About
A one-of-a-kind
musical experience
Music education is at the core of Boston Brass’s identity, and the quintet continues to conduct sessions around the world, including masterclasses and residencies at such prestigious institutions as the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore. In conjunction with the Yamaha Corporation, the quintet engaged in a 2018 tour of major Chinese music conservatories, and in 2021 the members of Boston Brass were appointed to the International Artist Advisory Council to the College of Music at Mahidol University in Thailand. The Boston Brass have been featured as educators and performers at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the American Bandmaster Association Conference, American Band College, Western International Band Clinic, and at innumerable state music education conferences. After a long hiatus, 2022 finally saw the return of the Boston Brass Summer Intensive in its new home at North Dakota State University’s Challey School of Music.
Remembering
Sam Pilafian
1949 - 2019
Sam Pilafian was an inspiring and motivating figure as a coach and mentor in the formative years of Boston Brass. Decades later it was our unbelievable luck to have Sam join our ranks as a member. His gravitas as a performer and educator was undeniable, but the joy of his friendship is eternal and not a day goes by without reminiscing about Sam or channeling his musical pedagogy. Always the most curious person in the room (and usually the most knowledgeable), Sam's joy of teaching will continue to impact students around the world for generations to come. If you want to learn more about Sam, we encourage you to start your journey with the peerless recordings of Empire Brass, the ensemble that inspired the founding of Boston Brass.
Our album Blues for Sam (2022) features a mix of classical and jazz arrangements alongside old Boston Brass favorites, and is dedicated to Sam who you can also hear on Simple Gifts (2018), Reminiscing (2016), and Rewired (2015).
New Works
for Brass
In an initiative to develop works for brass with broad appeal, Boston Brass reached out to Hollywood mainstay and big band maestro Gordon Goodwin to gauge interest in a new style of collaboration for both parties. The result was a resounding success in the concert piece Perplexing Times, featuring Boston Brass with wind ensemble and jazz rhythm section. The world premiere was hosted at the NDSU Challey School of Music in 2022 with the international premiere following at Mahidol University in Bangkok, and eventually receiving a performance at the American Bandmasters Convention with the "President's Own" Marine Band.
In 2023 Boston Brass joined the UNLV Wind Orchestra in a studio recording of Jorge Machain's Five Cities, a concerto commissioned by conductor Tom Leslie to celebrate the ensembles' long history of friendship and collaboration. The result can be heard on the 2023 album Joe's Tango where you can hear Five Cities paired with Joe Alessi's performance of Chick Corea's Trombone Concerto and other works.
2025 saw the premiere of a new wind dectet by trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval, brought to life via the combined forces of Boston Brass and Imani Winds, and 2026 brings yet another work with wind ensemble, this time from the young master Kevin Day, who pulls no punches in his new work Centerstage, challenging the quintet to new levels of virtuosity.
Boston Brass is a Yamaha Performing Group and performs exclusively on Yamaha instruments.
Boston Brass plays mouthpieces by Pickett Brass
