About
""One of the gems of Philadelphia’s cultural life." "

Philadelphia Brass was formed in 1988 with a mission to perform the best of brass quintet literature from all periods and styles while educating the public to the pleasures, subtleties, and complexities of chamber music. One of their unique strengths 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. Critics and public alike have enthusiastically praised their appealing diversity of repertoire, technical virtuosity, humorous and informative educational dialogue, and superb musicality. The group’s playing has been celebrated as “artistry of the highest calibre” and “dazzling technique” by presenters. Individually, the members of Philadelphia Brass have performed with the world’s top musical ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, among many others. Its master classes have been called “excellent and sensitively handled” and esteemed American composer, the late Daniel Pinkham, has written that Philadelphia Brass is “the most artistic brass quintet before the public today.”

Philadelphia Brass is dedicated to music education and has a long history of performing programs for students at all levels. Previous master classes and residencies have taken place in such settings as the Juilliard School, the University of Maryland’s School of Music, Lehigh University, Villanova University and in numerous public schools such as Bedford and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Grass Valley, California and the Kenai Peninsula Borough in Soldotna, Alaska. 

The ensemble has toured extensively throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and has completed two well-received tours to Bolivia on behalf of the U.S. State Department in collaboration with the Asociacion pro Arte y Cultura’s Baroque Festival based in Santa Cruz. 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, Robert Elkjer, Jack Gale, Dick Hyman and Paul Salerni.

Philadelphia Brass has produced five CDs: “Renaissance and Baroque”, “Joan Lippincott and Philadelphia Brass”, “Christmas”, “Christmas in the Grand Tradition” with Peter Conte and the Wanamaker Organ, “The Anniversary Album”, and is featured in Family Portrait and Smoky Mountain Fanfare, two pieces on the new Summit Records CD, “David Sampson – Notes from Far Away Places”.  (2021)

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