CityBrass Stuttgart

Stuttgart has a "heiligs Blechle" - and for once, this has nothing to do with cars: CityBrass Stuttgart is the brass ensemble founded in 2005 under the name Stuttgart Brass, initiated by professors from the HMDK Stuttgart, and has rapidly established itself in the music scene. The ensemble is based in the Stuttgart city center, specifically in the artistically and architecturally prominent University of Music and Performing Arts.

The ensemble is led by the current brass professors Wolfgang Bauer (trumpet), Henning Wiegräbe (trombone), and Stefan Heimann (tuba). The other members are usually current or former students from their classes. Students from the Stuttgart brass classes have recently obtained positions at venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Zurich Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, and the Stuttgart State Opera. This demonstrates the high level that has become the foundation of the CityBrass Stuttgart brass ensemble.

Following their celebrated debut at the Stuttgart Court Concerts in 2005 at the old castle, the ensemble has continued to impress, such as at New Year's concerts at the Stuttgart Liederhalle. The ensemble has since undertaken concert tours to Russia, Hungary, and Austria, among other engagements. Outstanding performances include a concert in November 2006 at the Theaterhaus Stuttgart, where CITY BRASS performed alongside the partially world-famous members of Manhattan BRASS, led by jazz saxophonist and cross-over composer Daniel Schnyder, as well as the New Year's concert in 2007 at the Forum am Schlosspark in Ludwigsburg. The ensemble has also responded to renewed invitations to perform at the court concerts, the New Year's concert at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, and has performed at the Ludwigsburg Palace Festival. In October 2008, CITY BRASS produced its first CD exclusively with works arranged or composed for the ensemble. In 2007, CITY BRASS Stuttgart was awarded the highly endowed Bruno Frey Prize by the State Academy of Baden-Württemberg in Ochsenhausen at a prize winner concert.

The Stuttgarter Zeitung praised "the enormous degree of naturalness in ensemble playing, a virtue that this ensemble has cultivated." Offering an ever-changing program ranging from Renaissance music to modern entertainment music, the top-notch, finely-tuned ensemble strives to captivate the audience by playing the musical delights of each genre at heart through dedicated rehearsals, from historically informed performance practice to the exploration of jazz elements.