A Taste of Spanish Brass at NEIU

NEIU hosted the fourth annual Chicago Brass Festival from March 9 - 10, bringing brass- lovers together from around Chicagoland to celebrate with exhibitions of local talent, master classes, and performances by some of the behemoths of brass. The performances kicked off on Friday with a show by world-renowned quintet Spanish Brass.

Spanish Brass consists of founding members Carlos Benetó Grau and Junjo Serna on trumpets, Inda Bonet on trombone, award-winning Sergio Finca accompanying on tuba and Spanish Brass' own guest performer, Maria Rubio, on the French horn.

Taking the stage all dressed in black, the quintet began playing without introduction or fanfare. The first piece played was an all-brass rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach's tender Aria from the Goldberg Variations, originally written for harpsichord. Spanish Brass preserved the sweetness of the composition and did justice to the original French-styled musical ornamentation of the melody.

After the first piece, Grau stepped up to the microphone to explain a little history about the piece's origins and arrangement. Throughout the rest of the event, between songs, he presented similar commentary, mixed with light-hearted jokes and ribbing of his fellow band mates.

Behind the musicians, the stage glowed red and yellow for the first half of the show, accenting the bright notes of the trumpets and dulcet sliding trombone tone with spangles of reflected light from their instruments. Spanish Brass displayed incredible skill and versatility while also demonstrating a warm, dynamic interconnectedness with one other. They would pair up and turn to face one another as they collaborated on complicated melodies such as the classical Four Sketches by Anthony Plog and Enrique Granados' Andaluza.

The second half of the show saw the stage colors cool down to a blue-purple, perhaps signaling the transition from classical to more modern pieces and arrangements. Pascual Piqueras' De Cai began with trumpet player Senca drumming out a rhythm on the lip of Finca's tuba, accompanied by staccato clapping from the rest of the group. All five members of Spanish Brass grinned and jostled one another playfully as they bounced through a mischievous rendition of Lee Morgan's Sidewinder. Toward the end of the show, Grau teased the audience by saying he could promise up to three encore songs, depending on how loudly they clapped. After such an invigorating performance, the audience earned every single one of the encore pieces with their thunderous standing applause.

Since the March 9 performance, it is no surprise that Spanish Brass has performed at events and music festivals around the world, including the Granada International Music Festival and at such prestigious venues as The Julliard School of Music in New York and the National Auditorium in Madrid.

Originally formed in Spain in 1989, the members of Spanish Brass are known not only for their award-winning artistic performances, but also for their educational activities and collaborative work with various orchestras and artists. NEIU was fortunate to have this illustrious example of brass versatility and skill playing at the Chicago Brass Festival and thanks both the Lisa Sapinkopf Artists and the Institut Valencià de la Musica for their support in bringing Spanish Brass to NEIU.