National Arts Centre Orchestra's Douglas Burden to perform and conduct at Mission Hill Brass concert

PREVIEW Fancy Free Mission Hill Brass With special guest Douglas Burden Sunday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. St. Albert United Church 20 Green Grove Drive Tickets: $20 at door

In his rare moments of solitude, Douglas Burden floats the idea of retiring. Those moments are fleeting. He's simply too busy. Burden's exhausting rehearsal schedule as bass trombonist for the National Arts Centre Orchestra makes the Energizer bunny look as if he's slacking off. Not only is the NAC brass musician one of Canada's A-list bass trombonists. He also performs with Capital Brassworks, teaches at the University of Ottawa and conducts master classes across the country. As a freelancer, he's played in backup orchestras for celebrity singers such as Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones and Holly Cole. A popular crossover musician who easily switches from classical to jazz to pop to brass, Burden creates a dynamic range of sound that most musicians only aspire to. He is equally well known for his beautiful tone and expressive style. On Sunday, Oct. 29 Mission Hill Brass welcomes the bass trombonist as a special guest to Fancy Free, the band's season opener at St. Albert United Church. Mission Hill's music director Dan Skepple first met Burden as a professor in 1979 when he studied at University of Ottawa's school of music. "He and his wife Wendy were very kind to me. He was very encouraging and he's a man I greatly admire. He was an elite player, someone that commanded immediate respect. And he's an all-around good guy. I consider him a good friend. He's supported everything I tried to establish in my career," said Skepple. Normally, time and resources prevent high-calibre musicians from flying across the country for a one-off with a community ensemble. However, last week the entire NAC Orchestra (70 players) boarded an airplane for the Canada 150 Tour, an expedition that celebrates our country's Confederation. This six-city leg of a year-long tour crosses the Prairie provinces and West Coast with a concert at the Winspear Centre on Saturday, Oct. 28. While the entire orchestra boards a direct flight to Victoria, Burden will remain an extra day to perform at Fancy Free as a soloist. "I enjoy playing with a large orchestra where you need to be fully prepared. But it's also nice to step out as a soloist. To provide a meaningful solo, you have to up your game," Burden said now in his 45th season with NAC Orchestra. The bass trombonist will have the opportunity to once more dazzle audiences with two artistic solos: Clay Smith's Fancy Free and Leslie Condon's Celestial Morn. "Fancy Free is quite dated by modern standards. It's a piece that makes you think of a summer park at the turn of the 20th century. Think of Downton Abbey. Think 1910 when bands were in every city and it was an active social event. It's a virtuosic display piece, strictly fluff," said Burden. The second solo, Celestial Morn, was originally written for an E-flat tuba. "There's a theme based on a hymn melody. It's a musical impression of the first day in heaven and what that first day would be like." He also conducts the 30-piece Mission Hill Brass Band through Dudley Bright's Assignment. Bright is the principal trombone player for the London Symphony Orchestra. "It's a well-crafted, bright, spritely march. If the band plays the tempo I want, it should be quite entertaining." The second composition Burden conducts is Brian Bowen's beautiful tone poem, My Comfort and Strength. It also happens to be one of his favourite works. "It's an old Anglican hymn. The melody is wedded to paraphrases of Psalm 23. It's warm, lush and meditative. It starts gently, quietly and goes to a rich finale. Under Skepple's baton, the brass band gears up for an eclectic half dozen instrumentals that range from the James Bond movie hit Skyfall to Marcus Venable's Canada 150 – three pieces that include Sing Hosanna, Ode to Newfoundland and O Canada. As Skepple points out, "One of the hallmarks of Mission Hill Brass is its versatility. They can play James Bond as well as a hymn such as Comfort and Strength." Mission Hill Brass Band dedicates the concert to Eb Bass player Jon Bird, a dedicated team musician whose wife Kim passed away a short time ago.