MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE, A QUINTET COMPRISED OF FIVE BRASS PLAYERS, IS ONE OF AMERICA’S LEADING BRASS GROUP EXPLORING THE MUSIC OF TODAY. FOUNDED IN 1987, MERIDIAN’S EXCITING AND AMBITIOUS MUSICAL APPROACH HAS CHANGED THE FACE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC. THE ENSEMBLE BEGAN ITS CAREER LOOKING AWAY FROM ACADEMIC MUSIC AND TOWARD THE AMERICAN VERNACULAR. MERIDIAN’S ARRANGEMENTS OF THE MUSIC OF FRANK ZAPPA BROUGHT CRITICAL AND POPULAR ACCLAIM, INTERVIEWS ON NPR’S WEEKEND EDITION, AND PERFORMANCES IN CONCERT HALLS AND ROCK CLUBS. COMMISSIONS FROM MILTON BABBITT, ELLIOTT SHARP, TANIA LEON, SU LIAN TAN, MARK APPLEBAUM, HERMETO PASCOAL, NICK DIDKOVSKY, DAVID SANFORD, THE COMMON SENSE COMPOSERS’ COLLECTIVE, STEPHEN BARBER, JOHN HALLE, AND KIRK NUROCK HAVE CREATED A BALANCED AND BROAD RANGING REPERTOIRE FOR BRASS AND PERCUSSION THAT PEERS INTO EVERY CORNER OF TODAY’S MUSICAL EXPERIENCE. MERIDIAN’S CATALOG OF RECORDINGS REPRESENT AN EQUALLY BROAD LOOK AT THE MUSIC OF TODAY. FROM AN ALBUM OF BAROQUE AND RENAISSANCE MUSIC TO THE LATEST RELEASE OF NEW COMMISSIONS, MERIDIAN’S DISCS HAVE GARNERED CRITICAL ACCLAIM AND A LARGE AND PASSIONATE POPULAR FOLLOWING. MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE HAS SUCCEEDED IN BRINGING CLASSICAL MUSIC TO POPULAR AUDIENCES. CONSISTENTLY ATTRACTING A DIVERSE AUDIENCE BASE, THE ENSEMBLE HAS WORKED TIRELESSLY TO KEEP THE TRADITIONS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC ALIVE, TO SPREAD THE APPEAL OF THESE TRADITIONS, AND TO REVISIT THESE TRADITIONS FROM A CONTEMPORARY SENSIBILITY.