by Nicholas Stevens

On a recent Sunday afternoon in Cleveland State Univesity’s Waetjen Auditorium, extraordinary sights and sounds filled the room without overwhelming it. For those accustomed to hearing symphony orchestras in concert, forty-seven will not sound like an especially high number of musicians to see onstage — until it becomes clear that the group consists exclusively of low brass players. The ten tubists and thirty-seven trombonists of the Cleveland Trombone Seminar brought finesse and energy to a varied program, their instruments’ reputations for volume and slowness cast aside at the auditorium’s threshold. [Read more…]