LAURINBURG — The Autumn Concert Series at Laurinburg Presbyterian Church will feature Italian trumpeter Ivano Ascari at 2 pm on Oct.15 in the church sanctuary.
The public is invited.
Ascari will be assisted in the performance by The University of North Carolina at Pembroke brass professor Tim Altman, Laurinburg Presbyterian organist Sean McDonald, and other local musicians.
Ascari is an internationally-known musician, co-founder of the Verona Brass Ensemble and of the Verona Brass Festival. He has held the position of Professor of Trumpet and Trombone at the Conservatorio in Riva del Garda and then in the Conservatorio del Trento (Trent).
He has recorded nearly 100 CD’s with the Bolzano Symphony Orchestra and other European orchestras, including some of his own compositions. Ascari collaborates with many other musicians, among them the Greek composer Dmitri Nicolau, and has been honored as an advisor to the jury at the annual “Duo Agosto” International Composer’s Competition.
Ascari has become an expert on an ancient instrument called the Karnyx. In the 1950’s, an archaeologist excavated fragments of some kind of instrument, but not until 2010 did other archaeologists examine and reconstruct the instrument. It is a seven-foot long brass “trumpet of war” played vertically with the player’s head tilted backward. The bell of the instrument is in the shape of a wild boar’s head, and the effect of the sound is to strike fear in the minds of the enemy in battle. Ivano Ascari mastered the ancient instrument and first performed it in 2012.
Although Laurinburg Presbyterian Church has offered public concerts in the past, this event launches what the church hopes will be a semi-annual event, featuring local musicians and highly respected national artists.
The church is located at 600 W. Church Street in Laurinburg, 28352.