by Jason AnkenyEmpire Brass comprised trumpeters Rolf Smedvig and Marc Reese, French horn player Gregory Miller, trombonist Mark Hetzler, and tuba player Kenneth Amis. Renowned among the world's finest contemporary brass bands, the ensemble's long history includes a 13-year tenure as Faculty Quintet-in-Residence at Boston University; they additionally mounted the annual Empire Brass Seminar at Boston University's Tanglewood Institute, and in 1991 accepted an appointment as Visiting Consultants in Brass at London's Royal Academy of Music. Playing over 100 live dates each year, Empire Brass has performed with the majority of the world's leading symphony orchestras, and in 1987 were the first group to play the newly refurbished Carnegie Hall. The quintet's many recordings for the Telarc label cover a vast range of musical genres, from classical to show tunes to jazz.\r