the BRASS PROJECT
About the Ensemble
Hailed as “six superb brass players” (Philadelphia Inquirer), The Brass Project is a sextet committed to invigorating the brass chamber music experience through vibrant performance and fearless exploration.
Founded in 2016 at the Curtis Institute of Music, the ensemble now includes graduates of The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music, as well as former members of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, Finnish Radio Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, and La Orquesta Filarmonica de Sonora. The members of The Brass Project united around a shared set of goals: to expand the repertoire for chamber brass, to record and distribute new works, and to engage with diverse styles and audiences.
Over the last three years, the ensemble has met these goals by commissioning 35 new compositions by both established and early career composers such as Aaron Jay Kernis, Paul Lansky, Reena Esmail, and Gabriella Smith, among many others. In 2018, The Brass Project recorded, produced, and distributed 13 of these works on their debut album, Cityscaping
The Brass Project has held residencies at Music from Angel Fire (2016 & 2017), Rockport Music (2019), Bravo! Vail (2019), The Aspen Music Festival and School (2018 Fellowship Brass Ensemble) and Haverford College (2018). The Brass Project has performed at an array of venues in and around New York City, including the Morris Museum, National Sawdust, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, St. Marks Church, and the Shalin Liu Performance Center.
As part of The Brass Project’s mission to curate and commission new works, the ensemble recently appointed Saad Haddad as its composer in residence, a position held by Nick DiBerardino between 2016 and 2019. Through this collaboration, The Brass Project is eager to explore music written beyond Eurocentric traditions and to embark on a mutually stimulating foray with Mr. Haddad as he composes a new major work for brass sextet.
As part of The Brass Projects initiative to bring music to diverse and underserved communities, the ensemble has worked with young students in hundreds of educational concerts across Northern New Mexico, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, and Colorado.