Past Event: UCA Low Brass Day

UCA Low Brass Workshop in Review
by Benjamin Scaccia

On November 14-15, 2014, the University of Central Arkansas Department of Music and low brass professors, Justin Cook (trombone) and Dr. Gail Robertson (euphonium, tuba, and jazz), hosted the first annual Low Brass Workshop, featuring some incredible guest artists and some of the exquisite UCA music faculty. The workshop proved not only to be an educational and stunning experience for the students of UCA, but it also catered to a handful of young low brass students, with their levels ranging from middle school to high school.

The event kicked off with Low Brass Night, the Friday night before the Saturday workshop. The recital featured Indiana University’s Professor of Trombone, Peter Ellefson, accompanied by UCA’s own Kazuo Murakami on piano. The second half of the recital then featured the SymbiosisDuo, consisting of Dr. Robertson on euphonium, Morehead State University’s Professor of Tuba and Euphonium, Dr. Stacy Baker on tuba, and Cincinnati freelance collaborative pianist, Alex Thio.

Then, on the clear and mild morning of November 15, 2014, the main festivities of the Low Brass Workshop commenced. The day started at 9:00am with a mass warm up, separated into a giant tuba/euphonium ensemble and an equally big trombone ensemble, mixing collegiate, high school, and middle school musicians. At 10:00am, the Arkansas Select Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble and Arkansas Select Trombone Ensemble broke away from the group to rehearse for the upcoming concert. Meanwhile, the rest of the Low Brass Day participants met for a question and answer session with Dr. Baker and Professor Ellefson. Moving on to 10:45am, all of the participants then merged into the recital hall to rehearse for the Combined Ensemble portion of the program, followed by a break for lunch.

The day continued at 12:30pm, with separated master classes for tuba/euphonium and trombone. Professor Ellefson lead the trombones, while Dr. Baker and Dr. Robertson showcased the Pro Series Elite Practice System to the tubas and euphoniums. The students, younger and older, seemed to really enjoy the demo of the at home practice tool. Following this, the concerts began around 1:45pm, starting with a reprise of the Guest Artist Recital from the night before. At 3:15pm, the UCA Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble performed several of Dr. Robertson’s arrangements of various James Bond favorites. You Only Live Twice showcased Professor Justin Cook on trombone, Dr. Gail Robertson on euphonium, Dr. Stacy Baker on tuba, and the UCA Director of Bands, Dr, Ricky Brooks as the conductor. The UCA Bear Bones Ensemble played Ave Maria by Franz Biebl next, later to feature Peter Ellefson on Cogent Caprice by Tommy Penderson as well. To showcase several All-District and All- State students, the Arkansas Select ensembles took the stage, displaying the young talent that is present in the state of Arkansas. The day then concluded with a massive combined ensemble with Robertson’s arrangements of Ave Verum Corpus and Batman, as all of the participants gave one final performance to close the books on a wonderfully musical day.

A special thank you goes out to the UCA Department of Music, Professor Justin Cook, Dr. Gail Robertson, the BearBones Trombone Choir, the Tuba/Euphonium Krewe, and the Student Government Association for making this day possible.