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Brass Rings is five musicians of wide experience who create an involving encounter for their audiences by incorporating theatre, movement and spoken word into their concept-driven shows. |
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The quintet, with organist William O'Meara, performed its first concert as part of its 1998 Time For Christmas tour. Audiences were unanimous in their praise for the quintet's compelling musical performance and its illuminating presentation. That first tour ended with excerpts from Time For Christmas being heard on CBC Radio Two in a special Christmas day program. |
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In 1999 Brass Rings was delighted to perform at the Ontario Arts Council's trade exhibition, CONTACT '99. From this performance grew an extensive tour in 2000 that brought the experience of Time For Christmas to audiences in seventeen Ontario cities and towns from the province's north west to its far east and into Pennsylvania (we travelled about 6500 km!). Time For Christmas 2000 TOUR |
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The quintet’s first US engagement was on New Year's Eve 2000 as part of the annual First Night Festival presented by The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts™ in State College SEE REVIEW. Brass Rings was to perform again in Pennsylvania in mid-September 2001, this time a showcase version of Time For Christmas, at the trade exhibition NEPAC-2001 in Pittsburgh. The horror of September 11 caused the trade show to be cancelled but the selection has still been helpful and interest in the group is growing in the US. |
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The quintet was selected to perform on a select showcase line-up at Pacific Contact in Vancouver in April 2003. The result of this venture was a handful of performances in BC and Washington state in the late fall of 2004 and these dates combined with several in southern Ontario and New York state to make a busy tour. SEE TOUR SCHEDULE |
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Brass Rings showcased again at Ontario Contact in 2003, this time featuring On Wings of Song ... My Spirit Soars. Four days later they left for Maine to begin an intense week of performances of this show for the Arcady Music Festival SEE TOUR SCHEDULE. The focus of The Maine Event was the school performances but the full evening version of the show got a wonderful response too. Pleasantly incidental to the trip were two surprises- The other wonderful surprise came when Thomas and Ross discovered they were enjoying their (complimentary) post-concert lobster beside the man who invented the aluminum can pull tab in current use (you know, like on BEER cans - the version that really works). He worked 30 years at ALCOA and has his name on several patents. We should have his picture on here. |
Immediately upon returning from Maine, we began to prepare for the 2003 Time For Christmas tour. A sign of some career progress was having 4 engagements at theatres in Southern Ontario belonging to the CCI network. SEE TOUR SCHEDULE |
Some other notes: |
- A version of Time For Christmas which incorporates choir premiered very successfully in 2002 SEE TOUR SCHEDULE and already we are receiving inquiries about its availability. |
- In On Wings
of Song ... My Spirit Soars , the quintet illuminates the emotions that compel us to Sing. Along the way
we realize that our Songs |
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- In Bach's Lunch Box, Brass Rings and organist Jan Overduin sample J.S. Bach’s Art of Fugue as well as nourishing works from the pan of Bach-connected or Bach-influenced composers like EisenBach, OffenBach, P.D.Q. Bach, Pachelbel and Vivaldi. |
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- The group’s first recording is a CD of the Time For Christmas repertoire and was released 2000 November 16 to enthusiastic response and critical acclaim. |
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