For those unaware, this album represents part of Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony’s mission to expand the contemporary American concerto repertoire, with each of these three works spotlighting a different facet of the relatively underexplored brass instrument family.

Brad Warnaar’s Cornet Concerto draws on a rich heritage of 19th-century band music with wit and heartfelt homage, while Chick Corea’s Trombone Concerto, his final completed composition, fuses lyricism, jazz spontaneity, and orchestral drama.

Jennifer Higdon’s Low Brass Concerto honors the spirit of this orchestral section through a majestic single-movement work of clarity and resonance. All of these pieces expand the expressive possibilities of the brass concerto in ways that are both surprising and deeply engaging.

Warnaar: Cornet Concerto [19:32]

Ia. And You Are?... [1:33]
Ib. Jubilee Waltz [5:41]
Ic. Bailey’s Gallop [1:03]
II. Bill Moore [5:48]
III. The Ta-ca-Ta-ca-Toccata [5:27]

Corea: Trombone Concerto (Arr. for Trombone & Orchestra by John Dickson) [24:36]
A Stroll Opening [3:30]
I. A Stroll [7:07]
II. Waltse for Joe [3:04]
III. Hysteria [3:31]
IV. Joe’s Tango [7:24]

Higdon: Low Brass Concerto [15:16]

First up on this new recording is Warnaar: Cornet Concerto: which opens on the royally resplendent And You Are?... and the playful Jubilee Waltz and then we get the aptly-titled Bailey’s Gallop, the somber Bill Moore, finishing on the furtively-hued, yet controlled The Ta-ca-Ta-ca-Toccata.

Along next is the work Corea: Trombone Concerto: which begins on the yearnful A Stroll Opening and the flirtatious A Stroll, which bleeds into the opulent Waltse for Joe, the cinematically-charged Hysteria, culminating on the rhythmical Joe’s Tango; the final work being the vastly engaging, emotively absorbent and masterfully sculpted, near 15 minute Higdon: Low Brass Concerto.

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www.nashvillesymphony.org