Trumpet player Nicholas Crothers ’21 helped bring together 36 brass/wind/percussion students and alumni from remote locations around the U.S. for a rousing performance of Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare by Richard Strauss, conducted by Jack Delaney, director of the Meadows Wind Ensemble.

“The idea for this project had humble beginnings!” Crothers said. “Given the self-isolation due to COVID-19, I missed playing with members in the trumpet studio. I contacted studio members Brady Carlson and Brian Boydston to record some orchestral excerpts or duets together. During a Zoom call to decide on what we would play, one of us had the idea to reach out to the SMU brass studio as a whole and play something. From there, I organized a Facebook messenger group with current students but realized we didn’t have enough players, so I encouraged people to get in touch with alumni to fill out the group. Someone in the group suggested we also reach out to the wind ensemble director Jack Delaney, so I contacted him; he was happy to participate!”

Crothers, a double major in music and computer science, created a video of the performance, noting the affiliations of the performers – many of whom are members of professional orchestras – in the credits. It was a labor of love that took close to 30 hours of work, not including the time the musicians spent recording. Watch it here!