Five tremendous brass musicians – each a virtuoso in his own right – form the legendary Canadian Brass. Friends Chuck Daellenbach and Gene Watts first came together in 1970 to form a brass quintet – a chamber music setting not entirely new, but never before having garnered the success and storied career Canadian Brass would achieve over the next 40 years. With a vast repertoire from Baroque masters to marches, holiday favourites to Dixieland, and jazz to Broadway, Canadian Brass has created their own musical world by transcribing, arranging and commissioning more than 200 works.
With a discography of over 90 albums and an extensive world-wide touring schedule, Canadian Brass is an important pioneer in bringing brass music to mass audiences everywhere. They have sold over one million albums worldwide and continue to score billboard chart positions while playing to packed houses throughout the USA, Canada, Japan and Europe. They were the first brass ensemble from the West to perform in the People’s Republic of China (where they returned for a five-city tour to great acclaim in the spring of 2010) as well as the first brass group to take the stage at the venerable Carnegie Hall. They have also performed in Australia, the Middle East, the Soviet Union and South America. Millions of television viewers have had Canadian Brass come into their homes with appearances on The Tonight Show, Today and Entertainment Tonight and numerous PBS specials.
Frequent guests of many major symphony orchestras, they are on the cutting edge of technology, offering their fans multimedia opportunities including an iPhone app. Education plays a key role in the story of the Canadian Brass; a vital part of their outreach is their role as clinicians for Conn-Selmer (makers of musical instruments), as well as their support and interaction with El Sistema, an acclaimed global music education program.
Since 1998, Canadian Brass has been an exclusive artist at Opening Day Entertainment Group.