LA Brass Quintet, others plan ‘End of Winter’ pops concert

Los Angeles Brass Quintet and surrounding area musicians will usher in a new season with an “End of Winter” Pops Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at The Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth.

Arriving in Hancock County last August, the LA Brass Quintet was the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support a stint in Chamber Music America’s Rural Residency Program. Through the program, the group focused on boosting student and public involvement for the arts and humanities through their classical performances.

For the past 10 months, the group has focused on churches and school assemblies as performance venues, on hiatus in March only long enough to win the National Brass Quintet Competition in Athens, Ga. Along the way, the quintet has performed with a number of Down East Maine’s own choirs and instrumental groups.

In their last Hancock County performance before returning to the Golden State, the quintet will rejoin those same groups they’ve worked with in the past.

Accompanying the ensemble for the pops concert are the Nurembega Brass, the Maine-Saint Andrews Pipes and Drums and Bangor’s own Robinson Ballet. Rounding out the evening will be a performance by the Downeast Youth Ensemble, which features students from Ellsworth, Sumner and Mount Desert Island High schools.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students and are available by calling the Grand Auditorium box office at 667-9500.