Friday, September 13, 2019 — 5:30pm
Music of Bach, Dvořák, Charpentier, and more

The Black Mesa Brass Quintet was formed in 1990 and still has three of the original five members. Their repertoire is an eclectic mix of classical, modern, pop, and jazz tunes. They play a variety of venues, including concerts, educational performances at schools, weddings and other special occasions. Their collective musical experience is on the order of 240 years. They are joined by percussionist Ralph Marquez for this performance.

Jan McDonald has been a mainstay of the Los Alamos music scene for decades. He is recognized nationally as an accomplished trumpet player and educator. He performs with many professional groups in New Mexico, and is the recipient of the Outstanding Secondary Educator Award and the Outstanding New Mexico Jazz Educator Award.

Jerry Morzinski ended his 20-year Navy pilot career with a tour at Annapolis, where he played with Navy musicians from the Washington DC area in large- and small-group ensembles. He organizes brass ensembles, arranges music, and directs the adult choir at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.

Larry Bronisz started his musical studies in the LA Schools on cello, switched to trombone in 4th grade and started taking lessons from Jan McDonald in 6th grade. He enjoys Classical and Jazz genres, has started playing cello again, and has taken up trumpet in the last few years.

Dr. Bruce Letellier earned degrees in nuclear engineering from Kansas State University before moving to Los Alamos. An avid volunteer with the high school drama department, he performs regularly with numerous ensembles in northern New Mexico.

Carl Wilde has been playing horn for 23 years.  Having studied music performance in college, he now participates in several northern New Mexico ensembles purely for enjoyment.

Ralph Marquez was born and raised in Las Vegas, NM. He earned BA and MA degrees in Music Education/Performance from NMHU, and went on to teach percussion at NMHU and The United World College. He recently retired after 33 years as a Medical Technologist, and now performs with a wide variety of groups.

Dr. Jim Toevs is a physicist who was principle trumpet of the Los Alamos Symphony for a total of 20 years and director of a church choir in Española.  Today he is a member of the First Presbyterian Choir, the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, and the Sin Nombre’ Brass, and plays trumpet solos and duets at First Presbyterian and other churches in the area.  He has played in various groups with Jan McDonald since 1981.