Concerts at St. Mary's - the International Low Brass Trio

Yesterday at 2:30 pm despite the promise of being pummeled with snow 45 brave concert goers came out to St. Mary's of the Annunciation in Rockwood, MI to attend the International Low Brass Trio's concert. The concert was to include a world premiere so I have to say I was a bit nervous that after months of planning and budgeting and finally getting the go ahead from the Pastor to use the sanctuary that the concert may have had to be cancelled but luckily the snow waited until a half hour after the concert ended to start coming down. The audience (many of whom had never attended a concert like this one) was gracious and many expressed how amazing the trio was and that they would indeed love for me to put together more concerts like this one. So I am happy to announce that I will indeed be starting a concert series named "Concerts at St. Mary's". Now more on the trio and how this concert came to happen!

In August I was contacted by one of my best friends Jess that her group (the International Low Brass Trio) would be fundraising to embark on their first International Tour to include Canada and the United States. She knew that I had been thinking about putting on a few concerts at my church and figured this may be a great way for me to kick off and see if there was a want or need for this type of thing. I agreed and we spent the next few months planning and preparing for their eventual visit to the "Mitten". The day they arrived was cold and snowy and honestly we almost didn't make it back to my house without sliding off the road but fate was with us and we made it in one piece and without loosing a valve! Jeff's mother picked them up and took them to Canada to start the first leg of their tour.

Jess and I post concert

I spent the time that they were in Canada trying to decide on a few things to have them do while they were here that would be distinctly "Detroit" and when they came back we had a few adventures! The night they arrived was relaxed and as I hadn't really gotten to see any of the trio since I moved to MI from SF we decided to go bowling and watch a movie. It was great to catch up with each of them in turn and of course we eventually got back to acting just like "old times" (the entire weekend was like this making it very hard for me to say goodbye to them yesterday).

Jeff, Gabe, Jess, Brandon respective bowling scores game 3

On Friday we spent the morning and part of the afternoon rehearsing and practicing respectively and then Gabe said a statement I had been dreading; "Let's eat somewhere we can only eat here." Now to me having grown up downriver, MI means Applebees and Taco Bell but of course I wanted to give them something not only to remember but something that they wouldn't be able to easily find in SF. For anyone who has ever been to San Francisco you know that this is no small feat as SF is famous for having all sorts of things you can't find elsewhere and some of the best food in the country. My sister, however, was able to come to my aid. She is a hostess at a restaurant around the block from my house named the "Hungarian Rhapsody". It is the only one of its kind being family owned and has amazing authentic Hungarian food and an amazingly cheap lunch menu (which was great for us as their budget was tight). They all enjoyed the meal we had there and admitted that they weren't sure if they'd find such a great place in the Detroit area to eat! We spent the evening in Midtown Detroit first at a store called "City Bird" which sells all hand-made in Detroit and Detroit themed products before heading to the Motor City Brewery to have some Detroit made beer. This was probably the Trio's favorite stop during their time here. We met up with a few old friends from the Conservatory who live in the area and ended the evening at a bar named "The Bronx" with a game of pool.

Saturday the trio awoke to the smell of bacon wafting through the house as I had decided to surprise them with a homemade breakfast much like I used to make when Jess and I lived together. We ate, warmed up, practiced/rehearsed and then headed to the Henry For Museum. I wasn't sure if this would go over well (not everyone enjoys this kind of thing) but each of them seemed to find something of interest there and of course what a better place to show them not only some of Detroit's rich history, but also the Country's history (not forgetting of course that Jess is from Australia and Jeff is from Canada). On our way back home to grab instruments for the dress rehearsal I made a pit stop at Biggby Coffee so they could have some MI made coffee (all of us having a particular need to caffeinate at lease 20 times a day) and then on it was to the church. The trio loved the sanctuary and had a great time playing there making me very excited for the concert to come!

Gabe with a giant cup at Biggby

The Trio rehearsing at St. Mary's

Sunday came and as already mentioned the concert went well. One never knows when they make something donation based if any profit will be made but as the audience so enjoyed themselves I think the trio did well. My good friend Jim Zang recorded and Justin Rito (the composer of the world premiere the trio did) even made it out all the way from Lansing! Now with the trio safely back in Canada after a longer drive than normal with the snow the house feels empty and I miss their presence. I can't wait to see them again! Next stop for them; New York, New York!!


More on the International Low Brass Trio:
Website: www.internationallowbrasstrio.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalLowBrassTrio
Twitter: twitter.com/ILBTrio