ONYX BRASS

Blog Archives

Really top-notch! A wonderful ensemble.

Kevin Stees, James Madison University, Harrisonburg VA, presenter

Five stars out of five… the premise of this delightful album builds a dialogue between Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and Shostakovich’s own studies in the form, orchestrated for the clarion tones of the Onyx Brass ensemble…Bach’s originals emerge refreshed by this new instrumental context.

Classic FM on Fugue, August 2008

This is a splendidly planned and executed release, which no devotee of either composer could fail to enjoy…Apart from the exhilaration of the playing and the superb quality of the recording, made in a north London church, the disc has a nice pogical structure… 

IRR on Fugue, July/August 2008

Onyx Brass, a versatile quintet founded in 1993, prides itself in its dedication to modern composers, expanding the repertoire with new arrangements and commissions…..Dances from Rodeo, Copland’s 1942 wild west ballet (arr. Joseph Hollings) launch the disc with a swagger. The elegiac and moving Two Cairns by Stuart MacRae (b 1976) and Time to Time by Timothy Jackson (b 1972) – melancholy settings persuasively sung by Mark Stone………This is an eclectic ear-opener of a disc, virtuosically played.  

The Guardian on Time to Time, July 10, 2011

The evening concert was really good. I really enjoyed it. I felt like someone really special. The perants (sic) really enjoyed it too.

Malika TFS, Hackney

You helped us sing v. well and you were all brilliant (sic). 

Danielle, TFS, Hackney

This letter goes to Amos. Amos I am a fan, Thank you because now I am in a brass instrument playing club. 

Cavi, aged 8 TFS, Hackney