This post will chronicle a sojourn to Iceland by Glen Gillis and James Cunningham to perform original compositions, and to present a world premier of a new composition for trumpet, alto saxophone, bass trombone, and didgeridoo by Glen’s brother Richard, who has been making regular trips to perform in Iceland for twenty years.
The trip was greatly facilitated through the support of Icelandic musicians Jón Rafnsson and Björn Thoroddsen.
The Canadian Gillis musicians and Floridian Cunningham didgeridooist met in Reykjavik several days before the May 30th concert, in order to get the lay of the land and rehearse for the pending concert.
The abode for all was a rustic Airbnb, centrally located in the heart of the city.
Its central location put all of downtown Reykjavik within easy walking distance. Prominent local sites included…
… Björk’s favorite haunt, the…
A rental car also provided an opportunity to take a scenic road trim along Iceland’s famed Golden Circle.
Geysir – “thar she blows”
However…
… the true purpose of the trip was the April 30th “Northern Brasswork concert, which was presented in the historic Fríkirkjan (free church), a well-known music venue in Reykjavík.
The concert presented a variety of original compositions by Richard Gillis, Glen Gillis, and the Duo Gillis Cunningham.
The featured performance of the concert was the world premier of “Huff ‘n Puffs,” a five-movement programmatic suite based on an amalgam of nursery rhymes and stories about the little piggies and the big bad wolf. The parts of the piggies were played by alto sax, trumpet, and bass trombone, with the howling role of the wolf, naturally going to the didgeridoo.
