WCSE News
February 27, 2020
WCSE releases new film collaboration Innocentiæ with Bridge
WCSE is honored to collaborate with young filmmaker Jolie Snavely and the exquisite voices of Bridge in the short film Innocentiæ. The project is the brainchild of WCSE bass sackbut player David Searle, who here provides some background on the project's origination and impetus: "After the El Paso Walmart shooting in August 2019, I found myself going to a very dark and angry place. Working in public schools for the last few years, participating in active shooter drills and seeing the effects of them on children of different ages gave me a deep sense of hopelessness and grief. In addition, the recurrence of mass shootings and the inability of our political leaders to meaningfully address the issue had me tied in knots emotionally. I felt the need to say something about the state of things through art. The text of the motet "Adesto dolori meo" by Giaches de Wert thoroughly expressed my feelings about current events. I arrived at a basic concept and then took the idea to the young filmmaker Jolie Snavely, who devised a storyline that realized my vision far better than I could ever have imagined. I then approached WSCE artistic director Michael Holmes, and Crossley Hawn, one of the artistic directors of Bridge, and they both enthusiastically agreed to support the project. The film is not intended to espouse one particular view on this difficult issue. Rather, it is intended to provide a space to reflect and grieve for the victims, both direct and indirect, of these tragic elements of modern society." You can view the film below, on the Media page of this site, and on our YouTube channel or Facebook page. If you are so moved, we hope you will share the video with anyone for whom you think it would have meaning.
For more information on Bridge, please visit: bridgevoices.org/index.html
WCSE releases new film collaboration Innocentiæ with Bridge
WCSE is honored to collaborate with young filmmaker Jolie Snavely and the exquisite voices of Bridge in the short film Innocentiæ. The project is the brainchild of WCSE bass sackbut player David Searle, who here provides some background on the project's origination and impetus: "After the El Paso Walmart shooting in August 2019, I found myself going to a very dark and angry place. Working in public schools for the last few years, participating in active shooter drills and seeing the effects of them on children of different ages gave me a deep sense of hopelessness and grief. In addition, the recurrence of mass shootings and the inability of our political leaders to meaningfully address the issue had me tied in knots emotionally. I felt the need to say something about the state of things through art. The text of the motet "Adesto dolori meo" by Giaches de Wert thoroughly expressed my feelings about current events. I arrived at a basic concept and then took the idea to the young filmmaker Jolie Snavely, who devised a storyline that realized my vision far better than I could ever have imagined. I then approached WSCE artistic director Michael Holmes, and Crossley Hawn, one of the artistic directors of Bridge, and they both enthusiastically agreed to support the project. The film is not intended to espouse one particular view on this difficult issue. Rather, it is intended to provide a space to reflect and grieve for the victims, both direct and indirect, of these tragic elements of modern society." You can view the film below, on the Media page of this site, and on our YouTube channel or Facebook page. If you are so moved, we hope you will share the video with anyone for whom you think it would have meaning.
For more information on Bridge, please visit: bridgevoices.org/index.html
May 24, 2018
WCSE named as
Ensemble-in-Residence at St. David's
We are delighted to announce that we will be Ensemble-in-Residence at St. David's Episcopal Church in Baltimore, MD for the 2018-19 concert season. We will appear as featured artists on the acclaimed Music at St. David's concert series, and in collaboration with the St. David's choirs and conductor/composer Douglas Buchanan. In addition to our live performances, there will be video recordings of many rare and unpublished works. Follow the Music at St. David's Facebook page and WCSE's page, as well as this site, for updates on this exciting collaboration. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on our latest videos.
WCSE named as
Ensemble-in-Residence at St. David's
We are delighted to announce that we will be Ensemble-in-Residence at St. David's Episcopal Church in Baltimore, MD for the 2018-19 concert season. We will appear as featured artists on the acclaimed Music at St. David's concert series, and in collaboration with the St. David's choirs and conductor/composer Douglas Buchanan. In addition to our live performances, there will be video recordings of many rare and unpublished works. Follow the Music at St. David's Facebook page and WCSE's page, as well as this site, for updates on this exciting collaboration. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on our latest videos.
May 7, 2018
WCSE (with special guests) will be performing two sets of "Tower Music" at the Mountainside Baroque festival in Cumberland, MD. on Friday, June 15.
For more information:
www.mountainsidebaroque.org/wash-cornett-sackbutt
WCSE (with special guests) will be performing two sets of "Tower Music" at the Mountainside Baroque festival in Cumberland, MD. on Friday, June 15.
For more information:
www.mountainsidebaroque.org/wash-cornett-sackbutt
WCSE appeared on WUTC radio on February 9. We played great music and had great conversation with host Richard Winham. Many thanks to WUTC and Richard for welcoming us to Chattanooga!
February 9, 2018
WCSE will be on WUTC radio in Chattanooga this afternoon at 2pm. We will be discussing our concert this evening and will play a couple of short selections. You can tune in to the live stream at wutc.org/post/wutc-now-web-streaming We hope you can join us!
WCSE will be on WUTC radio in Chattanooga this afternoon at 2pm. We will be discussing our concert this evening and will play a couple of short selections. You can tune in to the live stream at wutc.org/post/wutc-now-web-streaming We hope you can join us!
January 31, 2018
WCSE will be featured on the "Reeds, Brass, and Percussion" program on WLRH public radio in Huntsville, Alabama on Saturday, February 3 at 1pm CST. Host John Hightower will play some of our recordings, and WCSE Artistic Director Michael Holmes will be on hand to talk about early brass and WCSE's upcoming Southeastern tour!
More information can be found at:
http://wlrh.org/series/brass-reeds-and-percussion
Don't miss it!
WCSE will be featured on the "Reeds, Brass, and Percussion" program on WLRH public radio in Huntsville, Alabama on Saturday, February 3 at 1pm CST. Host John Hightower will play some of our recordings, and WCSE Artistic Director Michael Holmes will be on hand to talk about early brass and WCSE's upcoming Southeastern tour!
More information can be found at:
http://wlrh.org/series/brass-reeds-and-percussion
Don't miss it!
January 7, 2018
Happy New Year from WCSE! Enjoy our newest video and please feel free to share!
Happy New Year from WCSE! Enjoy our newest video and please feel free to share!
December 8, 2017
WCSE Artistic Director Michael Holmes recently appeared on EWTN Radio's "Morning Glory" discussing WCSE, early brass, and music in liturgical worship. Michael's segment begins around 17 minutes in. The audio archive can be found here: listen.ewtn.com/~HD/~HD20171207.mp3
WCSE Artistic Director Michael Holmes recently appeared on EWTN Radio's "Morning Glory" discussing WCSE, early brass, and music in liturgical worship. Michael's segment begins around 17 minutes in. The audio archive can be found here: listen.ewtn.com/~HD/~HD20171207.mp3
November 27, 2017
Join us at McDaniel College on Sunday, December 3 at 7pm for a special collaboration with the McDaniel College Choirs and Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County in commemoration of the 15oth anniversary of the college. Admission is free.
For more information: (410) 857-2558
Join us at McDaniel College on Sunday, December 3 at 7pm for a special collaboration with the McDaniel College Choirs and Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County in commemoration of the 15oth anniversary of the college. Admission is free.
For more information: (410) 857-2558
November 17, 2017
Join us tomorrow at McDaniel College for "Here I Sing". WCSE appears in concert with the McDaniel College Choir, Masterworks Chorale, Frostburg State University Chorale and Children's Chorus of Carroll County in a program commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
For more information,
please visit: www.masterworksofcc.org/.
October 16, 2017
We had a great turnout for our Chevy Chase concert. Thanks to all who came. We appreciate your support!
October 9, 2017
"Divisioni e passaggi: Baroque & Renaissance Improvisations and Other Diversions" comes to Chevy Chase!
The Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble will perform some delicious and deft flourishes played in the style ca. 1600 in Italy. The program will feature the cornetto, a hybrid brass and woodwind instrument that was played by the more virtuosic instrumentalists of that time, and the sackbut, the ancestor of the modern trombone. The program will include music by Gabrieli, Priuli, Marini, Cesare, and others. The concert is at The Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church on October 15th at 4pm.
For more information,
please visit: chevychasepc.org/concerts/
Join us tomorrow at McDaniel College for "Here I Sing". WCSE appears in concert with the McDaniel College Choir, Masterworks Chorale, Frostburg State University Chorale and Children's Chorus of Carroll County in a program commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
For more information,
please visit: www.masterworksofcc.org/.
October 16, 2017
We had a great turnout for our Chevy Chase concert. Thanks to all who came. We appreciate your support!
October 9, 2017
"Divisioni e passaggi: Baroque & Renaissance Improvisations and Other Diversions" comes to Chevy Chase!
The Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble will perform some delicious and deft flourishes played in the style ca. 1600 in Italy. The program will feature the cornetto, a hybrid brass and woodwind instrument that was played by the more virtuosic instrumentalists of that time, and the sackbut, the ancestor of the modern trombone. The program will include music by Gabrieli, Priuli, Marini, Cesare, and others. The concert is at The Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church on October 15th at 4pm.
For more information,
please visit: chevychasepc.org/concerts/
Thanks to all who joined us for the season's opening concert in Bethesda. You were a wonderful audience and we loved playing for you and meeting you. Come and see us again in Chevy Chase on October 15 for an entirely different program!
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Opening concert for WCSE's 20th anniversary season coming up on September 10th!
WCSE will present the opening concert of our 2017-18 season, "A Grand Tour of European Courts", on the Music at Redeemer series in Bethesda, MD on September 10th at 5pm with special guest Christopher Betts, organist. The concert will feature polychoral masterpieces from the 16th and 17th centuries, including the famous "Sonata pian e forte" of Giovanni Gabrieli. We hope you will join us for this special concert.
For more information, please visit:
www.redeemerbethesda.org/music/music-at-redeemer-series/
For more information, please visit:
www.redeemerbethesda.org/music/music-at-redeemer-series/
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 WCSE Artistic Director Michael Holmes in rehearsal
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WCSE in rehearsal for the season's opening concert.
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Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble announce their
2017-18 Concert Season and 20th Anniversary
2017-18 Concert Season and 20th Anniversary
The Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble will celebrate 20 years of making music for great spaces this season with an explosion of concerts and collaborations! Our very first formal concert was given on February 28th, 1998 at the Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill, DC, with a program called “Music from the German Kingdoms, 1475-1675.” WCSE was founded by musicologist Michael O’Connor who had just completed his PhD coursework at Florida State University, and was seeking like-minded brass players in the DC area who shared a love of early music. Current artistic director Michael Holmes is the only founding member still performing with the ensemble today, and remembers the ensemble’s humble beginnings vividly: "Reflecting on our 2o years, It has been a privilege to be a part of the ensemble during its early years and to watch it grow into a full-fledged professional ensemble of experts in their craft." In the early years, the ensemble quickly elevated its profile, performing with several of the more prominent historically informed ensembles, primarily in the Eastern USA. The ensemble also recorded and produced two CDs (2001 and 2004) and recorded for two anthologies that supplemented Craig Wright’s collegiate music history textbooks.
Our 2017-18 season is jam-packed with concerts and collaborations in the DC/VA/MD area and in Tennessee during our exciting Tennessee tour in February 2018. The tour will serve both as a celebration of our 20 years together and as a connection to new audiences in that region. On September 10th, we will open the season by presenting our large-scale double-brass-choir program “Grand Tour” of the European Courts on the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer concert series, in collaboration with organist Christopher Betts. Our tour program Divisioni e passaggi: Renaissance and Baroque Improvisations and Other Diversions will be presented twice at home, and at the Cumberland Early Music Festival in June 2018. On November 19th and December 3rd, WCSE will return to McDaniel College to perform with the McDaniel College choirs and Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County to observe the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in music by early 17th-century German masters.
On April 8th we will rejoin Vera Kochanowsky and Carmina & Illuminare for a program of music from the Spanish and Italian renaissance. Then, on May 5th WCSE will join forces for the first time with the Harford Choral Society in a program of music from 16th and 17th century Venice, including polychoral music by the often-celebrated organist/composer of the Basilica di San Marco, Giovanni Gabrieli. Finally, WCSE is now formulating plans for a series of recordings of music by the Venetian composer Giovanni Priuli, who was one of Giovanni Gabrieli’s pupils. Priuli’s music has figured into our programs for over 15 years, and we have grown very familiar with his highly inventive, quirky, and beguiling style. Plans are to release a complete album within the next year or two. Please visit WCSE on Facebook and Twitter often this season to receive updates about that project, and for concert announcements and reminders.
Our 2017-18 season is jam-packed with concerts and collaborations in the DC/VA/MD area and in Tennessee during our exciting Tennessee tour in February 2018. The tour will serve both as a celebration of our 20 years together and as a connection to new audiences in that region. On September 10th, we will open the season by presenting our large-scale double-brass-choir program “Grand Tour” of the European Courts on the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer concert series, in collaboration with organist Christopher Betts. Our tour program Divisioni e passaggi: Renaissance and Baroque Improvisations and Other Diversions will be presented twice at home, and at the Cumberland Early Music Festival in June 2018. On November 19th and December 3rd, WCSE will return to McDaniel College to perform with the McDaniel College choirs and Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County to observe the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in music by early 17th-century German masters.
On April 8th we will rejoin Vera Kochanowsky and Carmina & Illuminare for a program of music from the Spanish and Italian renaissance. Then, on May 5th WCSE will join forces for the first time with the Harford Choral Society in a program of music from 16th and 17th century Venice, including polychoral music by the often-celebrated organist/composer of the Basilica di San Marco, Giovanni Gabrieli. Finally, WCSE is now formulating plans for a series of recordings of music by the Venetian composer Giovanni Priuli, who was one of Giovanni Gabrieli’s pupils. Priuli’s music has figured into our programs for over 15 years, and we have grown very familiar with his highly inventive, quirky, and beguiling style. Plans are to release a complete album within the next year or two. Please visit WCSE on Facebook and Twitter often this season to receive updates about that project, and for concert announcements and reminders.