George Gershwin Selection 

 ‘Easily the classiest brass ensemble in Britain’

BBC Music Magazine

Celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2023, Onyx Brass continue to be a leading light in establishing the brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music, combining ‘staggering virtuosity’ (Sarah Walker, BBC Radio 3) with the entertaining and articulate style that has become the group’s trademark. Their extensive discography (16 albums) has received huge critical acclaim with Gramophone Magazine applauding ‘some of the most thrilling chamber brass playing of its kind’ and BBC Record Review describing the group as a ‘wonderful, virtuosic brass quintet’. Onyx Brass has commissioned and performed over 200 world premières, including new works by Stuart MacRae, Michael Nyman, John Tavener, Timothy Jackson, Steve Martland, Julian Philips and Emily Hall.

Presented by the group in their good humoured, charismatic and informative style, this bespoke collection for our Christmas programme combines festive favourites with classy arrangements of well-loved tunes. There is memorable new music too in Emily Hall’s timeless Eternity and Jason Rebello’s punchy Inevitable Outcome. Alongside this kaleidoscope of miniatures is Malcolm Arnold’s substantial Brass Quintet (1961) notable as the trailblazing work in establishing the brass quintet as a mainstream genre.

‘A tour-de-force of symphonic brass chamber music…

a fascinating concept and a remarkable recording brimming with all the splendour of the Romantic era’

Lee Harrelson, describing Festmusik: A Legacy (Ensemble Recording of the Year 2021)