CLARKSVILLE, TN – In remote mountain schools on Costa Rica’s Caribbean side, children saw brass instruments up close for the first time when Austin Peay State University’s Aurum Sonor Brass Quintet arrived to begin a 10-day run of concerts, master classes, and community outreach from Limón to San José.

“We were ambassadors,” said Dr. Rob Waugh, professor of trumpet in Austin Peay’s Department of Music. “For the students there, it was the first time hearing this type of music. Some had never seen a horn, a trombone, or a tuba in person.”

The Aurum Sonor Brass Quintet traveled from May 16-26, 2025, splitting time between Limón on the Caribbean coast and the capital, San José. The trip was initiated by APSU alum Ariel Mendez, a Costa Rican teaching at the University of Costa Rica. Through his connections, the quintet was invited to perform, coach, and collaborate across multiple venues and communities.

Across 10 days, Mendez scheduled 19 activities for the ensemble: four education concerts for grade-school students, seven community concerts, and eight master classes or educational exchanges with university students.

Ensemble roster:

  • Jed Edmondson, trumpet
  • Dylan Thompson, trumpet
  • Emily Sholar, horn
  • Savanna Watson, trombone
  • Zack Marhover, tuba

Limón was the quintet’s launch point: hot, humid, and buzzing with wildlife. Students stayed in open-air bungalows and woke to the sound of howler monkeys. By day, they played a campus recital and worked with university students.

That work took them farther inland, up unpaved roads to schools in what locals call the indigenous zone, areas without public access in the way outsiders might expect. The government-funded schools are open to the elements: classrooms on poles with roofs to shed daily rain, walls replaced by air and light. The quintet played a 45 to 50-minute program blending pop, jazz, and brass standards.

After the performance, the school served lunch, including local beef, rice, and vegetables, all cooked on-site.

“One of the best meals of the whole trip was a school lunch,” Waugh said. “It’s homemade every day.”

From Limón, the quintet traveled to San José for six more days of near-daily performances at the University of Costa Rica and the National Institute of Music. They played for and alongside college peers in side-by-side concerts, swapping parts and sharing the stage.

They also joined the National Concert Bands, government-funded ensembles serving local audiences since 1895.

“These are professional jobs,” Waugh said. “We have Cumberland Winds in Clarksville as a community band. In Costa Rica, those groups are professional and government-funded, doing concerts for high school students and adults across the city.”

Support for the trip came from the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, the College of Arts & Letters, the Office of the Provost, and a fundraiser the Aurum Sonor Brass Quintet played at Madison Street United Methodist Church.

In Costa Rica, key support came from the University of Costa Rica’s Social Action Department, the UCR Caribbean Campus, and the Municipal Music School of Goicoechea.