The Gateways Brass Collective began their 2025-2026 season in Ft. Wayne, Indiana at the Pearl Streets Arts Center.
“Pearl Arts is the vision of a small group of committed volunteers, including local philanthropists Chuck and Lisa Surack, to create a one-of-a-kind community hub for the arts, music education, and entrepreneurship. The investment into Fort Wayne will foster cultural growth and prosperity to the city, community, and the youth & residents of of the Summit City.“
Before we began the residency, it was imperative that I find fuel for the body and soul!
After starting my day at 3am, it was important to grab a cup of coffee. Coincidently, behind the hotel was a beautiful coffee/juice shop, Kanela. Not only did this cafe deliver, it was filled with great music, wonderful staff, amazingly delicious juices and most importantly…coffee! While there, I was fortunate to meet up with two dear colleagues that are staples within the Fort Wayne community.
While there, I was able to visit THE Sweetwater Instrumental Music Company and man, what a sight!
“Sweetwater is the nation’s number one online retailer for musical instruments and pro audio equipment. Founded in 1979 by Chuck Surack, it started as a mobile recording studio and evolved into the leading provider of gear such as guitars, keyboards, drums, studio equipment, and live sound gear.”
Our first stop on the 2-day residency was giving a performance, masterclass, and Q&A at one of the local high schools. By far, this school had one of the most beautiful auditoriums. Acoustically speaking, it was an instrumentalists dream and the students seemed really attentive and enthusiastic. As per usual, taking selfies is not my forte.
Later than evening we presented a 90-min show to a warm and welcoming crowd that was well attended and had a great sense of humor.
Here’s a little snippet of my Brass Quintet arrangement of the Star Spangled banner, entitled “Soul Banner.” This is an adaptation given to me by a dear colleague and grammy award-winning musician Rickey Gonzalez. In addition, I was really impressed with the electronic acoustics within this space. This was the first time, outside a recording studio, that I was truly able to hear every instrument in the quintet without having to listen too hard. The Pearl Streets Arts facility has a remarking performance space!
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Our final day was an informative performance and masterclass to about 200 local middle/high school students. We spoke about sound, active/passive listening, intonation and the importance of singing. Additionally, we spoke about how to tune chords in performance to find resonace.
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To conclude our residency, we spoke to a group students in a Sound & Production class about the importance of networking, contracting, marketing, and professional jobs outside the traditional medium and how to navigate the market.
At the end of the day, I am grateful for the opportunity to have musical conversations with some incredible musicians who truly believe in the living-power of music and music education. Not every one has the means to take applied lessons or understand the social and creative value of performing within an ensemble from people from all walks of life.
This is the mission behind the Pearl Street Arts Center and what they’re doing within the Fort Wayne community. Not only are they a staple, they are helping the next generation of students find their creative and social voice while giving them a platform to just…be!
