12 Sep 2016 Spanish Brass to perform

The quintet Spanish Brass will visit the University of Central Arkansas as artists in residence Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 20-21.

The residency will include two concerts: a free public performance at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall; and an educational program for schools at Conway High School’s James H. Clark Auditorium at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21.

Based in Valencia, the group is an international touring sensation. In 1996, Spanish Brass won first prize in the Narbonne (France) International Brass Quintet Competition, the most prestigious event of its kind in the world.

Associate Professor of Music Dr. Brent Shires initiated the effort to bring Spanish Brass to the UCA campus.

"We in America really don’t get much exposure to the music and musicians of Spain,” he said. “I first heard the group Spanish Brass in their hometown of Valencia in 2004. UCA’s Horn Studio was fortunate to spend 10 days in Spain that year at the International Horn Symposium and got to hear and meet these amazing players. Now it’s even more exciting that they will be featured right here in Conway.”

Other activities during the residency will include masterclasses for music students, brass instrument lessons, a clinic on Music Entrepreneurship and a roundtable discussion for Spanish-language students. A Spanish Culture Fair, highlighting the different regions of Spain and staffed by UCA Spanish-language students, will be held in the lobby of Reynolds Performance Hall prior to the Sept. 20 concert starting at 6:30 p.m.

All events are free and open to the public.

For more information about Spanish Brass, visit spanishbrass.com.