Living
Spanish Brass to perform at CAC
Wednesday, 29 February 2012 by Keith Bahlmann
The Central Texas Orchestral Society will present Spanish Brass at 4 p.m. on Feb. 19 in Temple at the Cultural Activities Center. Delightful, entertaining and consummate musicians, the group is considered one of the best brass quintets in the world and performs a huge variety of repertoire. Explore the sounds at www.spanishbrass.com.
Prior to the concert, CTOS will host a reception for all concert attendees at 3 p.m. in Strasburger Hall at the CAC. Also performing will be orchestra students from Travis Middle School, under the direction of Wilma Schiller. They will play during the reception and at intermission.
Spanish Brass was created in 1989 and quickly gained world renowned recognition for educational activities and other collaborations. At the Feb. concert, CTOS has a student group from TISD, Lamar Middle School, called "Spanish Brass Lucky 10" that will learn about the artists, their music, instruments and about concert etiquette prior to the concert. The students and their two sponsors will be CTOS's guests and Student Affiliate members at the Spanish Brass concert.
Spanish Brass performs across the globe, in venues as the Great American Brass Band Festival, New York Brass Conference, Juilliard School of Music, Ithaca College, Festival de Musique de Radio-France, Granada International Festival, Lucerne Festival, Cheju Summer Festival (Korea), Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany), National Auditorium (Madrid), Palau de la Música (Barcelona), and countless others. Their versatile programming and state-of-the-art staging, has labeled them as, "one of the world´s finest brass quintets ranking up there with Empire Brass, Canadian Brass and American Brass" (Greg Alley); "They play with amazing cohesion, and set the highest standard for brass chamber music"
Artists from Spanish Brass include: Carlos Benetó Grau, trumpeter, is one of three founding members of Spanish Brass. Carlos was born in born in Villanueva de Castellón, Valencia in 1969, he began his musical training at the Lira Castellonense Music Society's Music School in Vilanova de Castelló, Valencia. He graduated from Madrid's Royal Conservatory of Music, where he studied with José María Ortí. Juanjo Serna Salvador, trumpeter, another founding member, was born in Albuixec, Valencia in 1970. He trained with José Ortí at Madrid's Royal Advanced Music Conservatory, where he received the advanced level Honor Award.
The third founding member, Indalecio Bonet Manrique, trombonist, was born in Vila-real, Castellón in 1971, Inda began his musical training with his father. He continued his training at the Valencia Advanced Music Conservatory, where he won the Honor Awards at the elementary, intermediate and advanced levels Conservatory. He then went to study in Paris at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, where he won First Prize. For this concert in Temple, María Rubio, French hornist, will be substituting for Manuel Perez Ortega. Maria was born near Valencia in Alboraya. On graduating from Valencia's Conservatorio Superior de Música "Joaquín Rodrigo" she received highest marks and the Premio de Honor. With scholarships from both the Spanish Cultural Council and the Humboldt Foundation, Maria moved to Germany to pursue postgraduate studies at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Freiburg im Breisgau with professor Bruno Schneider.
The youngest, newest member and tuba player of Spanish Brass is Sergio Finca Quirós: Born in 1979, Sergio comes from Pola de Siero, a small town in northern Spain. He began his musical studies at the age of eleven, later studied at the Conservatory of Music in Oviedo, and broadened his musical education in France at the Conservatoire National de Région in Perpignan and Bordeaux, where he was awarded the city's Medal of Honor.
Spanish Brass receives the support of the Institut Valencia de la Musica. The Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Texas Commission on the Arts supports the Central Texas Orchestral Society series.
This unique performance is one of CTOS' concert series. Tickets are $25 Adults and Students $10. Call (254) 773-9926 for more information or to purchase your tickets.
