April 9, 2008
The Juilliard School, located adjacent to Lincoln Center in New York City, is a marvelous place. The faculty and students are world-class. It sits in the heart of one of the world’s most vibrant and energetic cultural centers. Every time I visit there, I come away awed and inspired. In this Episode, I visit with my friends Clayton Chastain and Marc Boehm. I knew them both when they were high school standouts here in Atlanta. All of us here in the ATL are incredibly proud of these 2 young men! It’s great to see them working so hard, learning so much, and living so fully. They will introduce us to some of their friends; we’ll play a bit; and they’ll tell us what its like to be studying at one of the world’s finest conservatories. Hope you enjoy meeting them! Thanks for the “hang” fellas.
Also in this episode, we announce that viewers of the Podcasts can use our password to download SmartMusic for $25. This is made possible by the generous contributions of you viewers. Thanks to everybody that has donated to make this possible.
SmartMusic, as you may know, is one of my favorite tools for music-making. It’s an incredible resource for those that make use of it. We encourage you all to check it out and try it. Hours of fun await you:-)
PS- just one day after this interview, Mr. Chastain performed his first Brandenburg Concerto! It’s a fabulous performance, available at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISt0Qxm5Z7Q
Clayton used to be a trombone player, but for some stupid reason, he switched to trumpet. Oh, well, seems to be working out well for him:-)
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March 5, 2008
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interview — tom gibson @ 5:42 pm
This one picks up precisely where Part 1 (Episode 75) ends……….ENJOY!!!!
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February 8, 2008
Weston Sprott is the 2nd Trombonist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. I had the pleasure of sitting with him on a recent excursion to New York City. His wisdom and poise bely his young age. I was completely blown away by him.
I’m sure you will be, too. He’s possessed of a tireless work ethic, humility, great sense of humor, and MUSICALITY to spare.
He was very kind in sharing with us all his guide to “Audition Preparation” (apparently, it works!)
That PDF document will be available as a supplement to this video. I think we all owe Weston a big THANKS for his willingness to share it…..it’s great!
Weston, thanks for the visit and the wonderful interview! Best of luck to you, sir, as you aim towards the highest musical peaks.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we proudly present Mr. Weston Sprott…….
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February 5, 2008
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interview — tom gibson @ 12:02 am
I’ve been talking about it for some time, but at last it is here, my friends. The first part of my interview with Sam Pilafian. If you do not know Mr. Pilafian, I am really pleased to make the introduction. Once you meet him, you may never be the same kind of musician again, so be prepared. He has such powers:-)
Most of us, of course, know and love Sam from his days with The Empire Brass. Some of us met him when we first encountered The Breathing Gym, the outstanding DVD/book he did in collaboration with Pat Sheridan. They since have completed The Brass Gym, and both of those you should probably own. Find them here:
http://www.breathinggym.com
Honestly, though, you just won’t find a nicer, hipper, cooler,more musical, more fun-loving, more travelled, more thoughtful, more compassionate guy than Mr. Sam Pilafian. I met him while on tour with the Boston Brass this past December. I will have more video from that tour in the very near future. Everyone associated with The Boston Brass is amazing. Please visit their website:
www.bostonbrass.com
Hope you enjoy this one! Thanks to Sam for being such a gracious participant. Part 2 coming soon.
BTW- the clips from this and upcoming videos from Chicago and New York would not have been possible without the kindness of Bob Scarr (superb trombonist and flight-plan coordinator for Delta Airlines here in Atlanta.)
I can’t thank him enough, so I’ll thank him often. This one’s for you, Bob! Trombone Love to you, sir.
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January 28, 2008
My friend Brian Miller is a wonderful trumpet player and teacher. He recently had an opportunity to teach in Oman, a beautiful peninsular country bordering Saudi Arabia and Yemen. I have never been to the Middle East and I was fascinated by Brian’s account of the place. I hope you enjoy meeting him!
More info about Oman can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oman
Brian was able take this journey because of an ad he saw at the website “Musical Chairs”, which has a tremendous listing of jobs all over the world. That website is here:
http://www.musicalchairs.info/
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November 27, 2007
It’s been my pleasure this week to work with the wonderful organist, Donald Sutherland. He is the Coordinator of the Organ Department at Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He has many recordings to his credit and has enjoyed a celebrated career as a recitalist, church organist, and teacher. Please read more about him here:
http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/484
Donald was invited to perform in recital at Morningside Presbyterian Church here in Atlanta. The church is celebrating the restoration of their powerful, beautiful organ. Our good friend (and Tubist with the Georgia Brass Band!), Robert Coulter, headed up the restoration and did a terrific job. Congrats Robert! Read more about Robert here:
http://coulterorgans.com/
On the recital program was the “Stabat Mater” adapted by Franz Liszt from a work by Rossini. It is for Trombone and Organ.
Some of you probably know the story of the Stabat Mater (”sorrowful Mother”). The music tries to evoke the emotions of Mary as she watched Jesus suffer on the Cross. For more info, and a translation of the text, you can follow this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabat_Mater
We hope you enjoy our rehearsal/performance of the “Cujus animam (Rossini - Stabat Mater) for Trombone and Organ” by Franz Liszt (1811-1886).
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November 13, 2007
Here is Part 1 of the “LIVE (almost) Recital” series that Colin and I will be doing over the next few weeks.
Part 1 features the “Sonata for Trombone and Piano” by Misha Stefanuk (www.stefanuk.com)
Mr. Stefanuk joins me on piano and gives a brief introduction of himself and his fascinating piece.
We had only one hour to get something together for you, but I felt compelled to do so. Trombone Love. It does that.
We really hope you like this piece. I had to make a few rough edits but this is essentially LIVE, as we just finished a couple hours ago.
We filmed in the sanctuary at Johnson’s Ferry Baptist Church and we thank them for their hospitality. Look for Part 2 very soon (we all anxiously await Colin’s renditions of the Tomasi “Concerto” and Peaslee’s “Arrows of Time”, don’t we? Yeah, baby.)
Peace, everyone. I’m off tomorrow to Slippery Rock University for Trombone Day! I’ll also be paying a visit to my Alma Mater, North Hills High School in Pittsburgh. Looking forward to it, as I haven’t seen the place in almost 20 years. Time really flies, we are wise to make the most of it, eh?
Hope to meet some of you on the road….
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October 13, 2007
**NOTICE: I am not at all pleased with my audio engineering on this episode, ladies and gentlemen. I will very soon invest in some lavaliere microphones for our esteemed guests. (There IS that little “Donate” Button to your right—>ya know:-)
Perhaps you are an audio wizard? If so, we all would like to hear a better soundtrack on this one. Scott deserves better. Please contact me if you think you can help (tom@trombonelessons.com). Much appreciated! In the meantime, I have had the best luck with a good set of headphones on this. My apologies. I will endeavor to do better henceforth! Peace ***
Hollie Lawing, Tim Redman, and myself took a road trip to South Carolina this week to visit with Scott Hartman!
Scott has long been one of our favorite trombonists. His career has primarily involved chamber music: Empire Brass, Four of a Kind, and now Proteus 7. He is presently the Trombone Professor at Yale University.
He was in Spartanburg, SC, for a performance with Proteus 7. See them on the Web at:
www.proteus7.com
This amazing septet was premiering a Halloween Show with the Spartanburg Philharmonic, directed by Scott’s lovely wife, Sarah Ioannides. This fine ensemble is also on the Web:
www.spartanburgphilharmonic.org
Almost the entire show was written by the group’s lead trumpeter and fabulously gifted composer, Anthony DiLorenzo.
Between rehearsal and the concert, Scott was kind enough to sit down and visit with us. We hope you enjoy meeting the wonderful Scott Hartman and Proteus 7……..
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October 11, 2007
It is my extreme pleasure to introduce my friend Newell Sheridan, of www.sheridanbrass.com
Newell is a purveyor of some very high quality trombones and equipment. Here, he talks about the Shires Trombones and the process of finding the horn that’s JUST right for you.
I hope you enjoy meeting him! You can contact him by visiting his website, sheridanbrass.com, or:
E-mail: nsherida@bellsouth.net
Phone: 205-978-3773
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September 29, 2007
GYSO is the Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra. It is the youth-affiliate of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra. It consists of a number of musical ensembles: 2 full orchestras, woodwind chamber groups, percussion ensemble, and…….a REAL Brass Band (directed by yours truly and employing the British-style instrumentation with cornets, E-flat horns, baritones, euphoniums, trombones, E-flat and B-flat tubas, plus percussion).
The GYSO Brass Band is open, by audition, to any players aged 21-under. We have featured the brass band in earlier Episodes of the podcasts, including a performance with Chris Martin (Episode 29) and a 3-part series about a newly commissioned work by Jen Mitchell.
Here is a video I helped put together about the GYSO program. If you are a young musician in the area, you should really consider checking out what GYSO has to offer. For more info, see their website:
www.georgiayouthsymphony.org
If you want info specifically about the Brass Band, please contact me directly at:
tom@trombonelessons.com
Thanks, all!
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September 25, 2007
Yamaha Euphonium Artist Adam Frey might very well be the hardest working musician I know. He performs, he commisssions new works, he records, he publishes, he teaches, and he hosts one of the best music conferences around: The International Euphonium Institute.
For aspiring pros, especially but not exclusively euphonium players, he is a terrific role model. He has created opportunities for himself and has sought musical challenges to keep himself fully engaged. He developed a passion at an early age and has run full-speed towards fulfilling his dreams and creating for himself an enriched life in music.
I hope you enjoy meeting my friend Adam. He’s a better than average golfer.
His website, most fittingly, is:
www.euphonium.com
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