October 18, 2005 | Events

G�teborg Brass Band of Sweden to Perform Oct. 27

By Judy Moore

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The Göteborg Brass Band of Sweden will perform works by Dvorák, Verdi and Saint-Saëns as well as familiar marches, popular favorites and a tribute to Louis Armstrong, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus.

Comprised of Göteborg University’s finest music students and other top musicians, the Göteborg Brass Band has achieved international recognition and has won numerous awards. The ensemble was established in 1982 by conductor Bengt Eklund to expand and challenge the traditional boundaries of the brass band.

The brass band quickly gained an international reputation by participating in orchestral festivals and contests, which paved the way for concert tours that have encompassed four continents. Efforts to spread brass band music have resulted in five tours to France made from 1993 to 2002, three tours to Russia since 1991, and a recent tour to Australia and New Zealand. The current tour brings the Göteborg Brass Band to the United States for the third time.

The Göteborg Brass Band has held the position of Swedish Champions for many years and has served as a trendsetter and an inspiration to others. Through consistent and tenacious work it has created a new model for the brass band as an ensemble within the tradition-bound world of classical and orchestral music.

Eklund’s intention in forming the Göteborg Brass Band was to bring that traditional ensemble form -- with its technical virtuosity but limited artistic horizon -- into a relationship with mainstream music of all kinds. His insistence on tonal perfection through ideal intonation and his intuitive sense of what the brass band can achieve have developed an ensemble that represents the pinnacle of brass band performance.

Tickets for the Oct. 27 concert are $10 for the general public; $8 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5 for students with valid student IDs.

To purchase tickets, call the Pick-Staiger Ticket Office at (847) 467-4000. For more information, call (847) 491-5441.