March 2007 -
Wigmore date announced

Our success last year at the Royal Over-Seas League Competition has resulted in our Wigmore Hall debut concert, which will take place on April 16th, starting at 7:30pm. We are sharing the concert with Ensemble na Mara, who won the other Ensemble category at last years competition. Lancier Brass will perform the first half of the concert and will feature three original compositions for brass quintet.

We have thought long and hard about how best to programme for this concert and have come up with three pieces which we hope will showcase the versatility of the brass chamber music. We open our half of the concert with a challenging composition by Michael Tilson Thomas entitled 'Street Song', and finish with one of our favourite pieces, the 'Four Sketches' by Anthony Plog. Sandwiched between those we have a World Premiere by Scottish composer Cameron Sinclair. As yet we have not seen any of the material he has come up with, but we are excited at the prospect of playing a new piece and are looking forward to rehearsals starting soon!

For anyone interested in buying tickets for this event please go to: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

March 2007 - National Portrait Gallery and Newbury Spring Festival

More dates for the diary come in the form of two concerts in May. Firstly, on May 4th we have a 6:30pm concert at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the Friday Evening Music Series. We are yet to finalise a programme for this concert. Additional information on the Series can be found at: www.npg.org.uk

We have also been invited to play at the Newbury Spring Festival later in May for a lunchtime concert as part of their Young Artists Lunchtime Series. This will take place on the 18th May at the Corn Exchange, Newbury, and kicks off at 12:30pm. Our programme features Luciano Berio's 'Call', 'Street Song' by Michael Tilson Thomas, and one of the best known pieces in the brass repertory, Malcolm Arnold's 'Quintet'. More information on the Festival can be found at: www.newburyspringfestival.org.uk

November 2006 - More Success: Tunnell Trust give Lancier Brass Award

2006 has been a successful year for us, and we have rounded it off with another achievement, this time by gaining an award through the Tunnell Trust alongside two string quartets. The prize involves some touring in Scotland and dates in early 2008 are currently being finalised with the Trust; as soon as we have something finalised we will post details on the site.

September 2006 - Congratulations!

Dave and his wife Hannah are proud to announce the birth of Finn Alexander Hilton. We all send our love to the new arrival and wish the family all the best for the future.

September 2006 - Lancier Featured in MUSO Magazine

We are delighted to tell everyone of our inclusion in the October/November edition of MUSO magazine. In an edition of the magazine that focusses on brass chamber music we were included in the ‘Two-minute talk’ section of the magazine. Naturally, we’re delighted to have been included, but more important is the exposure for young brass chamber groups in general. The magazine is available from most music stores and book shops, or you can find MUSO online at: www.muso-online.com.

March 2006 - Over-Seas League Success

We are delighted to announce that we are winners of the Royal Over-Seas League Chamber Competition for Wind and Mixed Ensembles for 2006. This year was our third in the final of the competition having missed out in 2003 and 2005, but this year we convinced the judges with a series of high-quality performances. This was the first year the chamber award had been split into two categories, but nevertheless we were up against stiff opposition in the final, on stage last after the Zephirus Saxophone Quartet and the EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble. The new acoustics at Over-Seas house are extremely beneficial to brass players, and we enjoyed performing in the final immensely; a particular highlight of the evening was playing Witold Lutoslawski’s ‘Mini Overture’ in the presence of Ursula Jones, to whom the piece is dedicated.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank two people without whom our success would not have been possible; Ross Brown deputised for David Hilton effortlessly for the whole competition whilst Dave was touring America with the LPO, and Andrew Gourlay took to the stage in the final as a late replacement for Matthew Gee and performed faultlessly. We are extremely grateful to each player for their invaluable contribution.

As a result of our achievement we now perform at Cadogan Hall in the final concert of the competition on the 5th June, and are due to be given several performances through the Over-Seas League, details of which will be posted here in the near future.

March 2006 - Rebecca joins Matthew at Scottish Opera

We are delighted to announce that Rebecca Hill has been appointed Third Horn with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, joining Matthew Gee who is currently Principal Trombone there. Beccy is due to start there in mid-April having trialled for the position for the past year. Like Matt, she will be sharing her time between Glasgow and London. We are all delighted for Beccy, and wish her all the best for her time in Scotland.

September 2005 - Park Lane programme finalised

After a long drawn out process we have received confirmation of our programme for Purcell Room concert on the 9th January. We will open the concert with Luciano Berio’s ‘Call’, an exciting piece which has the ensemble spread out across the stage. This will be followed by ‘Two Haiku’, a piece by the composer-in-association at Onyx Brass, Tim Jackson. The solo pianist, Alasdair Beatson, with which we are sharing the recital will then complete the first half. We then begin after the interval with ‘The Rite of Lucifuge’, a real tour de force of brass playing. After another spell from the pianist, we will conclude the recital with John White’s ‘Doggerel Machine’, which was composed for Onyx Brass in 1994 when they themselves were Park Lane Young Artists. We’re very pleased with how the programme has turned out; there should be something there for everyone to enjoy!

Full programme:

Monday 9 January 2006, 7:45 pm
Purcell Room Luciano Berio - Call
Timothy Jackson - 2 Haiku
Henri Dutilleux - Piano Sonata
INTERVAL
Edward Shipley - The Rite of Lucifuge
Richard Causton - Non mi comporto male
William Bolcom - From Etudes
John White - Doggerel Machine

Alasdair Beatson piano
Lancier Brass Quintet

May 2005 - Park Lane Young Artists 2006

We are proud to announce that we have been chosen to be part of the series of concerts put on by The Park Lane Group in 2006. After auditioning in earlier in the year we were soon informed of our involvement, and were later delighted to learn that we had been given the opening concert of their New Year Series at the Purcell Room. All that is left to do now is to finalise a programme, which is proving to be a lengthy process, but as soon as we have the relevant details we will post them here on the site.

The concert will take place on the evening of the 9th January 2006 at the Purcell Room on the South Bank.

April 2005 - Matthew at Scottish Opera

Matthew Gee, our trombonist, has been appointed Principal Trombone of the Orchestra of the Scottish Opera. Matt trialled for the position for just under a year, and impressed the section and orchestra so much that he was given the job, despite only graduating from the Royal College of Music this year. Matt started his new job in the summer, and will continue to share his time between Glasgow and London in order to fit in quintet rehearsals and other work. All the quintet offer Matt our heartfelt congratulations, and wish him all the best in his new position.

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