Closing Concert, Youngstown Fine Arts Brass

Sunday, April 15, 2012 - 3:30 p.m.

The Youngstown Fine Arts Brass has been performing throughout Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania for over thirty years. Aside from the numerous weddings and church services, they are called upon to perform many recitals and community concerts. The Quintet takes pride in their involvement in public school music education. They regularly perform school concerts and clinics which introduce the brass instruments to children and demonstrate the enjoyment and importance of music in education. The Brass has been a featured group for Pennsylvania Music Education Association District and Regional music festivals as well as high school and professional performing ensembles. An ongoing “Artists in Residence” status at Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, provides the group with performances for many special services in the largest Churches and Cathedrals in the Pittsburgh area. On February 18, 1997 they premiered three compositions for the Association of Anglican Musicians Region III Midwinter Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In March of the same year, the Quintet accompanied the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale in a performance which featured the lower 48 states premiere of Fr. Normand A. Pepin’s Pulitzer Prize nominated Oratorio “Obedient Unto Death.”

The ensemble selects from an extensive repertoire of several hundred compositions to create a program tailored to each specific performance. In the concert setting, education is paramount as ensemble members offer informative commentaries accompanying each program selection.

Some of their more popular classical compositions span from the Renaissance through contemporary styles. Included are transcriptions and reductions of orchestral and symphonic concert band scores as well as many selections written exclusively for brass quintet. Several compositions are known to have been effectively used in soundtracks of movies and as themes of television shows. The light Renaissance Dance as well as the sophisticated style of the Bach Fugue are frequently featured in concert and recital settings.

Terry Gale, Trumpet
Terry received his Undergraduate Degree in Music education from Youngstown State University. He also holds a degree in Radiological Technology. Terry has been performing throughout the area for over thirty years. Currently, he performs with the W.D. Packard Band and their jazz ensemble, the Westminster College Faculty Brass Quintet as well as numerous free-lance performances. He has performed with the American Wind Symphony, Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony, Jimmy Dorsey Band, Glenn Miller Band, Les Elgarth, Marie Osmond, Ben Vereen, and at Busch Gardens.

Andrew Erb, Trumpet
Andy earned his Undergraduate Degree in Music Education from Westminster College and his Masters in Trumpet Performance at Youngstown State University. He is currently the Director of Bands at Thiel College. He has also been a music director in the Riverview and Sharpsville School Districts. Andy is the trumpet instructor and former Jazz Ensemble Director at Westminster College. As a trumpeter, Mr. Erb has performed for Ben Vereen, Bobby Vinton, Marie Osmond, Lena Prima, and Wayne Newton. He has also performed with the Warren Packard Concert Band, Butler Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Savoyard Pit Orchestra, the Youngstown Fine Arts Brass Quintet, the Second Avenue Project, and is one of the founding members of the Butler Brass Quintet.

James Scanga, Horn
Jim received his Undergraduate Degree in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Masters in Horn Performance from Youngstown State University. He is the Director of Bands in the Farrell School District and the Instructor of Horn at Grove City College. Jim is extremely active as a free-lance musician throughout the area. He performs with the W.D. Packard Band and Greenville Symphony Orchestra.

R. Tad Greig, Trombone
Tad received his Undergraduate Degree in Music from Grove City College, Masters in Music Education from Youngstown State University and Ph.D. in Music Education from Kent State University. He is currently the Director of Instrumental Activities, Associate Professor in Music and Chair of the Department of Music at Westminster College. Tad has been performing throughout the area for years and has performed with the American Wind Symphony, Westminster College Faculty Brass Quintet, Greenville Symphony Orchestra, and numerous Celebrity Series events at Westminster College. He is also an active guest conductor throughout the Eastern United States.

Robert Antonucci, Tuba
Bob received his Undergraduate and Master’s Degrees in Music Education from Youngstown State University. He is currently the Director of Bands in the Lowellville Area School District and is the Tuba instructor at Westminster College. He is also the Director of the Mt. Carmel Band. Bob also performs with the W. D. Packard Band as well as free-lance work in the area. Bob has also been a guest conductor for festivals throughout the area.