Please join us as we celebrate 64 years of “Bringing to YOU, Musicians at their Best.”
Members of Symphony East gather throughout the year for a series of luncheons featuring guest speakers and artists. In recent years, members and guests have enjoyed a splendid variety of musical programs: solo and group performances by Pittsburgh Symphony musicians, various vocal presentations; jazz and popular music performers; the CAPA show choir; and the Franklin Regional Band’s Wind Ensemble previewing their Thanksgiving Day and Tournament of Roses parades performances.
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Our September Event
2025-2026 Season Opener!
The Johnstown Symphony Orchestra
Brass Quintet
Monday, September 15
Check in and socialize: 11:00 AM
Luncheon – 11:45 to 12:50 PM
(By reservation)
Program: 1:00 PM
(No reservations required for the program only)
Lamplighter Restaurant Ballroom
6566 William Penn Highway
Route 22 East
Delmont, PA 15626
September 15 Brass Quintet Poster/Flyer
Reservations are required for the luncheon.
Deadline is Thursday, September 11.
SE September Reservation Form
About the Musicians
The Johnstown Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet is an ensemble of brass musicians from the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra that performs various events, including an annual free patriotic concert in Ebensburg on July 4th.
Trumpet: Kevin Eisensmith and Matthew Barabas; French Horn: Dennis Emert;
Trombone: Dana Menser; and Tuba: Kayla Holsopple
Kevin Eisensmith, trumpet
At its meeting on March 23, 2023, Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees honored a retired Music Department faculty member by naming a space in IUP’s Cogswell Hall, home to the department, in his honor. The Trustees approved a resolution to name the Kevin Eisensmith Trumpet Studio, in recognition of his“exemplary work and his significant impact on music and on the lives of IUP students.” Dr, Eisensmith was a member of the IUP faculty from 1998 to 2022. He served as assistant chair of the department and, during his years at IUP, directed the IUP Jazz Ensemble, Trumpet Ensemble, Alumni Trumpet Ensemble, and Faculty Brass Quintet. He has performed in 16 states and 12 countries outside of the US. He also has been a freelance performer with a long list of internationally known musicians; has made dozens of recordings; has been active in local and regional symphony orchestras; has authored more than 50 published papers in professional journals; and received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Trumpet Competition and the Award of Merit from the International Trumpet Guild.
He earned a 1978 BS degree in music education from IUP; received a master of music degree in trumpet performance from Georgia State University; and a doctor of musical arts degree in trumpet performance from Temple University. He also served in the US Army Ground Forces Command Band (214th) at Ft. McPherson in Atlanta from 1978 to 1984.
Matthew Barabas is a Johnstown resident who has been playing trumpet since he was a 9-year-old student at Westmont Hilltop Elementary School. He is an alumnus of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra (Trumpet 1990 to 1995). He has coached Johnstown Symphony Youth Orchestra chamber ensembles such as The Quintessential Brass Quintet. Mr. Barabas is General Manager of Volkwein’s Music in Pittsburgh.
IUP alumnus Dennis Emert, of Monroeville, yearned to play the saxophone but settled for the French horn. He was a substitute horn for a year before becoming a regular symphony member in 1983. While Fox Chapel Area School District’s elementary instrumental music teacher, he was selected as the 2020 recipient of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) James R. Stewart Distinguished Service Award. He retired after 33 years of teaching (20 years in the District). Mr. Emert was a member of the Butler County Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Concert Horn Quartet in 2022. In 2023, he was President of Friends of the Yankee Brass, Inc., which since 1986, has entertained audiences in New England and beyond with historically informed performances of nineteenth century American brass band music using painstakingly restored antique brass and percussion instruments from the period. As Johnstonbaugh’s Music Centers Educational Sales Representative, he performed in March 2024 with members of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra at Pivik and O’Block Elementary Schools in Plum Borough School District to teach the students about the different brass instruments.
Dana P. Menser has been a trombonist in the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra since 1976 after having earned a BME degree as a trombone major at Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in Winchester, VA. He has performed with the Potomac Western Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Johnstown Jazz Workshop, and the Johnstown Civic Concert Band. He is a partner in A Touch of Brass quartet, providing music for almost any occasion since 1980. He retired after 34 years of being a music educator, having served for 20 years as Music Department Coordinator in the Somerset Area School District. He was guest conductor for many Junior High School County Band Festivals in Somerset and Adams Counties. He is founder and coordinator of the former Somerset Area Music Education Advocate Coalition, an organization to support and promote the importance and benefits of music in education to the schools and to the community for several years. MEAC has awarded thousands of dollars to high school graduates who have committed to the study of music at the university level, and organization hosted a number of professional musicians, starting with the late jazz legend Maynard Ferguson, providing workshops and performances for school students and the community.
Kayla Holsopple, tuba, holds degrees of BS Music Teacher Education and BFA Music Performance from IUP. She states: “I am a dedicated music educator, performer, and advocate committed to expanding access to high quality music education and fostering lifelong engagement in the arts. As a K–5 General Music, Beginning Band, and Chorus Teacher, Assistant Marching Band Director, and Summer Music Instructor in McKeesport, PA [South Allegheny School District], I create inclusive, engaging programs that blend traditional music instruction with
modern approaches, including beat-making, sequencing, AV technology, and recording. My work has led to strong student participation, with an average 65% recruitment rate for beginning band and a 90% retention rate through the middle school transition. In addition to my teaching, I serve as an advocacy liaison for five southwestern Pennsylvania counties, maintaining educator and district data, supporting professional development, and promoting statewide initiatives such as Music in Our Schools Month. [She works] as a substitute tubist for
professional symphony orchestras [Butler County, Altoona, & Johnstown] and maintain a private brass studio, preparing students for auditions, ensemble participation, and solo performance.” At the August 2024 Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival, she was a winner from the 2024 Composition Contest.
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Contact us at info@symphonyeast.org
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Contact us at info@symphonyeast.org
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