Aidan Chamberlain leads the Chautauqua Community Band and audience in singing “Happy Birthday” during the band’s Old First Night concert last Tuesday in the Amphitheater.
All brass players come to a crossroads: put a pillow over their horn or choose to open the windows for all neighbors to bear witness. At 3 p.m. today in Fletcher Music Hall, the all-volunteer Thursday Morning Brass gives its last performance of the season, inviting the Chautauqua neighborhood to a concert with everything from Bach to The Beatles.
Music Director Aidan Chamberlain has included Renaissance-era compositions of Giovanni Gabrieli all the way to more modern fare like jazz, and “Bell Tower Fanfare” and “Til March” both composed by one of their very own, Mark Lenz.
Retired from the Rochester Philharmonic Symphony as a trombonist, Lenz has been composing for more than 40 years. Now a euphonium player (the mouthpiece is the same as the trombone), he composed “Til March” in commemoration of the late Bob Taylor and Joe DiCarlo, both horn players in the Chautauqua Amateur Musicians Program.
The theme of the piece comes from Strauss’ “Till Eulenspiegel,” and is produced in the style of John Philip Sousa, the combination showing off a sense of humor, Chamberlain said.
Sullivan finds that performing on stage with the music surrounding him is a singular experience and is especially excited to play Bach today.
“The real thrill is when you play and you’re in the middle of the really beautiful sound,” he said. “The Bach piece is moving, with beautiful chords. In the midst of it you hear it as the audience can’t.”
Thursday Morning Brass has an entire rehearsal cabin at the School of Music dedicated in its name, gifted by founding member Joe Prezio — who “roped” both Sullivan and Fred Gregory on tuba into the band at a cocktail party. Prezio went so far as to give Gregory a tuba he had made from World War II shell casings and “it all started so come back” from 40 years prior, Gregory said.
Sullivan began playing in the Thursday Morning Brass group 25 years ago, a year after its conception, while Gregory joined 16 years ago. Gregory finds that it’s just “an honor to play” with musicians of an extremely professional caliber, including some who have been musicians with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
An off-shoot of the Chautauqua Community Band, and one of the bands that make up the Chautauqua Amateur Music Program, Thursday Morning Brass is so-named for its weekly rehearsals — always Thursday morning. They play throughout the summer, notably for the Children’s School Fourth of July Parade and Old First Night, and although the number of members tends to fluctuate, the group is 13 strong right now.
“It’s a good group,” Chamberlain said, which allows for a challenging repertoire — plus, enough players have been added to complete a bigger brass repertoire.
Although the shows are free to attend, the ensemble does collect donations for their scholarship fund for a brass player in the Music School Festival Orchestra — this year, a trombone player. This is important to Gregory and Sullivan on a personal level, as well; they support the young instrumentalists by cultivating relationships and taking them out to lunch, since spending summers at Chautauqua, students tend to be isolated from family.
Additionally, they always donate money equal to the amount of mistakes they make while performing; they joke that 41 years of membership between the two of them comes at a high price.
At 80 years old, Gregory finds that playing and interpreting pieces has kept his brain going — “it’s just been very helpful,” he said. He describes the ensemble as a “melting pot,” as there are all different kinds of people from all over coming together to create music. For Sullivan, music has provided multidimensional benefits as well, contributing to his physical and mental well-being, and creating a lot of joy and socializing.
“It’s a great atmosphere in the group, everyone wants to be there. I’ve really enjoyed meeting other people on the ground,” Chamberlain said. “When I first came here, I only met people in the orchestra, and it was quite a narrow vision. Through doing Thursday Morning Brass and Community Band, I’ve met so many more people.”
