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Bulwer Street Brass launches at Government House with early, baroque, jazz and contemporary music

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David CusworthThe West Australian
Bulwer Street Brass launches at Government House.
Camera IconBulwer Street Brass launches at Government House.

Trumpets, horns, trombones and tuba will ring to the rafters when Bulwer Street Brass premieres at Government House Ballroom at the end of this month.

The group of freelance brass players formed last year and have rescheduled their first recital under the Restart the Arts initiative at Government House, trombonist Rob Coleman explained.

“We’re a new brass collective with a focus not just on bringing brass music to Perth audiences, but also creative programming, and providing much needed opportunities and exposure to freelance brass musicians in Perth,” Coleman said.

“The goal originally was performing music we all love which is almost never performed live in Perth. Over time the interest amongst players in the project has seen us shift our focus to creative programming.”

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The first program blends the early music of William Byrd with Bach’s baroque, Ellington’s jazz, 20th century French classical composer Henri Tomasi, and contemporary Australians Peter Sculthorpe and Elena Kats-Chernin.

“We have a sensational pool of performers with backgrounds ranging from early music specialists, jazz, orchestral, chamber, and experimental players,” Coleman said.

“This has allowed us to not just celebrate this incredible repertoire we love, but also explore and create very diverse programs.

“Part of our goal is to challenge the barriers between not just our players’ musical sensibilities, but also our audiences’.

“We see no reason why jazz composers shouldn’t share the stage with composers such as Bach, or emerging unknown composers.”

The group has also created educational shows to promote brass playing in schools, and is developing a commissioning project to add to the repertoire.

The ensemble takes its name from a former musicians’ hangout. It features emerging players and some established names: trumpeters Zoe McGivern, Jack Collinson, Ricki Malet and Breanna Evangelista; horn players Tahlia Denn, Aishah Chadwick-Stumpf, Brooke Prendergast and Arianne Rooney; trombonists Thomas Gilmore, Jeremy Mazurek, Steven Bickley and Rob Coleman; tuba player Wafi Zainal; and percussionists Joel Bass, Thomas Robertson and William Chiew.

Bulwer Street Brass appear at Government House Ballroom, Perth, on January 31, at 2pm. Tickets from https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/introducing-bulwer-st-brass-tickets-132217444937.

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