This CD began as a call for scores. I posted on the Washington Composers Forum that I was looking for new pieces to perform or possibly record: seventy composers responded with scores. Submissions were anonymous and I was surprised at the high quality of the music I received.

This is how I learned of the music of Brian Fennelly—hard, but so worth the effort—and David Philip Norris—also hard and also worth the effort. A few composers were friends—Marti Epstein, David Johnson and Michael Weinstein—and Al Vizzutti was briefly a teacher of mine who has had an outsized influence. (I was working on the Halsey Stevens Sonata for a graduate recital when I came to a lesson wondering where to breath in a phrase. Al looked at it, almost wondering what could be the problem and then simply played the entire phrase in one breath.)

Thanks to Herbert Tiemeyer, Phillip Collins, James Darling, Mary Squire, Tim Morrison, Al Vizzutti and Stephen Jones who taught me through lessons or by example. You are directly responsible for what I have achieved.

Thanks to Cristina Valdez for her amazing performance.

Thanks to Ron Haight for putting up with me through the editing process. My procrastination made the work much more difficult and for that I apologize.

Thanks to Tom Baker for taking Ron’s work and making it sound even better through the mastering process.

Dedicated to Susan Thornberg who has heard my routine for more than twenty years and has not yet left me.

Recorded at St Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Seattle, spring 2011; release in 2023.

Tags: CD

Don't miss the Northwest Brass Festival on March 7-8. Featured guests include Stephen Bulla, composer, conductor, and arranger--formerly staff arranger for the Presidents Own Marine Band--Charles Villarrubia, tubist with Rhythm and Brass and David Gordon, principal trumpet of the Seattle Smphony Orchestra. Highlights appear below.



Saturday, March 7

10:00 Exibits open
10:30 Masterclass: Charles Villarrubia
1:00 Masterclass: Jamie Hood, cornet
1:00 Brass band clinics with Stephen Bulla
2:00 Masterclass: Randi Bulla, alto horn
2:00-4:00 Youth Brass Ensemble
4:30 Youth Brass performance
7:00 Brass Band Concert

Sunday, March 8

1:30 exhibits open
2:00 Masterclass: Charles Villarrubia
3:30 Masterclass: David Gordon
5:00 Student Competition
7:30 Artist Concert

First Free Methodist Church 3301 3rd Ave W
Seattle, WA 98119
$25/day; $40/Festival
registration

The Northwest Brass Festival is hosted by Brass Band Northwest and Common Tone Arts.

Tags: NWBF, Charles Villarrubia, David Gordon, Stephen Bulla, common Tone Arts, Brass Band Northwest

Philip Smith, principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic, is retiring. He led that trumpet section for 36 years and produced a CD of excerpts that has become the de facto standard for orchestral trumpet playing. After the retirement of Bud Herseth, Phil Smith must be viewed as the leader of orchestral trumpet playing in America. He is notable enough that his departure was the subject of an article in The New Yorker:

Philip Smith, master trumpeter

The article and his comrades appropriately praise his career, but what I find telling is the one quote from Mr Smith, a master trumpeter who still, apparently, battles nerves:

A thirty-six-year career in the same orchestra means that expectations can remain high over a lifetime. “People keep showing up, and they want Mahler’s Fifth in 2013 to sound as good as it did in 1978,” he said. “And you’re going, ‘Shoot, man, I’m not sure if I can do that.’ So you have to watch the little voices and try to shove them out of the way. Try not to get focussed on mistakes. It’s like watching the Olympics—how many times you know these people are tops of their field, they get to the Olympics and the voices win. So it’s a constant battle to say, ‘Don’t let the voices win.’ Sing, sing, sing, sing, sing. When the voices start going, start singing.”

Tags: trumpet, technique, Philip Smith

Jens Lindemann will make two Seattle-area appearances at the end of January! On Saturday, January 25 he will give a masterclass and perform with Brass Band Northwest for the Northwest Brass Band Festival at Seattle Pacific University. At 1:30 on Sunday, January 26 Jens will give a masterclass at the University of Puget Sound. Contact me for more information.

Tags: Jens Lindemann, masterclass, trumpet

In August, 2013, Northwest Sinfonietta will be recording with Joel Fan for Reference recordings! Look for the disc in Spring 2014.

Tags: Northwest Sinfonietta, Joel Fan