The Portlandia Brass Ensemble is a fun-loving group of active, professional musicians.  We built our street cred at well-known music schools (including New England Conservatory, Eastman, UNT), symphonies (like Eugene and Salem), and many exciting music groups.  PBE performs in a range of ensemble sizes, most commonly as a quintet.  We love to bring music up close and personal.  We perform in all kinds of venues, from in-home concerts to traditional concert halls.   Past performances include the University of Portland, Oregon Symphony Prelude, The Old Church Lunchtime Concerts, Reed College commencement, Willamette Ale & Cider House and Groupmuse.  Our music programs have 'a little something for everyone' - songs you know, and new ones to love;  you might find yourself sitting with the band or playing an unusual rhythm instrument.   We look forward to getting to know you!

Repertoire

Our repertoire includes: Bach, Beatles, Bernstein(s), Copland, Dukas, Gabrielli, Gershwin, Haydn, Strauss, McFerrin, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Pachelbel, Praetorious, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rossini, Saint-Saens, Wagner and more.  Why yes! We do perform pieces made famous by the Canadian Brass and the Muppets.

Sample programs (audience participation & education options):

• Classical Brassical - the big hits from big bad classical composers of their time
• The Brassy Wild Wild West - Magnificent 7; Copland's Rodeo; spaghetti western themes; - BYOB (bring your own boots)
• Lions and Tigers and Fugues, Oh My! - an exploration of fugue wizardry
• Brass for the Holidaze - Holst, Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and the Grinch.  With lights!

We love to design music programs for your specific needs.

PBE is an approved Groupmuse performer.  
​It's super easy to host us for a performance at no cost to the host.  ​Find out how

You might think that playing this music is its own reward.  And we do love it.  But oddly, love doesn't pay for sheet music, gas, costumes, instrument maintenance, etc. (but it does cover clever repartee).   Push the button to help keep the music coming.  Thank you for supporting Brass with Class!