The 47-year-old Canadian Brass quintet, which is responsible for bringing brass music to the masses in packed concerts around the world and greatly expanding the repertoire for such ensembles, will present a free concert at California Lutheran University on Thursday, Jan. 26.

The world’s most famous all-brass chamber group will perform at 7:30 p.m. in Samuelson Chapel on the Thousand Oaks campus.

Canadian Brass has performed in almost every major concert hall in the world, been seen by hundreds of millions of people on television, sold 2 million of its more than 130 albums worldwide and contributed nearly 600 new works
and arrangements to the brass quintet repertoire. The first brass ensemble to tour China and the first to play the main stage at Carnegie Hall, it is almost
single-handedly responsible for elevating the art of the brass quintet to what it is today.

In black suits and white running shoes, Canadian Brass serves up music in formal classical presentations as well as with lively dialogue and theatrical effects in its concerts. The hallmarks of any Canadian Brass performance are entertainment, spontaneity, virtuosity and, most of all, fun. Programs span the full range from trademark baroque and Dixieland tunes to new compositions and arrangements created especially for the quintet.

Canadian Brass made its first European tour in 1972 and its American debut at the Kennedy Center in 1975. On numerous occasions, the Canadian government has invited the ensemble to play for visiting heads of state as it has become one of the country’s greatest resources and musical ambassadors.

The quintet continues to score Billboard chart positions — like with its rousing recording of patriotic songs and marches, “Stars & Stripes: Canadian Brass Salute America,” which spent eight weeks in the Top 25 on the Billboard Classical Chart, peaking at No. 2.

The Canadian Brass has performed on “The Tonight Show,” “Today” and “Entertainment Tonight.”

The quintet features tuba legend and founding member Chuck Daellenbach and four of the next generation’s top brass stars: Caleb Hudson and Christopher Coletti on trumpet, Achilles Liarmakopoulos on trombone and Bernhard Scully on horn.

The chapel is located at 165 Chapel Lane. The concert is part of Cal Lutheran’s Artists and Speakers Series. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3305 or visit CalLutheran.edu.