Local chamber music society hosts Diamond Brass Quintet

The Rocky River Chamber Music Society is delighted to present a Cleveland all-star brass ensemble in celebration of the Society’s 60th anniversary! The Diamond Brass Quintet is comprised of players who are passionate about brass and have appeared in many local and regional concerts, including their popular annual Christmas concert. The RRCMS concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 8, at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, 20401 Hilliard Blvd. in Rocky River. Diamond Brass Quintet will perform a special commissioned piece by Andrew Rindfleisch as well as works by Johann Sebastian Bach, John Cheetham, and Malcolm Arnold.

The Quintet’s two trumpet players have performed and taught extensively throughout northern Ohio. Amanda Bekeny has studied with Jack Gallagher at The College of Wooster, John Aley and Alan Campbell at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Tim Leasure at The Ohio State University, and David Burkhart at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Nina Bell studied with Charlie Geyer and Barbara Butler at Northwestern University, and with Cleveland Orchestra Principal Trumpet, Michael Sachs, at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Both Nina and Amanda hold positions in CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra.

Hornist Greg Hillis has played with many symphonies and chamber music groups including Cleveland POPS Orchestra, Cleveland Opera Theater, Ashland Symphony, Cleveland Philharmonic and the Heritage Brass Quintet. Greg is a founding member of the woodwind sextet, Ekklésia, and he enjoys playing with theater groups across the region.                                                              

Whitney Clair, trombone, performs frequently with such orchestras as The Cleveland Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Akron Symphony, and currently holds the position of second trombone with the Erie Philharmonic. She is on the faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and privately teaches in her home studio a variety of low brass students in the Cleveland area.

J.c. Sherman is known as a “one-of-a-kind” musician who travels with his tuba nationally and internationally. He is an instructor of tuba and euphonium at Cleveland State University, and performs regularly with the Cleveland POPS and the Blossom Festival Band. Sherman is a brass craftsman who builds and restores antique instruments for clients all over the world. In addition to his many classical music performances, he is also an accomplished jazz musician.

In this its 60th anniversary season, the Rocky River Chamber Music Society remains firmly committed to the presentation of concerts for Northeast Ohio audiences at no admission charge. All are welcome. For further information visit the RRCMS website at www.rrcms.org, or follow RRCMS on Facebook and Twitter.