Brass in the Clouds will celebrate its 20th edition when musicians from Arkansas Tech University perform at Mount Nebo State Park on Saturday, Sept. 20.
The performance will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Mount Nebo’s Sunset Point. The public is invited to attend the event, which is co-sponsored by Mount Nebo State Park and the ATU Department of Music.
Dr. Sean Reed, ATU professor of music, is among the faculty members in the ATU Department of Music who serve as caretakers for Brass in the Clouds. He explained that while Dr. Gary Barrow, now professor emeritus of music at ATU, was the ATU faculty member who founded the event, it was Barrow’s wife, D’Anne, who had the idea during a visit to Mount Nebo.
“Gary told me that he was up there with her, and they went to Sunset Point, and she said man, this would be a beautiful place to have some brass musicians play,” said Reed.
The first Brass in the Clouds took place in the autumn of 2005, and except for the pandemic year of 2020, it has been held at Mount Nebo’s Sunset Point every year since.
The ATU Brass Choir was the lone performance group for the first Brass in the Clouds. Over the years, the event has grown to include ensembles such as the ATU Trombone Choir and groups composed of ATU trumpet players, ATU French horn players and ATU tuba and euphonium players.
“At the end, we have all the brass players play the alma mater,” said Reed. “It’s beautiful. We’ve started to have more than 600 people out there. With the sun setting on a beautiful, Arkansas fall evening…there can be a lot of emotions. I can say every year when I’m done with Brass in the Clouds my heart is full. When I came here 13 years ago, I was the new guy and Dr. Barrow opened up this event and all of this magic to me. Dr. (TJ) Perry jumped right in with me, and we could see that we had inherited something very special. There’s a great responsibility to not just maintain this, but to try to improve upon it if we can.”
Reed and Perry are joined by new ATU Department of Music faculty members Dr. Erin Futterer and Dr. Samuel Revis as the principals in planning and executing the musical program for Brass in the Clouds 2025.
Mount Nebo State Park recommends that audience members bring blankets or chairs for seating comfort.
For more information about the ATU Department of Music, call (479) 968-0368 or visit www.atu.edu/music.
