Daniel Hathaway, editor & publisher
Week of August 30, 2010
Previews
Preview
Joffrey Performances mark Tito Muñoz' finale with The Cleveland Orchestra
by Mike Telin
Tito Muñoz takes the podium this weekend to lead the Cleveland Orchestra in two performances with the Joffrey Ballet, performances that will mark the end of his three year tenure as Assistant Conductor of the orchestra as well as a League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow. As he moves on to the next stage in his career, with many wonderful Cleveland Orchestra concerts to his credit, we wanted to ask him about the Joffrey performances and his plans for “Life After the Cleveland Orchestra”. We spoke with him via Skype in Italy, where he was traveling with the Orchestra at the end of its European Festivals tour.Mike Telin: You have worked with Joffrey in the past?
Tito Muñoz: The only time was last summer when I did the Blossom performances. But like last summer, I have already gone to Chicago to see what they are doing, and observe the rehearsals.
MT: Do you enjoy conducting in the pit?
TM: Sure, it is fun. It poses its own difficulties and unique challenges, but it is rewarding in its own way. It is much more then just a concert and leading or guiding an orchestra through a piece; there is a lot more coordination on my part when I am in the pit. Yes it has its own challenges but I love it, I really enjoy it.
MT: Musically speaking it is a beautiful program that includes the music of Phillip Glass, and the Martinů 2nd Symphony as well as the Tchaikovsky 'Rococo Variations' for Cello and Orchestra. This program contains two concertos, the 'Rococo Variations' and the Gottschalk 'Tarantella', for piano and orchestra. What are the challenges of conducting a concerto that is also being danced?
TM: The Gottschalk is a very straightforward piece. It is basically one tempo. As long as we start and end in the same tempo, it should be OK. The Rococo Variations is more free, especially for the cellist. There can be a lot of rubato, but not in this case. We are going to have a rehearsal with just Mark [Kowoser], a pianist, myself and the dancers without the orchestra, so he can get a feel for what they are doing, so once we get with the orchestra it should not be a problem.
MT: These concerts mark the end of your tenure as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra as well as the League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow. What does it mean to be a LAO conducting fellow?
TM: First, the conducting fellow and the assistant conductor positions are two separate things. As far as the Cleveland Orchestra is concerned, I am an assistant conductor. And the fellowship is through the League of American Orchestras. There are five of us floating around, and basically each person who receives one of the fellowships is an assistant conductor of an orchestra. And the fellowship provides way of enhancing the position by offering career development resources. So we are called the League of American Orchestras Fellows, but as far as the orchestra is concerned I am a staff conductor and I auditioned for the job just like everybody else.
MT: How does the League define career development?
TM: It could be anything, and it is very unfortunate that the LAO is not going to continue the program. But as far as career development, it could be anything that we feel that we need. A goal could be getting more experience conducting a certain type of music, or perhaps we need to work on our French or Italian. Even if there is a certain conductor, other then our own music director that we want to observe and get to know, the program can help with that. The program offers financial assistance as well as the many connections that they have.
MT: How have you grown as a conductor over the past three years?
TM: First, any opportunity to be in front of the Cleveland Orchestra is a wonderful experience for somebody to learn. They are so supportive and nurturing. Even just observing, being in the rehearsals and watching them [work] and being able to figure why it is that they do what they do. We know they are good, but to really know why, to really understand what the process is that makes them sound so great: this is certainly one of the many things that I will take with me wherever I go.
MT: What challenges and opportunities do you see as you move forward in your career?
TM: The sky is the limit, but conducting is a very strange profession and the more that I get into it, the more I realize how odd this profession is. Now that I am leaving the orchestra and looking for something more permanent, whether that be a music director position or guest conducting, there are so many directions one can go. You can establish yourself, for example as a pops or ballet conductor or maybe something else. In general this is how the business works. At this point what I still need to figure this out for myself. I need to learn more repertoire, and guest conduct more in order to get the repertoire under my belt. Teaching is also an option. As I said the sky is the limit. I am a freelancer now, and basically, although it is glamorized, conductors are freelancers.
MT: In addition to the violin, you seem to have focused on conducting from the very beginning of you musical studies; what initially attracted you to conducting?
TM: That’s funny because I don’t think that I focused on conducting any earlier then anyone else, but I think the opportunities came to me much quicker, for whatever reason. That is just how life is -- for some people it just takes longer then it does for others. You have to be at the right place at the right time. I could still be back in New York freelancing as a violinist. Also, I was not so interested in conducting just to conduct, but more so because conducting is really about being a leader, and I was always taking leadership roles in things like playing chamber music. I also led many concerts from the concertmaster chair as opposed to conducting, in the Orpheus [chamber orchestra] style. I have always been that sort of person, taking charge. Even when I am out to dinner with a big group of people and everyone is trying to figure out the check, I just take the check and figure it out. That is my personality.
So conducting just seemed to be the natural next step. I put together groups in school in order to conduct. That’s how I made my first video in order to be able to apply for programs. That’s how they judge you, you send them a video and that’s what they use to decide to accept you or not.
MT: Where did you send your video?
TM: I sent it to the Aspen Music Festival, which, for me, was the impetus for everything that happened afterwards. I didn’t have any formal training in conducting until I went to Aspen. That was also where I met David Zinman, and he became my teacher and mentor. That’s how it all started. I think I was a sophomore in college when I sent the tape. I did three summers there and after the third summer is when I won the job with the Cincinnati Symphony. It was a very quick transition. Like I said, I don’t think that I started any earlier then others, but the opportunities came to me very quickly. This something I am very grateful for.
MT: Finally, what advice to do have for young people who are considering conducting as a career?
TM: I would say stick to your instrument. I don’t mean this to sound like I’m discouraging anyone from being a conductor, but I do think that one of the plagues of the conducting profession is conductors who have never really paid their dues as a player. It is like being a leader of anything, whether you are a stage director, or you are a principal of a school, you can’t really lead a group of people unless you know what they are going through. Many have never been professional musicians, and that creates a disconnect between [the podium] and musicians, and the musicians can smell that a mile away. So I would tell anyone to spend as much time as possible playing in orchestras and playing chamber music, because this is the only way to gain the musical abilities that are needed when you do get on the podium. >>printable version
Tito Muñoz conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in identical performances with the Joffrey Ballet on September 4 & 5 at 8:30 at Blossom.
Preview
Blue Water Chamber Orchestra to debut September 12
by Daniel Hathaway
Cleveland's newest professional chamber orchestra makes its debut at St. Ignatius High School's Breen Center on Sunday, September 12 at 3 pm. The Blue Water Chamber Orchestra is the invention of conductor Carlton R. Woods, who retired a couple of years ago from his long held positions as artistic director and conductor of Michigan’s Midland Symphony and director of orchestral studies at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant. Woods and his wife moved to Cleveland, but not having a baton regularly in his hand soon began to make him restless. "What do I do now? I can't give up music -- that's been my life since I was a kid!"
So why not start up a new chamber orchestra in his adopted city -- on the West side of town? Woods began meeting with local freelancers who had played with such groups as the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Red {an orchestra} and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Cellist Kent Collier, violinist Nancy Patterson, bassist Ann Gilbert, flutist Sean Gabriel and trumpeter Dave Duro envisioned a cooperative organization which would be flexible in shape, capable of developing joint projects with local organizations, devoted to education and to celebrating the area's ethnic roots in special performances. Neil Mueller joined the enterprise as associate artistic director/conductor and took on fundraising initiatives.
So far, Blue Water has sponsored three "Tunes for Tots" concerts for pre-school and elementary school-aged children at the Westlake Porter Library, a "get to know you" afternoon of chamber music at Dover Farm and a performance for an audience of seniors at Westlake Community Services. Its September 12th performance at the Breen Center, where Blue Water is establishing a residency relationship with St. Ignatius High School, will give the public its first opportunity to experience the ensemble in a traditional concert setting.
Carl Woods was trained at Heidelberg College, Washington University of St. Louis and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In addition to his posts in Michigan, he previously conducted orchestras in Pennsylvania, Kansas and Arkansas, and has guest conducted in Europe and South America. A strong advocate for new music, he has worked with John Corigliano, Stephen Paulus, George Crumb, Libby Larsen and Donald Erb, and his recording of William Grant Still’s third symphony has been critically acclaimed.
We spoke with Mr. Woods by telephone to ask about the Blue Water debut program -- a full-length concert of substantial chamber orchestra works including Howard Hanson's Serenade for Flute, Harp & Strings, Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin, a Beethoven Romance for violin and orchestra, Elgar's Serenade for Strings and Ginastera's Variaciones Concertantes.
"I wanted to do something that would show off the orchestra. I love the Ginastera -- which showcases all the soloists -- and decided to centerpiece the program on that. The theme is so simple and yet it generates these wonderful variations and interludes. The last movement is a Gaucho dance. It's certainly not a deeply serious piece, but it features beautiful, moving movements with a lot of rhythmic excitement. I also wanted to feature some of our soloists in the Beethoven [concertmaster Ken Johnston] and Hanson [Sean Gabriel and Jody Guinn], and I wanted to show off the string section in the Elgar. The Ravel was another natural that fit into our orchestration".
The September 12 concert is part of a larger plan for the orchestra at St. Ignatius that includes a string program and further performances. "They're in the process of hiring Alexandra Vago -- who is involved with Mark O'Connor's new violin teaching method -- to oversee the string program. We also hope to join the St. Ignatius vocal ensembles for their Christmas Concert, and we're looking for funding for other events there: a very small chamber group concert in January and a 20-piece orchestra program in May". The residency also allows Blue Water to hold its rehearsals in the Breen Center, a 550-seat venue with excellent acoustics that opened last season.
Then there are further plans on the far West Side. On September 14, BWCO will perform for the Far West Mental Health Center in Westlake and will join with the choir of Westlake Methodist Church in a December 5 Messiah concert. And in November, 2011, BWCO will join in Westlake's Bicentennial celebrations with a chorus and orchestra concert "including Randall Thompson's Testament of Freedom and a new work we're going to be commissioning, if we find the right composer who's a resident or past resident of Westlake".
Starting a new venture like Blue Water in what we've come to refer to as "the current economic climate" can be a daunting venture. Even though all the funds for its debut concert weren't yet in place when we spoke with Carlton Woods, his hope and resolve are strong. "The concert will take place no matter what! Of course, there are a lot of questions, and you feel like you're on the edge of a cliff waiting to fall off, but it's terrific. The musicians are terrific and we hope this will continue". >>printable version
Blue Water Chamber Orchestra debuts at the Breen Center, 2008 West 30th St. at Lorain, on Sunday, September 12 at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $20 for adults and $17 for seniors, students and children. Call 216.961.2560 or visit the Breen box office online.
Preview
Canadian Brass at Blossom: conversations with tubist Chuck Daellenbach & trumpeter Brandon Ridenour
by Mike Telin
Canadian Brass turns 40 this year – middle age for a human being, but venerable for a touring ensemble. Tubist Chuck Daellenbach founded the group in 1970 with trumpeter Stuart Laughton and trombonist Eugene Watts. One of the first groups to actively develop the practice of audience engagement during concerts, Canadian Brass is still going strong.Trumpeter Brandon Ridenour was the youngest player in the group’s history when he joined in 2006 at the age of 20. We reached both Daellenbach and Ridenour by telephone last week to ask about their appearance at Blossom next weekend. Chuck Daellenbach was at home in Toronto.
Chuck Daellenbach
Chuck Daellenbach: Blossom has kind of become a regular stop for us. We have had a lot of experience there, mostly on our own and a couple times with the Cleveland Orchestra. In fact, when we were an emerging group, just a few years ago, one of our first big breaks was being brought in by the Orchestra to perform at Blossom with them at the very end of August. I think it was the last concert of their summer season. This was in the late 70’s and it kind of signaled that we were now getting called into the big leagues. It was pretty exciting.
Mike Telin: Congratulations on your 40th anniversary. I’d like to spend a little bit of time talking about the early years.
CD: Thanks! I’m, not sure if we should get an award or sympathy, but seriously we have been so lucky.
MT: On the history page of your website, it says “The Brass Quintet was not established as a serious ensemble at the time and it proved to be an irresistible challenge to Gene and Chuck.” Could you expand on this?
CD: Well at the time, we just didn’t have the repertoire. If you think of the string quartet as the core of Western art in many respects, along with the orchestra, they had the repertoire that demands performance. The Beethoven quartets have to be performed, so you would form a quartet to play them. The music is just so compelling. But there was nothing for the brass quintet that would compel a performance. So we were taking an ensemble that we love -- obviously we grew up playing these instruments -- and creating a repertoire for the that sound as we went along.
Compared to string quartet repertoire, back when we started in 1970, the best of the brass quintet repertoire was very lightweight. So we had kind of a two prong effort. One was developing as
artists ourselves and developing a concept. The other was developing an audience for the sound of brass, hoping to make it compelling enough that people would want to hear us a second time, which of course is the real key to having a career. First concerts are easy to get, it’s the 2nd 3rd and 4th. So it was very much on our mind that we had to be developing a repertoire at the same time that we were developing an audience. At this point we have commissioned numerous, what you would call serious repertoire from composers all trying to write the epic composition, and the percentages are a little slim -- out of [all of the commissions] I would say that we have a handful of pieces that have the potential of surviving over time. But things on this count are definitely rising. When we first started, we were in the wilderness. There were only a couple of groups in the states, and the Chicago Brass Quintet was kind of our mentor, back when it was made up of the guys who played in the Chicago Symphony, the famous names in brass like Bud Herseth and Arnold Jacobs. But even to them the orchestra was first, they had no second, and the brass quintet was third. It was a pastime kind of thing so the idea of making a living playing brass quintets was really a challenge.
MT: I believe that you were one of the first groups who really took on the challenge of entertaining the audience and involving them in the show. How did all of that come about?
CD: I think that was a case of survival. We realized very early on that things that were normal to us, like putting a piece of brass on our lips and playing for hours everyday, was not the most natural thing for people to see, so we had to explain ourselves. We wanted people to know what we were doing and why we were doing it. I think a defining moment for me in presentation was at one of our early concerts when our trumpet player picked up his piccolo trumpet and I saw every head in the audience turn to see what it was. We simply told them that it was a piccolo trumpet and it plays really high and it is very dangerous. We told them about Bach’s trumpet player who ruptured his neck and died. We told them that trumpet players always put in their contracts with orchestras that they cannot be forced to play the piccolo trumpet because of the danger, but we are really lucky because our trumpet player does not have a contract. We always tried to find some way to give the audience new and also interesting and enjoyable experiences. I don’t call it pandering, because we realized that the audiences are really smart. They know what is on the performers’s minds, they instinctively know that you are there to serve a social and musical function and we felt that responsibility. I think what set us apart from most musicians from that era is that we took that responsibility -- to really bring the audience to the music and to really have a shared experience, and no one had really talked about it back then. At that point it was OK for a violinist to say, “I played this great chaconne and if the audience didn’t like it that was obviously because it was an “uninformed audience”. We took it the other way around: we said that if the audience somehow made it clear that they didn’t like something, we made it our responsibility to think and to talk about it, and we would try to figure out how to improve the programming. Maybe it was the placement of a piece or how we played it -- something had to be different and because there is no soloist and there is no conductor nobody else to was to blame. Actually we took that responsibility with relish. That became the exciting part for us.
MT: Looking back over the some 90 recordings that you have made, I was really struck by the variety of repertoire. Also in listening to many selections from the very early up to the latest I was also impressed by how consistent the sound of the group is. No matter what kind of music, the attention to the sound of the group seems to be a priority. Am I correct?
CD: I really appreciate hearing that because we always took our art form as seriously as that of a string quartet. When I was in school it was always the string quartet that spent hours and hours troubling over eighth notes, and that is exactly what we did. We spent the time and scholarship, and when it was beyond our expertise, we would encourage the brightest and most talented people to work with us. An example of that is one year at Blossom when we did some Beethoven with the brass players in the Orchestra, and we had Lucas Foss, who grew up in that tradition, coach us. We were never afraid to seek advice, and to this day, if we’re doing Renaissance music we would love to have a Renaissance scholar come in and talk to us about performance practice to see how much of that we can apply. It is not always directly applicable, since we are not playing ancient instruments, but so much of that can enhance a performance.
In one case, “Stars and Stripes” [“Canadian Brass Salute America”, released for Independence Day, 2010], it occurred to me, thinking back to my old high school band days, that the sounds of percussion can be so thrilling. There is a certain sound that is not as prevalent as it used to be and that is the old rope drum. So we ended up bringing in the four percussionists from the Nexus Ensemble. They played traditional drums and it gives it an entirely different feeling. We have been lucky in taking the role of music directors. We get to explore our musical tastes. One of the advantages is that we simply rely on our own experiences. We are five guys who have been in concert bands, stage bands, military bands, the trombone and trumpet players had played in club bands, as well as lots of experience with orchestras, and so we were able to reach into those various musical genres. We have been really lucky in that because we were creating our own repertoire -- we were not limited to specific titles. In a way it gave us the freedom to raid the library of masterpieces. So if you’re going to transcribe or arrange something it might as well be the best.
MT: as the recording industry has changed, you have of course gotten into CD’s and DVD’s and you have also started your own recording label. Why did you decide to form your own label?
CD: Back in the 90’s, we were with RCA, and we saw artists being dropped one after the other until we were the hanger-on in the classical world. [In the beginning] Brass was considered to be the encroacher, but we started to see them drop the pianists, then they dropped the flute player, and then they stopped recording the orchestras, and pretty soon we were the classical artist and so the handwriting was definitely on the wall, But, what we did once gain was to reach into our own experience because we’ve been with the major labels for over twenty years. So we got the very best people that we knew around us to help. Our producer has recorded everyone from Elton John to the Philadelphia Orchestra, and our label manager is an eighteen-year veteran of the major labels. We decided that we needed to do it ourselves, but we also decided to get the best people we have come to know to work with us so we can be sure that we are still operating at the world class level. We do find ourselves looking back and saying that we could have done these ten years earlier, but it is exciting to be in charge of our own destiny when it comes to recordings. Plus we can branch out. We just recorded the Brahms Horn Trio with our horn player, Jeff Nelson, who is a world class horn player, and it seemed that we needed to establish him as the fine artist that he is in the classic chamber repertoire.
MT: Is the recording out?
CD: I think Sept 12th is the release date.
MT: Who are the violinist and pianist?
CD: The violinist is Ik-Hwan Bae, who is on the Faculty at Indiana University with Jeff, and the pianist is Naomi Kudo -- she has won a number of major competitions.
MT: While we’re on the topic of changes in the media, I could not help but notice on your website that like so many, down at the bottom it encourages me to follow you on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instant Encore as well as going to MySpace. How do you use these, and to what advantage?
CD: Well for me the process is really simple, I have sons who are nineteen and fourteen, and so I just get their advice. They tell me what to do. We don’t make a move until they approve. But seriously, the one that seems to be the most useful is Facebook. It is immediate, and is far more intergenerational. Old guys like me and young guys like my kids can all use Facebook. I think of it this way: the website has become like the library when you’re looking for history and documents, and Facebook is for what is going to be going on tomorrow. Any IT guy can link them all together, although for me I want to slim that list a little bit. It is just too unnecessarily confusing. I think that people’s interests can be served without all of those outlets. Sometimes it is just too much and people just decide to move on. The scary part for me was when I discovered that it costs money to do these things and that it’s most likely IT people doing them for other IT people to look at so they know what to do for other IT people. YouTube has been invaluable for audiences. Even a handheld camera in the audience can get you on YouTube. People can spend money on a recording but when you see people playing and it sounds pretty much the same, they think “Ah! OK, now I like them”. It can give people a different feeling about an artist. I like YouTube a lot. Among other things, I looked up Glenn Gould and they had all of the old CBC recordings. This is not pop culture, this is a really fantastic research tool, or interest tool.
MT: In looking over your list of personnel over the years, I am surprised that you have not had more personnel changes than you have. What is it that you are looking for when choosing a new member?
CD: I think when you speak to Brandon [Ridenour] you will understand the answer to that question. You will find that he is very smart as well as a supernova on the trumpet. We first heard him when he was nineteen, when he came to the Music Academy of the West, and he sounded like a young Bud Herseth even at that time. He also made a point of telling each one of us that if there were ever an opening in the Canadian Brass, that was how he would like to spend his career. He is also very well versed in music history, while also being a very contemporary guy. He can tell you lines out of many TV shows and tell you about pop groups. Be sure to ask him about the repertoire he chose for his senior recital at Juilliard. It will give you an idea about how young musicians are thinking these days. What we inherited back in 1970 was a real division between classical music and pop music. Unlike Europe we didn’t have any crossover or light music category, but now you talk to young musicians that kind of division doesn’t even come up. The young people have figured out how to blend, and there are some really fine musicians in the pop world. So picking someone for the group, someone like Brandon quickly rises to the top.
MT: Finally, what can we expect at the Blossom performance?
CD: One of the things we are going to have some fun with is that we do a Beatles set and the middle movement of the set is Blackbird, and it has a trombone solo. You probably noticed that the trombonist has just joined the group, and again he is twenty-one years old -- we call him “The Gretzky of the Trombone” up here. He is in his own league, so we will feature him. We are also doing a set of Gershwin. We have had a long relationship with Luther Henderson, who was a well-known figure on Broadway for many years, and he arranged the Porgy and Bess suite for us. Then of course we will have the [J.S. Bach] Toccata and Fugue, which is our barn-burning piece.
Brandon Ridenour
We spoke to Brandon Ridenour by phone from his hometown of Grand Rapids Michigan, where he was staying with his grandparents as well as performing a concert with his father, pianist Rich Ridenour.
Brandon Ridenour: The concert went really well, and the audience was fantastic. You know, my father played in Cleveland not too long ago with Carl Topilow and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra.
Mike Telin: So you come from a musical family?
BR: Yes, I do. For a while we had a family band when my brother and I were in grade school. But now, since we all have sort of grown up, my brother has since drifted away from music and wants to be a pilot. My mother is still in music; she is the executive director of the Jacksonville (MI) Symphony. MT: How long have you been with Canadian Brass?
BR: My first concert was four years ago in August.
MT: How have you managed to learn all of their repertoire -- or is this more or less an ongoing process?
BR: Exactly, I am still in the process of learning it. The group has been around for forty years, and they have such a vast repertoire that I am still playing catch-up. I have taken on some programming duties, and as a result I have had to do more and more homework, listening to all of the albums and studying the repertoire.
MT: Speaking of repertoire, I just got off the phone with Chuck, and he said to be sure to ask you about your senior recital at Juilliard.
BR: He will never let me live that down, but it was a pretty far out program. I did everything I could to get the attention of the president, Joseph Polisi, and risk my graduation. I tried really hard, but they still let me graduate.
Actually, the program was all arrangements of mine. The first half was the Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time, for trumpet and electronics, electric guitar, bass guitar and piano/synthesizer. A couple of us also doubled on percussion -- a gong, cymbals and a drum. It was an interesting experience, and a lot of fun to play that music with instruments for which it was not originally intended. To [clarify], when Messiaen wrote the piece he only had the four instruments to work with, piano, cello, violin and clarinet. So I always wondered if he had had other instruments at his disposal when he wrote it, maybe he would have gone in a more electronic direction. When I first listened to the piece, I heard so many other sounds that could take the piece to another level, although I think it is one of the best pieces ever written as it is.
The second half was on the lighter side. I did some Radio Head and Ben Folds with the same ensemble, only I added a real drummer. I did an arrangement of the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby for strings and trumpet, and we closed with Take On Me by A-Ha, for strings and baroque style piccolo trumpet. It was wired, but they let me get away with it. By the end, I even had people throwing clothing up on the stage. I really hope this was a first at the Juilliard recital hall.
MT: You have just given me an entirely new impression of Juilliard, although Polisi is a very forward thinking person.
BR: Yes he is, and I think that is what Juilliard needed. Even in the sense of giving the students a more well rounded education. I understand the a lot of the students were there to strictly focus on music, and they did complain about having to take English and foreign language classes, but I think it is good for us the do that, and I am glad we did have that opportunity. Juilliard didn’t have that before Polisi was there.
MT: I was reading that you first came in contact with the Canadian Brass at the Music Academy of the West; what about that experience made you want to pursue becoming a member of the group?
BR: The first time I heard them perform live was when they came to Kalamazoo, MI, when I was in eighth or ninth grade. But, my first memory of them was the CD that I received as a birthday or Christmas gift, The Essential Canadian Brass. By the time I met them at Music Academy of the West, I was already an aspiring professional musician in the middle of college, and when I saw them perform, I realized that what they do is completely up my alley. Things like arranging music for their ensemble, which was something I was already doing. My dad and I were always arranging things for trumpet and piano. The CB are also able to cross styles, from strict classical music to jazz to Dixieland to arrangements of the Beatles’ tunes, which are great arrangements. This was also something that I had just grown up doing. When my dad and I played concerts together, we would do the same thing. It was a different ensemble, trumpet and piano, but we played very similar music and styles all across the board. So I felt like I had been training for an audition with the Canadian Brass my whole life.
When I was at Juilliard, which is primarily an orchestral training school, I never felt like I fit into that environment. I knew that orchestra playing was not quite my niche. So even though auditioning for the Canadian Brass was a long shot at best, I went for it. I got in their faces and said; “try to not forget about me”. Fortunately they remembered me, and when they had an opening, they gave me a call. At that time, they had several trumpet players playing on a rotation basis. So that is how I first fell into playing with them. It was not full time, but on a tour by tour basis, and eventually I became a full time member.
MT: How did you start playing the trumpet?
BR: It was in fourth grade band, although I was bummed out because I wanted to play the drums. I wanted a drum set so badly and my parents just said no. Apparently my band director recognized that I had an ear for pitch and they strongly encouraged me not to play the drums. Also my dad had played trumpet in middle and high school, and he had a nice Bach Stradivarius horn that was just lying down in the basement collecting dust. He would take it out once a year to play Happy Birthday as loud as he could outside my aunt’s window at 6:00 am. So it was just sort of happened that this would be the instrument I would choose with out really choosing it. Now, when it came time for my brother to play an instrument, since we had no more instruments waiting in the basement collecting dust, he also wanted to play the drums, and this time my parents said OK. Boy did that get me fired up, but at least there was a drum set in the house that I got to bang on every now and then, but I was not too happy when he got to play the drums.
MT: Did you ever push him off the seat?
BR: Yes, I did all the time. I would also push my dad off the seat at the piano, and that actually became part of our schtick. We do it at every concert and it all stems back to the baggage that I still have that my parents let my brother play the drums. But I guess it worked out, because I would have never been able to join the Canadian Brass had I been a drummer.
Canadian Brass appear at the Blossom Festival on August 28 at 8 pm. The group’s most recent CD, 'Stars & Stripes', is available on the Canadian Brass website.
