the National Gallery in Washington, DC; Festival de Musique de Radio-France; Granada International Festival; Lucerne Festival; Cheju Summer Festival (Korea); Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany); National Auditorium (Madrid); Palau de la Música (Barcelona); Kalavrita Festival (Greece); International Horn Society, Merano Brass Festival and Trento Philharmonic (Italy); Barcelona Auditorium; Festival de Inverno de Brasília, and countless others.

Spanish Brass has been in the forefront of international music education, giving courses and master-classes with the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, the Youth Orchestras of Catalonia, Valencia, Andalucía and Madrid, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Trumpet Lounge (Japan), the Showa School for Performing Arts (Japan), Lieksa Brass Week (Finland), the Eastman School of Music, University of Georgia, Venezuelan Youth Orchestra, Dartington International Summer School(England), International Winter Music Festival of Brasilia (Brazil), Ibero-American Cultural Festival (Puerto Rico), etc.

Spanish Brass also runs two major brass festivals in Spain: SBALZ Festival in Alzira (www.sbalz.com) and Brassurround (www.brassurround.com). They currently teach at the Berklee College of Music campus in Valencia.

A sampling of their international accolades includes: "They are one of the world´s finest brass quintets ranking up there with Empire Brass, Canadian Brass and American Brass" (Greg Alley); "One of the most exciting and artistic brass quintets to come on the scene in recent years ... a gloriously brilliant performance" (International Trumpet Guild Journal); "They play with amazing cohesion, and set the highest standard for brass chamber music" (Maurice André, trumpeter); and "I cannot think of a better brass quintet in the whole world" (Christian Lindberg, trombonist).

They have recorded 21 CDs, including the double CD The Best of Spanish Brass. Their latest releases are a CD of Christmas music and the children's show, Brass Brass Brass on CD and DVD.

Fun Facts:

· Spanish Brass has founded three international brass festivals: the Spanish Brass Alzira Festival, Brassurround, and Brass&Wines.

· Since 1989, Spanish Brass has played over one hundred concerts each year around the world.

· Spanish Brass won the First Prize in the 1996 Narbonne International Brass Quintet Competition.

· Spanish Brass currently teaches at the Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain.

· Spanish Brass' show, "Make a Brazz Noise Here," is a tribute to Frank Zappa.

In addition to $10 tickets for primary, secondary, and college students, Texas Performing Arts is now offering a limited number of $12 tickets to active and retired military personnel for all 2016-2017 Essential Series performances (excludes Broadway and special engagements). A military ID is required. For a schedule of upcoming 2016-2017 season performances, visit www.TexasPerformingArts.org.

For more information on this performance, click here.

To post a comment, you must register and login.