PRESS RELEASE
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATION
CONTACT: Brent Shires, (501) 450-5768; bshires@uca.edu
December 4, 2013
Pinnacle Brass to kick off tour with concert
CONWAY — Pinnacle Brass, the University of Central Arkansas’s resident quintet, will present a free concert Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. at the Faulkner County Library.
The program, which will last about an hour, is sponsored by the Faulkner County Library and the Conway Symphony Orchestra. Pinnacle Brass will perform holiday favorites as well as music from its upcoming tour to the People’s Republic of China.
The group will spend two weeks in December on tour, working with students and giving concerts. Among other stops they will visit Anhui Normal University in Wuhu and East China Normal University in Shanghai. Pinnacle will present various programs of quintet music and solo brass works and will be featured as the soloists with the ECNU Symphony Orchestra. In January the quintet plans to continue the tour by visiting Arkansas high schools.
Pinnacle Brass, founded in 2001, regularly appears throughout Arkansas and the American Mid-South giving concerts and clinics at schools, universities and concert halls. The group also serves the university by performing in official ceremonies and celebrations and presenting full concerts on campus.
The quintet comprises the four full-time brass professors at UCA, along with an invited trumpet student who has proven mastery in technique and artistry. The faculty members are Larry Jones, trumpet; Brent Shires, horn; Justin Cook, trombone; and Christian Carichner, tuba. At present, Eric Liu (second trumpet) is serving in his third year with Pinnacle Brass. Liu is a graduate student from Wuhu, China, and studies with Jones.
The group has appeared as featured guests with the UCA Wind Ensemble and UCA Symphonic Band, River City Men’s Chorus, Conway Symphony Orchestra and with Arkansas high school bands. Pinnacle is often called upon to musically support major events in the state, such as the investitures of Arkansas Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Roman Catholic Church and UCA President Tom Courtway.
Pinnacle also has an international reputation, having been invited for a repeat residency at East China Normal University, Shanghai this month. In 2008 the group performed with the ECNU Symphony Orchestra and with the Fujian Symphony Orchestra in Fuzhou, China. The group has also performed on separate tours in Austria and France.
A number of works have been composed specifically for Pinnacle Brass, including works by Paul Dickinson and Troy Helm. French composer Jean-Michel Damase wrote a piece titled “For Five,” dedicated to Pinnacle Brass, which has been published by Alphonse Leduc.
Pinnacle Brass is a versatile ensemble, comfortable performing as a quintet and also in smaller groups and solos. Classical, jazz, commercial, Broadway and art music are all familiar styles for the ensemble, keeping a crowd well entertained and uplifted.
For more information, contact Shires at (501) 450-5768 or bshires@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
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