The Annapolis Brass Quintet (ABQ) was a brass quintet founded by trumpet player David Cran and trombone player Robert Posten in 1971 as America's only full-time performing brass ensemble. the only female member in the Quintet's history.

Notable performances

The Quintet is notable for its 1979 founding of the International Brass Quintet Festival in Baltimore, Maryland, which became recognized as a major forum for brass chamber music. A major highlight of the 1989 festival was the combined appearance of both the East Berlin and West Berlin Brass Quintets with the ABQ two months before the Berlin Wall toppled, a historic collaboration both musically and politically. The festival presented over 200 free public concerts and conducted workshops and seminars for students and professional brass players.

In 1985, the ABQ first performed with the Charlie Byrd Trio as Byrd and Brass. This unique and critically acclaimed blending of Latin, jazz and classical styles, with one of the world's premier jazz guitarists and his trio, led to a long collaboration including over 50 concerts throughout the United States, Christmas concerts in Annapolis, and two recordings, Byrd and Brass and Christmas with Byrd and Brass.

  • Brass and Pipes (CRS)
  • Christmas with Byrd and Brass (Antigua DG91.6)
  • Reflections in Brass (Antigua 92)

References

  • Official ABQ Website