Nationally recognized touring ensemble, the Boston Brass, will be joining the Iowa State Wind Ensemble for a concert at the Ames City Auditorium on Friday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m.

The Boston Brass, who will be hitting their 27th year as a group, are a traveling quintet that perform more than a hundred performances in 49 of the states and around the world. Performing a repertoire that ranges from classical to jazz standards and brass quintet pieces, the group infuses humor with their professional playing to provide what Dr. Michael Golemo, music dept. chair and Wind Ensemble director, calls “very entertaining.”

“It’s such an inspiration to hear music played at such a high level,” Golemo said. “There are times during their show, it’s like a Las Vegas night show. Some of the finest brass players in the world.”

The quintet will be performing a couple of pieces on their own, written specifically for them. They will also be performing several pieces with the Wind Ensemble, as well as hosting a masterclass for the students before the concert. For trumpeter Jeff Conner, doing these masterclasses is just as important as performing.

“We love having the opportunity to work with Mike and his students,” Conner said. “We do a lot of performances with colleges.”

During the masterclass, Boston Brass will work with students on variety of way for the students of the Wind Ensemble to improve. As Golemo explained, these professional musicians will cover everything from embouchure, tone, tuning, mental approach, breathing and performing in general. Lance LaDuke, the trombonist for Boston Brass, explained that the masteclass will be a learning experience for future band instructors.

“These students will be the future music teachers, so we want to teach them the tools they will need,” LaDuke said. “We’ll teach them the other side of being a teacher, like the business side to it.”

The Boston Brass has performed in Ames with Iowa State’s ensembles before, the last time being four years ago. Golemo also knows the group from convention across the states. LaDuke is a former student of Golemo back when the ISU director was a teacher at the University of Akron.

“He’s been a friend of the group for years,” said Conner. “We like what he’s done with the ISU music dept. and are excited to be performing with him.”

Tickets for the concert will be available at the door before the concert and advance tickets are available at the music dept. The cost for tickets are $6 for students and $12 for public. For more information about the concert, go to the Department of Music homepage. To learn more about the Boston Brass, go to their homepage.