The Bloor Annex Brass Ensemble is a group that harnesses the power of orchestral brass in concert. Their next performance takes place on March 12.
Ilan Mendel and Dominic Ghiglione, Artistic Directors of the Bloor-Annex Brass Ensemble, will lead the group through an eclectic program that showcases the range of colours the combination of six trumpets, three trombones, a euphonium, and two bass trombones (all current or former students of the University of Toronto or Glenn Gould School), is capable of.
With Robert Conquer on trombone as guest soloist, they’ll perform the work of some perhaps surprising composers.
Robert Conquer, trombone/arranger
Scarborough, Ontario native Robert Conquer won the top award of the 2022 Michael Measures prizes. That’s after coming second in the same competition, designed to recognize talented participants in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada program, the year before. In 2020, he took top prize at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Competition.
As the Michael Measures Prize winner, he toured Canada with the NYOC as a soloist.
Robert studied at the Curtis Institute of Music as a Presser Scholar, and graduated in 2023 with a Bachelor’s of Music degree. On his appointment as the Principal Trombonist of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra for the 2023/24 season, he became the organization’s youngest regular musician.
Robert has performed as a guest musician with the National Arts Centre and Philadelphia Orchestras.
A 10-piece version of the Bloor Annex Brass Ensemble performs the Queen City Fanfare by Elizabeth Raum in September 2023:
The Program
Ascent to the Summit Tara Islas (b. 1966)
American French horn player and composer Tara Islas is a member of The United States Air Force Band in Washington, DC. She’s written several works for chamber ensembles, band, and choir.
Colossus by Anthony DiLorenzo (b. 1994)
Emmy Award winning composer Anthony DiLorenzo is also a trumpet soloist, and Grammy nominated recording artist. His compositions have been performed by ensembles such as The San Francisco Symphony, The New World Symphony, The Louisiana Philharmonic, The Utah Symphony, The Tokyo Symphony and The Boston Pops Orchestra.
Five Movements from Divertimento for Brass by Raymond Premru (1934-1998)
American Raymond Premru was an acclaimed performer as a trombonist, spending much of his working life in the UK. He often worked and recorded with the likes of Oscar Peterson and Frank Sinatra. He was also a teacher, and composer of choral and other works. His compositions were performed through the UK and North America.
A Moorside Suite Gustav Holst (1843-1943) arr. Jeffrey de Sierere II
Gustav Holst composed his A Moorside Suite specifically for brass band. The piece was co-commissioned by the BBC in 1927 for the final of the 1928 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. It consists of three movements: Scherzo, Nocturne, and March.
Conquer arranged the ‘Che gelida manina’ from La Bohemé Giacomo Puccini, and the Cavatine, Op. 144 by Camille Saint-Saëns, which the ensemble will perform.
The program is rounded out by ‘Vichnaya Pamyat’ from Chernobyl by Hildur Guðnadóttir (the Oscar-winning composer for the movie Joker), and Adoration (arranged for brass ensemble) by American Florence Price, whose work, lauded in her era of the early 1930s, was forgotten for decades. Both pieces were arranged for brass ensemble by David Miller.
- The Free Event takes place on March 12, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto as part of their Music Mosaic series. Admission is by donation; more information [HERE].
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