Performers have a bash with brass

Even though classes have barely started, the music department’s brass players are already breaking out the tunes. They began three-hour practices Sunday to get ready for the Brass Bash performance this Thursday.

Tubas, euphoniums, trombones, French horns and trumpets will sound the music of composers ranging from Samuel Cohen to Von Williams as well as musical French dance pieces. Most pieces will be determined by what meshes together well when the ensemble meets and plays.

Ross Walter, the assistant professor of low brass, said he would describe the bash as intense.

“It really gets you going for the semester because you’re playing a lot and you’re really getting involved,” Walter said. “Many other classes are barely starting up and we’re already in a performance.”

Jeremy Loudon, a music performance major, has been playing the trombone in the Brass Bash since its inception three years ago.

“Every year since then, the bar has been raised, and the incoming freshmen keep getting better and better, which leads to us putting on a better show at the end of the first week,” Loudon said.

Nate Lee, a music performance major, said the rehersals are a great way to greet new students and welcome them into the VCU music community.

“During the year, we don’t meet together in a large ensemble like this, so it’s a special opportunity for all of us to perform all together at the same time,” Walter said. “That brings us a lot closer together.”

Walter, alongside with two other VCU music professors, Patrick Smith and Rex Richardson, is heavily involved in the Brass Bash process. One conducts while the other two play in the brass ensemble.

Loudon says the bash sets the tone for the entire year and allows for low-stress rehearsals with the ensemble before the semester really gets going.

“It’s pretty easy to lock yourself in a practice room six hours a day and never come out,” Loudon said. “So having the new kids make some friends outside of their classes is really beneficial for them.”

The VCU music Brass Bash will be held Aug. 27th at 7 p.m. at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts in the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall, 922 Park Ave. Admission is free and open to the public.