Spring 2025
MNOZIL BRASS
7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
Auditorium
Mnozil Brass is an internationally renowned Austrian brass septet touring the whole world. They play classical, jazz and other styles of music, using traditional brass instruments and more unusual instruments. Music is presented with a typical Austrian style of humor, which can be approximately characterized as "jet black" and "here and there" absurd. Elements of slapstick exist next to virtuosic brass playing.
All the founding members are graduates of the renowned Vienna College of Music, who met while playing at the Mnozil pub in Vienna's first inner-city district. The band was founded in 1992 although its first official outing was in 1993.
Spring 2024
TENTHING
7:30 p.m., Friday, March 8, 2024
Main Campus, Auditorium
Formed in 2007 by Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth as a fun and exciting collaboration between musical friends, the 10-piece, all-female brass ensemble tenThing have firmly established themselves on the international scene to great acclaim. tenThing are celebrated for their commitment to outreach and access to music through a diverse repertoire that spans from Mozart to Weill, Grieg to Bernstein, and Lully to Bartok. The group work closely with Norwegian guitarist and arranger Jarle Storløkken in the arrangement of scores for the ensemble, enabling them to play pieces of differing instrumentations.
tenThing first came into prominence thanks to performances all over their native Norway, eventually delighting a huge national audience by opening the 2011 Norwegian Grammy Awards. Soon after, the group drew international attention after their highly successful appearance at the BBC Proms at London’s Cadogan Hall. Elsewhere in Europe, they have performed at a wide range of prestigious festivals and concert halls, including the Schleswig-Holstein, Beethoven Bonn, Gstaad, MDR Musiksommer, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Bodensee, Engadin, Merano, Thüringer Bachwochen, and Bremen festivals in Central Europe, the Merano and Sienna festivals in Italy, the NCPA Beijing May Festival, and Moscow’s House of Music.
In Spring 2017, the ensemble embarked on their American debut tour, which included concerts in New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and at the renowned Wolf Trap Festival. tenThing also made their Paris debut at the St. Denis Festival in May 2017. Following their international successes, they returned to the U.S. again in 2019.
Check out their rendition of Aaron Copland's athletic "Hoe-Down" at the 2016 World Band Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland.
This concert is presented as part of NEIU's Jewel Box Series. Tickets are available at neiu.edu/tickets.
Spring 2023
Jewel Box Series: NEIU Faculty Brass & Percussion
7:30 p.m. Friday, March 3
NEIU Recital Hall
Purchase tickets
Join NEIU faculty in concert for an exciting program of music for brass and percussion from throughout the musical eras. The program features Travis Heath (trumpet), Anna Mayne (horn), Steve Duncan (trombone), William Russell (tuba), and Tina Laughlin (percussion).
NEIU Wind Ensemble & Varsity Big Band with Guest Artist Marshall Gilkes, trombone
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25
NEIU Auditorium
Free and open to the public
Join the NEIU Wind Ensemble (Travis Heath, conductor) and Varsity Big Band (Steve Duncan, director) for an exciting joint concert featuring internationally acclaimed trombonist Marshall Gilkes.
Over the course of the past 20 years, Marshall Gilkes has established himself as one of the world’s preeminent trombonists. A nonpareil artist at the forefront of brass playing, his virtuosic command of the instrument, marked by a warm and enveloping tone, Herculean chops, astounding flexibility and awe-inspiring range, place him in a league of his own.
Crafting seven albums since 2004, Gilkes has touched on a variety of settings including the compact trio, quartet and quintet formats, a merging of brass octet and jazz combo, and big band. Drawing heavy praise in the process, including a pair of Grammy nominations, he’s cemented his reputation as a composer and leader of great renown. And with his work as a first-call sideman, carried out in parallel to those efforts, Gilkes continuously demonstrates incomparable might and adaptability. His lengthy résumé includes work performing and/or recording with bassist Carlos Henriquez, harpist Edmar Castañeda, the New York Philharmonic, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, Slide Monsters, bassist Richard Bona, pianist Makoto Ozone and numerous other top-tier musicians and outfits. And as a longtime member of the Maria Schneider Orchestra and the lead trombonist in the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Gilkes has played himself into the rich history of large ensemble music.
A marvel of musicality, sought after and highly respected in both the jazz and classical worlds, Gilkes has earned his rightful place in the upper echelon of both realms. Not surprisingly, his vast experience and genre-straddling skills have made him an in-demand educator, reflected by his current position on the faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music. In addition, he’s shared his knowledge and skills through master classes, clinics, guest appearances and teaching at other venerable institutions including the Banff Center, Berklee College of Music, University of North Texas, Manhattan School of Music, the Brubeck Institute, Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music, and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. An S. E. Shires Artist, Gilkes performs on his signature model trombone — an instrument as versatile as its inspiration.
