Canadian Brass

 

Brandon Ridenou / Trumpet

Brandon Ridenour is a stylistically diverse trumpet soloist, collaborative artist, composer and arranger. Recognized as “…heralding the trumpet of the future” (Chicago Sun Times) and for “demonstrating the trumpet’s huge potential for lyricism” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), he has combined his wide-ranging activities as soloist and chamber musician with his passion for composing and arranging, resulting in his distinctive artistic voice and vision.

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At the age of twenty, Brandon became the youngest member ever to join the iconic Canadian Brass, a position he held for seven years. With the group, he played in distinguished venues around the world, performed on television, recorded ten albums, appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk, and received three Juno Award nominations. He also created a catalog of new arrangements for the ensemble, which are still performed today. Brandon rejoined Canadian Brass in 2019 and continues to create new repertoire for the group.

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Brandon is a winner of numerous competitions, including Concert Artists Guild, International Trumpet Guild, and the American Composers Forum. He has played with a diverse array of musicians, including Sting, James Taylor, Marvin Hamlisch, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Esperanza Spalding, John Williams, and esteemed ensembles, such as the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Knights, Orpheus, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

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In 2019, Brandon launched Come Together, an album of reimagined Beatles music celebrating the 50th anniversary of the classic Lennon/McCartney song. Brandon has since developed this collaborative album into a larger social impact and environmentalism project, with the mission of conveying, through music, the importance of humanity coming together to take better care of our planet and each other.

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Brandon began arranging both solo and collaborative music for the trumpet in order to expand the possibilities for his instrument, sometimes including a melding of musical styles and creating a new cross-genre repertoire. In addition to showcasing these works in his own recital and concerto performances, his arrangements are also featured by the ensembles Founders (a quintet featuring trumpet/piano, violin/voice, clarinet, cello and bass) and USEFULchamber, both of which Brandon is a founding member. He has recorded three previous solo albums, most recently Fantasies and Fairy Tales which features his own virtuosic arrangements of classical masterworks for trumpet and piano.

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Brandon began his musical journey at age 5, studying piano with his father, pianist Rich Ridenour. Brandon grew up in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, MI where he took trumpet lessons from Gregg Good and Scott Thornburg. He received his B.M. from the Juilliard School of Music in the studios of Mark Gould and Ray Mase. Brandon currently teaches at the Manhattan School of Music in the contemporary performance program.

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Outside of music, Brandon has studied sketch writing and improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre company and has always been a not-so-closeted fan of comedy. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. For more info, please stay on this website.

 

Caleb Hudson  / Trumpet

Caleb Hudson joins the Canadian Brass having graduated from the Juilliard School in 2012 with a Bachelor and Master of Music degree.

Acclaimed by the New York Times as ‘brilliantly stylish,” Caleb made his solo debut with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2.

Caleb was soloist with pianist Vladimir Feltsman at the Aspen Music Festival in a performance of Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist across the USA, most recently as a recitalist at the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, where he was also soloist with the UGA Wind Ensemble. Upcoming solo engagements include the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and a performance at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art with members of the Israel Philharmonic.

Caleb has won first place at the National Trumpet Competition multiple times, and has performed with the New York City Ballet, New World Symphony, Symphony in C, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, New York Trumpet Ensemble, and the American Brass Quintet. An avid baroque musician, Caleb also performs with notable early music ensembles including Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists, The American Classical Orchestra, Concert Royal and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra. He is an alumnus of Ensemble ACJW, a fellowship program of Carnegie Hall that promotes arts advocacy, community outreach, and music education.

Native to Lexington, Kentucky, Caleb currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, Amanda.

 

Bernhard Scully  / Horn

Virtuoso Bernhard Scully is the professor of horn at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. He is a passionate teacher, and has been on the faculty of the Music Academy of the West, the Eastman School of

Music, the Kendall Betts Horn Camp, the Madeline Island Music Camp with the Prairie Winds Quintet, and the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute.

Bernhard has held the position of principal horn with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra where he was featured as a soloist on many occasions. Prior to the SPCO he was the horn player of the Canadian Brass, performing on numerous recordings and touring the world. He has been fortunate to return and play with the quintet on numerous occasions since his departure. He is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player (including orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony), and is a frequent guest artist at workshops, conventions, and clinics across the United States. He has recorded the “G. Schirmer Horn Library”, which includes much of the standard repertoire for horn and piano.

With numerous awards to his credit, including being the first horn player to win the prestigious McKnight Music Fellowship, the University of Wisconsin-Madison awarded Bernhard the Distinguished Alumni Award for excellence in artistry in 2010.

 

Achilles Liarmakopoulos  / Trombone

Award-winning Achilles Liarmakopoulos is the trombonist of the legendary Canadian Brass. He holds degrees from the Yale University School of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, San Francisco Conservatory and the Philippos Nakas Conservatory in his hometown of Athens, Greece.

Achilles has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia, performing and educating in the world’s most important venues and institutions. Upon completion of his studies, he won the position of principal trombone of the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra. Achilles has also performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic, Jacksonville Symphony and European Union Youth Orchestra, among many others. As a recitalist, Achilles has performed in China, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Greece and the US, having been awarded honors at competitions around the globe.

At the age of 18, he gave two solo performances at Walt Disney Hall as the Grand Prize Winner of the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. He has gone on to win prizes at the Christian Lindberg International Competition, the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe (YMFE) and the International Trombone Festival’s Robert Marsteller/Conn-Selmer and Larry Wiehe solo competitions, to name a few. Achilles was also awarded the Alexandros S. Onassis Foundation and Greek State Scholarship Foundation educational scholarships.

In 2011 Achilles released his debut solo album on the NAXOS label, Tango Distinto, celebrating the music of Astor Piazzolla. The first solo trombone album with Piazzolla’s music. He continues to champion the music of Latin American composers and he was recently invited by salsa icon Ruben Blades to perform at his concerts. He occasionally tours with the world renowned Pink Martini, and he is also an adjunct trombone professor at Brooklyn College at CUNY University in NY.

 

Chuch Daellenbach / Tuba

Chuck Daellenbach has brought music, imagination and humour to Canadian Brass since the group was formed in 1970. Playing a key role in all of the group’s ground- breaking projects, world travels and on over 100 recordings, Chuck and his gold-plated & carbon fiber tuba are the bedrock of the massive Canadian Brass repertoire – from Baroque to jazz. Chuck comes from a long line of German and Swiss musicians and, during his upbringing in Wisconsin, his father gave him daily music lessons.

As a teenager, Chuck began studies with legendary Chicago Symphony tuba player, Arnold Jacobs and throughout his career whenever possible would stop in to see his mentor, Mr. Jacobs.

After earning a Ph.D. at the age of 25 from the Eastman School of Music, Chuck headed north to teach at the Music Faculty at the University of Toronto. His academic plans were soon derailed when he met trombonist Gene Watts. Together they formed this unique brass quintet with Chuck on Tuba.

For the next 38 years Gene and Chuck guided Canadian Brass to the top of their field, through thousands of wonderful perfor- mances and fantastic opportunities including two “command” performances for the Queen of England. Chuck’s dialogue during concerts has kept audiences engaged (and in stitches) for many years helping to establish a bridge of appreciation for great music of all types to musicians and non-musicians alike. Possibly the most recognized tuba player in the world, having appeared on over 100 recordings, Chuck has performed with many of the greatest musicians and conductors of the last 40 years.

The definition of a multi-tasker, Chuck always has several projects in the works at once and somehow keeps track of it all. Among his various projects is a series of 200 brass works published by Hal Leonard, many accompanied by CDs, played by music students around the world. He is President of Canadian Brass Publishing as well as Opening Day Entertainment Group, the group’s record- ing label. Chuck has also enlisted the services of his wife, MB, a fine musician in her own right, to do A&R, production and direct social media for Opening Day as well as support the management of the Brass in Canada.