Blending classical finesse with jazz, improvisation, folk storytelling, and bold original compositions, this genre-defying ensemble creates music that resonates far beyond the stage. Known for their powerful engagement with social, environmental, and political issues, the group also transforms great American poetry into song, bringing timeless verse into sharp contemporary focus.
With instrumentation as diverse as their influences—including trumpet, violin, piano, vocals, percussion, baritone saxophone, and bass clarinet—the band offers a rich, ever-evolving sound that crosses boundaries and bridges traditions. Members have studied at and are affiliated with leading musical institutions, and their collaborative spirit has led them to perform with some of the world’s most celebrated musicians.
Innovative, urgent, and deeply human, their music is both a celebration and a call to action—art in service of a better world.
Brandon Ridenour, a groundbreaking trumpet soloist, collaborative artist, composer and arranger, gained acclaim for his innovative approach at an early age. Recognized as “heralding the trumpet of the future” (Chicago Sun-Times) and for his “full-bodied, atmospheric arrangements” (New York Times), he began learning about the wonders of music at age 5, studying piano under the tutelage of his father. This morphed into “tootelage” when he picked up the trumpet in 5th grade band class in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Upon graduating from the Juilliard School, he immediately began touring with the Canadian Brass and embarked on a solo career.
Brandon has won competitions ranging from the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition to the American Composers Forum. In 2014, he was a winner of the Concert Artist Guild competition, becoming the first trumpeter to win the competition in 30 years and join their artist roster. He’s the co-creator of Brassology and the song-writing collective, Founders. His solo-collaborative album "Come Together" transformed Beatles classics into an initiative for social cohesion and environmental consciousness. Through inventive arrangements, Ridenour has expanded the trumpet's horizons, weaving genres in solo and collaborative works.
In 2023, Brandon came full circle joining the American Brass Quintet and the faculty at his alma mater The Juilliard School of Music. He’s also teaches at The New School (Mannes) and the Manhattan School of Music, where he is passionate about developing a new model of education for a well-rounded, progressive musician of the future. Aside from music, Brandon enjoys tennis and has taken courses at Upright Citizen’s Brigade in NYC. He isn’t very good at either.
Of Lebanese decent, Yousif Sheronick was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, IA. His first exposure to Arab music came from his mother singing over the drone of the vacuum cleaner. As with many first generation Americans there was a separation between the house (Arab) and the outside (American) world. Yousif grew up on the “outside” playing with his neighbors’ rock band and the local drum corp. His high school band director and student teacher (who happened to be a percussionist) convinced him to audition for the University of Iowa. The audition resulted in a full scholarship to UI where he studied with Tom Davis. In his four years at Iowa Yousif concentrated on contemporary music and jazz. He went on to get his masters at Yale University where he studied with Gordon Gottlieb. Mr. Gottlieb had a unique teaching method of combining Western and Eastern musical practices. Through Mr. Gottlieb, Yousif was introduced to instruments from around the world he never knew existed.
In 1990 Yousif traveled to musically rich Brazil. This was an enlightening trip for Yousif and at that point he moved his focus towards world music. After moving to New York in 1991 Yousif connected with master frame drummer Glen Velez. For the past twenty-three years Yousif has been a member of Glen Velez and Handance. Glen’s music and playing techniques have been a major influence to Yousif’s work.
At present, Yousif is actively promoting the amalgamation of “World Music” and chamber music. This has come through work with ensembles and composers such as Philip Glass, duoJalal, Lark Quartet, and Ethos Percussion Group (who has commissioned composers from Palestine, India, Israel, Korea, Argentina, and Italy).
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and singer, Ben Russell loves to create music of all kinds with musicians around the world. He performs with “impressive expressivity and musicality” (The Strad) combined with “spiky, down-home fiddle and soaring violin lines” (Apple Music Classical). Most recently, Ben has been collaborating with Max Richter, performing his popular albums, Blue Notebooks and In a Landscape, to sold-out audiences around the world. Past recording and touring collaborations include artists such as Johann Johannson (on Orphée and Drone Mass), Miho Hazama (on m_unit: Beyond Orbits), Björk (on Vulnicura Strings), Sufjan Stevens (on Planetarium), and Carla Kihlstedt (on 26 Little Deaths).
When he is at home in NYC, Ben often performs in Broadway shows, most recently holding a chair at GYPSY starring Audra McDonald. He also enjoys performing with dance companies Mark Morris Dance Group and Lar Lubovich, with choirs Trinity Wall Street Choir and The Crossing, and with new music ensembles ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble), Present Music and Ensemble Echappe. Ben studied violin performance at BIOLA and Amsterdam Conservatory and received his Masters from New England Conservatory.
Songwriter, singer and pianist Vienna Teng had an unlikely start as a computer science major at Stanford University, playing in coffeehouses after work as a software programmer. Since then, this independent “chamber folk” artist has released five studio albums, toured across North America, Europe and Asia, and appeared on NPR Weekend Edition and The Late Show with David Letterman among others. Her work has been performed by ensembles around the world, and drawn praise from the likes of pop artist David Byrne and choral composer Eric Whitacre.
In the 2010s, another unusual career move took her to graduate studies at the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, from which she went on to work as a consultant in renewable energy and climate policy, as well as launching Delterra, a global environmental nonprofit. Vienna currently makes her home in Washington, DC and divides her time between music and climate work.
Andrew Gutauskas is a Grammy Award winning saxophonist, film composer, music director, arranger and educator. He has recorded on over 40 albums and has performed on Broadway, television, film and live around the world with a variety of artists ranging from jazz to rock to hip-hop to Bollywood. He is music director, arranger and saxophonist for Brass Against, and is a member of several projects including; Charlie Rosen’s Broadway Big Band & 8-Bit Big Band, the Dan Pugach Nonet, Kyle Saulnier’s Awakening Orchestra, Lucas Pino’s No-Net Nonet, Manuel Valera's New Cuban Express Big Band, Miho Hazama’s M_Unit, the Terraza Big Band, the Uptown Jazz Tentet, Tim & the Space Cadets, The Skivvies and many others.
He has scored music for two award winning short films written and directed
by Christopher Piazza. His original soundtrack, Longing, can be heard on the awardwinning short film, Hermit (2020), written and directed by Aimiende Negbenebor Sela. His first EP, Look Up! (Outside in Music) was released in 2017 and his second album, Look Out! (Outside in Music) is available everywhere!