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SINGAPORE: American brass quintet, Boston Brass, is in town to collaborate with Singaporean wind orchestra, The Philharmonic Winds, in an electrifying wind-instrument based concert set to, well, blow audiences away.
This is the brass band's second stint in Singapore, after their performance at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) here in 2005 left a lingering refrain.
The group, formed 21 years ago at the Boston University – hence the namesake, have toured the world for the past 11 years and performed more than 100 concerts annually.
The band plays several genres of instrumental music, from funk to jazz to classical and even Latin, anything that strikes their fancy, according to trombone player Lance Laduke.
Playing a variety of genres which includes popular music allows the band to transcend traditional boundaries of music to appeal to both the young and the old.
Together in the band with Laduke are Andrew Nicol Hitz on tuba, Jeff Conner and Jose Carlos Sibaja on trumpets and JD Shaw on French horn.
Unlike traditional classical music concerts that require prim and proper behaviour, the group likes to keep their performances on a high note. The quintet promised that audiences here can be prepared for surprises during their Singapore concert.
Trying to cross the language barrier, for example, is one way of breaking the ice when they are in a foreign land. "Our horn player, JD, does a great job of trying to speak just a bit of whichever language (that the country we are in speaks)," explained Hitz.
But don't hold the stakes too high for some snippets of local mother tongues in Boston Brass's upcoming concert. "Mandarin is the most difficult language I've ever tried to speak, with all of the inflections," said Hitz. "I have a pretty good ear I think, but (even that, Mandarin) is way too difficult for me."
What the audiences can expect are the group's lively repartee, charming personalities and hopefully, some klutzy antics which Hitz has been known to perform.
"(When I perform), I sit down and I play the tuba, which is of course the large instrument. There is this one piece where I stand up while I play and walk to the front," said the tuba player.
"So once, my wallet was in my back pocket and it caught on my chair so when I stood up the chair came with me and I kind of had to make a motion backwards while I was playing and the chair went flying. The whole audience just absolutely wept hysterically."
With serious music, humourous moments and sincere efforts in engaging their audience, the group has dazzled music lovers at concerts and jazz festivals not just in the states, but also in Tokyo, Taipei, Macau and Hong Kong.
Their performance with The Philharmonic Winds in Singapore, "The Philharmonic Winds meets Boston Brass", will take centre stage at the Esplanade Concert Hall on Sunday. – CNA/yb
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