Canadian Brass


The Canadian Brass is a Canadian brass quintet formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, by Charles Daellenbach and Gene Watts, using horn player Graeme Page and trumpets Stuart Laughton and Bill Phillips to complete the quintet., the quintet is composed of trumpeters Caleb Hudson and Chris Coletti, hornist Jeff Nelsen, trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos and tubist Charles Daellenbach.
The group performs internationally and has recorded more than 130 CDs and DVDs. They have commissioned, performed, and recorded hundreds of transcriptions and original works for brass quintet. Canadian Brass has a library of more than 600 compositions and arrangements specially and uniquely fashioned for them. In the next 50 years of the group, the intention is concentrating on new compositions for Quintet.
The quintet has been named the "one of the most popular brass ensembles in the world" by The Washington Post. Explaining the incorporation of humor into their stage performances, the group has always maintained that they are simply being themselves on stage, while performing at the highest artistic levels.
This ensemble has appeared on all the major North American TV networks, Late Night with Johnny Carson, CBS Sunday Morning and most recently on Hunan TV in China with more than 500,000 viewers. Their awards range from three honorary doctorates to Grammy, Canadian Juno and German Echo recording awards. Most recently, founder Daellenbach was appointed to the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour, in 2014. He accepted this appointment, saying, "not only do I accept this appointment for my family and myself, but on behalf of the incredible colleagues that accompanied me on this unbelievable musical journey... firstly Watts, Mills, Romm, Page and Ohanian and now the '2nd generation' colleagues of today!"

History

The Canadian Brass originally included "ensemble" in its name, but in 1971, the Hamilton Philharmonic's then-music director Betty Webster suggested that the quintet would be officially named the Canadian Brass.
The Canadian Brass made its American debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 1975. A significant international visit was made in 1977 when they were sent to mainland China as a cultural exchange between Canada and China. The ensemble was chosen and sent on this cultural mission by then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. They are now remembered in China as the first Western musicians allowed into China after the Cultural Revolution had suppressed Western art and music.
In 1979, the Canadian Brass became the first chamber ensemble to solo the main stage at Carnegie Hall. As The New York Times reported, their sold-out performance "clearly establishes the Canadian Brass as a main-stage attraction." In addition to their heavy international touring schedule for nearly 50 years, and their extensive recording catalog, they have been on the Billboard charts in each decade of their existence, recording for RCA Records, BMG, Columbia Records, SONY, Philips Decca, Steinway Label and Opening Day Entertainment occupying virtually all the spots open to brass players. As of 2018, the Canadian Brass recordings have been released by Toronto-based , headed by the Daellenbachs.
The first recordings the Brass created were for the CBC radio transcription service, including their very first major concert in Toronto the summer of 1971. Record producer Eleanor Sniderman discovered the group and put the group on its first commercial LPs in 1973 and 1974, which then attracted major artist management in New York City. In 1977, the same year the Brass represented North America in the People's Republic of China, a live radio broadcast on WQXR was heard by multi-Grammy award-winning producer Jay Saks, who was impressed, and brought the group to the prestigious RCA Red Seal label. The ensemble was then scouted by CBS records, soon to be Sony, where they recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony brass players, establishing a repertoire that is now standard for expanded brass ensembles.
When the group's former manager, Costa Pilavachi, assumed the post of "Head of A&R" at Philips Records in the Netherlands, he lured the Brass to his new label, establishing a new European presence for the group. In 1992, the Brass returned to RCA, releasing fourteen albums in eight years, including Bach's Goldberg Variations, for which the group won a German Echo award.
Stuart Laughton founded Opening Day in 1993, as a recording company specializing in Canadian performers and compositions. By 2003 Laughton was seeking a partner for the heavy work load, and in talks with Chuck Daellenbach agreed to share, then relinquish control. Daellenbach extended the scope of the company, creating Opening Day Entertainment Group and entering into partnership with producer Trey Mills later that year. Mills signed over to Mary Beth Daellenbach in December, 2007. Opening Day Entertainment Group remains an independent recording label co-directed by Mary Beth and Chuck Daellenbach. As of 2014 ODEG has released over 70 CDs for artists in a variety of genres.

Members

Current


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bar:Laughton from:01/01/2003 till:31/12/2005 color:tpt
bar:Phillips from:start till:31/12/1972 color:tpt
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bar:Romm from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2010 color:tptd
bar:Mills from:01/01/1972 till:31/12/1996 color:tpt
bar:Lindemann from:01/01/1996 till:31/12/2001 color:tpt
bar:Anthony from:01/01/2000 till:31/12/2003 color:tpt
bar:Anthony from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2010 color:tptd
bar:Burgstaller from:01/01/2001 till:31/12/2004 color:tpt
bar:Burgstaller from:01/01/2007 till:31/12/2009 color:tpt
bar:Lazarus from:01/01/2005 till:31/12/2005 color:tptd
bar:Berwaerts from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2010 color:tptd
bar:Emerich from:01/01/2005 till:31/12/2006 color:tpt
bar:Lafrance from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2010 color:tptd
bar:Ridenour from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2013 color:tptd
bar:Ridenour from:01/01/2019 till:end color:tpt
bar:Coletti from:01/01/2009 till:31/12/2019 color:tpt
bar:Hudson from:01/01/2013 till:end color:tpt
bar:Page from:start till:31/12/1983 color:hrn
bar:Hackleman from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1986 color:hrn
bar:Ohanian from:01/01/1986 till:31/12/1998 color:hrn
bar:Cooper from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/2000 color:hrn
bar:Nelsen from:01/01/2001 till:31/12/2004 color:hrn
bar:Nelsen from:01/01/2007 till:31/12/2010 color:hrn
bar:Nelsen from:01/01/2018 till:end color:hrn
bar:Scully from:01/01/2004 till:31/12/2007 color:hrn
bar:Scully from:01/01/2013 till:31/12/2017 color:hrn
bar:Reed from:01/01/2010 till:31/12/2013 color:hrn
bar:Watts from:start till:31/12/2010 color:tbn
bar:Dyrda from:01/01/2010 till:31/12/2011 color:tbn
bar:Liarmakopoulos from:01/01/2011 till:end color:tbn
bar:Daellenbach from:start till:end color:tba

Discography