Axiom Brass wins Prize at the 6th Jeju City International Brass Competition in South Korea.

On August 20th the Axiom Brass was awarded Second Prize at the 6th Jeju City International Brass Competition on Jeju Island, South Korea, becoming the first American ensemble to win an award in the 10 years since the competition was established. This win comes just weeks after Axiom became the first ensemble to capture the Fischoff Educators Award. The Jeju City Brass Competition is the largest one of its kind, involving more than 200 competitors from 16 different countries.

Axiom Brass Captures First Fischoff Educator Award

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA (August 11, 2010) - The Axiom Brass Quintet has won the inaugural Fischoff Educator Award. This national award recognizes the educational outreach work of Fischoff Competition alumni who have demonstrated outstanding and imaginative programming for children and youth in the United States.

The unique Fischoff Educator Award is a complementary benchmark to the Fischoff Competition, which provides a forum for America's finest emerging chamber ensembles. The Educator Award honors past Fischoff Competition musicians who have established professional careers in chamber music, and have proven their ability to successfully build a career in both music performance and outreach education. The Fischoff Educator Award expands upon Fischoff's long-standing commitment to music education, and to the development and recognition of emerging chamber musicians. As winners of the inaugural Fischoff Educator Award, Axiom Brass will receive a cash award and a residency week as part of Fischoff's award-winning Arts-in-Education Residency. The residency will take place during Fall, 2011.

In addition to a Bronze Medal win at the 2010 Fischoff Competition, Axiom Brass won the 2008 International Chamber Brass Competition held at the University of Louisville, KY. Axiom's blend of virtuosic performances and dynamic teaching has been an inspiration to students of all ages, and their educational programs have guided students to success in high school and college programs across the country. They are actively involved with musical programs around the country, conducting masterclasses, seminars, lectures, concerts, and teaching at universities and public schools. Axiom Brass was recently appointed Brass Quintet-in-Residence at the Music Institute of Chicago. Ensemble members include Dorival Puccini, Jr. (trumpet), Colin Oldberg (trumpet), Matthew Oliphant (horn), Brett Johnson (trombone) and Kevin Harrison (tuba).

Axiom Brass Wins Bronze at the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition

The Axiom Brass Quintet was awarded the Bronze Medal at the prestigious 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music competition that took place at the University of Notre Dame between May 7tn and 9th. The competition began with 130 entries from which 48 ensembles were invited to the first live round in South Bend. The Axiom Brass was also the only Brass Quintet invited to the competition in the Senior Division, and the only ensemble with brass instruments in the finals of the competition. To read more about the 2010 Fischoff competition please visit fischoff.com

April 23, 2010. Axiom Brass on Public Radio around the nation

Axiom Brass Quintet has been chosen to be broadcast on Performance Today next Monday, April 26. The broadcast will feature Axiom’s interpretation of J.S. Bach’s Contrapunctus X, from Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080 recorded during a live performance at the Missouri Theater Center for the Arts in Columbia MO, last March.

American Public Media's Performance Today is broadcast on 245 public radio stations across the country and is heard by about 1.3 million people each week. To find out where and when "Performance Today" is broadcast in your area, please visit performancetoday.org.

You may also visit publicradiofan.com, an independent website that can point the way to on-line listening.

Next Monday’s show will be available on Performance Today website for seven days and starting on the 26th and you can listen to Axiom’s live performance on the website as well, just go to performancetoday.org

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March 11, 2010. Axiom Brass on ABC7 News

Axiom Brass performed on ABC7 News live to promote their upcoming educational concert "Let's Make Music" that will take place at Nichols Hall, Saturday March 13, 2010 at 10am. This concert is sponsored by the Music Institute of Chicago and is free to the public. Starting at 9am on Saturday the Music Institute of Chicago will also offer an Instrument Petting Zoo for the kids to try out instruments before the concerts.

For more info on the concert visit the Music Institute of Chicago.

March 8, 2010. New Standards now available for Pre-Order!

Axiom Brass will be releasing their debut album entitled New Standards. This album will feature works by Cliff Colnot, Victor Ewald, Eric Ewazen, Anders Hillborg, Witold Lutosławski, and Paquito D’Rivera. New Standards is now available for pre-order at the Axiom Brass Store.

November 10, 2009. Grand Teton Music Festival Winter Concert Series

Axiom Brass is excited to announce their one-week residency with the Grand Teton Music Festival! Axiom Brass will be spending the week of January 11, 2010 in beautiful Jackson Hole, WY where they will be giving seven educational programs to local schools and will conclude the week with a Friday evening in Walk Hall with an adventurous program to kick off the festivals Winter Concert Series. Also included in that week are newspaper and radio interviews, and a chance to meet new people and make new friends.

October 27, 2009. Axiom Brass to perform at The Midwest Clinic in December 2009

Back by popular demand, The Midwest Clinic will once again host the Martin family in their clinic “Creating a Beautiful Trumpet Sound”. Freddy, Chris, and Michael Martin will explain and demonstrate the fundamentals of creating trumpet tone and the art of musicianship and ensemble playing. Axiom Brass is pleased to be invited to assist the Martins as guest artists. To enhance some of the topics covered in the clinic, Axiom Brass will be performing Mini Overture by Witold Lutosławski and the Brass Sextet by Oskar Böhme featuring Chris Martin and Michael Martin. This year the clinic will be held on Wednesday, December 16 and Friday, December 18 at Chicago’s McCormick Place West. Axiom Brass is honored to be performing in this grand event.

September 15, 2009. Axiom Brass to premier James Stephenson’s arrangement of “Nutcracker” as realized by Duke Ellington.

On Saturday, December 12, 2009 Axiom Brass will be premiering James Stephenson’s brass quintet arrangement of The Nutcracker as reworked by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Ellington and Strayhorn’s work is clever, witty, provocative, and beautiful, and Stephenson has masterfully set it to brass quintet while maintaining its unique qualities. In collaboration with Dance Chicago and sponsored by Music Institute of Chicago, Axiom Brass will give The Nutcracker its first performance as part of “Duke It Out”. This educational program will feature Quintet Attacca (woodwind quintet-in-residence with Music Institute of Chicago) performing traditional arrangements of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker back to back with Axiom Brass performing those corresponding movements from the Ellington/Strayhorn arrangement. This will accompany Dance Chicago in both traditional and contemporary dancing to these different musical styles. This event promises to be both fun and enlightening for the whole family!

April 22, 2009. Axiom Brass in Portugal and Spain.

Axiom Brass completed their first trip to Europe with a tour in late March and early April of 2009. The tour featured concerts in Cáceres, Spain and throughout Portugal in the cities of Alcobaça, Porto, and Lisbon to very enthusiastic audiences. Axiom Brass seized opportunities to create connections, met new and exciting people, and experienced local cuisines and customs.

It is not uncommon in Spain and Portugal that performance venues are old cinemas that were converted to concert halls. The concert in Cáceres was in such a place – the Filmoteca de Extremadura. This very quaint film theater was renovated with modern architecture but around the original building creating a unique blend of old and new. The auditorium itself was packed with an energetic audience that demanded three curtain calls. The town of Alcobaça, dominated by a 13th century monastery, was home to genuine people who were warm and welcoming, and this feeling was extended through every minute of Axiom Brass’ performance. The concert in Porto took place in the intimate theatre inside the Museu Nacional de Soares Dos Reis. Finally, Axiom Brass completed their European tour with a concert in Lisbon’s Basilica dos Martires. Created in 1147, the Basilica underwent several restorations between 1746 and 1784 and has maintained every bit of its original elegance. The history and magnificence of the building was experienced in every note. The Basilica is located in downtown Lisbon, right in the center of the town’s busy nightlife. The most unique part of this concert was the fact that the basilica’s doors were left open so that the formality of the concert inside was juxtaposed with excitement of the outside life. The open doors attracted a large number of visitors that were walking by and were drawn by the sounds from the beautiful basilica, making this a very special concert.

The tour was a great success. Axiom Brass is currently planning their return Europe with stops in Germany, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, France and Belgium.

January 10, 2009. Axiom Brass appointed Brass Quintet-in-Residence at the Music Institute of Chicago.

The Music Institute of Chicago (MIC) has appointed Axiom Brass the Brass Quintet-in-Residence. With this residency come exciting educational concerts, masterclasses, and lessons. Established in 1931, MIC is the only independent community music school in Illinois, and one of just ten in the country to be accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. MIC serves more than 5,000 music students ages four months to ninety-one years. MIC has over 120 distinguished faculty and hosts performances by students, visiting artists, and local arts organizations at the critically acclaimed Nichols Concert Hall. In addition to an expressive arts therapy program, MIC works with schools and churches to bring the joy of music to more than 4,700 economically and culturally disadvantaged youths.

Axiom Brass and the Music Institute of Chicago are excited with their new partnership and look forward to enhancing the cultural lives of communities around Illinois through music.

November 18, 2008. Axiom Brass wins the 2008 International Chamber Brass Competition

The Axiom Brass won first prize in the Professional Division of the International Brass Chamber Music Festival (IBCMF). Held from October 11-14, 2008 at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, this competition featured a number of established and talented ensembles from around the USA. The Axiom Brass concluded the competition with a winner’s concert. Here is what Erin Ellenburg, editor of the IBCMF Journal, had to say about the Axiom Brass:

“During their concert, I was struck not only by their high level of musicality and technical ability, but also by their poised and assertive stage presence. For their performance, the Axiom Brass programmed:

Duxbury Fanfare – Bernofsky
Brass Quintet No. 2 – Ewald
Scherzo (from Laudes) – Jan Bach
Mini Overture – Lutoslawski
Suite of 17th Century Dances – ed. Mase
Contrapunctus X – J.S. Bach; arr. Nagel
Four Moods for Brass – Harris
Finale (from Brass Quintet No. 1 “Circus”) – Needham

This ensemble was highly engaged with the audience throughout the performance. They have a clean, clear and precise sound. In addition to the required repertoire, they programmed music that has a strong place in the standard repertoire for brass quintet. This provided a program that was greatly varied in style and musical interest. For the most part, these were all very difficult selections. This group does not miss a detail; they have a wide dynamic contrast, play with impeccable intonation, and have a balanced blend and approach to ensemble. Each performer is a virtuoso player… I can only believe that with each future performance, this group will become quickly established as one of the major art music groups in brass chamber music.”

The competition was only a portion of this four-day festival. The IBCMF featured clinics masterclasses, and composer forums as well as incredible performances by guest artists such as Spanish Brass, Proteus 7, Øystein Baadsvik, Louisville Brass, and Sonus Brass.