PHILADELPHIA, PA 03/12/18 --Old City Coffee Presents:
Sunday Curtis Student Solo Performances
Spring 2018 Edition
Weekly FREE Concert at 219-221 Church Street
PHILADELPHIA, PA 03/2017 — Old City Coffee (OCC) is pleased to share the spring 2018 Curtis Institute student soloist schedule. This season features brass instrumentalists, many of whom are members of The Brass Project. Concerts take place each Sunday at 3PM in the cafe on Church Street. Seating is first come first serve for Old City Coffee customers.
Performing works curated by the instrumentalists themselves, the Curtis Institute soloist series is a unique way to experience composed music through the eyes of emerging musicians in their own artistic vision. In a world where classical music can often feel stuffy, out of reach, or irrelevant, these intimate concerts at OCC offer Philadelphians a casual yet top tier opportunity to experience music by the finest composers of solo instrumental music performed by the country’s brightest players.
The Brass Project is is a brass sextet formed by leading players from the Curtis Institute of Music. These “six superb Curtis brass players” (Philadelphia Inquirer) united around a shared set of multifaceted goals: to expand the repertoire for chamber brass, to record and distribute new works, and to engage with a wide community through outreach and educational programs. The Brass Project gives innovative and creative performances designed for a diverse demographic by performing repertoire specifically commissioned by the ensemble. They have collaborated with composers from around the world on thirty-five new works in the last year alone, including pieces by Pulitzer Prize winner Aaron Jay Kernis, Princeton Professor Emeritus Paul Lansky, and Rome Prize winner Sean Friar. (description and biographies courtesy of The Brass Project at www.thebrassproject.com)
The March - April Soloist Schedule
Andrew Doub, Tuba
March 11, April 1, and April 22
Andrew Doub is the principal tuba of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Louisville Orchestra and the Mansfield Symphony. He is a founding member of The Brass Project, a chamber brass ensemble whose playing has been described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “superb.” Andrew is based in the Philadelphia area, where he is an active freelancer. Andrew completed two years of undergraduate studies at West Virginia University before transferring to the Curtis institute of Music. He studies with Paul Krzywicki, who is retired from the Philadelphia Orchestra, and with Craig Knox, principal tuba of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Guangwei Fan, Trombone
March 18, April 1, April 8, April 22
Guangwei Fan is a native of Guangzhou, China and is the first ever Chinese trombone student to be admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music. He was selected as one of three finalists in the Gilberto Gagliardi Tenor Trombone Competition at the 2016 International Trombone Festival, and he has performed with the National Orchestral Institute in both 2016 and 2017. Guangwei was also one of only two trombonists accepted into the 2017 Pacific Music Festival in Japan. In China, Guangwei studied with Zheng Guo, a former principal trombonist of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. He now studies with Nitzan Haroz and Matthew Vaughn, the principal and associate principal trombonists of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Guangwei is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Steven Franklin, Trumpet
April 15
Steven Franklin is a trumpet player and composer based in the Philadelphia area. He is substitute trumpet with the Rochester Philharmonic and has been acting principal with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, a professional summer chamber orchestra in the Adirondack mountains. Steven studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with David Bilger and toured as principal trumpet with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra on both their 2016 tour to Carnegie Hall and their 2017 European Tour. The Philadelphia Inquirer has lauded his playing, writing, “You couldn’t hope to hear a more correct and pristine trumpet solo than the one turned in by Steven Franklin.” Steven also attended the National Orchestral Institute in 2015, performing and recording as principal trumpet on their album of Copland's Appalachian Spring (Naxos Records).
Susan Miller, Trombone
March 11, March 18
Susan Miller bio coming soon!
Caleb Weibe, Trumpet
April 15
Caleb Wiebe, a trumpeter from Indiana, has performed professionally with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, with organist Clara Gerdes at the the 2017 Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and as a founding member of The Brass Project at Music from Angel Fire. He has attended the Aspen Music Festival and School, and while at Curtis, he and his colleagues won first prize at the National Trumpet Competition in the trumpet ensemble division. He has performed under the batons of renowned conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Neville Marriner, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.