LA quintet to wrap up residency

ELLSWORTH – The Los Angeles Brass Quintet will soon be saying goodbye to Hancock County, but another ensemble will be taking its place for the next school year.

For the school year now ending, trumpeters Jason Foltz and Rich Candelaria, trombonist Steven Suminski, tuba player Nathan McIntyre and French horn player Liesl Perkins have lived in Hancock County under the auspices of The Grand Auditorium. Their stay was arranged by Chamber Music America’s Rural Residency Program and was made largely possible through a National Endowment for the Arts grant.

Since their arrival in August, they have split their time evenly between rehearsals and appearances at local schools and churches and in public concerts. The highlight of their year was winning the National Brass Quintet Competition in March.

The residency is set up in renewable one-year increments, with either the ensemble or the hosting organization able to opt out. The quintet’s members chose to return home to California to continue their professional career.

Perkins said that returning to LA should allow the quintet to continue its professional momentum.

“Mostly it was because the residency was so successful, much more than we anticipated,” she said. “It was the best decision for the ensemble’s career to move on, into a bigger environment. We’re moving back to LA in order to continue to grow.”

The quintet greatly enjoyed its time here, and hopes to return in the future, Perkins said.

“It was an unbelievable experience,” she said. “The people were very receptive, and we had a great time, and it gave us an opportunity to grow. We hope to come back here on tour, because we’ll always feel a loyalty to Hancock County.”

Although he hates to see the brass quintet go, Bob Bahr, The Grand’s executive director, has

been pleased with the residency program.

“Chamber Music America gave them an opportunity to come here and practice, and they came out national champs,” he said. “At the same time, it gave them an opportunity to get involved in the community, and they provided services above and beyond the call. So the program works.”

Nancy Christensen, the education director for CMA, said that groups “pretty frequently” depart after one year to continue pursuing their professional goals.

The quintet will have three more public performances: May 19 at the Maine Music Educators Association’s All-State Conference in Lewiston, May 20 at the “End of Winter” Pops Concert at The Grand, and May 24 at the Maine Performing Arts Network Conference in Portland.

The Grand has been approved to have another group in residency next year.

Christensen said CMA continued the residency at The Grand because of the Hancock County organization’s long-standing history of promoting chamber music in concert and in the schools. “Also we look at how successful the residency has been,” she said. “The quintet’s impact is not just in Ellsworth, but has trickled out into other areas of the state.”

The residency program had its start in 1992, as part of the NEA. CMA became involved in the mid-’90s, recruiting groups for the program, then became its administrator in the late ’90s.

This year, CMA will be starting no new residencies, instead choosing to re-evaluate the program for the first time in a decade.

“We need to pursue what the needs of the field are,” Christensen said. “We’re looking at what music schools are doing, and maybe we can work more with them, so that they could serve as feeders for the program in the future.”

Christensen said that the Hancock County residency was one that was done right.

“One of the really big areas is the educational component, whether in the schools or through public performances,” she said. “Ellsworth has served as a great community for that.”

Bahr hopes to have the new ensemble chosen by next month.

“We’ve been proactive,” he said. “We’ve actually discussed a number of groups we’d like to see involved, and solicited some applications.”