Pitzen Brass Ensemble Concert 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7

The Pitzen Brass Ensemble has announced that it is returning to its roots to present a full concert in the Bienen School of Music’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University, at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 7. Having held leadership positions in the finest performing ensembles and educational institutions over the past four decades, 20 of Northwestern’s top music alumni are reuniting to perform an exciting and challenging program of works by Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, 20th century and contemporary composers. During its most active years, the Pitzen Ensemble was highly sought after in the Chicago area, not only for audiences, but also for the most talented and promising musicians in the country. Pitzen alumnus James Smelser, who has played second horn in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 2000, credits the Pitzen Brass Ensemble in helping him achieve success as a symphony musician. “When first invited to join the Pitzen Brass Ensemble, I had already been aware of its high level of leadership and artistry,” said Smelser recently. “This Ensemble played a significant role in my professional development and my pursuit of music-making at the highest level. The skills and enjoyment that came from this have lasted throughout my career.” A constant force in the growth of the Ensemble and its musicians has been its conductor, Dr. Mitchell Arnold. “We came together as purposeful young musicians, blending our technical gifts with artistic purpose and stylistic integrity,” recalls Arnold. “That experience remains etched in my memory, as it laid the foundation for my orchestral conducting career. Performing again on April 7, we now add years of musical experience to that exuberantly youthful blend of talent and artistry.” The Pitzen Brass Ensemble presented an annual subscription series of three concerts every year in Evanston, which continued uninterrupted through the 1980s. It also performed throughout the Chicago metropolitan area in prestigious productions such as the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, which was broadcast on classical radio station WFMT. In 1983, the Pitzen Brass Ensemble made its Orchestra Hall debut in “An Evening of Music and Conversation with Witold Lutoslawski.” In October 1989, the Pitzen Brass Ensemble was invited to perform at the dedication ceremony for a new public art installation in Chicago’s Jonquil Park: Eagle Columns by sculptor Richard Hunt. For its part, the Ensemble performed a new work commissioned for the occasion, the Eagle Columns Fanfare composed by Pitzen conductor Mitchell Arnold. To honor Richard Hunt's recent passing, the Pitzen Ensemble will reprise the Eagle Columns Fanfare at this April's concert. All the musicians of the Pitzen Ensemble studied with members of the legendary Chicago Symphony Orchestra brass section in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. At that time, the CSO brass section was widely acknowledged as the best the world had to offer, so the competition to study with those musicians was fierce. Young students and seasoned professional brass players flocked to Chicago to learn from the masters. Through the entire decade of the 1980s, the Pitzen Brass Ensemble was recognized as the cream of that international crop of current and former students. New musicians joined when older Ensemble members were offered coveted positions in professional symphony orchestras, wind and brass ensembles, bands, university music schools, and conservatories across North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Throughout this natural and healthy succession of membership, conductor Mitchell Arnold was able to provide the continuity and stability necessary for nurturing the development of the Pitzen Brass Ensemble as an artistic force in the community. As many Pitzen Brass Ensemble alumni were developing their musical careers and establishing themselves in prominent performing and teaching positions on four continents, other Pitzen alumni were branching out from the music profession and exploring new career opportunities. Those people were finding professional and intellectual stimulation in fields such as law, psychotherapy, engineering, urban planning, publishing, and high tech. The April 7 concert at the Galvin Recital Hall will feature a wide array of works by Jolivet, Brahms, Wagner, Satie, Grainger, and Tomasi. Complete program details will be released soon. Comprehensive information about the Pitzen Brass Ensemble, its history, its musicians and their experience, and the April 7 concert is all available at pitzenbrass.com. Tickets are $35 for adults, $5 for students with valid ID, and free for wheelchair seating. Tickets are available NOW at https://www.music.northwestern.edu/events/pitzen-brass-ensemble. Website pitzenbrass.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PitzenBrass GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/concert-expenses-for-the-pitzen-brass-ensemble To book interviews with the artists, email [email protected] or call (613) 314-5001.

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