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Big Horns to ornament concert

Brass ensemble returns for its second year with even bigger ambitions

The Columbian
Published: December 17, 2010, 12:00am

• What: Big Horn Brass to perform “The Big Horn Brass Christmas” with vocalist Valerie Day.

• When: 7 p.m. Saturday.

• Where: Union High School, 6201 N.W. Friberg-Strunk St., Camas.

• Cost: $15; free for children 12 and younger.

• Information: 360-735-7278 or VancouverSymphony.org.

If you love the warmth of brass music on a cold winter night, you’ll want to hear the Big Horn Brass ensemble in its Christmas pops concert with vocalist Valerie Day.

This is the second year the Big Horn Brass ensemble will warm up holiday festivities with a fundraising concert for the Vancouver Symphony. Last year, the concert made a big splash with its debut performance in Vancouver. This time, the ensemble will try a larger venue at Union High School in Camas and hopes to sell out its 600-seat auditorium.

Big Horn Brass includes four French horns, four trombones, four trumpets, and two percussionists who play chimes, bells, a drum set, and timpani. Professional musicians from the Vancouver Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Opera Orchestra, and other local ensembles enjoy playing the variety of music in the Christmas concert.

&#8226; What: Big Horn Brass to perform "The Big Horn Brass Christmas" with vocalist Valerie Day.

&#8226; When: 7 p.m. Saturday.

&#8226; Where: Union High School, 6201 N.W. Friberg-Strunk St., Camas.

&#8226; Cost: $15; free for children 12 and younger.

&#8226; Information: 360-735-7278 or <a href="http://VancouverSymphony.org">VancouverSymphony.org</a>.

“Our holiday concert is a big mixed bag that includes traditional Christmas tunes, local arrangements, big band arrangements,” said trombonist Doug Peebles. “Plus we have Valerie Day, who is a top-notch singer.”

Peebles, a resident of the Evergreen Highland neighborhood, plays with the Vancouver Symphony, as does his wife, Wendy, who plays second horn. Peebles also serves as the orchestra’s librarian and manager.

Big Horn Brass plays as an ensemble, “but individuals in the group get a chance to shine here and there,” Peebles said.

“A couple of the swing numbers feature jazzy solos by the trumpets, and one of the coolest pieces is ‘I Wonder as I Wander’ that Larry Johnson plays with an Alpenhorn.”

Co-founded by Andrew Harris in 1983, Big Horn Brass is led by conductor and trombonist David Bryan. Because Bryan and Harris have an extensive library of music, they can make each concert unique.

“For the Christmas concert, we are doing a charming brass-ensemble arrangement of the Nutcracker,” said Harris. “We will also play medleys of carols and three numbers that Ralph Carmichael arranged for Stan Kenton’s band. They are ‘Once in Royal David’s City,’ ‘We Three Kings,’ and the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas.’ The chords in those pieces are unique to the Stan Kenton sound. It’s all great stuff.”

Also on the program are Philip Neuman’s unique arrangements of “Ding Dong Merrily on High” and “O Tannenbaum.” Neuman’s music is well-known for its humorous element and early-music influences.

Vocalist Valerie Day has sung with the Big Horn Brass ensemble since 2004. She will sing two new arrangements by Lars Campbell of “Winter Wonderland” and “White Christmas.” She is also looking forward to singing a Stevie Wonder tune called “Someday at Christmas” and a new arrangement of “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” that her husband, John Smith, wrote after hearing a rendition by Harry Connick Jr.

“The licks that the saxophones play in the Harry Connick Jr. version of ‘Rudolf’ are done by the French horns,” Day said. “That’s something to see! They have to play really, really fast.”

Day said she loves to see the mix of young kids, parents, and grandparents at the Big Horn Brass Christmas concerts.

“Sometimes my Christmas spirit is flagging, but the audience and the uplifting music always puts me in a state of wonder and gratitude.”

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