Good Time Brass, a Los Angeles-based Brass Quintet comprised of freelance musicians and music educators, will discuss the educational value of arranging for brass chamber ensembles. Key topics will include the importance of chamber music, facilitating student engagement and accessibility, an in-depth guide on writing for brass, and an application of concepts in a live arranging session and following performance.
Target Audience
Band Directors, Arrangers
Additional Notes
Clinician Info
Nathan Culcasi
Nathan Culcasi is a trombone player and music educator based in Los Angeles. Originally from Sacramento, Nathan earned his BA and MM Degrees from UCLA. His high-level performance resume spans many musical settings, including playing with the Santa Monica Symphony and Bakersfield Symphony, the California JazzPops Orchestra big band led by Jens Lindemann, and numerous solo and chamber competition awards
As an educator, Nathan teaches brass students of all levels. He is the Low Brass Studio Instructor at CSU Bakersfield and also serves as the Trombone Teaching Artist at Harmony Project @ EXPO Park. In addition to these positions, Nathan is a Dream Brass Coach for SMMUSD Elementary Schools and runs his own private lesson studio.
Vincent Jurado
Vincent Jurado is a Filipino-American musician from the San Francisco Bay Area currently residing in Los Angeles. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from San José State University and a Master’s degree in Music Performance from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Vincent is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as an Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellow. He plans to carve a career path in college and university education.
Music Education is a big part of his philosophy and ambitions as a musician. He has served as a Teaching Assistant and Associate Instructor for the UCLA Bruin Marching Band and is currently a music coach for the SMMUSD. Aside from being a musician and educator, he is also a connoisseur of cooking, skateboarding, and football. Vincent is a huge San Francisco 49ers fan and dislikes the Dallas Cowboys.
Samuel Adam
Music lovers should beware asking Samuel Adam too many questions about the tuba, because once they get him going it may be hard for him to stop. Sam found himself picking up the tuba for the first time at the age of 15; not coincidentally, right after realizing he, as a high tenor, would never be able to sing bass in his high school choir. A single-minded obsession was quickly ignited, and he found himself leaving his hometown of Juneau, Alaska to attend Interlochen arts camp and then the prestigious Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland before finally settling back on the West Coast.
Sam is currently the second tubist to ever attend UCLA as a DMA performance candidate. He enjoys serving as the tuba teaching artist for Harmony Project EXPO and currently sits on the roster of both Good Time Brass Quintet and Brass Elephant.
Austin Ali
Hailing from Texas, Austin Ali is a composer, trumpeter, and arranger based in Los Angeles, California. An insatiably curious person, he strives to inspire wonder through his music. From complex-meter jazz to spacey orchestral scores, he seeks to compose infectiously fun and unforgettable music.
His music has been performed by celebrated soloists including GRAMMY-winning soprano Hilá Plitmann, trombonist Christopher Bill, and harpist Alexander Boldachev. Orchestral collaborators include the Austin Symphony, Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, New Conductors Orchestra, Tampa Bay Symphony, Columbus Symphony (Indiana), New England Philharmonic, Orchestra Senzaspine, and Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini. His chamber works have been championed by the Carpe Diem String Quartet, Diotima Quartet, Bridge to Everywhere, and Salastina.
Aric Kline
Los Angeles based trumpet player Aric Kline leads an active career as a chamber musician, orchestral trumpet player, jazz musician, and advocate of new music.
Aric can be heard as Principal Trumpet of the San Gabriel Valley Symphony, Principal Trumpet of the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra, Split Lead Trumpet in contemporary big band Sicnarf, as well as numerous indie film scores, such as the short film M.I.R, written and directed by Liam Sherman.
As a soloist he has commissioned several works for trumpet, including Double Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, written by David Hernandez. After this concerto’s premiere with the San Gabriel Valley Symphony in April, Aric looks forward to recording his first solo album, entitled No Genre Needed.