Call me crazy, but the start of the school year is one of my favourite times of the year. There is so much excitement in the air, so much promise, and your days are filled with old and new faces. Everyone is recharged and all the bitterness and frustration from previous years is momentarily set …
I can still remember the moment the trumpet picked me. Like many kids in the suburbs, I took piano lessons at a community music school. Every few months they’d have a recital where all the kids would put on their Sunday best and sing “Take me to the church on time” or play Bach’s Minuet …
Last summer, I was a member of Orchestre de la Francophonie, led by Jean-Philippe Tremblay. This was my second year with the group, and I always appreciate the chance to perform with a professional-calibre symphony orchestra. I don’t get to do much of that during my day job as a university professor. Part of OF’s …
On January 26, I gave a talk here at Memorial University as part of our annual Newfound Music Festival. Really, this talk is an excuse for me to share some stories, some opinions and some musical examples that I thought people in my musical community might appreciate. To supplement that talk, here are some links …
Getting started in New Music: experiences with Reveille Read More »
This piece was a joint commission of the Reveille Trumpet Collective, and it was a privilege to perform in the premiere with Adam Zinatelli and Timothy Quinlan at the Banff Centre in July 2010. In the composer’s words: “I was on a quest at first to write something technically amazing… And then I just thought …
This year, I acted as contest coordinator for the Reveille Trumpet Collective‘s first ever Composition Prize. All of us were immediately drawn to the eventual winner, Song Without Words by David John Lang, 21, of Adelaide, Australia. This piece was chosen from over twenty entries to receive the grand prize.
Gabriel Dharmoo and I met at Domaine Forget in 2005. There, he shared some of his music with me, and I remember being impressed by how strongly his personality shone through his compositions. His music was inventive, witty, and engaging. Collaborating with Gabriel and performing his music remained as goals in the back of my …
Adam Zinatelli (principal trumpet, Calgary Philharmonic) commissioned this Sonata last summer for the Sound Symposium festival in St. John’s. This performance was recorded live at Yale University on Sept. 22, 2011 with Daniel Schlosberg, piano. Be sure to watch in HD on YouTube! If you’re interested in performing this wonderful piece, you can get the …
Maurice Ravel’s “Piece en forme de Habanera” is a concert staple. With its enticing melody and exotic flair, it continues to delight audiences to this day. This arrangement, for trumpet and trombone, puts an intimate new spin on the piece. This recording is from a live performance in March 2011 featuring Aaron Hodgson, trumpet and …
This series of articles is devoted to advocating contemporary repertoire for trumpet. I believe new music is often unfairly criticized. Let’s face it, as brass players we can be a little closed-minded! Hopefully these articles will open your ears to some pieces I find truly fascinating. “I like solo works, where the whole world is …