On Monday evening, area residents can listen to the world-famous brass ensemble “Sotto Voce” play a free concert in Statesboro.
    The concert is set for 7:30 p.m. in Georgia Southern University’s Performing Arts Center. Sotto Voce will perform both as a quartet and in concert with GSU’s own Symphonic Wind Ensemble, under the direction of GSU’s director of bands, Dr. Robert Dunham.
    Composed of tuba and euphonium players, the Sotto Voce quartet has recorded several albums and played in some of the world’s most famous venues, as well as having been featured on National Public Radio’s broadcasts, including “Performance Today.”
    For those unfamiliar with euphonium and tuba music, representatives for the ensemble said the concert will feature more than marching band music. In fact, Sotto Voce strives to change preconceptions about brass ensembles by playing everything from African-Brazilian syncopation tunes to the music of Frank Zappa.
    In addition, for serious music fans, the quartet will offer a master class open to the public at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Carter Recital Hall in the Foy Building on the GSU campus. During the master class, members of Sotto Voce will discuss the musical mission of the quartet and answer questions from the public.
    Quartet members Demondrae Thurman, Mark Carlson, Nat McIntosh and Mike Forbes met while students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
    Thurman is an associate professor of tuba/euphonium and the director of orchestra studies at the University of Alabama. McIntosh also is the co-founder of the Young Blood Brass Band that toured the United States for a decade or more. Carlson is an assistant professor of music at Mount Saint Mary’s University, where he directs ensembles. Forbes is the founder of the Isthmus Brass, one of America’s premier large brass ensembles.
    Both Sunday’s master class and Monday’s concert are free to the public.