Photo: Supplied.
In classic Christmas iconography, angels are playing trumpets, so a big, brassy Christmas celebration seems quite in order for RPAC – courtesy of the Excelsior Brass Band.
Ross Moloney, president of the band and baritone horn player, says that flexibility is part of the magic of a brass band.
“A brass band’s unique ability is being able to turn on any genre of music – orchestral, jazz, pop, choral music – its instruments offer so many tones and colours and pitches, from bass to soprano.”
The band, based on the traditional British brass band, includes trombones (essential for a brass band), cornets (smaller, darker and mellower than trumpets), flugelhorn, tenor and baritone horns, euphoniums and tubas (basses, which provide the foundation of the sound).
Ross says that the opportunity for such variety has resulted in brass band music that is frequently technically challenging, and the musicians can become ‘chopped’, which is essentially suffering embouchure fatigue. The embouchure is the way that the mouth must be applied to the instrument’s mouthpiece, and it can become demanding when competitive events are at their peak, and extra rehearsals keep the musicians ‘match fit’.
Special guest conductor for the RPAC concert is world-acclaimed David Bremner, Principal Trombone of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, who led the band to success as conductor at the Nationals in Adelaide earlier this year.
Audiences will have a chance to enjoy the exquisite sound and join in sing-alongs at Excelsior Brass Band’s big brassy Christmas at RPAC. To book or for more information, call 3829 8131 or visit rpac.com.au.
