This year’s Brass Day, hosted by ETSU’s Department of Music, will be welcoming the United States Army, Pershing’s Own, Brass Quintet.
The fourth annual Brass Day will be on Feb. 11 this year and will take place from 12-9 p.m. in the Martin Center. This event is open to middle and high school students as well as collegiate students currently studying in the Department of Music. There will be masterclasses throughout the day being directed by each member of the USABQ and the ETSU Brass faculty.
“We get started and we have instrument-specific classes, so some of the trumpets will come with me and Kevin Gebo into one room and we’ll do a warmup activity with them,” said Brett Long, assistant professor of trumpet. “The next session, some of our college students will play for army personnel and get feedback and get coached.”
Long said that by the end of the day, all participants get a chance to talk with the quintet and ask any questions. He said that this is an excellent opportunity to get beginner brass players interested in playing brass professionally.
“It’s really helpful for all of our students to be able to speak with them about their musical careers, and their life as musicians now being employed by the military,” said Long. “And it’s very different than a lot of us…a lot of us have orchestral careers before we go into academia, and those things look a lot different.”
This year’s Brass Day has been in planning for over 10 months, according to Long. One of the members of the quintet, Kevin Gebo, has a history with Long. The two both applied for the opportunity to play in the USABQ and made it to finals. Since then, Long and Gebo have maintained a relationship which led them to featuring at ETSU.
The fee for student participants is $20 and includes a t-shirt, dinner and admission to the evening concert. The USABQ will be performing at 7:30 in the Martin Center Powell Recital Hall to the public for free.
For more information please visit www.etsu.edu/cas/music/camps/brassday or call 423-439-4394. To learn more about the United States Army Brass Quintet, please visit www.usarmyband.com/ensembles/the-u-s-army-brass-quintet.
