When The Brass Comes Marching In

The Reunion Music Society’s (RMS) “Spring Fling: American Salute” concert paid tribute to some of America’s greatest composers on Sunday, Apr. 10. The concert, held at the Ernst Community Center at Northern Virginia Community College’s Annandale campus, evoked a marvelous sense of joy and patriotism.

“American music is a lot of fun – a lot of energy and vitality, rhythmic drive and wonderful melodies as well,” said Christopher Johnston, the ensemble’s keyboard specialist.

Through classic marches such as Henry Fillmore’s Americans WE, John Philip Sousa’s The Liberty Bell, and F.W. Meachem’s American Patrol, the brass ensemble beautifully presented what Director John Wright called a “collage of American history.”

“Most of the marches that we did have had some significance to American history,” Wright said.

Although much of the concert featured upbeat American marches, the ensemble was also able to display its versatility and range through performance of a plethora of styles, including jazzy numbers such as George Gershwin’s Our Love is Here to Stay and a selection from Ragtime performed by Johnston and the ensemble’s percussionist Claiborne T. Richardson II.

Surprisingly enough, two of the most memorable pieces performed during “American Salute” were V.Solovyev-Sedoy’s Moscow Nights and Eric Cook’s Bolivar. The brass’ arrangement of Moscow Nights provided an interesting change of pace from the horn-dominated pieces of the American numbers, incorporating more tuba and even some snapping. Bolivar featured a solo by trombonist Scott Shelstra, whose performance truly reflected the bravado and swagger of Latin culture.

Shelsta was one of many impressive soloists on Sunday. Trombonist Sarah Meltzer and Shelsta shined during the ensemble’s performance of Henry Fillmore’s Shoutin’ Liza Trombone and French horn soloist Kevin Frear brought out of the spirit of Mozart during Rondo from Horn Concerto No. 3 K447.

The brass maintained a solid blend musically throughout the concert, with no particular group of instruments overpowered any other group. The ensemble’s dynamics were also noteworthy, as no piece ever became stagnant.

The Annandale Brass’s next performance will be at the NVCC’s graduation at George Mason University’s Patriot Center on May 15 at 2 p.m. They will also perform at Frying Pan Park in Herndon on Jun. 9 at 7:30 p.m. For more information on The Reunion Music Society and the Annandale Brass, visit their website here.