This past Monday, TNB travelled to wild, wonderful West Virginia. West Liberty University is nestled in the picturesque green hills of the state’s Northern Panhandle, about an hour southwest of Pittsburgh. With guest trumpeter Brendan Cassin, we performed a recital featuring music from all of our CDs — well, except the Christmas CD, it’s a little early for that! We had a great time meeting the faculty and students in the music school at WLU, and really enjoyed our brief stay in West Virginia. Of course, when we travel, we always make a point of seeking out the best traditional local cuisine, which of course led us to coffee and doughnuts at that venerable West Virginia institution, Tim Hortons… (click on the photo for a closer look.) If you want to see some rather more scenic photos of TNB on the road, check out Al’s photo site, alkayphotos.com. There you can view Al’s fabulous photos from his various travels, including his motorcycle trip through Labrador and TNB’s residency at Music by the Sea.

On the fourth day, the students all came to the Charles Stockey Centre in Parry Sound, where we performed for them again. We really enjoyed the entire trip — I’ve played for many supposedly adult audiences that weren’t as quiet and attentive, which is especially remarkable the day before Hallowe’en! Obviously, the small communities outside Parry Sound don’t host a lot of concerts, so it’s great to be able to bring live music to kids who don’t often get that opportunity. It’s fantastic that the Festival of the Sound brings this program to them, and it was a real joy and privilege to be part of it.

Ceremonial Fanfare by Scott Irvine

In preparation for our performances, the students at St. Peter’s School in Parry Sound and Nobel Public School listened to some of our recordings and created some cool artwork inspired by what they heard.

“Downbound from Thunder Bay” from Ontario Pictures by Howard Cable

“Point Pelee” from Ontario Pictures by Howard Cable

This weekend, True North Brass will be performing in three concerts as part of the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. On Saturday, we’re joined by Eric Robertson for a program featuring the world première of Scott’s transcription of Mussorgksy’s Pictures at an Exhibition. On Sunday afternoon, you can hear us in a free concert on the grounds of Rideau Hall, the official residence of Canada’s Governor General. For this performance, we’ll be playing alongside Ottawa’s Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet. And on Monday, we once again join the Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet and five more brass players for a performance of R. Murray Schafer’s Isfahan.

Here’s where we’ll be:

Saturday: TNB with Eric Robertson

Sunday: TNB with Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet

Monday: R. Murray Schafer’s Isfahan

For lots more about the musicians, the music, and the programs, click here or follow the link below!

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