ARK BRASS is a dream ensemble at the forefront of the 21st century brass world, comprised of top players and modeled on the legendary Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (PJBE), which captivated brass fans all around the world in the 1970s.
ARK BRASS consists of a virtuoso core including Tomonori Sato (trumpet), Nobuaki Fukukawa (horn), Ko Aoki (trombone), and Shimpei Tsugita (tuba). In addition to these, they sometimes include other top players in Japan to provide orchestrational flexibility and to express the breadth of brass-ensemble potential, focusing on the PJBE style of 5 to 10 parts. The ensemble was formed in 2021 as a resident brass ensemble of the "Suntory Hall ARK Classics" festival, held in Suntory Hall and ARK Karajan Place. Their debut CD "Easy Winners~ Hommage à PJBE" was released by Avex Classics in September 2021.