Artists in Residence: Bala Brass

During the 2009-2010 academic year, Bala Brass will be artists in residence at Southern New Hampshire University.  Bala will be offering recitals, lessons and workshops for SNHU students and members of the greater Manchester community.  Several members of the quintet will also be teaching courses at SNHU this year.  Bala will be performing with the Southern New Hampshire Community Band on the fall semester concert.

The award-winning Bala Brass thrills audiences around the globe with their infectious spirit and enthusiastic performances. A brass quintet dedicated to furthering the art of brass music performance, Bala was the first group of its kind to be invited to participate in the Osaka International Chamber Music Festa in Japan in 2002. The Boston area chamber ensemble was also awarded the bronze medal at the 2001 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, as well as being honored as a finalist in the 2001 Coleman Chamber Music Competition.

Bala enjoys collaborations with a diverse group of composers and artists, actively commissioning new works for the genre. Recent world premiers include Robert Bradshaw's Cantate Domino, Whitman Brown's Knuckleball, and Jeremy Spindler's As It Went By.

Committed to fostering music through education, the quintet frequently conducts master classes and educational concerts for young persons. Bala has been featured on the campuses of the Southern New Hampshire University, UMASS, UCONN, Wisconsin Lutheran College, Lakeside College, the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College-State University of New York, Phillips Academy, and Bridgewater State College.

Bala is thrilled to announce residencies for the 2009-2010 season at St. Peter’s Church in Weston, MA, and Trinity Church in Concord, MA. The quintet was also pleased to be invited to participate in a two-week residency at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, during the summer of 2009.

Learn more about Bala Brass at http://www.balabrass.org/.