SU Brass Ensemble kicks off season with concert benefiting SUNY JCC Oct. 17

The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble (SUBE), led by Music Director James T. Spencer, kicks off its 2009-10 season with a performance at SUNY Jefferson Community College (JCC). The annual fundraiser, benefiting the JCC Foundation, is Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. in Sturtz Theater (1220 Coffeen St., Watertown). The program also features the Thousand Islands High School Chorus, conducted by Kathryn Ingerson. The concert is free and open to the public, but donations of any amount are welcome. For more information, call (315) 786-2458 or visit http://www.sunyjefferson.edu/Press/Releases/fall09/su-brass-2009.pdf.

Last year, SUBE helped raise more than $20,000 for the foundation.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Thousand Islands High School Chorus in helping our sister college,” says Spencer, also an SU Meredith Professor and an associate dean for science, mathematics and research in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences. “This concert has become a fall tradition for us and for the Watertown community. It’s our way of giving back.” The 35-piece SUBE is housed in Arts and Sciences and is the University’s ensemble in residence.

Following a short choral program, SUBE will present a variety of classical and popular music, including Tchaikovsky’s “Capriccio Italian”; Rimsky-Korsakoff’s “Procession of the Nobles”; Carter’s “Boston Commandery,” featuring E-flat trumpet soloist and former Syracuse Symphony principal Lee Strickland; and a Hollywood tribute. The program closes with a combined choral and brass performance of Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” “This march always gets them on their feet,” adds Spencer.

Other upcoming SUBE concerts are Sunday, Nov. 29 (Saints Peter and John Episcopal Church, Auburn); Sunday, Dec. 6 (with the Hendricks Chapel Choir and Handbell Ringers at SU’s Hendricks Chapel); Saturday, Dec. 12 (The United Church of Fayetteville); and Sunday, Dec. 13 (St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Oswego).

Composed of students, faculty and alumni from SU and neighboring institutions, SUBE presents no fewer than 15 concerts a year of all styles and time periods. Recently, it premiered “In Praise of Science” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Robert Ward, as part of SU’s Life Sciences Complex dedication. The group was also featured in “Holidays at Hendricks,” whose 2008 televised broadcast on WCNY earned a prestigious Silver Telly Award.