Sweden
Stockholm Chamber Brass Official Website
Recordings
- 1992 – Heavy Metal
- 1994 – Sounds of St. Petersburg
- 1995 – Clockworks
- 2002 – Now
- 2009 – Foliations
- 2012 – Then
Group Biography
Stockholm Chamber Brass was founded in 1988 by five young Swedes, originally only to rehearse brass chamber music together. However, with funding from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, SCBrass decided to travel to Narbonne, France, for their first public engagement at the International Competition for Brass Quintets. The group went on to win 1st Prize and so began its nearly 30 year career as one of the leading Brass Ensembles in the world.
Very early on in the development of the quintet, SCBrass made the active commitment to seek out commissions from new and established composers alike, in order to enlarge the amount of original repertoire for brass quintet. The first commission was made in 1990 and since then over 40 compositions have been written or the group, with more currently in development! Through the constant programming and recording of these works, many of the SCBrass commissions have gone on to become the most frequently performed original works for brass quintet around the world. Notable composers to write for the group include Anders Hillborg, Sven David Sandström, Karin Rehnquist, Christian Lindberg, Eino Tamberg and Piers Hellawell.
To date, the ensemble has recorded 6 critically acclaimed CDs including the classics of the quintet genre, a CD of commissions and their most recent album THEN, a collection of songs and dances from the renaissance era in arrangements by SCBrass members and friends. The American Record Guide wrote of the album Clockworks, “I cannot imagine that a better brass quintet has ever existed.”
SCBrass regularly perform around the world, playing in major festivals such as the Bad Kissingen Sommer, Schleswig-Holstein, Niedesächsische Musiktage, International de Musique Sion Valais, Prague Spring, Budapest International, Internacional de Santander, Soundstream (Toronto), Vinterfest and Belfast Festivals. Unusually, the group have yet to visit the United States of America, although this will be rectified with a concert tour in late 2016.
Alongside creating a legacy of repertoire for Brass Quintet, the group are passionate educators and regularly give masterclasses to the next generation of brass musicians. They have been the guest ensemble at brass festivals such as Lieksa Brass Week, the International Trombone Festival, the Melbourne International Festival of Brass, Epsival Limoge and the Blekinge International Brass Academy. In 2015 SCBrass were delighted to be invited to become the Brass Quintet in Residence at the prestigious Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Finland, for a 3 year series of concerts and programmes with the students there.
On the concert stage, the quintet have often expanded the group to be able perform repertoire outside the standard quintet setting. Regular guests who have collaborated with the group include Christian Lindberg, Håkan Hardenberger, Reinhold Friedrich, Jeroen Berwaerts and Roland Pontinen. Away from SCBrass, the members are regular soloists in their own right and have been prize winners at international solo competitions including the ARD- Wettbewerb, ICEM Geneve, Toulon, Markneukrichen and Aeolus International Competition for Wind Instruments.