Onyx Brass: Dancing through Nature
Presented by Music at Oxford
Handel arr. Wick Suite from Water Music
Bernstein Dance Suite
Bernstein Waltz for Mippy II
Janáček arr. Hollings Selection from On an Overgrown Path
A concert of thrilling contrasts from this 5-piece brass ensemble. Starting off with a nod to the Natural World theme is Handel’s stately, elegant and dramatic Water Music. Bernstein’s signature style suits brass instruments wonderfully – his Dance Suite is cheeky, spiky and full of invention. Janáček’s On an Overgrown Path is, by contrast, haunting and wistful, with a dark and forceful final movement.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Celebrating its 30th anniversary season in 2023, Onyx Brass continues to be the leading light in establishing the brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music, combining “staggering virtuosity” (Sarah Walker, BBC Radio 3) with the entertaining and articulate style that has become the group’s trademark.
The group’s extensive discography (16 albums, and counting!) is regularly featured on BBC R3 and has received huge critical acclaim, Gramophone hailing “some of the most thrilling chamber brass-playing of its kind” and Record Review describing the group as a “wonderful, virtuosic brass quintet”.
New music and education are both at the heart of the ensemble’s remit: it has commissioned and premièred over 200 new works, and has led workshops and masterclasses from primary schools through to the Juilliard School; Onyx has held several residencies, including 15 years at Imperial College, London. The group also specialises in Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for professional musicians, and has led several sessions for British Army Music in this area.
Work with singers also forms a central part of Onyx’s work, often under the auspices of the John Armitage Memorial trust, with whom Onyx Brass has been affiliated since its inception.
The concert lasts 75 minutes, without interval.
