Brass-section members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) are headed to the Kanto area next week.
The CSO was established in 1891 and has a lineage of first-class conductors. The orchestra is now collaborating with conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez and Riccardo Muti. The latter will become the 10th music director of the CSO from September.
While the orchestra came to Japan in February 2009, this is just the second time its brass-section quintet will come to Japan by themselves (their first visit was in 2001). Three of the five members are new: trumpeters Christopher Martin and Tage Larsen, and horn player David Griffin. Martin was inaugurated as the CSO's principal trumpeter in 2005 after having been with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 2001. Larsen, before joining the CSO in 2002, played in the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and The President's Own U.S. Marine Band. Griffin joined the CSO in 1995 and plays with other orchestras, too. He also performs as a soloist. Two other members, tuba player Gene Pokorny and trombone player Michael Mulcahy, are veterans. Both have been with the CSO since 1988 and 1989 respectively.
The CSO's brass section has featured prominently in the music industry, producing legendary players including trumpeter Adolph Herseth and tuba player Arnold Jacobs.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet will perform at 7 p.m. on June 23 at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan and on June 24 at Yamaha Hall, Ginza in Tokyo, and at 3 p.m. June 26 in Sammu City Narutou Bunka Kaikan, Chiba Prefecture. For details, call Pro Arte Musicae at (03) 3943-6677 or Narutou Bunka Kaikan at (0475) 82-5222. Or visit www.proarte.co.jp
