Haddonfield resident Paul Bryan will be conducting the Symphony in C brass ensemble performing in front of the Haddonfield Public Library on Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. The ensemble is made up of ten professional musicians, many of which also play for Symphony in C’s larger orchestra that plays throughout the year.
“These are really fabulous professional musicians, so when you put a concert like this together, it’s not something you have to rehearse for months,” Bryan said. “They play so well that you can get together once or twice and be set for a performance.”
Bryan has been with Symphony in C for the past 31 years serving in various roles including a trombone player in the orchestra, leader for the group’s summer camp and as a director on the board of directors for the past six years. He has conducted for brass ensembles in the Philadelphia area for the past 25 years. As a conductor, Bryan’s work begins long before the concert starts.
“My most important role is to prepare the ensemble for the concert,” Bryan explained. “There needs to be a kind of artistic vision for what each piece should sound like in the concert and that’s my job, to develop that vision of what it should sound like and rehearse the group in preparation for the concert to get it to that point.”
The program is composed of songs with patriotic bends, soundtracks from summer blockbuster movies and music by American composers. Bryan noted that the main reason for the patriotic theme is that the summer is associated with the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and also Independence Day.
The program is free, open to the public and is roughly an hour long. Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs.The rain date is Sunday, Aug. 7 at 4 p.m
“The music they’ll be playing is music people would expect at any normal concert but in this case, the music has been arranged just for brass instruments and I think it’s a really terrific sound,” Bryan said. “Especially outside because it carries so well…It’s very powerful.”
Though the Symphony was on pause for the bulk of the pandemic, they restarted small ensemble performances last fall and were able to perform in front of the Haddonfield Public Library last year as well.
“We are so appreciative of the opportunity to play for live audiences after not being able to do it in a while,” Bryan said.
To register online for a free ticket to the event, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/symphony-in-c-brass-concert-tickets-384130965057.
