It is easy to imagine the walls shaking and the floor quaking when Monsoon Brass takes the stage with the St. Andrewβs Bach Society on Sunday, Aug. 29.
Consider it:
You have a trio of trumpets β Jason Carder, who has toured with Yanni, Ray Charles, Paul Anka, KC & the Sunshine Band and others; Betsy Bright, a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra since 2003 and a regular guest player with orchestras including The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera and National Symphony Orchestra; and TSO Principal Trumpet Hayato Tanaka, who in addition to guesting with notable orchestras around the country is a member of The KyΓΆdail Brass, whose members include former TSO principal trumpet Conrad Jones.
A mighty horn played by TSO member Victor Valenzuela, who teaches brass at Pima Community College.
A deep-throated trombone played by another TSO musician and Amphi School District teacher Joseph MuΓ±oz.
And the beautiful baritone-throated, hard-to-miss tuba played by TSO Principal Tuba David Morgan. (Fun fact: Morgan and Bright are not only TSO and Monsoon Brass bandmates; they are married and are the parents of two sons.)
Thatβs a mighty display of brass and the ensemble will put it to the test with a program that includes Philip Glassβs Sextet, Oskar Bohmeβs Sextet and Tanakaβs arrangement of Bachβs Organ Concerto in G major for brass instruments.
The program also includes Alan Ferberβs jazzy βKopi Luwak,β and we are told to be on the lookout for Carder and Co. to go off script and add some pretty exciting improv to the work.
Sundayβs concert, the second in the St. Andrewβs Bach Society summer series, begins at 2 p.m. at Grace St. Paulβs Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St. Tickets are $15, $10 for students online at standrewsbach.org
β Cathalena E. Burch
