Can classical music be fun? For music lovers devoted to the operas of Verdi, or the symphonies of Mahler, or the string quartets of Beethoven, this is rarely a pressing question.

But considering the steadily decreasing audiences at classical music organizations such as opera companies, symphony orchestras, and community concert series, the folks who run these organizations are certainly asking this question. And they are not alone.

The Canadian Brass, the world’s most acclaimed bass ensemble, has demonstrated for the last 50 years that stellar musicianship, showmanship, and humor can be woven together as persuasively as the motifs of a Bach fugue. The quintet’s Thursday concert at The Conrad boasted a seasonal theme, and among their smartly arranged holiday carols their repertory traversed Bach, Mozart, Bizet, and Vince Guaraldi.

In a salute to the traditions of New Orleans’ musical memorials, the Canadian Brass entered The Conrad’s stage marching through the hall in a slow procession playing the traditional Gospel hymn “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” The first half of their program balanced upbeat holiday carols as varied as “Ding Dong Merrily on High” and “Jingle Bell Rock” with standard repertory that included Mozart’s Overture to his opera The Magic Flute and a Toccata by Baroque master Girolamo Frescobaldi.

They even managed to bring J. S. Bach into the 20th century with a Luther Henderson Suite that repurposed three themes from his Well-Tempered Clavier into a sizzling jazz fantasia.

They finished their opening set with “Frosty the Snowman,” a performance that displayed the humor many Canadian Brass fans had bee anticipating since the show began. The quintet played “Frosty” standing up, and as the piece progressed, tuba virtuoso Chuck Daellenbach slowly crouched down until he was flat on the stage floor—all the while continuing to play the bass line—as his Frosty melted.

After intermission, the ensemble’s comic choreography took shape in their antic Carmen Suite, a tightly edited précis of familiar themes from Bizet’s opera. Each member of the ensemble took a role in the story, although this unique Canadian Brass Carmen had two Carmen characters. Each trumpeter, Joe Burgstaller and Mikio Sasaki, donned a flowing wig for his Carmen, while horn player Jeff Nelson as Don José wooed Carmens right and left. Trombonist Keith Dyrda played his rival Escamillo, and tubist Daellenback donned horns and a long tail as the bull. The dramatic stage action in no way impeded the quintet’s mellifluous account of Bizet’s themes and harmonies, but to keep the program’s mood cheery, neither of their Carmen’s dies—only the bull is slain!

The ensemble’s technical bravura was complemented by their trademark Canadian Brass sound that fuses brilliant, precise articulation with a warm, encompassing sonority that puts them in the same league with the best string quartets. The two trumpet players choose their instruments—from the high piccolo trumpets to standard orchestra trumpets in B-flat to mellow Flugelhorns—to accommodate the style of each piece.

Since the Jewish festival of Hanukkah was only two days away, Canadian Brass offered a pair of Hanukkah pieces, including a catalogue of clever variations on the ubiquitous dreidel song that included a piccolo trumpet cadenza that featured a very high-pitched imitation of cantorial improvisation.

This concert was presented by the La Jolla Music Society on December 11, 2025, at The Conrad in downtown La Jolla.