(left to right) Members of the Spanish Brass are Carlos Benetó, trumpet; Indalecio Bonet, trombone; Sergio Finca, tuba; Manolo Pérez, horn; and Juanjo Serna, trumpet.
By Amanda Nettles
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — The quintet Spanish Brass will visit the University of Central Arkansas as artists in residence Sept. 20-21.
The residency will include two concerts: a free public performance Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall; and an educational program for schools at Conway High School’s James H. Clark Auditorium on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 10 a.m.
Based in Valencia, the group is an international touring sensation. In 1996, Spanish Brass won first prize in the Narbonne (France) International Brass Quintet Competition, the most prestigious event of its kind in the world.
Associate Professor of Music Dr. Brent Shires initiated the effort to bring Spanish Brass to the UCA campus.
“We in America really don’t get much exposure to the music and musicians of Spain,” he said. “I first heard the group Spanish Brass in their hometown of Valencia in 2004. UCA’s Horn Studio was fortunate to spend 10 days in Spain that year at the International Horn Symposium and got to hear and meet these amazing players. Now it’s even more exciting that they will be featured right here in Conway.”
Other activities during the residency will include masterclasses for music students, brass instrument lessons, a clinic on Music Entrepreneurship and a roundtable discussion for Spanish-language students. A Spanish Culture Fair, highlighting the different regions of Spain and staffed by UCA Spanish-language students, will be held in the lobby of Reynolds Performance Hall prior to the Sept. 20 concert starting at 6:30 p.m.
All events are free and open to the public.
For more information about Spanish Brass, visit www.spanishbrass.com.
The Artist in Residence program is funded by UCA’s arts fee and is administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication. For more information about the program, call the Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, at (501) 450-3293 or e-mail jdmiller@uca.edu.
Shires said additional funding assistance for this residency had been provided by the Frey Foundation of the UCA Department of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures; the UCA Department of Music; and Conway Public Schools as well as Artistas, Intérpretes o Ejecutantes – AIE and Generalitat Valenciana – Culturarts Música. For more information about the residency, 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.
