Brass will be the focus of music education in the Orcas public schools Oct. 13 through 16. Two members of “C Street Brass,” Kyle Anderson, trumpet, and Hakeem Bilal, bass trombone, will be Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival’s Musicians-in-Residence teaching artists for the K-12 School Music Program.

They will also teach community musician groups during the week.  Students will be excited to welcome back Anderson and Bilal, who came to Orcas last fall to coach and perform with other members of “C Street Brass.”  And they were a hit with the community, too, when they presented a fabulous high-energy concert at The Grange.

This year, they will be working during the day with students at the Orcas Public Schools in coordination with music teacher Pamela Wright and band director Darren Dix. At night, they’ll be coaching students of all ages.

On Monday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. they’ll coach Orcas Community Band members. On Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m., Anderson and Bilal will work with Orcatrazz members led by band leader Ken Speck.

Funding for these 2014-15 Musicians-in-Residence programs is from the National Endowment for the Arts, Orcas Island Community Foundation, Washington State Arts Commission, Monique Mead, Mimi and Slim Sommerville and the Gould Family Foundation.

A workshop open for all to attend will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Band Room. This evening will focus on rehearsal and musical techniques for trumpet and trombone, as well as specifics about the instrument and performance. Flute, saxophone, clarinet and oboe musicians will be paired with the trumpet, and lower reeds/brass, such as the bassoon, low clarinets and saxophones will be paired with the trombone.

Individual coaching sessions of approximately 10 minutes are planned for each participant and may include recommendations regarding breath control, posture and instrument position, tone modulation, dynamics and practice.

Tuition for the Tuesday evening workshop is by donation.  To sign up, call the OIMCF office at 376-6636.  For complete Festival info, visit www.oicmf.org.