Tuesdays on the Tube

Tuesdays on the Tube: Northwestern Alumni

Northwestern University has always been one of the premiere schools for brass playing. Each instrument’s studio has produced some of the best in the business. With the legendary sections of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as some of its faculty members, Northwestern has certainly been a training ground for the great brass players in today’s major orchestras and military bands. In May 2016, a handful of those alumni came together to perform standard literature arranged for brass ensemble. Those pieces included:

  • Fanfare for the Common Man
    • Aaron Copland
  • O Magnum Mysterium
    • Morten Lauridsen, arr. by Brian Buerkle
  • Lincolnshire Posy
    • Percy Grainger, arr. by Timothy Higgins
  • Feierlicher Einzung
    • Richard Strauss
  • Mvt. 2 “Allegro” from Symphony No. 10
    • Dmitri Shostakovich, arr. by Timothy Higgins
  • Festive Overture
    • Dmitri Shostakovich, arr. by Michael Martin

If your know your performance literature well, you know that all of these pieces are “heavy hitters” for all brass players in their regular compositions. Now imagine having to play the non-brass parts in addition to your “normal” part.

Enjoy these phenomenal arrangements performed by some of the best brass players in the industry as well as current NU students.

Jeremy Smith

Jeremy E. Smith is the Founder and Editor of Last Row Music. He received music degrees from Grace College, Carnegie Mellon University, and The Ohio State University. Currently, Jeremy is the bass trombonist of the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, the Huntington Symphony Orchestra, and performs throughout Ohio, where he lives with his wife and two sons. Smith is a member of the International Trombone Association and the Jazz Journalists Association.