This Sunday, October 9, the Christ Church Brass Quartet will make its debut at 11:00 a.m. at Christ Church on Harrison Street in Easton. Recently formed, the resident ensemble is the latest musical group to be formed at the downtown church. Sunday’s debut will include “Fanfare” by composer David Lasky, “The Rejoicing” by renowned organist and composer Charles Callahan, “Nimrod” from Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, and George Frederick Handel’s, “The Trumpet Shall Sound”. Prelude music will begin ten minutes prior to the service and the community is invited.
Comprising the Christ Church Brass Quartet are four professional musicians with impressive and varied backgrounds. Carlos Manuel Zabala, a virtuoso trumpeter and native of Uruguay, is recognized as one of the leaders of the new generation of Latin American musicians. A graduate of the University School of Music of Uruguay and the Peabody Conservatory, his teachers have included Edward Hoffman, Joe Burgstaller and David Fedderly. A solo and orchestral performer, he is also a clinician for trumpet and brass master classes across the Americas and has participated in world-class festivals including Lucerne Music Academy (Switzerland), Weimar Bach Festival (Germany), Music Academy of the West (California) and Campas do Jordao (Brazil).
Also performing trumpet, Wendell Banyay has served as instructor and head of brass instruction at the Armed Forces School of Music for twelve of his twenty years as a US Army Bandsman. He was also lead trumpet for the NATO/SHAPE Jazz Band, solo trumpeter/leader of the jazz band at the 392nd Army Band, enlisted band leader at the 2nd Infantry Division Band, and solo trumpeter/brass quintet leader for the Continental Army Band. Among the numerous musicians with whom Mr. Banyay has performed are classical artists, Van Cliburn and Joshua Bell, jazz stars, Benny Goodman and Doc Severinsen, and pop stars, Mannheim Steam Roller, The Who, Phyliss Diller, and Robert Goulet. He was a member of the Virginia Symphony, the Virginia Opera orchestra, principal trumpeter with the Williamsburg Symphony, and first call for the Richmond Symphony. On occasions he performed as principal trumpeter with the Virginia Symphony, the Richmond Symphony, and the North Carolina Symphony.
Resident trombonists with the Christ Church Brass Quartet are Lee Knier and Carolyn Thomas. Mr. Knier, currently a member of the music faculty of Salisbury University, relocated to the Eastern Shore following a number of years as a music educator in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He holds degrees in Music Education and Performance with concentrations in trombone and conducting. He currently conducts the Salisbury University Wind Ensemble and teaching courses in music and applied brass. Past roles include interim Conductor of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the New Jersey Youth Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Director of Bands at Temple University. He has also performed regularly with the Mid Atlantic Symphony, Metro Lyric Opera Orchestra, Garden State Philharmonic, Main Line Symphony, Brookdale Big Band, Tex Benecke and the Modernaires and the Steel Pier Show Band. He has also toured with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and the Glenn Miller Orchestra with Buddy DeFranco. Carolyn Thomas, also playing trombone, is a recent 2015 graduate of the Peabody Conservatory and protégé of David Fetter. Currently, she is enrolled in the joint Master of Arts program at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC and is a member of the Catholic University of America Brass Quartet.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.