Brass Explosion 2011!

Sometimes, as local politicians have a habit of reminding us, all it takes is an expat with big dreams to make things happen (or ‘value-add’ to use the official terminology). Such was the case when a bunch of musicians from abroad decided that the brass music scene here could use some spicing up. And so the Brass Explosion! music festival was born.

Though only in its second year, the festival’s future looks bright. This year’s event features free jazz gigs, concerts, master classes, a regionwide competition and appearances by industry bigwigs like James Morrison (a trumpeter, not the British singer), David Childs (euphonium), James Gourlay (tuba), Scott Hartman (trombone) and Kelly Turner (horn).

Brass Explosion! is the brainchild of festival director David Lyndon Smith. Born and educated in the United Kingdom, he is associate principal trumpet in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). Perceiving a shortage of opportunities for music students here, Smith and a few colleagues set up the Singapore Brass Society, the prime mover behind the festival, with the aim to educate and inspire.

‘I hope that we would be able to provide Singapore’s brass musicians with a world-class musical education and foster a life-long passion for brass music,’ he says. One such educational opportunity is the festival’s Pan-Asia Competition for players under 30: ‘It is difficult for young performers to have an impressive CV when they’re starting out, so being a winner of an international competition will help set them in the right direction.’

With guest pianists and violinists a fixture of SSO seasons, Smith hopes the festival will show that brass players are just as important, ‘The piano and violin are instruments with a longer heritage, but if you listen to famous [film] soundtracks such as Superman, Star Wars or Indiana Jones, you’ll find out that it’s always brass instruments that make it the most exciting.’

See Time Out's listing of Brass Explosion! 2011 events. Check www.brasssociety.com for more information.