

Watch this space for all the latest Washington Symphonic Brass information and announcements.
- Our fourth CD "Burana
in Brass" has been released on Warner Classics!
This is the first major label distrubution deal ever
by
a brass ensemble and we've very excited about it.
We've gotten some great reviews from
Gramophone and American Record Guide on this recording,
so if you don't have it yet, don't miss out.
- We made another recording with Michael
McCarthy and the National Cathedral Choir in June which will
be released this December. Look for us on their newest Christmas
recording.
The WSB had a great story in the International
Musician entitled
"Not
Your Average Brass Ensemble"
Phil Snedecor of Locals 40-543 (Baltimore, MD), 161-710
(Washington, DC), and 269 (Harrisburg, PA) likes to think
outside the box. He is the manager of the Washington Symphonic
Brass (WSB), a group of 17 brass and percussion players
led and co-founded by himself and Milton Stevens, also
a member of Local 161-710. This not-for-profit ensemble
is putting a twist on the type of music traditionally played
by brass ensembles.
In 2002, the WSB started its own self-promoted
concert series in the D.C. area during which
it presents
nine concerts a year. This year's concerts include "WSB in the 50s" (that's
the 1750s, 1850s, and 1950s), "WSB at the Movies," and "Brass
at the Ballet." Yes, brass at the ballet.
"
We try to give our audiences things they wouldn't normally
expect from brass players," Snedecor says. As for
the "Brass at the Ballet" concert,
he says that, although people do not generally
associate
the two, there
is great brass music in ballet.
As the arranger, Snedecor uses these brass sections
and also arranges the string portions for the
brass. "I
want audiences to say, 'Wow, I didn't think brass could
do that'," he says.
Snedecor boasts that the members of the WSB are
some of the best brass players ever assembled,
and he
believes they can play anything. "Playing is so much
more than playing with your own individual instrument," he says,
adding that the thrill for him is performing with a group of such talented
musicians.
The ensemble was formed in 1993. Back then, the WSB would perform free concerts
and as guest artists with the National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,
and The Philadelphia Orchestra. But the WSB has come a long way, thanks to the
inception of the concert series, as well as the release of four albums. The WSB's
latest release--Voices of Brass--features songs from Carmina Burana. Selections
from all its albums can be heard at www.wsbrass.com.
Snedecor has been a member of the Federation since he was a freshman
at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and has, over
the years,
been a member
of six locals. He says that he works very hard to pay union wages and
AFM pension on their concert series, which he has done since the beginning.
The
AFM pension
plan is something he feels very strongly about. "Some musicians don't think
about their future," he says. "Even if they don't care, I
do."
Funding the brass ensemble is not without its challenges, admits Snedecor.
Currently, he pays his musicians scale, but would like to pay them
more. "I think the
musicians are worth a lot. I want to pay them what they're worth," he
says.
One of the ways Snedecor plans to increase revenue is by expanding
to larger venues and widening his audience. Currently, the WSB plays
in
churches
and similar venues, but he's set his sights on The John F. Kennedy
Center for
the Performing
Arts. "We want to give the audience something so unusual that they want
us to keep coming back," Snedecor says. "This kind of music
making is the wave of the future."