Green Guest Artist concert series resumes Sept. 20

Trumpeter Brandon Ridenour (top left) first appeared at the Green Center for the Performing Arts as the youngest member of The Canadian Brass in 2013. He returns to GCPA to open the 2023-24 Green Guest Artist series with the Founders ensemble on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium.

Courtesy of the artists

The DePauw University Green Center for the Performing Arts will open its 2023-24 Green Guest Artist concert series with a performance by the New York City-based Founders ensemble on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium.

The group’s multifaceted “Dreamland” program, featuring creative arrangements of classics from Duke Ellington to Rimsky-Korsakov to Radiohead, alongside the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, Gertrude Stein and Maya Angelou, celebrates the rich diversity of contemporary culture.

Accentuating the synergy of classical music — and everything after it, this quintet of versatile chamber musicians was awarded the First Prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 2020 SAVVY Chamber Competition — in addition to DePauw’s 21CM POP Organization of 2018.

Since the group’s inception in 2014, through the collaborative efforts of Brandon Ridenour and Ben Russell, Founders have championed bringing composers back onto the stage through assembling an ensemble of prize-winning performers, writers and arrangers.

Passionate advocates for training the next generation of musicians, Founders also enjoy sharing their unique take on music with students worldwide. During their two-day residency at DePauw, they will present a variety of workshops, including a presentation during the School of Music’s weekly Convocation on Wednesday at 10:20 a.m. in Thompson Recital Hall, which is free and open to the public to attend. In addition to classroom visits and chamber coachings, they also will rehearse with student members of the Contemporary Ensemble, who will join Founders on stage for Ridenour’s arrangement of “Motion,” inspired by Radiohead’s “Motion Picture Soundtrack.”

A former member of The Canadian Brass and the NYC-based ensemble Decoda, this season-opening Green Guest Artist Concert marks trumpeter Brandon Ridenour’s third performance at the Green Center, having previously appeared in 2013 (then the youngest member of The Canadian Brass), and later with Decoda, DePauw’s ensemble-in-residence from 2015–2017. He returns to the Kresge stage in 2023 as a founding member of the Founders ensemble.

Tickets to the Green Guest Artist series can be obtained online at https://dpugreencenter.eventbrite.com, or in person at the Green Center box office, beginning 90 minutes prior to any ticketed performance.