Posted by Chuck Jackson on August 09, 2000 at 22:19:29:
I was priveleged last night to give the premiere of Elena Roussanova-Lucas' "Festival Fanfare on Russian Themes" as part of the Las Vegas Music Festival's Brass Bash night. Elena is a Russian composer married to the great trombone player, Don Lucas. The piece is for symphonic brass and percussion. When she gets her visa in order and gets to the states, someone should get her to write a piece for tuba. She has a wonderful knowledge of the instrument and her writing is beautiful. I also gave a performance of her "The Great Chaplin" for brass quintet last night. Every quintet NEEDS to have this piece in it's repetoire. It is a mixture of dixieland, ragtime, Weill-Brecht sarcasm and possesses the best slow movement written for quintet since the Arnold. It will be published soon by Warwick Music out of England. Also, I was part of a quintet that played Ewazen's "Frostfire" last night. Get this piece for your quintet. It is not for the faint hearted. It will require an F tuba as the tessitura is up there. I know this sounds like a shameless plug, but those of you who know me know I don't get real excited by new music. And, if you haven't heard Don Lucas play trombone, you have defintely missed something. Thanks for putting up with my fervor.