Messiaen’s Appel Interstellaire (Interstellar Call) sits at the heart of this program: a solo horn work that transforms breath and resonance into something vast and otherworldly. Alongside it, music by Dukas, Tomasi, Boulanger, and Bizet reveal how French composers reimagined the brass ensemble as ceremonial and spiritual — capable of conjuring stillness, light, and power in equal measure.

“I’m really thrilled to be presenting a concert of French-themed brass music with the very talented brass students at ANAM.

This program includes two of my favourite works — the fanfare from La Péri by Dukas and Tomasi’s Fanfares Liturgiques — alongside an incredible arrangement of Carmen and one of the most compelling solo horn pieces of the 20th century, Messiaen’s Appel Interstellaire (Interstellar Call) from Des canyons aux étoiles…. We’ve even got a secret encore planned, so please come and join us!” — Ben Jacks, Faculty, Horn

Image by Charlie Kinross