The Philadelphia Brass was formed in 1988 by professional musicians of Eastern Pennsylvania to pursue their common goals: performing the best of brass quintet literature of all periods and styles, and educating the public to the pleasures, subtleties, and complexities of chamber music. Since its inception, Philadelphia Brass has performed over 500 times. It has collaborated in performances with bands, choruses, organists, dancers and clowns. It has performed educational programs for kindergartners, college students, and adults of all ages, coached grade school instrumentalists and taught a master class for the brass students of Juilliard.

Critics and public alike have enthusiastically praised the appealing diversity of repertoire, technical virtuosity, humorous and informative educational programs, and superb musicality of the ensemble. The ensemble’s playing has been praised as “artistry of the highest calibre” and “dazzling technique” by presenters. Its master classes have been called “excellent and sensitively handled” and the esteemed American composer Daniel Pinkham has written that Philadelphia Brass is “the most artistic brass quintet before the public today.”

The ensemble has toured extensively in the Eastern, Southern, Mid-western United States, and abroad. Daniel Pinkham’s Creation of the World, a work for brass, organ, choir, and narrator co-commissioned by Philadelphia Brass and 13 presenters across the country, was premiered by Philadelphia Brass in 1995. Other premiers have included commissioned works by David Diamond, J.A.C. Redford, and Dick Hyman.

The ensemble has produced three CDs: Renaissance and Baroque, Joan Lippincott and Philadelphia Brass, and Christmas, and has conducted numerous educational programs, including residencies at Villanova University, Elizabethtown College, Lehigh University, and Musikfest of Bethlehem, PA, where they were the festival’s 1995 Artists in Residence. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Cure Autism Now, and Habitat for Humanity have received the support of Philadelphia Brass benefit performances.

One of the unique strengths of Philadelphia Brass is the palpable sense of respect, affection and musical enjoyment among its members. This allows the players to perform with exceptional flexibility and cohesiveness, and enhances the ensemble’s appeal to audiences of all ages.