By popular demand, Bethel United Church of Christ is presenting a concert featuring the Second City Brass quintet on Saturday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m. as part of the church’s Music@Bethel Concert Series. Since 1999, the intimate and acoustically pleasing sanctuary of Bethel has hosted some of the world’s most accomplished singers and musicians from Chicago and beyond. The December concert will feature music composed by Mel Torme, Leroy Anderson, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and more. The family-friendly programming will conclude with a sing-along of Christmas favorites.
Second City Brass (or SCB) was founded in 2008 and is dedicated to promoting the excitement and enjoyment of live brass music through performances, workshops and recordings. The quintet is in high demand and has performed in a number of prominent Chicagoland concert series, including the Barrington Area First Friday Concert Series, the Northbrook Public Library Concert Series, the Skokie Public Library Concert Series, Glenview Public Library Concert Series and at many area schools, churches and colleges.
Instrumentalists include Amy Nelson, Angela DeStefano, Liz Deitemyer, Dan Sartori and Max Briggs.
SCB is proud to feature local talent. Each member of the group is either a music teacher, studio musician, freelance artist and/or part of a community orchestra. York High School’s own alumnus and former music teacher Curt Merrill has been contracted on several occasions to arrange for the group. The December concert will include Merrill’s arrangement of The World for Christmas. This will be a premier performance of Merrill’s arrangement, originally composed by Anders Edenroth in 2012 for his Swedish a cappella quintet The Real Group.
“The Second City Brass quintet is a talented, spirited and tight-knit ensemble that performs a wide range of music for brass. They are equally at home playing J.S. Bach or Vince Guaraldi. Their concerts are both entertaining as well as educational,” said Merrill.
A wine reception will follow the concert. Bethel United Church of Christ is located at 315 East St. Charles Road in Elmhurst. Tickets are available online through www.musicatbethel.com or by calling 630-279-4040. Prices are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and $5 for students. A family pass is available at $45 for 2 adults and up to 5 children. The church is accessible and parking is free. Enter at the Sandburg Middle School entrance from St. Charles Road, or from Huntington off Poplar Street.