This year, the 20-person brass ensemble Symphonic Brass Project will once again be performing in St. Moritz. Under the direction of Thomas Trachsel, they will be playing works by Lully, Shahan, de Meij and Balmages for large brass ensemble and percussion.

Program:
Baptiste Lully: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme – Ballet Suite: I. Overture, II. Galliarde Canarie, III. Air des Garcons tailleurs, IV. Marche pour la Cérémonie des Turcs

Paul Shahan: Leipzig Towers for Brass Ensemble and Percussion

Johan de Meij: The Lord of The Rings from Symphony No. 1: I. Gandalf, V. Hobbits

Brian Balmages: Symphony No. 1 for Brass Ensemble and Percussion I., II., III.

Line: Thomas Trachsel

Admission free, collection

www.symphonicbrassproject.ch

Symphonic Brass Project 2024:

At the end of this year's rehearsal days in St. Moritz, the approximately 20 brass players of the Symphonic Brass Project under the direction of Thomas Trachsel will give a concert with four rousing works for large brass ensemble and percussion.

The programme opens with «The Bourgeois Gentleman», a ballet comedy set in Paris, consisting of musical dialogues and dances. It is the result of the successful collaboration between Moliere and Lully and was premiered in 1670 at the court of Louis XIV.

The following piece »Leipzig Towers» of the American composer Paul Willard Shahan (1923-1997) takes listeners back to medieval Leipzig, when the city was protected from unwanted intruders by its defensive towers and walls. In the 15th century, tower music reached its peak in the trading cities of Leipzig and Lübeck.

Johan de Meijs 1st Symphony «The Lord of the Rings» is based on the trilogy of the same name by the British author Tolkien and consists of 5 movements, each of which describes a person or an episode from the book. The movements played are: 1. Gandalf the Wizard and 5. Hobbits, arranged for brass ensemble and percussion. The Lord of the Rings Symphony was composed between 1984 and 1987 and won first prize at the Sudler International Composition Competition in Chicago in 1989.

The concert program is rounded off with Brian Balmages «Symphony No. 1 for Brass Ensemble and Percussion», a large-scale work that challenges the brass and percussion players both technically and musically. The first movement introduces a fanfare and a chorale that reappear later in the work, the lyrical second movement shines musically, while the fast tempo and powerful coda of the third movement exudes energy.

The Symphonic Brass Project is looking forward to the upcoming concert in the theater hall of the Hotel Reine Victoria and to your visit.