Axiom Brass offers a musical journey from 'Quarks to Cosmos' March 11
The final installment of the 2018 Gallery Chamber Series, a musical celebration of science, will feature "Axiom Brass: Quarks to Cosmos" at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 11, in the art gallery at Fermilab, off Pine Street in Batavia. Tickets are $18. Order tickets online at events.fnal.gov/arts-lecture-series/ or call the box office at (630) 840-ARTS (2787) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.
The award-winning Axiom Brass Quintet will join some Fermilab friends to present a multimedia concert titled "Quarks to Cosmos."
The program kicks off with a work written specifically for this event, "Particles and Waves" by Mathew Fuerst, and also features "Firedance" by Anthony DiLorenzo, J.S. Bach's Contrapunctus IX, and the closes with "Hubble" from James Stephenson's "Celestial Suite."
Praised for their "high level of musicality and technical ability" and for their "clean, clear and precise sound," the award-winning Axiom Brass Quintet has quickly established itself as "one of the major art music groups in brass chamber music." As the only brass quintet in 27 years to ever win the prestigious Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition (2012), and the only American ensemble to ever win the Preis der Europa-Stadt Passau in Germany (2012), Axiom has also been named winners of the 2008 International Chamber Brass Competition and prize-winners of the 2016 M-Prize, 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, and the Jeju City International Brass Quintet Competition in South Korea.
Axiom Brass is dedicated to enhancing the musical life of communities across the globe and educating the next generation of musicians.
Axiom's commitment to education and their blend of virtuosic performances and dynamic teaching have inspired young audiences around the nation, earning the ensemble the 2011 Fischoff Educator Award. Their educational concert "Let's Make Music" has captivated thousands of elementary and middle school students in the U.S. Since 2011, the ensemble has been featured as brass quintet-in-residence for the National Brass Symposium, sharing the stage with principal brass players from the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Atlanta Symphony.
Internationally recognized for their groundbreaking programming, their repertoire ranges from jazz and Latin music to string quartet transcriptions, as well as original compositions for brass quintet. Axiom Brass' performances have captured the hearts and imaginations of their audiences, leading the ensemble to national radio and television appearances as well as concerts in Asia, Europe and across the U.S. Axiom's dedication to brass repertoire has led the ensemble to commission and premiere several new works, including "Avian Capriccio" by Augusta Read Thomas, "Axiom" by Liduino Pitombeira, "A Martyred Village" by David Faleris, "Celestial Suite" by James Stephenson, and "For Then and Now" by Laurence Bitensky. For "Celestial Suite," Axiom Brass partnered with the New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet, the Chicago Symphony Brass Quintet, the Chicago Chamber Musicians and the Fischoff Chamber Music Society, as well as with the Digital Visualization Theater of the University of Notre Dame and professor Keith Davis.
In October 2013, Axiom gave the American premiere of "Fantasia Flamenca" and the world premiere of Raimundo Penaforte's Concertice for brass quintet and orchestra under the baton of David Lockington and the Modesto Symphony, followed by the 2015 midwest premieres of Bernard Rands' "Adieu" for quintet and strings, and the Midwest premiere of "Fantasia Flamenca" with the Grand Rapids Symphony.
This season Axiom continues its rigorous touring schedule across the United States and marks the release of two new albums: "Astor," with original arrangements of Astor Piazzolla's music, and the second installment of "New Standards." During the 2016-17 season, Axiom premiered 10 new commissions as a celebration of the ensemble's 10th anniversary.
Axiom Brass is an ensemble-in-residence at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Band Camps, and Rush Hour Concerts' "Back of the Yards" program in Chicago.