The quintet’s much-anticipated debut album, “Dry Heat <link to Dry Heat page within site>,” contains a wide variety of the group’s favorite repertoire, from traditional Classical and Renaissance works to 20th Century brass compositions to all-new jazz arrangements written exclusively for the quintet. The Sonoran Brass Quintet’s members are active in every facet of the valley’s vibrant music culture. They perform with The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, Tucson Symphony, and a multitude of nationally touring Broadway shows. The quintet’s members are educators, both as faculty members at Mesa Community College and conducting clinics and masterclasses at public schools and universities across the Southwest. Members of the group are also performing artists and developers, collaborating in the latest instrument and product design with S. E. Shires and Eastman Winds.
The Sonoran Brass Quintet has been featured with the Mesa Community College Band twice performing Eric Ewazen’s “Shadowcatcher”, a concerto for brass quintet and wind ensemble. The ensemble was the only brass quintet invited to present a recital as Guest Artists at the 2007 Southwest Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conference in Tucson, Arizona and was chosen to be a featured ensemble during the 2009 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists and the 2015 Arizona Bach Festival. The members of the quintet were also participants in the Arizona Music Project, a program by the Arizona Office of Tourism designed to feature some of Arizona’s most talented musicians.
The quintet has collaborated in concert with many esteemed Valley ensembles, including the Phoenix Children’s Chorus, Orpheus Men’s Chorus of Phoenix, Sonoran Desert Chorale, as well as numerous appearances with the Grammy-winning Phoenix Chorale. The group served as “Artists in Residence” at Central United Methodist Church in Phoenix for more than a decade, featured regularly in Sunday services and recitals. Additionally, they provide music for ceremonies and events at Arizona State University, Midwestern University, and a host of other organizations and institutions.
Charles Berginc, former Principal Trumpet of the Phoenix Symphony, states the quintet’s impression best: “...besides being musically polished to a high degree, the Sonoran Brass Quintet is just plain fun!”