Saturday, November 14, 2015

   Assistant Conductor Audrey McComb with members of the Humboldt Bay   Brass Band 

 Humboldt Bay Brass Band in “Destiny of Knights & Cossacks”

 From opera overture to musical comedy, a Veterans Day tribute to a holiday season preview, Humboldt Bay Brass Band presents its autumn mash-up and its only HSU concert of the school year, “Destiny of Knights and Cossacks,” on Saturday November 14 at Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 After the stirring overture to the opera Force of Destiny by Verdi, and selections from the musical Oklahoma, HBBB tackles Call of the Cossacks by contemporary British brass band composer Peter Graham that employs musical styles from Gypsy to Klezmer. 

“This five movement work tests all sections of the band,” notes director Gil Cline. “It highlights five soloists—one brandishing our so-called Cossack Horn.” 

Knights Templar by 20th century British band composer George Allen is “a roller-coaster major-minor masterpiece in counterpoint,” Cline said. Blades of Toledo by Trevor Sharpe, long-time musical director of the Coldstream Guards, “shreds notes at a furiously fast tempo, as if brandishing the famous swords of Toledo, Spain.” It features the HBBB trombone section.

  Also on the program are contemporary composer John Rutter’s “What Sweeter Music” anticipating the December holidays, and a special version of Taps to commemorate Veterans Day.

 HBBB is the only authentic British-style brass band in northern California, featuring 25 brass instruments plus percussion. Assisting conductor Gil Cline is Audrey McCombs. 

 Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs on Saturday November 14 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Produced by HSU Music department.

Media: Mad River Union, Eureka Times-Standard Urge, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now

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