Ross Beacraft, trumpet
Matthew Lee, trumpet
Sharon Jones, horn
Adam Moen, trombone
Dan Anderson, tuba
United States / Illinois
Founded: 1964
Website
The Chicago Brass Quintet was formed in 1964 to promote the appreciation and enjoyment of brass chamber music through performances, educational workshops, broadcasts, recording, and commissioning new works. During their first decade the quintet’s energies were devoted to educational concerts in and around the Chicago metropolitan area and exploring new repertoire for the brass quintet in the form of original works for brass and arrangements of classic compositions adaptable for brass.
The quintet rose to national prominence with the release of its first recording for Crystal Records and its appearance as guest artists for the International Trumpet Guild’s Conference in Ithaca New York. Hailed as ”one of the premiere ensembles of our time” by the International Trumpet Guild Journal they have performed through out the United States and Canada, South America and Asia. Highlights have included guest performances for the International Trumpet Guild conferences in New York and London, a two and a half week tour of Hawaii, performances at: the Kennedy Center, Eisenhower Hall at the West Point Academy, Chautauqua Institute, many tours throughout Illinois & the Midwest, South and East coasts and international tours in Taiwan in 1997, 1999 & 2001 and Brazil & Columbia in 1999, 2002 & 2004. Educational workshops have been given for the National Symphony brass in New York, Chicago’s Merit Music program, the Chicago and Elgin school systems, Georgia Tech, the University of South Florida, Brigham Young University and Columbia College to name a few. The quintet has enjoyed a close association with Chicago’s fine arts radio station WFMT, performing live from their studios and often been broadcast on National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Please see the accompanying list of past performance venues.
The Chicago Brass Quintet’s commissions have added new works by Cliff Colnot, James Mattern, Lawrence Rapchek, Dan Anderson, Jan Bach, and J. Mark Scearce to the brass quintet literature. Since 1981 they have released six recordings for the Delos, Crystal, Centaur, Covenant and Reel Music labels.
Today the quintet continues to maintain an active touring and recording schedule including guest performances with Symphony Orchestras, recitals with Organ and Brass, Brass Quintet and Piano, a Gospel program with the Brown Singers of Columbus Ohio and of course a wide variety of programs with the Chicago Brass Quintet in recital.
Recordings
- 1981 – Chicago Brass Quintet
- 1988 – Virtuoso Brass
- 1995 – Music for Brass and Organ
- 2010 – Brassucopia (rerelease of 1981 album with additional tracks)
- 2011 – American Voices