This week, “The President’s Own” continues its 2025 Chamber Music Series at 4 p.m., Sunday, March 2. Coordinated by trumpet and cornet player Gunnery Sgt. Brandon Eubank, the concert will be at First Congressional United Church of Christ in Washington, DC. The concert is free. No tickets are required.

Program

Directions

Here’s what Eubank had to say about Sunday’s performance:

For this program, I wanted to showcase contemporary but accessible chamber music by composers that our audiences may not be familiar with. I wasn’t even familiar with most of the repertoire myself before programming this concert! Verne Reynolds was a Professor of Horn at Eastman School of Music for 35 years but also composed over 60 works. His is the only piece I was vaguely aware of when I started thinking about repertoire. I wanted to focus on unique ensembles from a variety of composers while still maintaining a level of accessibility for our audience. I’m confident that I have threaded that needle just right.

Almost half of the Marine Band trumpet/cornet section studied with former Chicago Symphony trumpeter Charles Geyer, who died in June of 2024 after a long battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. We wanted to dedicate our performance of “Music for Five Trumpets” by Verne Reynolds in his memory. Reynolds and Geyer were colleagues at the Eastman School of Music for nearly twenty years and played together in Eastman Brass, a virtuosic brass quintet made up of Eastman School faculty members. The five of us performing today were students of Mr. Geyer in the last 20 years.

Bartók’s Sixth string quartet is a massive work that isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s dark, quirky, intense and dissonant, yet has a clear beginning, middle and end. I’m grateful to our musicians who were willing to take it on.

I think our patrons will appreciate the variety of repertoire, from a British-style brass quartet to open, followed by a marimba duet and trumpet quintet, to one of the great 20th Century composers in Béla Bartók.

Directions for patrons: The performance venue is located on 945 G St. NW on the corner of 10^th and G streets between Metro Center and Gallery Place metro stations. Look for the bronze cross holding up the corner of a modern office building.