The Remedial Brass Quintet
Every year, at the beginning of the school year, students at the BYU School of Music audition to participate in the various ensembles held here according to their instrument. As per the results, professors will choose which level of ensemble each performer gets to join. This includes the chamber honors ensembles for which the best of the best get placed. In the aftermath of the results for this school year of 2026-27, a group of brass players were still determined to be in a chamber ensemble and so these players found other like minded members and formed the group that is now known as the Remedial Brass Quintet.
Roots and Origins
Although this group in particular started this year, the roots of the group started a semester earlier. Caden Randolph, a trumpet player, just started his first semester at BYU after serving a mission and he joined the Wind Symphony, sitting right next to Tommy Eskelsen. That semester in the Wind Symphony also included trombonist, Daniel White, and French Horn player, Aleah Holmes. Collectively, they came together to form a brass quintet and eventually found a fifth player, Darien Oborn to play bass trombone. So, they prepared Ewald’s Brass Quintet No. 3 and performed that semester in Brass Chamber Night hoping that wouldn’t be the last time they’d perform.
Start of a Great Year
Darien would be leaving on a mission however and Aleah would be graduating the next year so if the group would stay together they’d need some new people. The fall semester of the 2025-2026 school year started and honors groups were decided. Tommy, Daniel, and Caden did not make it into the Honors Brass Quintet so they quickly scrambled to get their previous group back together before the class add/drop deadline. They still needed a French Horn player and a tubist/bass trombonist however. For brass quintet, it’s more traditional to play with a tuba at the base but due to the lack of tubas to choose from among the students at BYU, they resorted to bass trombone and even euphonium.
For French Horn, they got Julianna Hollenbach and for euphonium Luke Lehmuller. In order to find the best sound throughout the semester, Luke even learned tuba and continued learning bass trombone. With three members returning and two new members, this new group started off strong with practicing the Arnold Brass Quintet No. 1 which was performed during Fall 2025’s Brass Chamber Night. At this point, the group had come up with calling themselves the Remedial Brass Quintet. This name is both humorous and growth-minded; humorous because it serves as a juxtaposition that despite not making the Honors Brass Quintet, it’s still a fine group and growth-minded because it shows the group's goal in always seeking to make more music.
Preparing a Recital
However, only the Brass Chamber Night was not going to satisfy them for their next semester. A few weeks into Winter semester of 2026, the Remedial Brass Quintet decided to put on a recital, including at least an hour's worth of music. This meant they had a lot more to prepare than they ever had before. They explored a variety of genres and styles. They played arrangements of jazz pieces like Puttin’ on the Ritz, Argentinian influences of tango in Killer Tango, classical music with an arrangement of Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre, and even traditional brass quintet music with the Koetsier Brass Quintet. This was all to be performed Friday, April 3, 2026 in the Box. Sure enough it was and it played out smoothly. The recital even included a bit of comedic acting in similitude to how the brass group Mnozil Brass performs. This was to have a bit of fun while also being a more approachable ensemble that both carries themselves with dignity and doesn’t over emphasize their importance.
Although this recital was very successful, it probably wouldn’t have happened because they had applied for other competitions such as the 2026 ITG Brass Quintet Competition to compete in Rochester, New York. Unfortunately, they did not make it past the first phase. This was a driving factor in the inception of the recital so they made due with what they were given. No matter where their trajectory would have gone this year, they still have plans of continuing in whatever way they can next year. I’m sure this group will continue to grow and increase in its musicality to bless future audiences.
