British low brass stars Steven Mead and James Gourlay are shortly to depart for Brazil as invited guest soloists at the first National Festival for Euphonium and Tuba.

Brass musicians

The event will take place between 13th-19th July, and will be held in the city of Campinas, north of Sao Paolo, where brass musicians from all over South America will attend.

Steve’s invitation came as a result of a highly successful festival in Argentina last year in which he was the soloist.

It is hoped this festival will further stimulate the growth of brass music in Brazil and give great encouragement to the tuba and euphonium players in this part of the worldSteven Mead

Demand

James Gourlay, much in demand these days as both soloist and conductor will perform the 'Tuba Concerto' by Bruce Fraser before travelling around Brazil giving masterclasses.

Steve has been asked to play three concerts — with piano, wind band (Banda Municipal de Nova Odessa) and The Campinas Symphony Orchestra.

Repertoire

Repertoire will include 'Harlequin' (Sparke), 'Introduction, Theme and Variations' (Rossini), 'Soliloquies' (John Stevens), 'Symphonic Variants' (James Curnow) as well as a couple of Rafael Mendez tunes.

Growth

Steven told 4BR: "It is hoped this festival will further stimulate the growth of brass music in Brazil and give great encouragement to the tuba and euphonium players in this part of the world."