THE CENTER CITY BRASS QUINTET Play At Jorgensen Center 3/17

The Center City Brass Quintet, "a virtuoso outfit which plays like no other" according to the  American Record Guide, comes to UConn's Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. A concert talk precedes the performance at 6:45 p.m.

Five of today's most talented American brass players make Center City Brass famous for its standard-setting recordings and performances of the classical repertoire. But the quintet is not afraid to have fun as well, playing original arrangements of popular works by Bernstein, Ellington, Gershwin, Weill and others.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer calls the group "keenly balanced, sensitive, and brilliant in technical accomplishment [with] performances of crystalline focus. This is brass playing that glows, sings and abounds in dazzling colors."

Center City utilizes a unique formula that combines top American soloists and orchestral players into an ensemble which produces chamber music of the highest caliber. Its all-star roster includes members of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony, along with players who have performed as soloists with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops and Auckland Philharmonic.

Trumpeters Anthony DiLorenzo and Geoffrey Hardcastle, along with William Caballero on horn, Steve Witser on trombone, and Craig Knox on tuba have "an understanding of the music that is unsurpassed; theirs is a style to be emulated," according to The Horn Call, and Tuba Journal calls them "world class."

A native of Storrs and one of the Quintet's founders, Craig Knox graduated from E.O. Smith High School. Although he has toured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, this will be his first performance on his "home" stage.

The Jorgensen program includes the world premier of Anthony DiLorenzo's "Go" and his "Fire Dance," as well as  works by Bach, Debussy and Malcolm Arnold, "Bossa Nova" from Enrico Crespo's Suite Americana No. 1, "Autumn" from John Stevens' Seasons, and selections from Leonard Bernstein's On The Town.

Jorgensen is located at 2132 Hillside Rd., University of Connecticut, Storrs. Tickets are $30 and $28; some discounts apply. For tickets and information, call the Box Office at (860) 486-4226, Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., or order online at: jorgensen.uconn.edu. Convenient, free parking is available across the street in the North Garage.

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