Barons Of Brass

Inspired and modeled after brass quintet heavyweights the Canadian Brass and the Dallas Brass quintets, the Lansing-based Barons of Brass is Michigan's own exciting vehicle for a genre-busting style of music that the group fondly calls "Music from the Sublime to the Ridiculous."

Barons of Brass members Todd Young (tuba), John Endahl (horn), Dick Borden (trombone), Scott Toaz and Jim Kasprzak (trumpets), and percussionist Tim Thelen hail from the award-winning Lansing Concert Band where many of the players continue participation today, but its through their individual experiences outside the concert hall that fuels Barons’ ability to stretch beyond the confines of classical repertoire and presentation typical of a chamber brass quintet.

The group sprang from modest beginnings in 2004, when armed with a handful of standard brass transcriptions, Todd Young - founder and tubist, set out to promote the Barons of Brass by keeping the group’s focus on performances in non-traditional venues - any place the group could put brass music in front of unsuspecting audiences.
The effort has since paired the Barons of Brass with stages at countless weddings, memorials, public office inaugurations, corporate parties, Bishop Installation and Priest Ordination Services for the Lansing Catholic Diocese, MSU College of Nursing Commencements - plus feature performances at Dart Auditorium, Wharton Center, Charlotte Performing Arts Center, East Lansing Arts Festival, Frankenmuth's Snowfest, Lansing’s Old Town Jazz Festival, Evelyn Bay Coffee Co. (Charlotte, MI),
Riverfront Park, and full-length concerts at Riverwalk Theatre, St. Luke Lutheran Church, Holt Christian Church, Muskegon Central United Methodist Church, Plymouth Congregational Church (Lansing), Gladwin City Park, and the Grand Ledge Opera House.

Today, the group’s playlist features over 200 arrangements spanning four centuries and includes music in most every style imaginable, plus some original arrangements by the members. Through a mixture of imagination, musicianship, and informal stage banter, Barons of Brass consistently develop an inviting rapport with their audiences and whether performing a traditional concert venue in formal-wear or an open-air festival in jeans and tees, the music served up is always well received and well performed.
Most recently, the Barons of Brass was selected as one of few elite ensembles to perform at the 2011 ACB (Association of Concert Bands) National Convention.

Besides the quintet’s performances for hire, the players of Barons of Brass often donate their time and talent to benefit non-profit organizations and community development efforts. These special performances have included fundraising efforts to construct band shells in Williamston, St. Johns, and Haslett, benefit concerts for the Haslett Food Bank, and the quintet's self-promoted annual holiday concert to benefit the Eaton Community Hospice House - now in its seventh year.

While the group’s style continues to be redefined by design at every turn, the quintet's direction remains a constant and steady course - expect the unexpected.