Three friends chatting about North American Brass Banding.
You'll feel like you're joining us and our guests at the pub after rehearsal.
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Tony GranadosCurrently working as a freelance musician in central North Carolina, Tony can be seen performing as a substitute and extra with the North Carolina Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Wilmington Symphony and Roanoke Symphony. Tony performs in the orchestras for the Carolina Ballet and NC Opera, and is a founding member of the Boylan Brass.
Tony is the Artistic Director for the Triangle Brass Band, winning the 3rd section in 2018 and runner up in 2019 at the NABBA Championships. From 2001-2013, he was the Director of the Triangle Youth Brass Band program, building it from 17 students to over 70 in two bands and winning 6 official NABBA Youth Section Championships. Tony is the current President of the North American Brass Band Association. In addition to this, Tony maintains a private studio of high school and middle school students, and regularly runs sectionals for school bands. Tony is an adjudicator for marching bands and teaches brass techniques for several local and visible programs in NC. Tony is also the Brass Supervisor for Carolina Gold Drum and Bugle Corps. As a soloist, he has made appearances with college bands, high schools bands, all-county bands, gave a solo recital at the North Carolina Governors School Summer Program at Meredith College, was a featured artist at the 2002 International Tuba Euphonium Conference, performing the Gregson Tuba Concerto with the Triangle Brass Band, and was a guest soloist with the Triangle Wind Ensemble at the 2005 North Carolina Music Educators Convention. Other solo appearances include the St. Francis Brass Band, Tar River Symphonic Band, Advocate Brass Band and the Greensboro Concert Band. Tony attended the University of Kentucky, and has studied at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Towson State in Maryland. While a student in Kentucky, he was first runner up in the UK Concerto Competition in 1997, and Principal Tuba in the Wind Ensemble and Orchestra. He played solo E-flat tuba with the Lexington Brass Band and was featured with the Bass section of that band several times, including the LBB compact disc release Images. Tony also played with the Advocate-Messenger Brass Band in Danville, KY, appearing on three compact discs and making a solo appearance. Tony was also a driving force in the Four Horsemen Tuba Quartet, the resident student tuba quartet at the University of Kentucky. The FHTQ was the busiest performing ensemble at UK during this time, making an appearance at the 1998 Great American Brass Band Festival, and winning the Adult Ensemble competition at the 1998 NABBA competition. Tony would like to thank the many musicians and teachers that influenced him over the years, including his principal teachers Marty Erickson, Mark Norman, Dave Lewis, Ed Goldstein, Matt Good and Skip Gray, for these are the people who have helped in his evolution as a tuba player and musician. |
Aaron Campbell Aaron Campbell is an active freelance Euphonium, Trombone, and Tuba performer in the Tampa Bay area, and is the adjunct professor of tuba and euphonium at the University of Tampa. Aaron is the founder, president, and solo euphonium of the Tampa Brass Band and serves as principal euphonium and low-brass section leader for the Florida Wind Band. Aaron regularly performs with other groups throughout Florida such as the Florida Orchestra, the Florida Wind Symphony, and the Brass Band of Central Florida. Aaron also performs frequently as a solo, chamber, and musical theater musician.
As a soloist Aaron regularly presents recitals and has been a featured soloist with the Florida Wind Band, the JMU Symphonic and Brass Bands, as well as multiple high schools throughout the southeastern United States. Aaron’s debut solo CD “For Those That Wander” featured new works for the euphonium and piano including four new pieces commissioned by Aaron. Aaron regularly performs and demonstrates at conferences such as being a featured soloist at the 2019 Georgia Music Education Association Conference, speaker at the Inaugural International Brass Festival hosted by the University of Florida, and the 2018 South-East Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference hosted at Florida State University, where he gave a recital including two newly composed works for Euphonium and Piano that he also commissioned. (Turbo by Jonathan Hadden and The Wind Carries Relics by Tyler Kline.) Along with being a performer Aaron is also in demand as a music educator, and has had a regular private lesson studio since graduating high school. Aaron currently boasts a large private studio of students on all brass instruments at all levels, ages, and musical backgrounds. Aaron also puts on clinics and regularly visits classrooms and conferences to give masterclasses and lectures. Aaron has given presentations on musical entrepreneurship and creating non-traditional musical career paths at colleges and high schools throughout the southeastern United States. Aaron's other projects include his YouTube channel, "AKCEuph", featuring performances, educational information, and product reviews pertaining to brass musicians. He is also the host of his own podcast entitled "Young Musicians Guide", which is a series of interviews with musicians who are making a living by following uncommon careers paths and have valuable advice for the next generation of promising artists. Aaron is a Besson performing artist and performs exclusively on a Besson BE 2052 Euphonium. He is also a Lefreque performing artist. Aaron is a current Doctorate of Musical Arts candidate at the University of Florida, holds a Master of Music in Euphonium Performance from James Madison University, and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of South Florida. Primary teachers include Carlyl Webber (Army Field Band Euphonium, Retired), Jay Hunsberger (Former Principal Tuba, Sarasota Orchestra), Kevin Stees (Tuba/Euphonium professor, James Madison University) and Dr. Danielle VanTuinen (Tuba/Euphonium professor, University of Florida). |
Amy Schumaker Bliss
Dr. Amy Schumaker Bliss is a euphonium artist and music educator based in the Columbus area. She attended Capital University Conservatory of Music in Columbus where she double majored in euphonium performance and music education, studying with Dr. Thomas Zugger and James Swearingen. She earned her master’s degree in euphonium performance studying with Steven Mead and David Thornton at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. In 2015, she graduated from Rutgers University as the school's first doctoral euphonium student, studying with Dr. Stephen Arthur Allen and was mentored by Aaron VanderWeele.
Amy has built a career that combines her love for performing with her love for teaching music. She is currently in demand nationwide as a clinician, teacher, and euphonium soloist. During current social distancing measures, Amy uses technology for meeting with community ensembles, university ensembles, and studio classes around the world to work on concepts like sight-reading, music history, and repertoire. She has an active Zoom studio with euphonium, tuba, beginner piano, and music theory students. She also teaches general music concepts, sight-reading skills, and music theory on Outschool. Amy's performance projects include a recent solo CD, Couleurs en Mouvements, and she is featured on two of Atlantic Brass Band's CD's (The Spirit of Christmas and Metropolis). She was recently a featured soloist with Rowan University's wind band (Gordon Jacob's Fantasia), Rowan University's wind ensemble (Cosma Euphonium Concerto), and a featured artist at the International Women's Brass Conference (2017). She is a regular performer in Athena Brass Band, an all-star British Brass Band featuring women brass and percussion players from around the world. Amy's most recent teaching position was teaching euphonium at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey from 2012-2020, where she also taught music appreciation, coached the tuba/euphonium quartet, worked with the Atlantic Youth Brass Band and Rowan University Brass Band, conducted summer brass choir and played in the Atlantic Brass Band as solo euphonium. She was also Senior Adjunct Professor of Music at Rowan College at Burlington County for nine years where she taught music appreciation and euphonium. Amy's most recent publications include two works about British brass bands: a children's book called "Amy's Brass Band", and a paper on the history of the British brass band movement in North America. The paper, “The Brass Band Bridge and J. Perry Watson: A Link to the Beginning of the North American British Brass Band Movement," was published in the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) Journal and was praised as being “probably the best history of the establishment of the British-brass band movement in North America” (William Berz, editor WASBE Journal). The children's book, "Amy's Brass Band," is surpassing all expectations of popularity and introducing the genre to a whole new generation of future musicians. "Amy's Brass Band" is available worldwide through Amazon, and in the US through Walmart and Target online. |