Aforementioned News links

http://www.ithaca.edu/music/news/4215/

http://theithacan.org/am/publish/accent/200808_Brass_goes_abroad.shtml

http://fuse.ithaca.edu/4771/

all of these are awesome for us.. enjoy!

Updates - Hockett Performance.. A Look Ahead

Hey everyone,

It's been a really long time but there are a few great, exciting updates.

We just played our spring performance for Ithaca College in the Hockett Family Recital Hall to a great, receptive crowd! Man, it wouldn't be the same without those great supporters!  Anyway here was our program:

Hoe-Down, from Rodeo - Copeland/Arr. Mike Drennan

Adagio - Barber/Arr. Hans Zellner

Salsa - Wes Nance

Sonata Pian e' Forte - Gabrieli/Arr. Frackenpohl

--Intermission--

Arrival of Queen Sheba - Handel/Arr. Jon Stewart

If Ye Love Me - Thomas Tallis/Arr. Bobby Thorpe

Shadowcatcher, mvt. II - Ewazen

A huge program for us and I think we were all very happy with how things turned out.  It's been exciting getting more attention as we grow as a group.  We have several things lined up for the future and yes, a CD as well.  This CD will have ALL of our own personal arrangements on it with some pieces that are still being worked on and have yet to be performed.  

There have been people approaching us with interviews and we can now still be seen on the front page of www.ithaca.edu.  This is HUGE for us.  Just to think that we were a couple of 18 year old freshman hacking through some music, but still having fun to what we're doing now is incredible to each of us in our own way I think.  Only 3 years have passed with this group but I think every time we practice and certainly every time we perform, we're getting better as a group.

Being a member of Five Cents has opened up a lot of opportunities for us both professionally and personally and I think this performance in Hockett has done some more good for our group.  At least I hope more people will notice us and ask us to perform at their venues.

At any rate, Mike (dornan23) and I (MrMidtown1) should be updating our FCS Youtube videos soon.  Search Five Cents Sharp, or Five Cents Sharp Brass Quintet in about a week to see all the new videos from the recital (there should be most if not ALL of the tunes up there soon.)

Thanks everyone and take care.

-JS

PS. Keep on the look out for more publications regarding 5Cents in the Ithacan and other local news/online sources. I'll post links when I find them. Thanks!

14 August 2008

Hey everyone

todays our last day in munich.
this will have to be a short entry as we´ll be catching our train to Regensburg to sight see for a few hours and then on to Nuremberg where we´ll be for the next two nights.

Munich was amazing and the beer was even better. the culture and history in all the cities we´ve visited has been amazing but I think this is especially true here in München.

thanks for reading these though i know we took a while to start updating them.

once we get back this along with youtube will become site for videos and pictures of performances, rehearsals and some pictures that have absolutely nothing to do with music or our group but are quite nice.

Five Cents Sharp, 2008

12 August 2008

Phew.. so.. first update.

I'm currently in Berlin, on our last day here before we take the night train to Munich that runs from 10.15pm - 6.40am. In essence this is a €10 hotel... huge saving. We booked our hostel in Munich, very centrally located and quite reasonably priced.

But now, about the festival. Unfortunately, this internet cafe doesn't have photo-import capabilities so no pictures yet, but in essence, we arrived at Frankfurt last monday morning (4 Aug.) and immediately hopped on about 4 trains until we reached Hof. From Hof, we got picked up by Reiner and Peter Knudsvick, both members of Rekkenze Brass. Rekkenze Brass is the quintet that hosts the brass festival in Lichtenberg at the Haus Marteau.

Once we got to Haus Marteau, we were immediately surprised to find that Wolfgang Gaag (horn player, German Brass) was our guest soloist. Anyone in the music/brass world should know his work and the work of the ensemble he plays in because they're both incredible. Overall, it was a week of intense practicing, a lot of learning, a whole lot more practicing, some bier, some down time, some football and even more memories made.

We will certainly write more once we have a minute but for right now the time on the cafe computer is running out.

Here's a rundown of the last half-week schedule

Today: Berlin
Tonight: train to Munich
Tomorrow: Munich
Thursday: train to Regensburg for a day trip/train to Nuremburg
Friday: Nuremburg
Saturday: train to Frankfurt
Sunday: Frankfurt/flight to Newark!!

Five Cents Sharp, 2008

Welcome! Updates, etc.

This is the start of our 'new' Five Cents Sharp blog which will log our preparations for our Germany trip as well as be the main host for links to hundreds of pictures and numerous videos during and after our first trip abroad as a group.

Though we still have many, many more things to discuss as a group before we board the flight, we have set a rough itinerary which is as follows:

• August 3-10 : "Brass im Frankenwald, Hof".  We will be participants/performers at the brass festival held annually in Hof, Germany - 7 miles from the Czech/German border.  This year, I believe Wolfgang Gaag from the internationally acclaimed German Brass will be the guest performer.  Also performing, other than 5 Cents, there will also be a Russian Brass group attending.
• August 10-12 : Nuremberg/Bayreuth.  How can we pass up this opportunity?  We may meet up with a former member of the Ithaca College faculty in Nuremberg and then take the short train/bus ride to Bayreuth. Enough said.
• August 12-14 : Berlin.  Simply put, this city will be historically, musically and personally gratifying for each of us.  We are looking forward to performing for Berliners in their Cathedral and on the streets.
• August 14-16 : Munich. Another overwhelmingly popular city for us to visit. We are anxiously looking forward to Munich's various Biergartens and Bayern Münchens opening match which will no doubt make the city electric.
• August 16-17 : Frankfurt. We will spend the night of the 16th in Frankfurt before leaving around 11am from Frankfurt Int'l for Newark Int'l.

Obviously, this is subject to change and will most likely do so.  However, those cities outlined are ones to which we do plan on seeing and the dates reflect the most realistic time frame for those visits.

Look out for a story of Five Cents Sharp's journey which started in the fall of 2006 at Ithaca College and has now taken us 4,000 miles from home in the fall issue of FUSE Magazine.

thanks for the support,

Five Cents Sharp, 2008