Program Information

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PERSONNEL:

For Full Bios, please visit the “Intrepid Brass Quintet” tab on this website!

Christopher Shaw, organ

Micah Bolton, timpani

Dalton Williams, trumpet

Josh Bergman, trumpet

Meri Hulett, horn

Rob Tierney, trombone

Lucas Hulett, tuba

PROGRAM NOTES:

Giovanni Gabrieli, b. 1557, d. 1612: Canzon Septimi Toni #2

One could argue that Giovanni Gabrieli was predestined to become one of the most prominent composers of sacred and liturgical music of his time. Born in Venice, as the son of a weaver, he was influenced both by his mother, composer Paola Gabrieli, and his respected uncle Andrea Gabrieli. The mutual respect between uncle and nephew was revered in the musical community, and Andrea’s influence was such that his approval of a burgeoning Giovanni was enough to cement a solid reputation as a sacred composer and performer. This influence was felt not only in Italy, but also abroad in locales like Munich, where his teacher took him to serve in the court of Albert V, the Duke of Bavaria. Eventually, a young Gabrieli would return to Venice and succeed his mentor as organist at the esteemed St. Mark’s cathedral, a post he would hold his entire life and which would foster continuous opportunities for composition.

In 1587, Gabrieli had the opportunity to publish a selection of originals alongside a selection of posthumous works by his uncle. This strategic choice was sufficient to place Gabrieli at the head of notoriety in sacred, political, and compositional circles. The most notorious patrons he attracted after the publication included the Fugger family, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, colleagues Hans Leo Hesslar, Orlando di Lasso, and Giuseppe Guami, and student Heinrich Schütz.

Gabrieli’s post at St. Mark’s was a dream come true for any young composer. His authority extended over a full time choir of thirty comprising both men and women, as well as a small chamber group of instrumental musicians. Additionally, due to the church’s influence, Gabrieli was able to craft works for special occasions utilizing a much wider variety of instrumental colors, as evidenced by his Sacrae Symphoniae and other large scale works. Gabrieli happened to live at an opportune intersection of timing and location, since Venice around the turn of the 17th century was rich with ospedales, musicians guilds, and choral communities ready to be drawn from at any occasion, all supported by the church.

Gabrieli is responsible for a noteworthy swath of brass literature. His canzonas, antiphonal works, and sacrea symphoniea are the first definitions of harmonic precision and contrapunctal motion for many young musicians. The Canzon Septimi Toni #2 that commences today’s program is one of many examples likely originally composed for brass choir and organ. In gothic cathedrals, each choir would occupy an opposing arm of the cross that served as the basic floor plan, with the conductor and listeners in the center junction. This style of composition is one of the earliest recorded instances of music performed in true stereo, originally called cori spezzati. Gabrieli was a master at balancing the similar timbral shifts between the organ and the brass instruments, which are illustrated through changes of stops on the organ, and sudden dynamic shifts by the brass.

*program notes compiled from EBSCO online and Britannica online

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Craig Phillips, b. 1961 : Suite for Organ, Brass Quintet, and Percussion

Craig Phillips is a popular and prolific American composer and organist whose choral and organ music is heard Sunday by Sunday in churches and cathedrals across the United States and around the world. This year he was given the American Guild of Organists’ Distinguished Artist Award “for his illustrious career as an internationally-acclaimed composer, organist and conductor”. and honored at an AGO GALA Benefit concert and reception in Beverly Hills. In 2012 he was named the American Guild of Organists Distinguished Composer — the seventeenth recipient of this special award. In 2015 Dr. Phillips was named an honorary Canon of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, Diocese of Los Angeles, at a gala event at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and in 2016 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary. In 2023 he was named an Honorary Fellow of the Guild of Musicians & Singers (United Kingdom).

Dr. Phillips served at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, as Associate Director and Director of Music from 1988 to 2026. Upon his retirement in the summer of 2026, the church established the Canon Dr. Craig Phillips Chair for Music, Director of Music Endowment Fund, in his honor and to support the future of great music at All Saints’ well into the future.

As a performer, Dr. Phillips was featured as soloist at the opening service of the 2012 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Nashville with the première of a newly commissioned work, Three Sketches for Organ. In 2002, Dr. Phillips was featured as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of his Concertino for organ and orchestra during the National Convention of the AGO in Philadelphia. He has also appeared as soloist with members of the Eastman Philharmonia, the Oklahoma Symphony, the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, and Musica Angelica at the Corona del Mar Baroque Music Festival. Dr. Phillips has appeared as soloist at regional conventions of the AGO and at various venues across the United States. He has distinguished himself in a number of competitions, including First Prize in the 1994 Clarence Mader Competition for organ composition.

The music of Craig Phillips has been the subject of feature articles in the The American Organist (March 2012), the Los Angeles Times (February 2012) and The Diapason (June 2009). Dr. Phillips has received numerous commissions from such organizations as The American Guild of Organists — for the National Conventions in Washington, DC, 2010, Nashville, 2012, and Seattle, 2000, and for regional conventions in Atlanta, 2007, Lexington, 2011, Boston, 2009, San Diego and Binghamton, 2001, The Episcopal Church (for the 2006 General Convention), The Association of Anglican Musicians, Stellar Brass (USAF Academy Band), The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s (Pacific Palisades, CA), CoroAllegro of Wilmington, Delaware, The University of Iowa, Syracuse University, University of California at Riverside, Washington National Cathedral and many other churches and institutions. His secular works include a Concerto for Harpsichord and Chamber Orchestra, Concerto for Bassoon and Strings, A Festival Song for chorus and orchestra, a song cycle for soprano and orchestra entitled Songs of the Unknown Region, Suite for Organ, Brass Quintet and Percussion, two Sonatas for organ, and a numerous other chamber works.

Dr. Phillips holds the degrees Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Music, and the Performers Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, where he studied with the great pedagogue Russell Saunders. His Bachelor of Music Degree is from Oklahoma Baptist University, and his early musical studies were at the Blair School of Music in Nashville. He is a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and serves on the board of the Ruth and Clarence Mader Scholarship Fund.

Phillips joined a long string of composers who recognized the possibilities of blending brass instruments with organ. However, he elected to amplify the power and impact further by supplementing percussion into the score. Originally published in 2002, the Suite performed today is divided in three movements. The Prelude is a dizzying tumult of swirling key changes, averaging a change every fourteen bars! The result is an incredible showcase of organ timbral changes, and sudden interchanges with the quintet. Cantilene, derived from the Italian word for ‘lullaby,’ is a steady noble processional, featuring soloistic interchanges from the individual brass. The Toccata is a dramatic cavalcade of rolling fanfares, featuring strong attacks from the brass and percussion and rolling power chords from the organ desk. Phillips truly penned a mighty combination of brass and organ tonal versatility.

*program notes adapted from craigphillipscomposer.com and backtrack.com

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Antonín Dvořák, b. 1841 d. 1904: Largo From Symphony From The New World, c. 1893

Antonìn Dvořák was born just outside of Prague in Austria, to a devoutly Christian and bohemian family. He expressed talent on the violin from an early age, and eventually took up the organ as a practical matter. At age thirteen he traveled to Germany to live with an uncle, and ended up under the musical and cultural guidance of Antonìn Leihmann and Franz Hanke. These two teachers were primarily responsible for the young Dvořák’s development in violin, organ, piano, and music theory, as well as providing an environment for him to associate with modern composers. At 16 he would return home and enroll in the Prague Organ School, graduating second in his class.

Dvořák’s graduation left him a stereotypical moderately struggling musician, making ends meet by giving private piano lessons and playing the viola in local opera orchestras. This setting introduced him to the compositions of Richard Wagner and eventually Wagner himself, whom he held in high esteem throughout his entire life and significantly influenced his compositional style. It was around this time, 1861, that Dvořák began composing more seriously, beginning with string quartets and the early glimmering of symphonic works. However most of these compositions went unrecognized, for better or worse, for at least a decade, and a few of which were only published or performed posthumously. The first publicly reported performance of a Dvořak work was not until 1871, and his music was being met with mixed and occasionally harsh criticism. After adjusting his compositional style to be more personal and less imitative of Wagner, he began to gain traction in musical society.

The compositional trajectory of Dvořák imitates a rocket in flight. Beginning with a long slow burn, it sparked approximately halfway through his life and carried him steadily upwards until his passing. Dvořák had been steadily composing from an early age, with the support of an approving father, and had been attempting to sustain himself through positions as a church musician and through published performances of his works. His first major break came in 1874, winning first prize in the Austrian State Competition from a panel including Johannes Brahms, who was enamored with the fundamentally unknown young composer. Dvořák’s repeat win of the same prize three years later secured a positive reputation with a large publisher, which served to accelerate his works throughout the European continent and beyond.

Dvořak’s third win of the Austrian State Competition sealed him into mastery status among his peers, performers, and publishers. The years surrounding the awards witnessed the creation of the third, fourth, and fifth symphonies, several string chamber works including his Sextet and the Serenade in E, the famous Slavonic Dances, and his Violin Concerto. The decades following this outpouring of compositional volume would witness success in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States, all of which Dvořak would visit to consult upon performances of his works.

In 1892 the President of New York’s National Conservatory of Music would offer Dvořak a handsomely paid position as Director. His tenure at the rather progressive conservatory afforded him the opportunity to study what he considered the natural music of the Americas. Dvořak’s bohemian roots had always caused him to consider folk music of utmost importance, equal in status to his classical training. His attention turned to Native American and African American roots, which deeply influenced his composition and led to what is his most globally renowned work, the 9th Symphony, or Symphony From The New World. After a three year tenure in New York Dvořak elected to return to his home in Europe, where he focused primarily on tone poems and operas. At the end of his life he enjoyed such national respect that his home country celebrated his birthday twice in one year, and made the official date a national holiday. He was appointed a member of the Austrian House of Lords, and was awarded the gold medal for Litteris et Artibus.

The Symphony “From the New World” is arguably Dvorak’s most globally renowned work, with the Largo movement’s heartfelt melodic folk hymn instantly recognizable to any ear. The straightforward harmonies move with a gentle undulation reminiscent of a wide, unfolding landscape, and seem to settle in a place of lightness and peace that can be felt by the eyes, ears, and heart. The melody is contemplative, longing and hopeful, and flows over the harmony with a liquidity that can only come from genuine awe experienced by a compassionate observer. The whole movement speaks to the vastness of the American wilderness, and captures the sensation of serenity that can only come from a pure lushness that has forever inspired the residents of the countryside. The choral nature of the original composition has lent itself to untallyable arrangements since its inception, including a number of iterations for brass ensemble. Today’s version is a gorgeous lush texture, with the multifaceted organ covering a significant portion of the original orchestral color. This is a slightly modified version of the large brass ensemble version presented by the Intrepid Brass Band in April of this year.

*program notes adapted from wikipedia.com and dvoraknyc.com

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Daniel E. Gawthrop, b. 1949: Sinfonia Festiva

Composer Daniel E. Gawthrop was born in Fort Wayne, Indi­ana. He has been the recipient of over one hundred commissions to write original music. His published choral and organ works are in the catalogs of Dunstan House, MusicSpoke, Alfred Publishing, Alliance Music and others. His a cappella motet Sing Me to Heaven is among the most frequently performed choral pieces of modern times and has sold more than a half million copies.

Gawthrop’s music has premiered in the Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Tabernacle at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and Washington National Cathedral among dozens of other prestigious venues. His choral pieces have been performed and recorded by such eminent ensembles as The United States Air Force Singing Ser­geants, the Gregg Smith Singers, the Turtle Creek Chorale, the Paul Hill Chorale, the American Boychoir, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, the Cathedral Choral Society (of Washing­ton National Cathedral) and literally hundreds of other groups in the U.S. and abroad.

In addition to his work as a composer, Gawthrop has been active as a broadcaster, clinician and adjudicator, organist, conductor, teacher and writer, including a period as music critic for The Washington Post. Gawthrop is a Life Member of the American Choral Directors Association, a member of The American Guild of Organists, and a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the oldest music fraternity in the United States. In 2018 Phi Mu Alpha named Gawthrop the 25th Charles E. Lutton Man of Music, the fraternity’s highest award, placing him in the distinguished company of earlier recipients such as Howard Hanson, Van Cliburn, Aaron Copland and Pablo Casals.

Gawthrop resides with his wife in southern Idaho a few hours from Yellowstone National Park and approximately halfway between Yosemite and Glacier National Parks. Distractions abound!

The Sinfonia Festiva is a Neo-classical three movement work featuring a strong balance between the organ and quintet roles. The movements have no prosaic titles, instead labeled as Allegro Moderato, Adagio, and Scherzo. Listeners will observe soaring violin-esque lines from the first trumpet, octaved melodies from the outer brass voices, and dramatic grand pauses laced throughout the first movement. The second movement is one long swell of compounding solo lines building gently into a lush, soothing chorale. The final movement is shorter, punchy and aggressive, and deviates the furthest from classical composition into the realm of modernism.

*program notes adapted from danielegawthrop.com

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David Sampson, b. 1951: Fanfare for Canterbury Cathedral

Originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, David Sampson showed strong musical aptitude from an early age, with trumpet serving as his instrument of choice. His impressive pedigree began in his high school years with his studies at the esteemed National Music Camp in Interlochen, where he commenced his interest in composition. Sampson’s higher education included the Curtis Institute, Hunter College, the Manhattan School of Music, and Ecole d’art Americaines at Fontainebleau. Notable instructors include Raymond Mase, John Corigliano, Robert Nagel, Donald Lybbert, Gilbert Johnson, Robert Levin, Gerard Schwarz, Karel Husa, and Henri Dutilleux.

Sampson’s professional composition career has been populated with similarly notorious honors and collaborations. Commissions have come from the likes of The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Elements Quartet, and the American Brass Quintet. Also included are the Pew Charitable Trust, Chamber Music America, and the Colonial Symphony. Major grants came from organizations such as the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Dodge Foundation, the Barlow Endowment and the Jerome Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the Cary Trust and the Bergen Foundation. He is also the Founding President of the cheekily titled ‘Hardly Any Sampson’ Music Festival.

This brief but declamatory Fanfare, written in 1978, has been featured on several Intrepid Brass performances, given its ability to captivate the ear and its versatility in programming possibilities. This work, like many for brass and organ, also exists in the form of a double brass quintet, last executed in collaboration with the Friends University Student Brass Quintet in April of 2025. The namesake cathedral is an ancient wonder of England with over 1400 years of religious and community history. The cathedral itself is still in active worship, but is also an international historical site as featured by UNESCO World Heritage. The building features educational tours, hosts historic lectures, operates as a museum and event space, and constantly plays host to live music. Fittingly, the premier of this Fanfare took place at the cathedral itself in 1979.

*program notes adapted from wikipedia.com, davidsampsonmusic.com, and Editions Marc Reift online

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Brenda Portman, b. 1980: Ceremonial Suite

Following a decade of successes in performance competitions, and now with her compositions increasingly in demand, Brenda Portman has established a well-respected dual career as both a concert organist and composer. She serves as the Resident Organist at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she is also the Executive Director of the church’s renowned Organ Concert Series.  She is the Organ Instructor at Xavier University in Cincinnati and also teaches organ and piano privately.  

Raised in Grafton, Wisconsin, Brenda’s earliest musical studies were at the piano with her mother, Cheryl Heck, and later with Clarice Wysocky of Grafton. Her organ studies began in high school, also with her mother, and with John Behnke at Concordia University.  She furthered her study of the organ and church music with Edward Zimmerman at Wheaton College (B.Mus.Ed.), Douglas Cleveland at Northwestern University (M.Mus.), and with Roberta Gary and Michael Unger at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (D.M.A.), where she received a full scholarship as first prize winner of the Strader Organ Competition and served as a teaching assistant for the organ department. 

Between the years 2006 and 2016, Brenda received numerous awards in organ competitions, including the Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition, Arthur Poister Organ Competition, Sursa American Organ Competition, Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition, and the Bank District British/American Organ Competition which concluded with a winner’s recital at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.  In October 2014 she was the only female American organist to compete in the prestigious Canadian International Organ Competition in Montréal.  Her performance there led to a collaboration with acclaimed Canadian composer Rachel Laurin and a recording entitled “Pilgrimages: Organ Music of Rachel Laurin Inspired by Sacred Themes,” which was released in 2016 on the Raven label.

Some of Portman’s compositions have won awards as well, in competitions hosted by the Twin Cities AGO in 2016 (Elegy for organ), the Washington D.C. AGO in 2019 (Monument for organ), the University of Notre Dame in 2019 (Laudate Dominum for SSA/organ), the Palm Beach AGO in 2024 (Prelude on “Love Unknown” for organ), and the AGO Woman Composer Competition in 2025 (Diptych for organ).  She is frequently commissioned to write new works for solo organ, organ-plus-instrument, and choir; recent commissions include conventions of the American Guild of Organists and Association of Anglican Musicians, and various musicians and churches across the country. Her compositions are primarily published by Sacred Music Press and Augsburg Fortress, though others are self-published.

In 2017 Dr. Portman was awarded the AAGO certificate (Associate of the American Guild of Organists) and received the AAGO Prize for the highest exam score, as well as the S. Lewis Elmer Award for the highest score on both the AAGO and FAGO exams combined.

Generated from her doctoral research, Dr. Portman has published articles about organ works by Ad Wammes and Rachel Laurin in The Diapason, The American Organist, and Organists’ Review magazines. Other recent activities include adjudicating organ or composition competitions, presenting workshops on contemporary organ repertoire, and teaching 4th graders about how pipe organs work.

The Ceremonial Suite that concludes today’s program is a four movement work that is an expansion on four traditional church hymns. Each hymn, though demonstrated in its entirety in their respective movements, are nonetheless subjected to extreme harmonic decoration, exploration of form, and metric undulation. The first movement turns the brass quintet into an imitation of organ interlude music, interspersed with a contrapunctal fugue. The second movement layers an echoing melody over a rolling ostinanto, with the organ using different colored stops to emphasize the echo. The third movement is a thickly textured ballad with gently undulating lines morphing into proper points of cadential repose. The fourth movement is a rushing finale, with a near constant rocking back and forth between closely related meters only briefly interrupted by a steadily rising joint chorale.

*program notes taken from brendaportman.com

Notes by Dalton Williams, July 2026

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Thank you for your attendance! Your support and energy make live music events a possibility, and we are so happy you decided to join us today!