“Brass Under the Big Top” is a unique collaborative program designed to expose young audiences to classical music through the magic of the circus. The program consists of two parts: an exploration of brass instruments (how they create sound, what types of music they play) and circus acts (such as juggling, magic tricks, tightrope walking).  

Each performance will last about 45 minutes to an hour.  

This week, “Brass Under the Big Top” will visit three schools in Winston-Salem. They include:

• 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 29: Arts-Based Elementary School (1380 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive);

• 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 30: Kimberly Park Elementary School (1701 N. Cherry St.); and

• 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 30: Diggs Elementary School (950 Mock St.).

Formed in 1989, the Giannini Brass was named after composer Vittorio Giannini, the first president of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Currently, members of the Giannini Brass perform in nearly all of the professional orchestras in the Carolinas and have toured and performed with orchestras and chamber music ensembles throughout the United States and Europe. The ensemble has released four recordings: “Big-Shot Brass,” “Christmas with the Giannini Brass,” “Baroque Banquet,” and “Mit Freuden zart (With Tender Joy): Moravian Chorales for Brass.” Members include Anita Cirba, trumpet; Chris Ferguson, trombone; David Nicholson, tuba; Kenneth Wilmot, trumpet; and Joseph Mount, horn. All members of the ensemble attended the School of Music at NCSA.

Dikki the Clown is Richard “Dikki” Ellis, a native of Mt. Airy who graduated from the School of Drama at NCSA and also studied at Circus Dimitri School in Switzerland. His credits include the “Slim Goodbody Show,” the “No Elephant Circus,” “If Every Fool Inc.” and, most recently, The Big Apple Circus in New York. He has been a clown consultant for the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade for more than a decade. Ellis is currently in Winston-Salem to work with NCSA high school drama students.

“Brass Under the Big Top” is supported by an Arts-in-Education grant from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and is offered to the schools through NCSA’s Alumni/Career Services/Outreach office.

Media: For more information, please contact Marla Carpenter at 336-770-3337 in the public relations office at NCSA.