The 2012 Brass Blast
The Southington Brass Blast is a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest trumpet ensemble and a benefit for organizations that support students and musicians. Thank you to the 298 trumpeters, their fans and our volunteers who joined us on April 21, 2012.
View the 2012 Brass Blast video.
Save the date and register for the 2013 Brass Blast attempt to be held on April 27, 2013.
At the 2012 attempt, almost $9,000 was raised for three worthy causes:
- The Mill Foundation for Kids - www.millfoundation.org
- Southington High School Band Backers - www.shsbands.com
- Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA) - www.cmea.org
We invite you to share your comments, photos and video at 2012 Southington Brass Blast, a Guinness World Record Attempt event on Facebook. Articles about the event can be found here.
It was great to see that so many of you followed our suggestion that trumpeters who hadn't played for a while, especially parents of current players, dust off your horn and join us. There were multiple families performing together. Here is some of the feedback we received:
"It was a real good day today. The best part of the experience was all the generations playing their horns today. Congratulations." -JS
"Thank you, THANK YOU for putting on a fabulous event. In the trumpet section--well, it was all the trumpet section, there were smiles and more smiles. Kids performed with parents, and music educators. I connected with an old friend from school days. I hadn't played in an ensemble since 1985. It was fun and it was really COOL. It was good to see my son and daughter's music teachers again; Tim Johnson and Jeff Shaw. I hope the Southington Brass will make another world record attempt in the future. It was a terrific day." - RC
"Thanks again for putting this together - I had a great time!" - LS
"Thank you Erik for a wonderful experience for my daughter and a great concert for the rest of us. It was amazing to hear so many trumpet players come together and make beautiful music. Until the next attempt!" - KW
Concert
Thank you to the musicians who performed in the concert after the attempt. Those of you who stayed were treated to a special performance.
- Dominick Farinacci - The New York Times recognizes Dominick Farinacci as "having the prepossessing charm and lyrical instinct of a jazz pop-star." The 28-year-old trumpeter is the recipient of the International New Star Award (along with Diana Krall and Christian McBride), the Disney New Star Award, first place honors in the ITG Carmine Caruso Jazz Competition (2003), and was first discovered by Wynton Marsalis when he was just 17. After appearing on PBS with Marsalis, Dominick attended The Juilliard School in NYC. In addition to touring internationally with his band, he created an innovative music outreach program for the Tommy Lipuma Center for Creative Arts in his native town of Cleveland, reaching over 3,000 kids in its inaugural year. The legendary Quincy Jones says of Dominick's wide array of accomplishments, "This kid is 360 degrees!" Most recently Dominick was featured of NPR's Piano Jazz Rising Stars, and is touring in support of his latest release Dawn of Goodbye.
Dominick resides in New York City. He is endorsed by E.K. Blessing.
- Check out Dominick's interview/performance on NPR here!
- Connect with Dominick via
- Enfield Centurion Drum and Bugle Corp - www.enfieldcenturions.org
- East Coast Trumpet Quartet, featuring Louise Baranger. Louise has performed around the world and her solo CD, Trumpeter's Prayer, on Summit Records, features Arturo Sandoval, Tom Kubis and Carl Fontana. She is included on the CD To Fred With Love: The World's Finest Brass Players Pay Tribute to Fred Mills.
- Joining the East Coast Trumpet Quartet was:
- Dominic Deresse, a classical soloist, has played on more than 60 motion picture soundtracks, recorded commercials for more than 100 different companies, performed numerous themes for television, and performed in over 25 Broadway shows.
- Daren B. Wilkes, a freelance player in the NYC area, formerly a member of the US Army Band, has performed the Riverside Symphony, Bridgeport Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Norwalk Symphony, and the New Amsterdam Symphony.
- Mike Pontecorvo, currently a music educator in Hartford, CT and musical director of the band Funkastra, was musical director on several cruise lines and has performed with Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Dorsey, Temptations, Artie Shaw, and a variety of other performers.
- The Southington Brass, your hosts.
Sponsors
We would also like to thank our sponsors.
-Charles Colin Publications
- P2 Automation, LLC
- The Music Shop of Southington
- Southington Chamber of Commerce
http://www.southingtoncoc.com/
- Vantis Life: Insurance Company
http://www.vantislife.com/able
- Emendee Technologies: Telecommunications and Energy Solutions
- D'Agostino & Mazzone, LLC: Certified Public Accountants, Business & Financial Advisors
http://dagostinoandmazzone.com/
- Resources Management Corporation: financial investment advisory services (West Hartford)
www.resourcesmanagementcorp.com/
- Pan De Oro: All Natural Tortilla Chips
- Carmen Filloramo Photography
- Jaeger Brass: Brass Instrument Specialists
- Brass Aid, trumpet mute holders
- Guida's Milk
- The Southington Arts Council
- E.K. Blessing, manufacturing brass instruments since 1906.
- TAB Computer Systems, Inc.
Brass Blast Photos
The trumpet section:
Musical Director, Tim Johnson:
Southington Brass founders, the Semmel brothers:
More photos and video are at Southington Brass Blast, a Guinness World Record Attempt event on Facebook. View the official 2012 Brass Blast video.