By Brody Arnold
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — Pinnacle Brass, the resident brass quintet of University of Central Arkansas, will be in concert at the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall on Feb. 27.
The 7:30 p.m. concert is free and open to the public.
Pinnacle Brass is made up of four faculty members: trumpeter Larry Jones, horn player Brent Shires, trombone player Justin Cook and tuba player Gail Robertson.
“We also invite someone to play the second trumpet part,” Shires said. “Right now that is Dr. Stephen James, who is both an instructor at Hendrix and a student [at UCA].”
While Pinnacle Brass plays many classic pieces, the group occasionally plays original music.
“We’re going to play a piece that was originally written for us some years back by another [UCA] faculty member, Dr. Paul Dickinson,” Shires said. “The piece is called ‘Symphonia Sacra’ and is a modern interpretation of Renaissance style.”
The remainder of the program will include “Wapango” by Paquito D’Rivera; “Jada” by Carlton and “Stardust” by Carmichael, arranged by Jack Gale; “Canzon Gallicam” by Samuel Scheidt; “Quintettino No. 1” by Frigyes Hidas; “Send in the Clowns” by Sondheim, arranged Robertson; and “Ricochet” by Kerry Turner.
Shires was hired at UCA in 1999 as only the third brass faculty.
“We thought, ‘It sure would be cool to have a fully-staffed faculty brass quintet,’” he said.
He said the hiring of two other brass faculty members in 2001 allowed the group to finally start working. The original members included Jones, student Megan Heikkila, Shires, Denis Winter and Louis Young.
Pinnacle Brass will sometimes invite trumpet students to perform with the members.
“Sometimes that student is a grad student pursuing a grad certificate or a master’s degree,” Shires said.
In addition to giving local concerts and visiting schools around the state, Pinnacle Brass has traveled all around the world, including France, Austria and China. They have performed as a featured solo group with East China Normal University’s Symphony Orchestra, the UCA Wind Ensemble, UCA Symphonic Band, River City Men’s Chorus and other groups.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Music, and Film, Theatre and Creative Writing, as well as the School of Communication. 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.
