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And these ladies are sen-sational! Impeccable musicianship, practically flawless technique, and a cohesive ensemble sound. If you get a chance to see them if they come to your town, don’t miss it!

Also, was very impressed with their new tuba player Vivian Kung. A most excellent player at such a young age. She studied with Carol Jantsch. Take my word for it, she is someone to keep your eye on. She has already “gone places” and will go to many more!

Seraph Brass bills themselves as playing Yamaha exclusively, but Miss Kung’s tuba didn’t look like any Yamaha I’ve ever seen. It was a 5 valve rotary, presumably CC. I chatted with her after the concert and found out that it’s a Rudy Meinl she’s playing with that group for now. She explained that she’s new to the group and they haven’t quite figured out what to do about which Yamaha she could comfortably play with the quintet.

It would be interesting to see how they resolve that issue. Does that mean she will be a yamaha exclusive musician, or just play a yamaha within that group...?


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I saw them at last year's Army trombone workshop. They didn't play, just talked. It seems that they have a core group and swap players in and out by availability on various tours and concerts. That allows them to have other jobs in symphonies and life. It must be difficult to maintain such a high level of playing when the roster changes so frequently.

The Yamaha thing must be a new development in the last year. They were not doing that when I saw them.

Either Yamaha f would work just fine. Maybe the new 4/4 c if they want to promote it.

Just put a Yamaha sticker on it.

bone-a-phone wrote: ↑Sat Feb 10, 2024 7:29 am I saw them at last year's Army trombone workshop. They didn't play, just talked. It seems that they have a core group and swap players in and out by availability on various tours and concerts. That allows them to have other jobs in symphonies and life. It must be difficult to maintain such a high level of playing when the roster changes so frequently.

The Yamaha thing must be a new development in the last year. They were not doing that when I saw them.

Yes, they have what they call a “core group”, and personnel are apparently swapped out if one of the members has a conflict. However, Vivian Kung is a new member and considered part of the “core group”.

It is a mystery to me how the playing level can be so high when they live in different parts of the country. I don’t know how they rehearse. The personnel swapping must complicate that even more. But they pull it off, believe me.

Ms. Kung gave me the impression that she will be playing Yamaha at some future time when she has decided on which one. I joked with her that she should just tell Yamaha to custom make one to her personal specifications. Then they can mass produce it and call it the “Kung” model!

DonO. wrote: ↑Sat Feb 10, 2024 9:12 am It is a mystery to me how the playing level can be so high when they live in different parts of the country. I don’t know how they rehearse. The personnel swapping must complicate that even more. But they pull it off, believe me.

At the ATW session, they said they do a retreat in the off season, and practice the repertoire. Plus, they reuse a lot of tunes between concerts and between seasons.

We saw them at the National Cathedral in DC last Christmas.

We saw them at the National Gallery of Art. They were wonderful! We heard a different tuba player, who was awesome.
https://www.seraphbrass.com/core-artist ... -dougherty