Empire Brass 1989 Trib article - Pilafian quoted

[bloke]

[arpthark]

transcribing this so it is a bit easier to read on a screen:

Chicago Tribune, Thursday, July 13, 1989

Bernstein played matchmaker to super-charged brass group

By Howard Reich
Entertainment writer

How did one of the most dynamic brass groups in America get together?

"By chance," says Sam Pilafian, a founding member of the Empire Brass, which will bring its energy-charged music to Ravinia on Sunday.

Pilafian does not exaggerate the coincidental nature of the advent of the Empire. He and several other brass musicians (who didn't already know one another) happened to be performing at the Tanglewood Festival in the early '70s.

And Leonard Bernstein, a frequent Tanglewood visitor, happened to be conducting there and noticed that several of the brass players sounded alike.

"So Lenny told his assistant at the time, Michael Tilson Thomas, that we ought to start playing together--and it was instant happiness."

Well, not exactly instant. Instead, the players started rehearsing together during off hours for the next three years. thereafter, the Empire Brass emerged as one of the tightest brass quintets on the international concert circuit.

Other ensembles, such as the Canadian Brass, may have an edge in matters of musical humor and general stage buffoonery. But the Empire Brass has precious few competitors when it comes to first-class performances of first-class repertoire.

"If I had to describe what makes us different," Pilafian says, "I think it's our signature sound, which we've had since the beginning. We play five different instruments, but we blend them into a single sonority. It's a big, full sound, probably because we all have had orchestral training."

Yet there's more to the Empire's appeal than just the genuine lushness of its sound. On stage, the group is unusually charismatic; without resorting to obvious stunts, they lend a dramatic air to the very way they deliver the music.

For one, they don't sit down, as traditional quintets do. They stand throughout the performance, taking various positions on and off the stage for different numbers. That tack beautifully underscores the musical dialogue taking place.

"A lot of people have told us they love the way we look when we play, though we just hit on it by chance," says Pilafian. "The reason we stand is simply because we found that we sound better as a group that way--it's easier to get a big, rich sound when you're standing, and you feel more confident about what you're playing; you're leaning into the music."

"If it looks good too, so be it."

And then there's the matter of repertoire. Unlike many other critically acclaimed chamber groups, the Empire Brass does not shy away from "crossover" material.

In a typical concert, you'll hear the group play music of Gershwin, Bernstien and Kurt Weill with the same seriousness and exuberance it applies to European masterpieces.

"We play anything we like, regardless of the stereotypes," says Pilafian, "because we were among the first generation of musicians given that option. Before the '70s, musicians usually weren't allowed to go into a variety of directions at once. You either were a 'straight' musician or you weren't.

"By the time we came along, the idea of being versed in various types of music was new--but it thoroughly fit the way we all felt.

"So we studied jazz, Broadway show music, everything, and now we have all these musical languages we can speak."

For the Empire Brass, the turning point came in 1976. The Library of Congress had discovered long-lost scores of American brass music dating as far back as the 1850s, and the group was asked to take a look. The project blossomed into a hit record for the group on CBS.

Six months later, the Empire became the first brass ensemble to win the Naumburg Prize.

From that point forward, there has been no stopping this ensemble (which now records for Telarc).

"We owe a lot to Lenny," says Pilafian, who says the great composer-conductor gives the group advice to this day.

"When we were just starting out, he would drop in on us and coach us, tell us when we were taking the wrong tempo.

"How can you go wrong with a coach like that?"

[bloke]

Good thread. Thanks @bloke anf @arpthark!