PHILADELPHIA BRASS

"One of the gems of Philadelphia’s cultural life. "
The Philadelphia Brass was formed in 1988 by professional musicians of Eastern Pennsylvania to pursue their common goals: performing the best of brass quintet literature of all periods and styles, and educating the public to the pleasures, subtleties, and complexities of chamber music. Since its inception, Philadelphia Brass has performed over 500 times. It has collaborated in performances with bands, choruses, organists, dancers and clowns. It has performed educational programs for kindergartners, college students, and adults of all ages, coached grade school instrumentalists and taught a master class for the brass students of Juilliard.
Critics and public alike have enthusiastically praised the appealing diversity of repertoire, technical virtuosity, humorous and informative educational programs, and superb musicality of the ensemble. The ensemble’s playing has been praised as “artistry of the highest calibre” and “dazzling technique” by presenters. Its master classes have been called “excellent and sensitively handled” and the esteemed American composer Daniel Pinkham has written that Philadelphia Brass is “the most artistic brass quintet before the public today.”
The ensemble has toured extensively in the Eastern, Southern, Mid-western United States, and abroad. Daniel Pinkham’s Creation of the World, a work for brass, organ, choir, and narrator, co-commissioned by Philadelphia Brass and 13 presenters across the country, was premiered by Philadelphia Brass in 1995. Other premiers have included commissioned works by David Diamond, J.A.C. Redford, and Dick Hyman.
The ensemble has produced four CDs: Renaissance and Baroque, Joan Lippincott and Philadelphia Brass, Christmas, and Christmas in the Grand Tradition, and has conducted numerous educational programs, including residencies at Villanova University, Elizabethtown College, Lehigh University, and Musikfest of Bethlehem, PA, where they were the festival’s 1995 Artists in Residence. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Cure Autism Now, and Habitat for Humanity have received the support of Philadelphia Brass benefit performances. One of the unique strengths of Philadelphia Brass is the palpable sense of respect, affection and musical enjoyment among its members. This allows the players to perform with exceptional flexibility and cohesiveness, and enhances the ensemble’s appeal to audiences of all ages.

Anthony Cecere, French horn
Anthony Cecere graduated from the University of Michigan.
He has been principal horn and soloist with the New Orleans Philharmonic, a member of the American Chamber Players of Washington, DC, and has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the New Jersey and Boston Symphony Orchestras, and the New York Philharmonic.
His recording credits include concerti by Mozart and Haydn, Twilight Music for violin, horn and piano by John Harbison, and the Bach Mass in b minor and Christmas Oratorio with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. He has toured throughout Germany and France, and conducted master classes at numerous schools of music including Yale, Juilliard, the University of Missouri, the University of Arkansas, Idaho State University and the University of Seoul, South Korea.
Tony is currently a member of the Beauty and the Beast orchestra on Broadway and resides in Bernardsville, New Jersey with his wife, cellist Gerall Hieser.

Robert Gale, trombone
Robert Gale is principal trombone with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and a member of the pit orchestra of the Walnut Street Theater. He has been a member of the music faculties of Swarthmore College and Valley Forge Military Academy and is currently on the faculty of The College of New Jersey. He has performed with the St. Louis and Richmond Symphonies and has recorded extensively for many vocal artists, television and major motion pictures. After graduating from the University of Illinois Bob began fifteen years of touring with the swing bands of Glenn Miller, Les Elgart, Jimmy Dorsey, and Bob Crosby, and the back-up bands for Bob Hope,  Johnny Mathis, Donna Summer, Vic Damone, the Temptations, Manhattan Transfer, Natalie Cole and numerous others.


Brain Kuszyk, trumpet
Brian Kuszyk is principal trumpet of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Delaware Symphony, a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Bethlehem Bach Festival Orchestra, and a frequent substitute with the Philadelphia Orchestra. After completing his musical education at Temple University as a student of Seymour Rosenfeld, he served for sixteen years as principal trumpet with the Opera Festival of New Jersey. Among his numerous national TV, radio and film credits is the Emmy Award winning documentary “Johnny Unitas”.
He has collaborated with artists Luciano Pavarotti, Denyce Graves, Tony Randall and Barry Manilow and recorded for the Telarc, RCA, Dorian, Albany, Gothic and Argo/London Labels. Recent tours have taken him to Bolivia, England, Germany and Portugal.

Scott Mendoker, tuba
Scott Mendoker has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, New York and Boston Pops, the New Jersey Symphony, the Broadway hit musical Ragtime, the Bavarian Radio, and recorded with the Metropolitan Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His recordings of David Sampson’s Three Portraits for Tuba and Chamber Orchestra with members of the Czech Philharmonic for Summit Records and David Holsinger’s Kansas City Dances for Tuba and Wind Ensemble for Mark Records have received high praise and critical acclaim.
Scott is an Artist/Teacher at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford.  Scott is principal tuba with the Westfield Symphony, the Vermont Mozart Festival and is a member of the New York Chamber Soloists. He plays Miraphone tubas exclusively and has recently collaborated with trumpet and mouthpiece maker extraordinaire, Dave Monette, on two new tuba mouthpieces.

Lawrence Wright, trumpet
Lawrence Wright is principal trumpet of the Allentown Symphony, Bethlehem Bach Festival Orchestra, Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra and Pennsylvania Sinfonia. He earned his BA, Phi Beta Kappa, from Denison University and his Masters from Juilliard where he was a student of William Vacchiano. Larry has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, the New Jersey Symphony, the Italian Spoleto Festival, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and has appeared as soloist with artists Sylvia McNair, Emanuel Ax and Menahem Pressler. He was featured in the PBS broadcast of Stravinsky’s L’histoire du Soldat and as soloist in several recordings of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, including Christmas Oratorio. The Allentown Arts Commission awarded Larry and his wife, flutist Robin Kani the Performer Ovation Award for “outstanding achievement in the performing arts”.
A dedicated teacher, he serves on the faculties of Moravian College and Lehigh University.  He owns about a dozen trumpets, which according to him is far too few, and about 160 mouthpieces, which according to just about anybody is way too many.

Website: www.philadelphiabrass.com