Seraph Brass, now in its 12th season, was founded by trumpet soloist Mary Elizabeth Bowden with a mission to showcase the excellence of women brass players and to highlight musicians from marginalized groups, both in personnel and in programming. Winners of the American Prize in Chamber Music, the group has been praised for its “beautiful sounds" (American Record Guide), "fine playing” (Gramophone), and “staggeringly high caliber of performance (Textura).In addition to quintet performances and residencies, Seraph performs as a 10-piece ensemble, as soloists with large ensembles, and in collaboration with other chamber artists. Seraph released their new album Showcase in March of 2025 through Tower Grove Records, featuring new works for brass quintet by Jeff Scott, Reena Esmail, Kevin Day, and Kevin McKee.
2025-2026 season highlights include a premiere of a new concerto by Steven Juliani for Brass Quintet and Wind Ensemble with Jerry Junkin and the Dallas Winds, a tour of Japan’s major cities, Anthony DiLorenzo’s Chimera with the University of Texas in Austin, as well as residencies at Chamber Music Tulsa, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, San Jose State University, Kansas State University, University of California in Davis, University of Wisconsin in Platteville, and Penn State Behrend in Erie.
Seraph Brass performs a diverse body of repertoire, ranging from original transcriptions to newly commissioned works and core classics. The group has commissioned pieces by Grammy award winner Jeff Scott, as well as Jennifer Jolley, Joseph Hallman, Catherine McMichael, Marcus Grant, and Rene Orth. The pieces by Orth and McMichael are featured on Seraph’s Silver Medal Global Music Award-winning debut album Asteria. The group regularly participates in commissioning consortiums, recently supporting works by Gala Flagello, Kevin Day, Mischa Zupko, Sara Jacovino, and Lillian Yee. Seraph recently commissioned and premiered Jennifer Jolley’s Dust for brass quintet and wind ensemble, which was performed with various ensembles across the US. Other concerto performances have included Rick DeJonge’s Prelude and Fantasy, James Stephenson’s Dodecafecta, Suite from Mass by Leonard Bernstein and Anthony DiLorenzo’s Chimera.
The members of Seraph Brass are passionate about music education, with several holding faculty positions at Shenandoah Conservatory, Texas State University, and Texas Lutheran University, and have worked with youth training programs such as Interlochen Arts Camp, NYO2, Domaine Forget, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Festival Napa Valley, and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. In each of their tours, the group works to provide educational outreach to local schools, and offers a variety of entrepreneurship and career development workshops, in addition to traditional brass pedagogy.
The ensemble has toured around the world in South America, Asia, Europe, and in 40 United States, including performances at the Tafalla Brass Week in Spain, Lieksa Brass Week in Finland, the International Festival of Winds of Cusco in Peru, the Busan Maru International Music Festival and the Jeju International Wind Ensemble Festival in South Korea, University of Toronto in Canada, the Forum Cultural Guanajuato in Mexico, International Women’s Brass
Conference, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the International Midwest Clinic Band and Orchestra Conference, and a two-week tour across China.
Recent touring highlights have included performances and residencies at Yale University, Oberlin College, Brevard Music Center, Chautauqua Institution, the Lyric Chamber Music Society in NYC, Interlochen Arts Academy, University of Michigan, National Gallery of Art in D.C., Asheville Chamber Music Series, as well as concerto appearances with the Florence Symphony, the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” Texas Tech University Wind Ensemble, University of North Texas Wind Orchestra, Shenandoah Conservatory Wind Ensemble, University of Nebraska-Omaha Wind Ensemble, and Swarthmore College Wind Ensemble. The group has also toured extensively as Allied Concert Services and Live On Stage artists, and was formerly in residency alongside the Dover Quartet at the Artosphere Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Seraph Brass is a Yamaha Performing Group.
