Destination Christmas

Destination Christmas
December 3rd, 2022

Christ United Methodist Church

 Featuring

Compass Rose Brass Ensemble:
                   Trumpets: Ben Alle, Dean Heller, John Huth, Patrick Gonsalves
                    Horn: Matt Renz
                    Trombones: Zach Gingerich, Christian Howard, John Tranter
                    Bass Trombone: Scott Moore
                    Tuba: Trygve Skaar

 Program

Christmas Fanfare - Alwyn Green
The Earle of Oxford's March - William Byrd (1543-1623), arr. Elgar Howarth
Ave Maria - Franz Biebl (1906-2001), arr. Jeremy Yager
For Unto Us a Child is Born (from the Messiah) - George Frideric Handel,
arr. Carl Della Peruti
The Christmas Song (featuring Dean Heller) - Mel Tormé (1925-1999), arr.
Christopher Mowat
Festive Cheer - Roger Harvey (b. 1987)

INTERMISSION

Sonata pian' e forte - Giovanni Gabrieli (1556-1612), arr. Jerry Lanning
Good King Wenceslas - Traditional, arr. T. Pederson
We Three Kings - John Henry Hopkins Jr (1820-1891), arr. T. Pederson
Ding Dong, Merrily on High - Traditional, arr. Roger Harvey
Pie Jesu - Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948), arr. H. Zellner
Tico Tico - Zequinha Abreu (1880-1935), arr. John Iveson
Frosty the Snowman (featuring Scott Moore) - Steve Nelson (1907-1981) &
Jack Rollins
    (1906-1973), arr. Sandy Smith
Joy to the World - George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), arr. Keith Snell

The Compass Rose Brass Ensemble was formed in early 2011 as a group of excellent musicians who wanted to play more brass ensemble repertoire. The group is structured after the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble instrumentation of four trumpets, one horn, four trombones, and one tuba; much of the great brass ensemble repertoire was composed or arranged for this instrumentation.

The members all started their education in music, though the group is spread across musical and non-musical professions. They have performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Broadway pit orchestras, and various other local and regional ensembles and orchestras. All maintain active freelancing careers.

Benjamin Alle

Ben Alle is a freelance trumpet performer in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota School of Music, where he studied with David Baldwin. Ben is the principal trumpet of the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Thunder Bay Symphony, as well as a number of Minnesota-based ensembles, including the Metropolitan, Mankato, and Kenwood Symphony Orchestras, the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis, and the Edina Chorale. Ben also serves as chairman of the board of the Minnesota Latvian Concert Association.

Dean Heller

Dean Heller earned degrees in music education and trumpet performance from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in New York before moving to Minnesota and completing his Master of Music degree in trumpet performance at the University of Minnesota.
Outside of Compass Rose Brass Ensemble Dean can be heard performing as principal trumpet with the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis and with the 20th century chamber music group Neoteric Chamber Winds. In addition to his performing Dean teaches private trumpet lessons at Saint Joseph’s School of Music in Saint Paul where he has been a faculty member for 20 years.
When not performing or teaching Dean enjoys playing racquetball as well as hiking with his wife and their Shetland Sheepdogs.

John Huth

John Huth’s trumpet teachers include Ted Betts (Bowling Green State University), David Zauder (Cleveland Institute of Music) and Eugene Blee (Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music). While in Cincinnati, he was featured on NPR’s Performance Today, performing “Stravinsky’s Fanfare for a New Theatre.” Since moving to the Twin Cities area in 1988, he has free lanced regularly in regional orchestras and was a long-time member of the Aurora Brass Quintet. By day, John teaches music instrument repair and restoration at Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical in Red Wing. He is co-creator, with Larry Prescott, of a line of custom trumpet leadpipes.

Patrick Gonsalves

A native of California’s Bay Area, Patrick Gonsalves grew up in the Twin Cities before moving east to study music. He holds a bachelor of music degree in trumpet performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, and a master of music degree in trumpet performance from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
An active freelance musician and arranger, Patrick has performed with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Chamber Players of St. Paul, the St. Cloud Symphony, and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, in addition to various musical pit orchestras. He is currently performing across the upper Midwest with the show I Am, He Said, featuring Matt Vee and the Killer Vees, a celebration of the music of Neil Diamond.
Patrick is also a veteran of the Minnesota Army National Guard, retired after twenty-two years of service that included two tours to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his last tour in 2009, Patrick was staff arranger and assistant conductor of Echoes of Liberty, the ceremonial band element of the 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division Band of the Minnesota Army National Guard, which performed throughout Iraq.

Matthew Renz

Matthew Renz is one of the founding members of CRBE. Originally from Eden Prairie, he studied horn at the University of Minnesota with Chuck Kavalovski, Herb Winslow, and Michael Gast. He is currently third horn in the Rochester Symphony and a member of the Minnesota Horn Quartet. Previously he was principal horn with the Mankato Symphony. He’s performed with a number of other ensembles including the Duluth Superior Symphony, La Crosse Symphony, and the South Dakota Symphony.
Currently Matthew lives in Watertown with his wife Tara and 2 kids. He enjoys playing golf and biking in his free time.

Zach Gingerich

Zach Gingerich, trombone, is an active freelance musician, teacher, and arranger based in Minneapolis. Originally from Conway, Arkansas, he moved to Minnesota in 2009 where he obtained a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from St. Olaf College. He went on to complete a Master of Music degree at The Boston Conservatory and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Minnesota.
In addition to teaching private lessons from his home studio, Zach also serves on faculty as the low brass instructor at Bethel University, St. Joseph's School of Music, and The Blake School. Zach joined Compass Rose Brass Ensemble in 2015, and has maintained a diverse performance schedule, subbing with orchestras in the Twin Cities, Duluth, Rochester and Mankato. He also plays trombone in Hornucopia, a Twin Cities-based rock band covering the best of Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago.
Zach lives with his wife and son in Minneapolis.

Christian Howard

Christian Howard is a trombonist and low brass artist based in the Twin Cities. As an orchestral musician, he has performed with New York City’s LoftOpera and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He held the position of principal trombone with Chautauqua Summer Festival from 2014 to 2017. Equally at home as a soloist, Mr. Howard has performed as a soloist with the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic. He has also been a finalist for positions with The Orchestra Now, as well as United States Military Premier Bands.
Mr. Howard is a sought-after chamber musician. He was a fellow at Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar from 2009 to 2012 and was a requested member of the Boston University Trombone Choir. While attending Mannes School of Music for his master’s degree, he toured the United States with the Mannes Trombone Quartet. Additionally, he was a full-tuition fellowship recipient at the Third Coast Trombone Seminar in 2018 and 2019.
As an educator, Mr. Howard has taught privately for over a decade. He was a low brass coach for the Mannes School of Music preparatory division from 2016 to 2018 and is a regular low brass coach for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Orchestras. Some of Mr. Howard’s students have gone on to study music across the United States at institutions such as Eastman School of Music, Rice University, and Harvard University.
Mr. Howard received his bachelor’s degree in music performance from Boston Conservatory and his master’s degree from Mannes School of Music, and is currently a doctoral candidate at University of Minnesota. Mr. Howard’s primary teachers include Thomas Ashworth, University of Minnesota, Steve Lange, Boston Symphony, and Weston Sprott, Metropolitan Opera.

John Tranter

John Tranter (alto, tenor and bass trombones, euphonium, tuba) has served as an instructor of low brass at the University of Minnesota since Spring 2003, and is an active freelance musician in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. In addition to performing regularly with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Tranter has also performed with the Minnesota Opera, the JazzMN Big Band, and many touring Broadway shows at local venues. He is also serving as solo euphonium with the Sheldon Theatre Brass Band. Outside of Minnesota, he has also performed and/or recorded with Symphonia (America’s first professional tuba-euphonium ensemble), Orquesta Sinfónica de Trujillo (Perú), the Palm Beach Opera, the Kansas City Symphony Brass Quintet, and the American Wind Symphony.
During the 1999-2000 academic year, Mr. Tranter was the trombonist of the Skyline Brass, an ensemble-in-residence at Drake University, Iowa State University and Grinnell College (funded by the National Endowment for the Arts/Chamber Music America program). Mr. Tranter has also served as an adjunct professor of low brass at Concordia University, Saint Paul and Normandale Community College.
Mr. Tranter holds degrees from Florida State University (Master of Music in Trombone Performance) and the University of Kansas (Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance, minor in euphonium). He remains active as a recitalist on all low brass instruments as a guest artist at various universities and festivals, both locally and throughout the Midwest.

Scott Moore

Scott Moore, trombone, enjoys a career as a teaching musician spanning four decades. He has performed over a thousand concerts with top American orchestras, and hundreds of performances of touring Broadway musicals and chamber concerts.
Dr. Moore is a professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, a position he has enjoyed for 25 years. He has taught courses in music theory, education, music history, pop music, culture, technology, academic research, and instructs a studio for low brass musicians. No matter the subject, the most important aspect for his students to learn is the joy of creating excellent work.
Moore is the only bass trombonist to have studied at the Juilliard School's Professional Studies program and holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Former teachers include Tony Chipurn, James E. Roberts, Arnold Jacobs, Don Harwood, Marie Speziale and Edward Treutel (a student of Herbert L. Clark).

Trygve Skaar

Trygve Skaar, tuba, grew up in Cambridge and is an active music educator and performer in the region. Trygve studied music at Bethel University and the University of Minnesota. His teachers include Ross Tolbert, David Fedderly, Rex Martin and Charles Olson. An active freelance musician, Trygve has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, VocalEssence, and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, and he has been a featured soloist at the Great American Brass Band festival in Danville, Kentucky and at the Minnesota Music Educators Association Mid-Winter Convention. While serving in the 8th Infantry Division Band, United States Army, in Germany, he performed in brass bands throughout Europe having performed at the Swiss National Championships with the Appenzellerland Brass Band.

Trygve currently teaches tuba at the University of Saint Thomas and is the assistant conductor of the Saint Paul based, Grand Symphonic Winds; they were recently selected to perform at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Convention in Chicago. Trygve has served on the faculty of St. Olaf College, Gustavus Adolphus College, Augsburg College, Bethel University, Northwestern University (Arden Hills), Crown College and Macalester College. He is retired from the United States Army after 25 years of service, having served on active duty and with the Minnesota Army National Guard. His military service took him all over the world from Germany to Alabama to Norfolk, Virginia and throughout Southwest Asia. As Commander of the 34th Infantry Division Band, based in Rosemount, he led 45 Soldiers on deployment to Iraq in 2009 where they performed 450 times and traveled over 70,000 miles on the ground and through the air. His proudest professional moment occurred when all 45 Soldiers returned home safely in 2010. Trygve has three children, Meira, Josiah and Cadence and in addition to his musical endeavors, works for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Minneapolis.