ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 15, 1995 TAG: 9512150057
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
The Audubon Quartet of Virginia Tech, the Kandinsky Trio of Roanoke College and ... What's missing from this picture?
What's missing is Western Virginia's ``other'' professional chamber music group, the Brass 5 of Roanoke.
Their profile isn't as high as the other two ensembles, but they've got impressive stats for a group that started out as a ``classical music garage band.'' Consider: They've been concertizing for 13 years, and tubist Rob Chernault estimates they've played for 100,000 school children in Virginia and surrounding states in the past four years alone, with 118 concert dates during the past year.
The quintet's annual Christmas concert, ``A Toast to Christmas II,'' takes place Saturday night at 8 in Virginia Western Community College's Whitman Auditorium.
Brass 5 exists one professional step below the Audubons and the Kandinskies, in that they lack an academic appointment that allows them to make a living solely from playing and teaching quintet literature - all five members hold down day jobs. But the group plays at an indisputably professional level. They are officially associated with the Yamaha instrument company and play that firm's horns exclusively, and do some of the most difficult brass arrangements written. A possible European tour is in the works and two CDs are due by next spring.
``We got started in the summer of '82 as a bunch of guys who were looking for a chamber music outlet,'' said leader and founder Gerald Pope, who plays first trumpet. ``There just wasn't anything in Roanoke. About the only legitimate playing job for a brass player was the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, and that wasn't accessible to everyone. So we got together, playing in churches, and that spread to social and civic events.''
Over the centuries, certain instrumental combinations have come to be regarded as ideal chamber music configurations in terms of balance and timbre. For brass music, the ``perfect'' lineup is two trumpets, French horn, trombone and tuba. Brass 5 includes Steve Hedrick, who is a band director in Bedford County, as second trumpet; Ed Griffin, who is director of microwave development at ITT in Roanoke, as trombonist; Russell Nelson, an environmental chemist at Central Virginia Laboratories in Lynchburg, on horn; and Robert Chernault of Boones Mill, who is a regional manager for Leed's Music of Roanoke, handling the tuba parts. Supplementing the horns is percussionist Russ Pawlus, who is a band director at four Bedford County elementary schools. Pope, the only remaining founding member, plays third chair trumpet for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and manages rental property in the daytime.
``Our classical repertoire includes stuff like the Gabrieli canzoni, the Handel `Water Music' and all kinds of Renaissance dances. Probably our favorite piece is Victor Ewald's Quintet No.1. And [Washington and Lee composer] Margaret Brouwer sent us a couple of things,'' said Pope. In February the group will premiere two quintets especially commissioned from Roanoke College trombonist and composer Joseph Blaha.
The two best-known groups in the small world of professional brass chamber music are the Empire Brass and the Canadian Brass, both of which usually play jazz and other pop arrangements in addition to the usual classical music in their concerts. Over the past few years, Brass 5 has moved in this direction as well, with a book that includes big band swing charts, versions of rock hits, and straight-ahead jazz.
The change in emphasis hasn't always sat well with some members, said Pope, resulting in the departure of a few musicians who preferred to concentrate solely on classical music. ``But we've got our own kind of signature music now, our own identity," said the trumpeter.
``Look,'' said tubist Chernault. ``You have to appeal to people. This is Southwest Virginia. We've tried to toe the collegiate line and you look out there and there's 50 people in the audience. That's no fun. You start getting upwards of 300 people - that's starting to be fun. We've had members who wouldn't dream of playing with a percussionist, for example. But the Empire Brass is a good example of a group that's pushing the envelope there. You have a lot of work to attract an audience in Roanoke.''
Brass players in a group tend to generate a different ambiance than the more aristocratic string section. Public radio star Garrison Keillor captured the contrast in his ``Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra'' when he labeled brass players as ``Men who were at one time in the construction trades and went into music because the hours are better and there's less dust.''
Check out a Brass 5 rehearsal and you'll get a taste of the more informal atmosphere. At one recent rehearsal, members of the group were razzing trumpeter Pope for missing a high note.
``Yeah, but I got kicked in the mouth today. You're lucky I can play at all,'' said Pope, whose hobbies include martial arts.
``That's why we have an insurance policy on this guy. We're always worried somebody's gonna take him out in a Tae-Kwon-Do class and we'll be left hanging for a gig,'' said Rob Chernault.
Brass 5's informal approach to music will be on display at Saturday night's Christmas concert at Virginia Western Community College with guest artist Robbie Dummit, a guitarist.
``A TOAST TO CHRISTMAS II'': Saturday, 8 p.m., Virginia Western Community College's Whitman Auditorium. $10. 977-2365.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: MIKE HEFFNER/Staff. 1. Steve Hedrick, a band director inby CNBBedford County, plays second trumpet in Brass 5. color. 2. Gerald
Pope (right), founder of Brass 5, rehearses with trombone player Ed
Griffin, percussionist Russell Pawlas and trumpet player Steve
Hedrick.