The 27th Annual Gettysburg Brass Band Festival is expanding to five days with dozens of free performances at the United Lutheran Seminary Pavilion Stage and throughout the borough.
A highlight of the festival will be a benefit performance by the world-renowned Brubeck Brothers Quartet on Thursday, June 8.
Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) is an iconic name in the history of jazz and two of his sons, Chris and Dan, are both highly regarded jazz musicians in their own right. The Brubeck Brothers Quartet has performed at jazz festivals throughout Europe and the United States, in addition to collaborating with major symphonies around the globe.
Chris writes from the Reno Jazz Festival:
I first met Buzz Jones when my son Ben attended Gettysburg College as a first-year student in 1999 and enrolled in his jazz history class. I soon discovered that Buzz is a composer who understood the musical idioms of the jazz and classical worlds, so we hit it off right away. In 2013, I was invited to be an Artist-in-Residence at Gettysburg College where I got to work with the Gettysburg College Jazz Ensemble and College-Community Orchestra. I was inspired by the music students and faculty I had worked with there. When Ben graduated in 2003 and our family was delighted that Dave was awarded a Gettysburg College honorary Doctor of Arts Degree at the same event – we had two “graduates” that day! A few years later, I played with the Dave Brubeck Quartet at the newly renovated Majestic Theater. My family and I feel very connected to Gettysburg, as we have developed many friendships there. This was further underscored when Ben married fellow GC alumna, Jackie Diamond ‘02, at Christ Chapel. I am very much looking forward to returning to Gettysburg as part of the 2023 Gettysburg Brass Band Festival!
As a Grammy-nominated composer, Chris Brubeck distinguishes himself as a creative force and multi-faceted performer on fretless bass, bass trombone, and piano. John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune calls Chris “a composer with a real flair for lyrical melody – a 21st Century Lenny Bernstein.”
Pianist Chuck Lamb and saxophonist Lucas Pino join the Brubecks for the concert.
Dinner and concert reservation forms for this benefit event are available at bjbb03@comcast.net or
www.gettysburgbrassbandfestival.com