When Boston Brass held a Facebook fan contest to guess how many combined miles the musicians traveled last year, the correct answer was 650,427 miles flown. It’s a quirky bit of trivia, but the five virtuosic musicians of this world-renowned brass quintet take pride in delighting their audiences with their unique brand of humor and personality. On November 4 they will perform at the University of Miami Frost School of Music's FESTIVAL MIAMI, Florida's premier live music festival, presented by UHealth--University of Miami Health System.
Boston Brass is Jeff Connor, trumpet/founder; Jose Sibaja, trumpet; Domingo Pagliuca, trombone; Chris Castellanos, French horn and Sam Pilafian, tuba. They are versatile musicians at the top of their profession; multilingual, multi-generational, highly educated, and gifted in the art of classical technique and jazz improvisation.
“The first thing you notice about Boston Brass is our incredible group chemistry and how personable we are,” says Pilafian. “Our mission is to present a brand of music that is unified in purpose, to create a meaningful exchange and connection with our audience. Coming from three generations, we’re a mixed salad of musical ideas.”
Grounded in their roots of South Florida and Latin America, Pilafian, Sibaja, and Pagliuca are all accomplished alumni of the University of Miami Frost School of Music. Pilafian is a Distinguished Alumnus of the Frost School and an emeritus professor who still remains very active. Sibaja and Pagliuca are superstars in the Latin music industry. Castellanos is a top-call Las Vegas freelancer with a who’s who list of credits.
Jeff Connor founded Boston Brass as a student at Boston University. He engineered the ensemble’s meteoric rise to fame in the world of popular chamber music. “I was inspired by Empire Brass and their sound,” he recalls.
Pilafian is a founding member of the internationally renowned Empire Brass Quintet. He joined Boston Brass two years ago, having taught the original members when they were teenage students at the summer Tanglewood Institute. Despite their thirty-year age difference, Pilafian jokes with his band mates, “I’ve spilled more notes on my tie than you’ve ever played!”
For 31 years, Boston Brass has traveled the globe, appearing in 49 states and 30 countries. They perform everything from exciting classical arrangements of Shostakovich, Ginastera, Dvorak, and Liszt, to burning jazz standards from Horace Silver, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Kenton, to the best of the original brass quintet repertoire. The group bridges the ocean of classical formality, performing a wide selection of musical styles to create a family friendly atmosphere filled with great music and boisterous fun.
At Festival Miami, Boston Brass will perform works from several musical genres including Spanish classical, Bach, Nuevo Tango, and Americana. “We’re bringing our take on the music that will reach the heart of Miami’s audience,” says Pilafian. The Frost School's lauded Stamps Brass Quintet will join Boston Brass for one piece as well.
As an added surprise, Boston Brass will invite concertgoers to take a vote at intermission to decide the second half of their program. Forty pieces of music will be separated by genre. Each voting category will have multiple repertoire choices. After the majority rules, the audience will experience a type of musical improv theatre.
The worldwide phenomenon of Boston Brass is an enviable musical brand. With over 100 performances each year, and more than a dozen CDs recorded, the group’s repeat business is their success story. Pilafian calls Jeff Connor “a great, great businessman who is fearless. He never stops believing in this project, his musical dream.”
The Miami debut of Boston Brass comes off the heels of their successful Spring tour to Asia, where they enjoyed sold-out engagements in Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and Thailand. The quintet released their newest CD Rewired last March. They continuously travel coast to coast with a busy itinerary of performances and educational masterclasses, hoping to find time to play the one U.S. state left on their bucket list…Hawaii.
To learn more about Boston Brass, visit their website at www.bostonbrass.com.
To order tickets for their November 4 concert at Festival Miami, visit http://www.festivalmiami.com.
