Clarion Brass celebrates season

Christmas in Spokane wouldn’t have a real seasonal ring without a burst of brass from local composer-arranger-trumpeter William Berry.

His work has received international attention with performances by such groups as the New York Philharmonic Brass, Canadian Brass and San Francisco’s Bay Brass.

For the past 15 holiday seasons, Berry’s compositions have been played in Spokane by the Clarion Brass, an ensemble of 12 brass players and a percussionist.

Clarion will perform Berry’s arrangements of Christmas favorites along with some of his original compositions tonight at Opportunity Presbyterian Church in Spokane Valley and Friday at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Spokane.

The group will be joined by mezzo soprano Heather Peterson and world drumming specialist Michael Moon Bear. The concerts will be conducted by Robert Spittal, director of bands at Gonzaga University.

Peterson is a Whitworth College and New England Conservatory graduate who lives in Boston, where she sings in the “Berlin’s Music Box Revue.”

Clarion’s concerts will feature Peterson singing Irving Berlin’s 1922 novelty song “I’m Looking for A Daddy Long-Legs” along with more traditional Christmas works such as Johannes Brahms’ “Geistliches Wigenlied” and the “Ave Maria” by Franz Biebl.

Moon Bear specializes in instrumental and percussion styles of West Africa and the Middle East. He teaches percussion at Malidoma World Drum & Dance Studio in Spokane and has a weekly radio show on KYRS-FM.

“I went to Michael’s studio and listened to some of the music he plays,” Berry says. “Then I went home and thought about combining some of those rhythms with some European Christmas music.

“People come to Clarion concerts to hear the unexpected, to hear what can be done with brass and to leave happy. I think all three of those will happen when we combine Middle Eastern drumming with the 15th-century carol ‘Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming’ and West African drumming with ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.’ ”

The well-known spiritual “Kumbaya” will also be heard in Berry’s arrangement.

“Many people don’t have a very high opinion of this tune. They think, ‘Oh, no, not again!’ ” he says.

“But I heard one of my trumpet students struggling with it and thought, ‘This is a really strong tune.’ So I decided to make a new arrangement of it. I think people will be surprised at just how strong a tune it really is.”

Berry and Clarion have recorded four Christmas CDs.

“This year, we don’t quite have a enough new music for another CD,” he says. “But people should check out our new video on www.figarotunes.com. It’s a three-minute condensation from some of our past Christmas music played against an animated cartoon of the group playing and cavorting.

“We’ve had it available online for about six weeks now, and it’s gotten a lot of attention nationally. It’s just the right length to send as an electronic Christmas card. And it’s free.”