Syracuse University Brass Ensemble

The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble (SUBE) is a group of 35 professional-level brass and percussion musicians.

The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble (SUBE) is a group of 35 professional-level brass and percussion musicians; members include Syracuse University faculty, staff and students, the State University of New York Upstate Medical University faculty and staff, and accomplished musicians from Upstate New York communities. The group is directed by James T. Spencer.

The SU Brass is a permanent ensemble-in-residence through The College of Arts and Sciences and Hendricks Chapel. SUBE performs about 12 concerts each year throughout the Central New York region. The ensemble has performed at the Gettysburg Brass Band Festival (Gettysburg, PA) and the Great American Brass Band Festival (Danville, KY), and has twice placed 1st nationally in the North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) Championship Festival.

The repertoire of the SU Brass includes music from all major musical periods and often features new compositions commissioned by nationally known composers. The ensemble has released CD and DVD recordings and has premiered several dozen new compositions and arrangements, including “In Praise of Science,” written for SUBE by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Robert Ward.