The Canadian Brass ensemble—recipients of a combined total of 24 Grammy and Juno Award nominations and winner of the German Echo Award for Goldberg Variations—pairs up with Longwood Gardens Principal Organist Peter Richard Conte for an evening featuring solo organ, solo brass ensemble, and combined forces with the music of Bach, Brahms, Faure, and Gabrieli.
Canadian Brass
Joe Burgstaller and Ashley Hall-Tighe, trumpets
Jeff Nelsen, horn
Achilles Liarmakopoulos, trombone
Chuck Daellenbach, tuba
The original challenge for Canadian Brass was to develop an audience for an ensemble of brass players that, at the time, had no standing in the concert world. What set Canadian Brass apart from all other performing artists in 1970 was the relentless search for repertoire that was both loved by its performers and embraced by a growing brass audience.
The ensemble never ignored an opportunity to relate to its audience, which brought the Brass to international attention. They were at first criticized for talking to audiences and now take pride in seeing the entire concert world embracing engagement as a fundamental element of performance.
They are a North American group taking Bach back to Europe—and winning approval at the highest level was a crowning achievement! Most recently, during the Covid era, the Brass created another award-winning recording, Canadiana. The album features unique arrangements of many Canadian superstars including Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, Bruce Cockburn, Drake, and DeadMau5.
Education continues to be at the forefront of Canadian Brass’ yearly activities. There are more than one million Canadian Brass quintet repertoire books in the hands of students in every country with a strong brass tradition. Between Hal Leonard Music Publishing distributing its 800 unique individual brass titles and SmartMusic now making available some 76 titles for mixed ensemble use, the Brass continues to shape the future of chamber music ventures.
For a comprehensive Canadian Brass biography, blend together the complete history of any random five musician ensemble and it will yield a year in the world of Canadian Brass. “We’ve created ballets, played Carnegie Hall, toured China during its 1977 reopening, and performed in front of five prime ministers, but most importantly performed for more than ten million friends, family, and audiences worldwide so far. We did all this so we could play Bach,” says tubaist and founder Chuck Daellenbach.
Peter Richard Conte – Organ
In 1989, Peter Richard Conte was appointed Wanamaker Grand Court Organist at what is now the Macy’s Department Store in downtown Philadelphia—the fourth person to hold that title since the organ first played in 1911.
He performs a majority of twice-daily recitals, six days each week, on the largest fully functioning musical instrument in the world. Conte is also principal organist of Longwood Gardens, and organist-choirmaster of St. Clement’s Church, Philadelphia, where he directs a music program firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. He is also a frequent collaborator and soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra.
For 13 years he was heard on The Wanamaker Organ Hour radio show, broadcast via wrti.org. He has been a featured artist at several American Guild of Organists’ national and regional conventions and has performed as a soloist with many other orchestras around the country.
Conte has served as adjunct assistant professor of organ at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ, where he taught organ improvisation. He is the 2008 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington. In 2013, the Philadelphia Music Alliance honored him with a bronze plaque on the Avenue of the Arts’ Walk of Fame. His numerous recordings appear on the Gothic, JAV, Pro Organo, Dorian, Raven, and DTR labels. His most recent CD, Virgil Fox Remembered, was released in May 2016 on the Raven label. Conte is represented exclusively in North America by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC.
