The Brierwood Ensemble Performs Jenni Brandon’s “Ahead of All Parting” for mezzo-soprano, bassoon, and harp (Regional Premiere) at Ronald Sachs Violins (map), 616-B Castle Street, Wilmington, NC 28401, on March 1, 2020, 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.  The features special guest artist Cera Finney, mezzo-soprano; Helena Kopchick Spencer, bassoon; and Christina Brier, harp. Members of the Brierwood Ensemble are also educators at the Brooklyn Arts Music Academy.

The Brierwood Ensemble is a group of Wilmington, North Carolina musicians who enjoy sharing their love of music through stories, history, and engaging programming for all. The ensemble was co-founded in 2016 by four northern transplants – violinist Linda Estep, violist/violinist Clark Spencer, bassoonist Helena Kopchick Spencer, and harpist Christina Brier.

The Brierwood Ensemble actively promotes new music by American composers. And as part of the commissioning consortium for Jenni Brandon’s “Ahead of All Parting” for mezzo-soprano, bassoon, and harp, Brierwood Ensemble members will perform the work’s Carolina regional premiere on March 1, 2020. The Brierwood Ensemble performs in a variety of venues throughout Wilmington and beyond.

Jenni Brandon (b. 1977) is an award-winning composer, conductor, and mezzo-soprano who enjoys engaging with performers and audiences, travelling around the country giving talks about the business of music and the art of collaboration. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Sorel Medallion, the American Prize for Choral Composition, the Women Composers Festival of Hartford International Composition Competition, and the Bassoon Chamber Music Composition Competition.

Upcoming commissions and performances include a bassoon concerto for bassoonist Christin Schillinger and the Akropolis Quintet, a work for mezzo-soprano, bassoon, and harp for bassoonist Darrel Hale, and a solo oboe work for Lindabeth Binkley to record on a new CD featuring Jenni’s chamber music.

Recordings of her works appear on 16 CDs on the Delos, Albany, Centaur, MSR Classics, Blue Griffin, Siegfried’s Call, and Longhorn labels.  Her works are published and distributed by Boosey & Hawkes, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Graphite Publishing, TrevCo Music Publishing, Imagine Music, J.W. Pepper, and Jenni Brandon Music.  Visit www.jennibrandon.com.