Modern Brass Quintet

Doug Tornquist, Paul Klintworth, Marissa Benedict, Steven Williams, William Bing

 
Doug Tornquist, tuba, plays throughout southern California with a variety of orchestras and chamber ensembles.  He is a member of the Santa Barbara, Long Bech, and New West Symphony Orchestras and on the faculties of California State Universities Northridge and Fullerton, Pasadena City College, and the University of Southern California.  He holds degrees from USC and Wichita State University, and was a prizewinner in the solo competition at the 1997 International Tuba Conference in Riva del Garda, Italy.

Paul Klintworth, horn, enjoys a diverse musical career in Los Angeles, performing with numerous ensembles including: the LA Philharmonic, LA Chamber Orchestra, LA Opera, Pacific Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Bruce Lofgren Big Band, and Camerata Pacifica.  He has performed in shows for the Ahmanson and Freud theaters, and recorded for various albums and TV/film soundtracks.  Paul also manages his own brass ensembles and has written/arranged brass chamber music for Last Resort Music Publishing, Inc.  Paul holds a Bachelor of Music degree from USC (where he studied with Vincent DeRosa), and is on the faculty of Riverside Community College.

Marissa Benedict, trumpet, has been a freelance trumpet player in the Los Angeles area for 22 years.  She has played with such groups as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Long Beach Symphony, and many others.  Along with her orchestral experience she has played many shows including Into the Woods and Cinderella.  She also can be heard on many TV and movie soundtracks such as Jag, Star Trek - Enterprise, Monsters Inc., XXX, and I Spy.  Besides her active trumpet career she lives in North Hollywood with her husband Mike and three children: Katelyn, Andrew, and Cori.

Steven Williams, trombone, attended the University of Tennesee at Knoxville and the University of Southern California, earning a Bachelors and a Masters respectively.  A freelance musician for the past twenty years, he performs as often as asked by as many people as possible for the highest rate he can get them to pay.  He has performed with such local ensembles as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale Sinfonia, Pasadena Symphony Orchestra, as well as many other local freelance groups.  Nationally, he performs in the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra under the direction of Helmuth Rilling.  As a recording musician he has perform for commercials, television, and motion pictures and hopes you will forgive him for his involvement in such.  He currently teaches at Pasadena City College.  He resides in Sierra Madre with his wife and three children.

William Bing, trumpet, is the Director of Bands and Artist in Residence at the California Institute of Technology.  He is also Professor of Trumpet at California State University Northridge.  Bill and his wife Delores have won many teaching awards including the Associated Students of Caltech Teaching Award, Pasadena Youth Music Council Teacher of the Year, and most recently Honorary Membership in the Caltech Alumni Association.  For ten years he was a member of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, and for five years he was a performer with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.  His hopes for the future are to continue to teach, to play solos with concert bands and orchestras, to perform more with the Modern Brass Quintet, for peace on this planet and the progress of animal rights.  He has published two method books for trumpet.