Backstage Brass Issue #3

Happy 2008 everyone!!

This issue is called “Bachstage Brass” in honour of our New Year’s 2008 offering! Introducing our new release as of THIS WEEK:

Now available EVERYWHERE!! Click here to download it NOW!

The press for this CD reads:

Following High Society, which debuted #3 on the US Billboard Classical Chart, the world’s leading brass ensemble rings in the new year with a fresh collection of some of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most beloved works.

It includes some exciting double quintet performances of “Brilliant Overtures” like Air on a G String and Cantata 188 Chorale to the genius Christopher Dedrick’s quintet re-workings of four of the Anna Magdalena Notebook pieces titled “Fantasies for Anna”. We’re very proud of it, and we are sure you’ll enjoy it immensely.

We hope that everyone is well on their way to enjoying their new year in a fantastically fearless manner! We are!!!

Our Christmas tour was a huge success! One of the highlights happened in Seattle. Because we’re a band, the guys felt they needed to get all games associated with being said band.

We’re still looking into when “Brass Band” is coming out!

Manon said something interesting just before this picture was taken. I think it went something like, “Oui, a Wii!!”

Here’s what artistic farmers do in Canada for Christmas!

Here’s what artistic brass players do for Christmas!

Yup, they watch movies on planes all month! …and maybe have a few hundred business discussions too. Both activities sure make the month fly by. But the best activity by FAR is performing for you!

Here are Joe and the guys rehearsing with the New Jersey Symphony.

Manon, Chuck, and I in front of the Lincoln Center Christmas tree after our New York Philharmonic brass concert. We’re already planning next year’s concert!

Soon after our concert in New York, we headed to Greenville, South Carolina. How great is it to be in the South in December!

Ahhhhhhhh!!!

We also did some pre-concert talks. We enjoy these a lot, and we’d like to do more of them in the future. We speak about the beginnings of the group, what it’s like to be a member of the group, and field any questions about music making, brass playing, or my magic tricks. We’re hoping that soon our question and answer sessions will happen at your community’s Canadian Brass concert as well.

We started announcing at the beginning of our concerts, “Canadian Brass encourages picture taking during our performances. The best picture sent in will receive a free CD!” Can whoever sent the above picture please notify us of your address, and we can get you your CD? Thank you!

We did a school show in the hall in Norfolk VA.

This is Joe’s hometown! It was really great to celebrate Joe’s hometown performance, and he blew everyone away, literally, with his “Virgen De la Macarena”!!

We have gotten some great action pictures from people taking and sending their pictures in!

Thank you everyone for making our Christmas tour a huge success, and we look forward to more of this fun in 2008!

We’ll be in California for a three-day tour in the end of January. We look forward to seeing our Californian fans at one or all of our concerts while we’re out there.

Remember, keep taking pictures and sending them in. We look forward to adding your memories to our memories!

Here’s an excerpt from our recent Canadian Brass Newsletter:

“Take a pic, win a prize!

Canadian Brass has once again changed the concert experience. During our 2007 Christmas tour, we had the hall announce, before the concert began, “Canadian Brass would like to encourage you to take photos during the this evening’s performance. You will learn more about why later. Enjoy the show!” Later in the concert Chuck explains that we want you to send us your pictures. Every night’s best picture will win a free CD!

This has created quite a buzz during the concerts, and also creates a wonderful archive of pictures for Canadian Brass. This archive is going to be a public place where we can go to relive our concert experiences. If you took a picture before Christmas and haven’t uploaded it yet, please do so now! We look forward to adding your memories to our memories!”

Email your pictures to: photos@canadianbrass.com

Enjoy your January everyone!!

Until next time,
Jeff