Childs Gives Curnow Premiere
At the end of last month David Childs gave the World Premiere performance of James Curnow’s ‘Concerto for Euphonium and Brass Band’. The Concert took place in the Winspear Hall of the Murchison Performing Arts Center at the University of North Texas where David is Professor of Euphonium. It was a busy evening for the soloist as he was also the concert’s Musical Director, leading the University Brass Band through a challenging programme including Michael Ball’s ‘A Cambrian Suite’ and ‘Triumphant Rhapsody’ by Gilbert Vinter.
John Clemons, who is pursuing a doctor of musical arts degree in wind conducting at the University of North Texas, took to the helm for the solo items. David not only gave a fabulous account of the Curnow, never before heard with brass band accompaniment, but also impressed the audience with lighter favourites such as ‘Endearing Young Charms’ and the whimsical ‘Hot Canary’. One concert goer stated, “Tonight, I had the opportunity to go listen to the UNT brass band concert and hear one of my euphonium heroes David Childs perform, not one, but three pieces with the band. The group sounded great and so did Dave! He performed Curnow’s concerto for euphonium, which is a great piece of euphonium repertoire. He also played ‘Endearing Young Charms’ and ‘The Hot Canary’. He sounded like a million bucks!!”
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