Onyx Brass formed in 1993, and soon went on to become the UK's leading brass chamber ensemble. The players are passionate about music education, integrating schools and children's events into a busy performing schedule. The milestone year provides a chance to reflect on Onyx's journey.
‘The five original members of Onyx were former members of the National Youth Orchestra (NYO),’ explains tubist David Gordon-Shute. The origin provided the group's name, a rearrangement of ‘Ex-NYO’. There have been a few personnel changes, and the current players – Gordon-Shute, trombonist Amos Miller, trumpeters Niall Keatley and Alan Thomas, plus horn player Andrew Sutton – are all former members of the European Union Youth Orchestra. ‘We are keen to retain the joy of playing in a major youth orchestra,’ says Gordon-Shute. ‘We hope to use that enthusiasm in the way that Onyx makes its chamber music.’
‘David [Gordon-Shute] and I both felt it would be nice to mark the anniversary,’ says Miller, reflecting on the group's quarter century, ‘and to make a statement, especially about our commissioning – we have premiered over 200 pieces now. We also wanted to acknowledge how the ensemble has treasured the heritage of British brass playing, the British brass sound, which is a particularly lovely one.’
Onyx wants to make brass music feel accessible © BENJAMIN EALOVEGA
That is evident on Fanfares, released on the Chandos label (CHSA 5221) in March. ‘That one was my baby,’ says Gordon-Shute. ‘We discovered a lot of fanfares, by really well-known composers, that had been hiding in archives for 50 years. We enlarged the ensemble quite a bit, up to around 25 players. And we managed to get John Wilson to conduct. He was very knowledgeable and inspiring.’ The list of composers represented here is impressive, among them Arnold Bax, Malcolm Arnold, Herbert Howells and Michael Tippett, and almost all the fanfares are presented in world premiere recordings; Onyx performs with its trademark finesse.
The other recording takes the group in a completely different direction. Onyx Noir (NMC D237) is a jazz album, featuring 12 new works commissioned for the project. ‘This one is Amos's baby,’ says Gordon-Shute, handing over to his colleague.
‘I've been obsessed with jazz my whole life,’ says Miller. ‘Many years ago, I went to a jazz course in Banff. I fell in love with the music of Kenny Wheeler, who was one of the tutors. What a joy to play!’ Years later, Miller contacted Wheeler about writing for the quintet. Wheeler liked the idea, and produced 1 for 5, one of his last compositions before his death in 2014. ‘Once Kenny was on board it was a lot easier for me to approach other people, other jazz heavyweights,’ says Miller. Composers here include Gwilym Simcock, Jason Rebello and Guy Barker. ‘What is lovely,’ says Gordon-Shute, ‘is that the 12 pieces are all completely different from one another. There is no similarity – even the slow numbers are all different. It is an amazing variety, especially as the premise was exactly the same for all the composers.’
The Onyx players are active in music education, both individually and within the quintet. Gordon-Shute is head of brass at Eton, and Miller was recently named head of brass at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. ‘I'm planning a holistic agenda for the way we teach brass players,’ says Miller. ‘There are very few positions in UK orchestras for conservatory graduates, so I'm passionate about producing happy graduates who are aware of their range of skills in music. We talk about millennial portfolio careers, but musicians now need to have a portfolio career that runs concurrently rather than consecutively. We have to be masters of many things at once.’
Onyx Brass members are themselves masters of many things, as the ensemble's own education programme demonstrates. ‘We've got a really brilliant 45- to 60-minute concert for primary schools, which we can also tweak for secondary students,’ explains Gordon-Shute. ‘We get them playing with us and conducting, to give them a feel of what is happening. We have recently put together a series of three works, especially written for us. There is a core set of quintet parts, and then additional sets of easy, intermediate and advanced parts for students to come and join us. Further up the chain, we have developed a programme for music students, where we can expand the quintet up to 10 or 15 players. The idea is that they listen to the playing around them and adapt by ear – we want to speak as little as possible.’
The huge decrease in school instrumental funding makes the group's education projects ever-more vital. They often collaborate with music education charities, most recently with Jackdaws, which took Onyx to schools around Somerset, playing with around 200 young musicians. Onyx also works with public schools, including Eton and Millfield, staging events where pupils from local state schools are also invited to participate.
School workshops fit well into the Onyx ethos: ‘approachable yet serious’. ‘I think we underestimate young children,’ says Miller. ‘When you try a sort of Hey Kids! concert, with lots of gimmicks, it often falls flat. It is much better to just play really well for them in music that is accessible. It doesn't have to be simple or lightweight, but it is good to contextualise it for them.’ Brass instruments are an ideal fit. ‘Brass can be incredibly versatile. You can switch to any kind of style, and the kids really engage with that. The players have appeared on many Hollywood soundtracks, so when we say that we have played on the last Star Wars, for example, it adds a lot of credibility.’
Schools events often conclude with a concert and, as with all Onyx appearances, the mood is relaxed. Miller explains: ‘We like to introduce our pieces, in an informative and hopefully humorous way. An informal introduction and then a performance at the very highest level, that's our trademark.’ Gordon-Shute agrees. ‘The idea is to give audiences as many handles on the music as we can, so that they get as much out of it as possible. We also talk about the group and our other musical activities, and we hope that by the end of the concert, the audience feels a little closer to the five players. It goes with brass – you can never afford to take yourself too seriously. That is something we have never done.’
