About the Boston Brass

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Boston Brass and the Lakota West Symphonic Winds

Boston Brass "Caravan"

Boston Brass/Jupiter Band Instruments Educational Promo

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From exciting classical arrangements, to breathtaking vocal harmony, to burning jazz standards, Boston Brass achieves new levels in brass performance while treating audiences to a unique musical experience that captivates all ages. The ensemble includes J.D. Shaw, French horn; Jeff Conner, trumpet; Lance LaDuke, trombone & euphonium; Jose Sibaja, trumpet and Andrew Hitz, tuba. The ensemble’s lively repartee, touched with humor and personality, bridges the vast ocean of classical formality to delight audiences to an evening of boisterous fun, exciting knowledge and an enthusiastic love of music, deftly exhibited by five brash brass players. Boston Brass has transcended the traditional mores of brass ensemble literature and, with a host of original arrangements, has pioneered a new generation of music that sets out to achieve one simple goal: entertain at all costs with blistering precision.

Performing over 100 concerts annually, the members of Boston Brass have dazzled audiences at concerts and jazz festivals around the world in such cities as Tokyo, Singapore, Taipei, Macau, New York, Portland, Seattle, Philadelphia, Detroit, Dallas, San Antonio, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, and Los Angeles. As committed to education as they are to performance, they have conducted master classes at colleges and universities around the country including The Eastman School of Music, Rice University, University of Connecticut, Syracuse University, University of North Carolina, University of Florida, University of North Texas, Boston University, Yale University, University of Michigan and U.C.L.A. Along with their instrument sponsor, Conn-Selmer, Boston Brass has also conducted clinics and concerts at national and regional music educational conferences in New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Missouri, Iowa, South Carolina, Ohio and Texas. In cooperation with Conn-Selmer, Boston Brass helped raise over $100,000 for VH1’s Save the Music program, giving musical instruments to schools in need. Boston Brass has been featured educators and performers at the American Bandmaster Association Conference in Gainesville, FL, Southern Oregon University’s American Band College in Ashland, OR, and at the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention in San Antonio, TX.

During the 2005 season Boston Brass made their debut appearances in the Far East, with an eight city concert tour of Taiwan, and as featured guest ensemble at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) 2005 conference in Singapore. They also much acclaimed concert appearances in Hong Kong and Macau. In December 2005 Boston Brass made their debut tour of Japan with an eight city tour.

Boston Brass has been featured on The CBS Morning Show, National Public Radio's Performance Today, the Great American Brass Band Festival and has recorded several ground breaking, extraordinary, delightful albums. Two of these albums appear on the Summit Records label: Stealing the Show, a collection of overtures and arias, and Young Fogeys, a collage of jazz and swing favorites. The ensemble’s latest release on the Loft Recordings label entitled Out of This World, features heroic music for brass and organ. Along with Seattle's St. Mark's Cathedral organist J. Melvin Butler, the band explores symphonic textures from all eras of music and even includes a commission from Hollywood composer Bruce Edward Miller entitled Pluto: The Last Planet. The summer of 2000 proved to be an exciting time as Boston Brass teamed up with the legendary jazz recording genius Rudy van Gelder to produce Ya Gotta Try. This collaboration, which features music from Horace Silver, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie and many others, further explores the innovative jazz styles that have propelled Boston Brass to the forefront of their genre. The 2003 release Within Earshot features classical pieces by Shostakovich, Ginastera, Dvorak, Liszt and others. In that same year, Boston Brass collaborated with the Syracuse University Wind Ensemble for a new recording of Christmas classics titled Christmas Bells are Swingin’, which was released in 2004 and featured many of the most beloved tunes of the holiday season.

Members

J.D. Shaw - French Horn

J. D. Shaw received his Masters in Music Performance at the Eastman Scool of Music and was honored with a Performers Certificate. Touring extensively throughout the United States, Japan, and Europe, he has performed with such orchestras as the Vienna Philharmonic, Orchestra of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, the Missouri Symphony, Youngstown Symphony, Wichita Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition, Mr. Shaw has been an award winner at the M.T.N.A. National Recital Competition and at the International Horn Society Symposium. Solo credits include performances on Lark Recordings, appearing as a guest artist at the Newport Music Festival and performing on soundtracks for many commercials and motion pictures. J. D. creates most of the innovative arrangements that have helped establish the instantly recognizable hallmark sound of Boston Brass.

Jeff Conner - Trumpet

Jeff Conner received his Masters in Music from Boston University and his Bachelors in Music from Boston Conservatory. Jeff has been a soloist with the Boston College Symphony and the Salem Philharmonic. He has performed with the Music at Gretna Summer Festival, New England Philharmonic, Nashua Symphony, Harvard-Radcliffe Chamber Orchestra, Pierre Monteux Orchestra, Boris Goldovsky Summer Opera Orchestra, and Empire Brass Symposium at Tanglewood. Jeff is a founding member of Boston Brass and has engineered the meteoric rise of this ensemble's fame in the world of popular chamber music.

Lance LaDuke - Trombone, Euphonium

Lance LaDuke is the newest member of the Boston Brass (they lost a bet). He is the solo euphoniumist (and resident comic) of the River City Brass Band and teaches at Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon Universities.

He received a bachelor's degree in Music Education from Michigan State University. After graduate study at the University of Akron and George Mason University, he joined the U.S. Air Force Band in Washington D.C. While there, he performed for two presidents, countless dignitaries and heads of state and in hundreds of protocol functions, ceremonies, and public relations tours, here and abroad.

Lance has performed with many of the top brass groups in the country, has appeared on over thirty recordings and has produced nine others. Henry Mancini, Doc Severinsen, Morton Gould, E.G. Marshall, Morgan Freeman, and Frederick Fennell have each described Lance as a prolific name-dropper.

Jose Sibaja - Trumpet

Jose brings an incredible level of artistry, humor and personality to the Boston Brass. He is a native of Costa Rica and studied at the New World School of the Arts and at the University of Miami in Gilbert Johnson's studio. As an orchestral player, Jose has held positions in the Miami Symphony, the Sinfonietta de Caracas and the Orquesta Sinfonica Venezuela as well as performed as soloist with the Springfield Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica Venezuela, Orquesta Sinfonica de Carabobo and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica; among others.

Jose has been active in South Florida's Latin music scene and was a member of Ricky Martin�s band for eight years. He has also recorded with Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan,Alejandro Sanz and Franco de Vita; among others. Jose has performed on television on such shows as the Grammy Awards, The American Music Awards, The MTV Music Awards, Total Request Live, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Saturday Night Live.

Andrew Hitz - Tuba

Andrew Hitz has received a Bachelor's Degree in tuba performance at Northwestern University while studying with Rex Martin. He also worked extensively under Sam Pilafian at Arizona State University. Andrew's commitment and love of chambermusic began as a student of the Empire Brass Seminar at Tanglewood. He has performed at the National Orchestral Institute and with the National Repertory Orchestra. Andrew has also appeared with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the New World Symphony. Andrew's dynamic style and charm make him a welcome addition as the newest member of Boston Brass.