Appassionata! Tea & Trumpets

Performances Archives

Tea & Trumpets; Festival Brass Quintet

Friday, May 2, 2008 at 3:00 p.m.

Friday, May 9, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.

Nona's Courtyard Café (Map)

67 South California Street

Ventura, California

Dr. Stephen Billington, Trumpet/Leader

Kurt Curtis, Trumpet

Mitchell Mochilnikar, French Horn

Charles Warren, Tuba

Ted Weed, Trombone

Dr. Stephen Billington (Trumpet/Leader) performs with many ensembles in southern California, including the San Bernardino Symphony, the St. Matthew's Chamber Orchestra, the West Hollywood Orchestra, and the Long Beach Opera. He is Chairman of Performing Arts at Marymount High School in Los Angeles, where he directs the orchestra and the jazz/rock ensembles. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the USC Thornton School of Music.

Kurt Curtis (Trumpet) A current member of the world-famous Disneyland Band, Mr. Curtis has toured extensively throughout the US and Japan with the Make Believe Brass, Royal Brass, Pacific Coast Horns and, as coronet soloist, with the Americas Brass Band. He has played on soundtracks for movies and television and played with Long Beach, Orange County, Riverside and Mozart Camerata Orchestras.

Mitchell Mochilnikar (French Horn) is the Entertainment Manager for Disneyland. He has played for various orchestras, bands, theaters, and on recordings. He has also taught Middle School music, and, as a proud father of two teenage girls, he is also kept busy tending to their musical gifts. Mr. Mochilnikar has settled in the city where he first attended college, Long Beach.

Charles Warren (Tuba) has professional credits as an arranger, teacher, and performer on flute, sac but, saxophone, serpent, solo lute, string bass, tin whistle, recorder and tuba. For the Disney Corporation, Mr. Warren is the international representative and show developer for Tokyo Disneyland. He's played tuba with Disneyland's resident brass quintet "The Bellhops" since 1997 and is a leading area performer of traditional Irish music on 8-key flute. A part-time faculty instructor of tuba at Long Beach City College, he has over fifty album credits.

Ted Weed (Trombone) performs for the Walt Disney Company and throughout southern California. Lead trombone on the Grammy nominated Big Band album "Don't Make Noise", Mr Weed has backed up famous singers such as Diane Schuur and Natalie Cole. He is a regular performer with the Brian Setzer Orchestra and spent two years as principal trombone with the La Jolla Symphony. A graduate of San Diego State University, Mr. Weed lives in Anaheim.

Program will be announced from the stage.