Black Mesa Brass. Courtesy/LAAC

LAAC News:

Los Alamos Arts Council presents an intimate Brown Bag performance featuring Black Mesa Brass at noon Wednesday, Feb. 4 in the Pajarito Room at Fuller Lodge.

Black Mesa Brass combines the talents of Jan McDonald, John Hargreaves and Jerry Morzinski.

Jan McDonald is recognized nationally as an accomplished trumpet player and educator. He leads the Los Alamos Big Band and performs with the Southwest Jazz Orchestra, Pro Musica Orchestra, and the Santa Fe Symphony. He was band director at Los Alamos High School for nearly 30 years, and is the recipient of the Outstanding Secondary Educator Award and the Outstanding New Mexico Jazz Educator Award.

John Hargreaves studied music at the University of Colorado, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Performance and later taught there as an instructor of music. Hargreaves has performed with the Denver Brass, the San Juan Symphony and Concordia Santa Fe.

Jerry Morzinski organizes brass ensembles, arranges music and directs the adult choir at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. He performs regularly on trombone and tuba with the Los Alamos Big Band, Santa Fe Great Big Jazz Band, Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra and Concordia Santa Fe. He organizes and leads the annual Christmas Tuba concert.

Their program includes a wide range of genres, from Baroque to Classical to Jazz. Some of the composers (Bach, Poulenc, Ellington) are well-known and need no introduction. Two contemporary composers are Eric Ewazen and Gina Gillie. Ewazen received degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Julliard. His works have been commissioned and performed by many soloists and ensembles in the U.S. and overseas. He is a recipient of numerous composition awards and prizes, and has been on the faculty of Julliard since 1980.

Gina Gillie has a Bachelors Degree in Horn Performance, and was invited to the prestigious Tanglewood Music Festival as an orchestral fellow where she worked with other world-class musicians. She has a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin and is an assistant professor of music at Pacific Lutheran University where she teaches horn and aural skills, conducts a horn choir, and performs frequently with faculty groups.

The LAAC’s Brown Bag concerts feature local performance artists. These performances are free and open to the public. Concerts are generally at noon the first Wednesday of the month.

The Los Alamos Arts Council (LAAC) was founded in 1967, and has helped to bring art to Los Alamos since then. In addition to the Brown Bag Performances LAAC’s annual events include:

• Main Street Scarecrow
• Pumpkin Glow
• Kite Festival
• Craft Fair
• Senior Recitals
• Coffee House
• Missoula Children’s Theater
• Fuller Lodge Open House

Please consider becoming a member to help great events like these. Your membership helps LAAC bring art to Los Alamos to enrich our community, lives, and our world in general. The Brown Bag series is only possible due to contributions to the Los Alamos Arts Council, and the sponsorship by Los Alamos County. More information about the LAAC, visit http://losalamosartscouncil.org/.