The members of Canadian Brass are Chuck Daellenbach (tuba), Christopher Coletti and Brandon Ridenour (trumpets), Keith Dyrda (trombone) and Eric Reed (horn). Performing as a lively ensemble for over 40 years, the Canadian Brass are masters of concert presentations — from formal classical concerts to music served up with lively dialogue and theatrical effects. Whatever the style, the music is central and performed with utmost dedication, skill and excellence. The hallmark of any Canadian Brass performance is entertainment, spontaneity, virtuosity and, most of all, fun.

Millions of television viewers have had Canadian Brass come into their homes with appearances on The Tonight Show, Today and Entertainment Tonight. They have appeared as guest artists on Evening at Pops with John Williams and the Boston Pops, Beverly Sills’ Music Around the World, numerous PBS specials, including a celebrated appearance on Sesame Street, and are frequent guests of many major symphony orchestras. Canadian Brass appeared the soundtrack to the 1988 film The Couch Trip, starring Dan Aykroyd and Walter Matthau. Consummate artists, the quintet has also created unique and interactive videos that have gained an international audience including a series of DVDs featuring the brass in concert and teaching.

Education plays a key role in the story of Canadian Brass and each member is uniquely attuned to training the next generation of players. On their travels around the world, they often pause for master classes and are more than happy to work with students and young audiences. Canadian Brass is chamber quintet-in-residence at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, and has created an innovative brass summer course at the Eastman School of Music. A vital part of their outreach is their role as clinicians for Yamaha Corporation, where music comes alive by validating its purpose through performance and personal association, as well as their support and interaction with El Sistema, the acclaimed global music education program. They have also made available a library of brass music for performers of all levels as well as learning tools, all in conjunction with the Hal Leonard Corporation.

Chuck Daellenbach
Chuck Daellenbach has brought music, imagination and humor to Canadian Brass since the group was formed in 1970. Playing a key role in all of the group’s groundbreaking projects, world travels and on over 90 recordings, Chuck and his gold-plated Yamaha tuba are the bedrock of the massive Canadian Brass repertoire – from Baroque to jazz. Chuck comes from a long line of German and Swiss musicians and, during his upbringing in Wisconsin, his father gave him daily music lessons. After earning a Ph.D. at the age of 25 from the Eastman School of Music, Chuck headed north to teach music at the University of Toronto. His academic plans were soon derailed when he met trombonist Gene Watts who had plans for a unique brass quartet – now a quintet with Chuck on tuba. Among Chuck’s various projects is a series of 200 brass works published by Hal Leonard, many accompanied by CDs, played by music students around the world. He is President of Opening Day Entertainment Group, the group’s recording label, as well as Canadian Brass Publishing Inc. When not on tour, Chuck is at home in Toronto with his wife Mary Beth and their two sons.

Brandon Ridenour
Brandon Ridenour met the Canadian Brass in 2005 as a trumpet student at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. One year later, he joined the group at the age of 20, becoming the youngest member in the ensemble’s 40-year history. The same year, Brandon made his orchestral debut as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center’s 35th Anniversary Gala in Washington, DC, joining the NSO again the following year as soloist for a series of sold out concerts. Recognized as a composer, Brandon received an honorable mention from ASCAP’s 2006 Morton Gould Young Composer Competition and, in 2006, he won the International Trumpet Guild solo competition performing his own composition, Sonata for Trumpet and Piano. Through his Trumpet Invasion CD project, Brandon is on a mission to explore and stretch the boundaries of the trumpet. His arrangements are frequently featured by Canadian Brass and others. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Brandon has played under the baton of James Conlon, James DePriest, Peter Eotvos, David Robertson, and John Williams, among others. Brandon grew up in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, Michigan and frequently performs as a father-son duo with pianist Rich Ridenour.