Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

Syracuse University Brass Ensemble to Present Holiday Fare on Facebook Live

Friday, November 20, 2020, By News Staff
Share
Syracuse University Brass Ensemble

The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble (SUBE), directed by James T. Spencer, is ringing in the holidays with three Saturday concerts on Facebook Live.

Free and open to the public, the online shows are Nov. 21, Dec. 12 and Dec. 19 from 7 to 8 p.m. (ET). Visit facebook.com/SUBrass for more information and links to the events.

The concerts are culled from the group’s extensive archives. “Almost every piece was filmed before a live audience in Hendricks Chapel. The result is a rich array of music that jumps off the page and onto the stage,” says Spencer, who collaborated on the series with Mary Kasprzyk ’03 and TJ James, members of SUBE’s percussion section who respectively serve as a video editor for the University and an instructor in the Setnor School of Music.

The Nov. 21 concert features SUBE’s premiere of the John Williams march from the film “1941.” Spencer considers the piece a musical response to COVID-19 since each member had to individually record his or her own part. “TJ then used advanced software to mix, blend and balance everyone’s playing. Mary added visuals, creating a seamless virtual performance experience,” he says.

Rounding out the November program are popular songs and carols.

The Dec. 12 program is an encore presentation of last year’s “Horns and Harmonies” concert, featuring SUBE and the 70-member Spirit of Syracuse (SOS) Chorus, led by Master Director Kay Crawford. Other guests include organist Jared Shepard ’17, G’18 and WCNY radio personality Bruce Paulsen, the latter of whom performs “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”

In addition to brass masterworks, “Horns and Harmonies” features vocal renditions of such chestnuts as “We Need a Little Christmas”; “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”; “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”; and “Mary, Did You Know?” The concert concludes with a candlelight singalong of “Silent Night”—a time-honored tradition in Hendricks Chapel.

“We hope to do more concerts with The Spirit of Syracuse when the pandemic is over,” says Spencer, adding that “Horns and Harmonies” followed SOS’ lauded appearance at the 2019 Sweet Adelines International Competition and Convention in New Orleans.

The Dec. 19 program is a best-of collection from over the years, including memorable performances of “The Nutcracker” Suite, “Carol of the Bells,” “Sleighride,” “The 12 Days of Christmas” and other holiday fare.

Soloists include trumpeter Jeff Stockham ’80 in “Joshua Swings the Battle”; Flugel hornist Craig Elwood ’89 in the “Huron Carol”; and soprano Laura Enslin in “The Song of Mary.”

Based in the College of Arts and Sciences, SUBE has been a fixture at University functions for over three decades. The group also enjoyed a 12-year run as co-headliner of the popular “Holidays at Hendricks” series (broadcast on WCNY throughout New York state and southern Canada), before launching the “Horns and Harmonies” holiday concert special last year.

Prior to the pandemic, the 40-member group concertized throughout Central and Western New York and performed at the prestigious Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, Kentucky, and the Gettysburg Brass Band Festival in Pennsylvania.

Among those who have written for SUBE are Robert Ward (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his operatic setting of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”), SUNY Potsdam Professor Emeritus Art Frackenpohl and Setnor’s own Joseph Downing.

“The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble is a proud, welcoming community—students, faculty, staff and alumni who inspire one other to be their best and part of something bigger,” says Spencer, who also is a Meredith Professor of Chemistry and Forensic Science in Arts and Sciences. “The music, like the friendships, is timeless.”

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • COVID-19 Update: Vaccination | Testing | Important Reminders | Zoom Sessions
    Friday, January 15, 2021, By News Staff
  • Important Update: Spring 2021 Pre-Arrival Testing Requirements (Students from New York State and contiguous states)
    Thursday, January 14, 2021, By News Staff
  • Important Update: Spring 2021 Pre-Arrival Testing and Quarantine Requirements (Students from all states non-contiguous to New York State and international locations)
    Thursday, January 14, 2021, By News Staff
  • Students and Families Invited to Participate in Zoom Sessions to Discuss Return to Campus Planning
    Thursday, January 14, 2021, By News Staff
  • The Role of Digital Forensics and Tracking Down US Capitol Riot Criminals
    Thursday, January 14, 2021, By Daryl Lovell

More In Arts & Culture

College of Visual and Performing Arts Flexes Creative Muscle to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic

“Visual and Performing Arts students wouldn’t have a reason to be here if they couldn’t sing or hold an instrument or act onstage or spend time in the studio.  The arts are a social activity, not something that lends itself…

Special Collections Research Center Receives Grant to Process Forrest J. Ackerman Papers

The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation is providing Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) with a $17,000 grant to process the Forrest J. Ackerman Papers. Ackerman was a popular American science fiction author, editor, agent, collector and fan. His…

Architecture Students Help Design Street Renovation Project in China

Since April 2020, a team of students from the School of Architecture have been working on a master plan to transform a street scape in the future city of Xiong’an New Area in China’s Hebei province. After a long delay…

Rolling Appointed to Everson Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees

James Haywood Rolling Jr., a dual professor of arts education and teaching and leadership in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) and School of Education, has been appointed to the board of trustees of the Everson Museum of…

Romita Ray’s Research on Tea Leads to Unexpected Connections and Personal Discovery

Associate professor of art history Romita Ray specializes in the art and architecture of the British Empire in India. With assistance from the University’s Proposal Support Services and internal grant funding, Ray is doing research she feels an intimate personal…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.