By JUNE SULLIVAN
"The 2 P.M. special one-hour holiday program of traditional music for the Christmas and Chanukah season is part of a locally sponsored initiative: "Stage Two: The Arts Start Here" for youngsters ages eight and up and their families," Ms. Meadows says.
Chuck Daellenbach, the ensemble's tuba player, says the special program will be an abbreviated family show taken from the Brass's full, 8 P.M. concert.
"One of our trumpet players will act as Santa Claus as we play. During 'Frosty the Snowman,' I play Frosty and have to melt at the end. It's a real challenge, but I do it. And there will be other favorites, including 'Jingle Bell Rock' and 'Jolly St. Nicholas.'
"We'll also be including some of the most beautiful Chanukah tunes, such as "Maoz Tzur," which is very, very beautiful, as well as variations on "Dreidel" which is one of the most famous Chanukah songs. We'll do "Dreydel" every way from a ballad to cool jazz and then end up with the traditional klezmer sound."
The evening performance will include five major songs from Gerswhin's "Porgy and Bess." "Each song features one of us," Daellenbach says, referring to fellow musicians Jens Lindemann on trumpet, Ryan Anthony on trumpet, Jeff Nelsen on French horn and Eugene Watts on trombone.
"Admittedly the Gershwin music has no real holiday connection. However ... at the most beautiful moment, when they express love for each other during "Bess You Is My Woman Now," Porgy says he will follow her to New York. ... Well, we've decided that this must have been at Christmas time."
Lynn Himelfarb, a Woodmere resident who attends many musical programs at Tilles Center, is a great fan of the Canadian Brass and is hoping to catch this special concert.
"I find them very unique because they have a sound different from anything I have ever heard. It is a sound that is just their own. I find it exhilarating," Ms. Himelfarb says. "I enjoy jazz, for example, but find that this [the Brass's sound] is a type of music that thrills me in a very different way."
Mr. Daellenbach explains the special brass-instrument sound. "It has historically been heroic and often used in military fanfares and official announcements. It is a penetrating sound that can touch people in a special way."
It was not until valves were invented in the 1840's, he says, that brass instruments were finally able to play a full chromatic scale, like a piano.
"So, suddenly, brass instruments were able to take part in real music-making as well. So by the time you come up to The Canadian Brass in 1970, we inherited instruments that were capable of twang, a western art tradition, as well as Beethoven, Bach and Brahms, and all we needed to do was add the next ingredient - special brass arrangements.
"During the Golden Age of classical music, we missed all of that - Beethoven and Brahms did not write for our instruments. So we need to go back to pick all that up. But this gives us an advantage. We can pick from their entire catalog and are less constrained."
Mr. Daellenbach also suggests that music is in an interesting era of world history. "People are being told what to think and what to do. Music goes beyond that and they can get away from their thoughts and deal on a much more emotional plane. It is becoming terribly important in people's lives. For example, it is proven in education that the countries that score the highest in mathematics and science are those that have the most emphasis on their arts programs. Music exercises another part of the mind that really helps creativity."
The Canadian Brass doesn't try to make their concerts fun, he adds, it is just that humor and fun are natural emotions. "The real draw to music is people getting in touch with their emotions - and that also includes humor."
