I’m back from another fantastic ITG Conference.  This time it was Minneapolis, May 23-28.  I would like to thank everyone that stopped by the Composers’ Collective booth and said Hi or bought something.  It seemed we hardly ever had any down time.  I also would like to that my colleagues at the booth, David Canfield, Jim Gauthier, Jim Stephenson and our booth mom, Lauren Bernofsky. I went up with four UWP trumpet students...

I would think that most of us have had musical experiences that have dramatically affected, if not impacted our lives; perhaps a top 5 list of favorite musical memories.  Funny thing for me is that I didn’t even play in two of my top five musical moments.  One, was my first concert hearing Herseth live, (Harris 3rd sym.) which made me decide to check out the whole classical world after being a jazzer up till that point. The other was...

“I’m thinking about transferring to a different university.” As a college music professor, I have this conversation every now and then.  As someone who transferred to four schools during my undergrad years, I would like to offer my thoughts on the subject. Most of the time when students investigate a move, they feel like they could be getting a better education somewhere else.  For me, one of my transfers was to study with a great...

Here is a quick little piece of advice some of you may find useful.  (Those of you with nerves of steel can disregard.)  I have been implementing it the last few times I’ve performed and this morning it really came in helpful.  Please read on. Perhaps this has happened to you; you’re all warmed up and ready to go onstage for your recital or solo performance, you’ve tried to quell the nerves by trying to remain relaxed, taking deep...

Title Paths (1994) In Memoriam Witold Lutoslawski for Trumpet Toru Takemitsu (1931-1996) Biographical Info Toru Takemitsu was a self-taught Japanese composer who combined elements of Eastern and Western music and philosophy to create a unique sound world. Some of his early influences were the sonorities of Debussy, and Messiaen’s use of nature imagery and modal scales. There is a certain influence of Webern in Takemitsu’s use of...

In February of 2011, the saxophone prof at my school, Allen Cordingley, asked me to play on a recital with him at NASA.  I know!  Pretty cool, right?  Well, to him and eventually me, this actually meant driving to Chicago and playing at the North American Saxophone Alliance conference.  Not as many space ships as I was hoping for but there WERE a few more similarities than you might initially expect. The Conferences The saxophone...

If you are reading this blog, then you are probably someone who is well aware of what ITG is and what they do in the summer.  Well, in the event you happen to be some renegade string player who loves to read trumpet blogs, ITG is the International Trumpet Guild.  It’s like a trumpet fraternity, without the hazing.  Each summer the Guild holds a week-long conference somewhere in the world and the greatest trumpet players and...