SU Brass Ensemble rings in holidays with family concerts

The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble (SUBE), a 35-piece group housed in The College of Arts and Sciences, continues its 2011-12 season with three holiday concerts.

Performances are Sunday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m. at Saints Peter and John Episcopal Church (169 Genesee St., Auburn); Sunday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in SU’s Hendricks Chapel, with the Hendricks Chapel Choir (directed by John Warren), Handbell Ringers (directed by Emily Cirillo) and University organist Kola Owolabi; and Sunday, Dec. 11, at 3 p.m. at the United Church of Fayetteville (310 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville).

All concerts are free and open to the public. For more information, call 315-786-2458, or visit Friends of SU Brass Ensemble on Facebook.

Each program draws on four centuries of repertoire, including “The Nutcracker Suite,” “Joy to the World,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Silent Night,” Rutter’s “Gloria,”“ Gabrieli’s “Canzon a 12 in Double Echo,” Jan de Hann’s “Christmas Joy,” Berlioz’s Overture to “The Corsair” and Rossini’s Overture to “The Barber of Seville.”

The Dec. 4 concert, known as “Holidays at Hendricks,” will broadcast on WCNY-TV and radio on Thursday, Dec. 22, at 9 p.m. and on Sunday, Dec. 25, at 6 p.m. The concert may be viewed on channels 24.1 WCNY-DT and 24.4 WCNYHD, and heard on Syracuse 91.3 FM and 91.3 HD1, Utica 89.5 FM and 89.5 HD1, and Watertown 91.3 FM and 90.9 HD1. The performance may also be streamed on http://wcny.org.

“Brass music is virtually synonymous with the holidays,” says director James T. Spencer, who also serves as an SU Meredith Professor and as associate dean for science, mathematics and research in the college. “Our concerts feature light classics and holiday chestnuts, designed to appeal to listeners of all ages.”

This spring, SUBE will return to Hendricks Chapel for a joint concert with the University of Rochester Brass Ensemble, and will travel to the Gettysburg (Pa.) Festival for an invitational performance.

SUBE features professional-level musicians from throughout the region, many of whom are doctors, teachers and retirees. In addition to performing at official SU functions, the ensemble presents more than a dozen public concerts a year. Distinguished composers from whom SUBE has commissioned music include Robert Ward, Arthur Frackenpohl and Joseph Downing.