The Brass Program

Performance opportunities for brass students in the Conservatory of Music are many and varied. The brass program has a busy Chamber Music program where all students are tutored weekly in brass quintets, quartets and/or trios. Horn students can also be tutored in wind quintets as part of the woodwind program. To help develop good ensemble skills, there are also trumpet, horn, trombone, and tuba ensembles, which rehearse chamber and orchestral repertoire. Students in these ensembles have the opportunity to also study authentic performance practices on period instruments.

In addition to the cultural offerings in nearby NYC, brass students have the opportunity to hear world-renowned brass players perform on campus throughout the year at The Performing Arts Center. Recent past performances have included Wynton Marsalis, New York Staff Band, Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble, American Brass Quintet, Canadian Brass, Jon Faddis & the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band.

Throughout the year, all students play in the Conservatory Brass Ensemble. This ensemble varies from 12 to 25 players and performs repertoire from the late 16th century to the present. The Conservatory Brass Ensemble gives regular performances on the Purchase College campus and around New York State.

An integral part of the brass program is the weekly Brass Repertory & Performance Seminar in which undergraduate and graduate students perform solo and chamber repertory in a master class environment. The program also includes seminars on pedagogy, performance techniques, and lecture/recitals given by visiting artists from such organizations as the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Finnish Radio, and London Symphony Orchestras. The main focus of Brass Repertory & Performance Seminar is to show students how to develop their performances methodically and to help them alleviate some of the problems associated with performance anxiety.

At the end of each semester, the brass faculty and students present an evening performance in the Conservatory Recital Hall of all the repertory studied throughout the semester.

Brass Faculty

Trumpet & Baroque Trumpet
Graham Ashton (Chair)

Horn
Ann Elsworth

Trombone
James Markey

Tuba
Marcus Rojas

For more information, visit the main Music Faculty page.

Direct inquiries to:
Prof. Graham Ashton
Chair of the Brass Faculty
Tel: (914) 251-6987
graham.ashton@purchase.edu