Register for GVSU Brass Day 2026 via the Camps at GVSU page

Details

At GVSU Brass Day, middle and high school brass musicians spend an afternoon at GVSU rehearsing, performing and learning with GVSU professors Alex Wilson (trumpet), Colin Bianchi (horn), Ryan Christianson (trombone), and Paul Carlson (euphonium and tuba).

The event will include:

• Performances by the GVSU Faculty Brass Quartet and GVSU student ensembles.
• Masterclasses on general topics pertaining to each instrument.  Attendees may also volunteer to be coached on a solo or etude.
• Brass Day Choir rehearsals, where attendees will be mixed in with current GVSU brass students.
• The Brass Day Recital, featuring the Brass Day Choir, concludes the event!

Note: Parking on GVSU's campus is free on weekends.  We recommend lot K1 or H2.

Click here for a map of the GVSU Valley Campus

Schedule of Events

12:45 PM - 1:00 PM: Check-in at the Haas Center for the Performing Arts (HCPA) Lobby, across from the entrance to the Louis Armstrong Theatre

1:00 PM - 1:15 PM: Welcome Performance Featuring GVSU Brass Chamber Ensembles

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM: Brass Choir Rehearsal

2:20 PM - 3:20 PM: Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, and Euphonium & Tuba Masterclasses

3:35 PM - 3:50 PM: Short Brass Choir Rehearsal

4:00 PM: Brass Day Recital in the Louis Armstrong Theatre

Dr. Alex Wilson has led the Grand Valley State University Trumpet Studio since 2015.  He holds a Bachelor's degree from GVSU and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Arizona State University, where he studied with Professor David Hickman.  Alex has performed with the Phoenix Symphony and the Arizona Opera, and subs often with the Grand Rapids Symphony and other local orchestras.

A versatile soloist, Alex published solo CDs in 2016 (“Volti Subito”) and 2022 (“Volante”), performed at the 2013 International Trumpet Guild conference in Grand Rapids, and toured as a soloist for the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra during two national tours, at venues including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.  He often appears as a guest soloist or clinician at local schools, and has also given performances and masterclasses internationally at venues such as the Tainan University of Technology in Taiwan and the I Alcalá Trumpetfest in Spain.

Colin Bianchi is a French horn player with an active career as both a performer and educator. He is the Principal Horn of Detroit Opera and teaches horn at Grand Valley State University and Aquinas College.

Colin grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and began studying the horn at age fifteen with Denise Tryon. He completed his studies at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University, working with Adam Unsworth, Gail Williams, Jon Boen, and Bryan Kennedy, and spending additional time learning from Karl Pituch. After his formal education, he traveled to Norway to study with renowned hornist Froydis Ree Wekre at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

He has performed with ensembles including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. A dedicated chamber musician, Colin has appeared with a wide range of ensembles, highlighted by a guest artist recital with soprano Kristine Goerke. As a soloist, he has performed Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1 with the International Symphony Orchestra.

Colin lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his cellist wife, along with their Australian shepherd, Coda, and their cockatiel, Frosty. He performs on a Karl Hill Schmidt horn with a Strachan CV mouthpiece with an 18.5 silver-coated brass rim by Houser.

Ryan Christianson is a multifaceted performer and educator whose career has spanned numerous styles and settings. As the trombonist of the internationally-touring Dallas Brass, Ryan has presented masterclasses and performances around the country including at such venues and institutions as the Colburn School (Los Angeles, CA), the New World School of the Arts (Miami, FL), the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic (Chicago, IL), the Big Sky Classical Music Festival (Big Sky, MT), and the OK Mozart Festival (Bartlesville, OK), as well as numerous other MEAs, universities, concert halls, and high schools. Ryan has also held positions with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and Millikin-Decatur Symphony, and performed chamber recitals with members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera orchestras.

In addition to his work as a classical trombonist, Ryan maintains a prominent career as a freelance commercial and jazz performer. Notable appearances as a commercial musician include at the North Coast Music Festival with EDM artist Diplo, on ABC’s Shark Tank with the McNasty Brass Band, and opening for Bruno Mars at the 2023 Illinois Gubernatorial Inauguration. As a jazz artist, Ryan has appeared with groups at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, and in numerous residencies with big bands and New Orleans-style brass bands at a variety of clubs and venues across the Chicagoland area. Additionally, Ryan was a finalist in the International Trombone Association’s Carl Fontana Competition in 2014. 

A dedicated educator, Ryan has previously held positions at Millikin University and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Prior to college teaching, he maintained a studio of middle and high school students through which students were regularly placed in the top honor bands, orchestras, and jazz bands in Illinois. Ryan holds a DMA in Trombone Performance with a minor in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a MM in Jazz Composition from DePaul University, and a BM in Trombone Performance from the University of Minnesota. He is a performing artist and clinician for Conn-Selmer instruments and Denis Wick mouthpieces and mutes.

Since beginning his study of the tuba at the age of 11, Paul Carlson has gone on to thrill audiences around the globe. Hailing from Macomb, IL, he started playing tuba in sixth grade band. While in high school, he discovered the joy of performing in tuba quartet, brass quintet, bands, orchestras, and a Dixieland band. He continued his study at the University of Illinois (B.M.), the University of New Mexico (M.M.), and is currently a Doctoral candidate in Tuba Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

As an active performer, Paul is comfortable in many musical situations. Paul’s performance experience includes the New Mexico Brass Quintet, Santa Fe Symphony Brass Quintet, The King’s Brass, the Walt Disney Collegiate All-Star Band, Harvey Phillips Tuba Company, University of Evansville Brass Quintet, as well as the New Mexico, Louisville, South Bend, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Bloomington Camerata, Terre Haute, and Anderson (IN) Symphonies. He can be heard on recordings on the Summit and Naxos labels as well as Alfred Music Publishing. He has also performed on Chinese national television with the New Mexico Brass Quintet.

Also an enthusiastic educator, Paul has taught at the University of New Mexico, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and the Masterworks Festival, in addition to numerous middle and high schools as brass technician, chamber music coach, and private teacher.

Paul also enjoys playing upright and electric basses with jazz bands and combos. He has had regular gigs at the Chatterbox Jazz Club in Indianapolis, and has performed with the Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra, the Stardusters Jazz Band, and the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra.

Paul is currently touring the country performing clinics and concerts with the nationally acclaimed Dallas Brass in addition to serving as Affiliate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Grand Valley State University.