Rolf Smedvig and Charles A. Lewis, Jr., trumpets

David Ohanian, horn

Norman Bolter, trombone

Samuel Pilafian, tuba

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The Empire Brass Quintet was named a winner on the 1976 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. At the time, the Quintet was in residence at Boston University, and had made two successful European tours, participated in the Inaugural Festival for President Carter, and performed for Queen Elizabeth II during her United States Bicentennial visit. The Quintet was also featured on the nationwide PBS telecast of Arthur Fiedler's New Year's Eve at Pops in 1975 and 1976.

The Empire Brass Quintet was founded in 1971 and the original members met at Tanglewood Music Center. The Quintet selected its name after performing n New York City.

From 1977 to 1978, and again from 2001 to 2003, they performed with the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park (NY).

As part of their Naumburg prize, the Empire Brass Quintet was awarded a commission by Stanley Silverman, "Variations on a Theme of Kurt Weill" for brass quintet and piano. The work received its world premiere on April 18, 1977 in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center performed by the Empire Brass Quintet joined by guest artist, Michael Tilson Thomas, pianist.

A program note about Stanley Silverman's Variations on a Theme of Kurt Weill appears below:

"Written for the Empire Brass after their Naumburg Chamber Music Competition win, Silverman's Variations plays lively tribute to Kurt Weill's theater-born lyricism while filtering it through late 20th-century concert craft. Over roughly a quarter-hour, a clear Weill tune is introduced and sent through contrasting episodes -- by turns sly, jazzy, and biting -- where brassy fanfares, muted colors, and percussive piano writing trade the spotlight. The score relishes timbral play: wah-wah trumpets wink at cabaret, the horn and trombone carry bittersweet cantabile lines, and the tuba anchors swaggering grooves. Silverman's theater background shows in quick-cut transitions and characterful miniature scenes, yet the arc remains symphonic, closing with a crisp, high-energy coda."

‍Naumburg Concert, April 18, 1977, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

Empire Brass Quintet, 1976 Chamber Music Award

Rolf Smedvig and Charles A. Lewis, Jr., trumpets

David Ohanian, horn; Norman Bolter, trombone; Samuel Pilafian, tuba

Program

Handel: Aria

Palestrina: Ricercar del primo tunono

Albinoni: Suite in sol

Ewald: Quintet No. 3

J.S. Bach: Fantasie in C Major and Contrapunctus

Stanley Silverman: Variations on a Theme of Kurt Weill, for brass quintet and piano, World premiere and Naumburg commission

Michael Tilson Thomas, guest pianist

E.K. Eaton: Suite from Twelve Pieces of Harmony for Brass Band

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The Empire Brass Quintet is still an active ensemble and enjoys an international reputation as North America's finest brass quintet, renowned for its brilliant virtuosity and the unparalleled diversity of its repertoire. The five musicians perform more than 100 concerts a year in cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington, London, Zurich and Tokyo. With their best-selling recordings on the Telarc label they have introduced an even larger audience worldwide to the excitement of brass music that ranges from Bach and Handel to jazz and Broadway. They are equally at home in the majestically antiphonal works that Gabrieli composed for St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice and the exuberantly show stopping tunes that Richard Rodgers and Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote for Broadway.

On network television, the Empire Brass has been featured on CBS's Good Morning America, NBC's Today Show and Sunday Today and PBS's Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. It is a regular guest on commercial and public radio networks nationwide, performing on programs such as St. Paul Sunday Morning, Traditions and NPR's Performance Today.

In December 1987, the Empire Brass became the first ensemble to play at the newly remodeled Carnegie Hall. It also opened the Carnegie Hall Centennial Gala joining forces with members of the New York Philharmonic in the world premiere of Joan Tower's specially commissioned Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman.

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"They simply have no competition when it comes to the beauty and clarity and accuracy and balance and interaction of their playing - the first phrase of any Empire Brass performance live or on recording sends a thrill of pleasure through your nervous system." - The Boston Globe

"If there is a brass quintet that has more charisma, virtuosity and imagination than the Empire Brass, it hasn't yet played in Chicago." - Chicago Tribune

"Lavishly endowed in technique and musicianship. Individually and collectively they proved brilliantly virtuosic, with lips of steel and willing, musical spirit."

Los Angeles Times

"They exhibited virtuosity and versatility far beyond the normal call of concert duty. You have not often heard an ensemble that played with more gusto than this one.

The New York Times

"They are first rate virtuosos who - have this is rare-have not forgotten how to play" Morgenpost, Berlin

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