One month from today I will be in Argentina, teaching and performing at the Isla Verde Bronces Festival. I am very excited about the festival, and my first trip ever to South America.

Coincidentally, Bueneos Aires was featured this morning on Rudy Maxa’s World, a travel show on PBS. I always new Buenos Aires was one of the world’s largest cities, but I was surprised to hear it referred to as the “most European city in the Western Hemisphere”. The show also detailed the economic troubles that Argentina faced in the 90′s, and I was pleased to hear that counter-intuitively, the arts not only thrived during that time, but boomed despite, and perhaps in reaction to the country’s economic and political woes. Perhaps this is a lesson for the rest of the world?

Since 2007, the small town of Isla Verde – about 5 hours from Buenos Aires – has hosted this festival. From their website, here are the festival’s aims:

 • To offer training, motivation and direction to every person, especially children and young people, that wants to pursue the study of a brass instrument.

• To gain national and international recognition for Isla Verde as annual meeting point for brass musicians, by providing location and artistic resources suitable for training and improvement.

• To promote artistic exchange between the participants of this event.

• To continue organizing this International Brass Festival Isla Verde Bronces as an activity that gives identity to our town.

• To enrich the cultural activities in our town and surrounding areas.

The most exciting aspect, for me, will be performing a brand new work I commissioned from the noted Argentine composer, Roberto Pintos. You can hear some of his compositions on YouTube, including this one, Algo insoluble, featuring Adam Frey on euphonium and Patricio Consentino.

New York Times photojournalist Andrea Bruce feature “Portraits of Iraqi Pride“, including this shot of Isra Saadi.

A rash of tuba thefts at Southland high schools from the LA Times.

No record for Disney Tuba Christmas but still fun from the Orange County Register.

Nice article and some good photos from Akron’s Tuba Christmas from Akron.com.

Ben Thomson appointed Principal Tuba of the Scottish Symphony Orchestra, from 4barsrest.

University of Iowa’s Holiday Tubas 2011 clip on YouTube and a audio slideshow – it was cold this year!

In 1929, Himie enrolled in the University of Iowa chemical engineering program and continued his study of the clarinet, playing in the University band and symphony orchestra and giving private lessons. In 1933, he received a B.S. degree with High Distinction in Chemical Engineering and then began graduate work in the psychology of music under Carl E. Seashore. After completing this M.A program in Psychology, Himie taught music in the Iowa City public schools, including Iowa City High School where he met and married Lois Wilcox, who was the string instrument teacher there. He encouraged his friend Pearl West, who taught woodwinds in Centerville, to move to Iowa City where West subsequently founded West Music, Inc.

Himie was the principal clarinetist in the Quad City Symphony for many years. In 1939 he joined the University of Iowa School of Music and served as its Director from 1954 until his retirement in 1980. During World War II, in addition to his music faculty duties, he taught mathematics in the V-12 US Naval Officer Candidate Program based in the South Quadrangle at the University of Iowa. Following World War II Himie’s substantial archival research in European libraries, sometimes in conjunction with his great friend Charles Eble, brought to light an extensive, invaluable list of previously unpublished 18th and 19th century wind solo and chamber music works, serving as the basis for many of his widely used publications. Selling in the millions, his various publications have met the instructional and professional needs of countless aspiring and professional musicians, young and old.

Voxman has received innumerable awards, citations, and honorary doctorates. Among them are the American Bandmasters Association’s Edwin Frank Goldman Memorial Citation, the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award for Achievement and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

In 1995 the University of Iowa School of Music building was renamed the Voxman Music Building in recognition of Himie’s vast influence in the field of music education.

• A wonderful feature in the L.A. Times about the popularity of tuba players in Mexican party music. Make sure to check out the included video.

• New York Times article about singer Andrea Marcovicci that mentions the song “When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba”

• A story from the Chattanooga Times Free Press about 13-year-old tuba player, Hanna Eitzen.

• A review of Dave Douglas (and tuba player Marcus Rojas’s) new recording of their group Brass Ecstasy.

• An article in the LA Times about Ben Jaffee, of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

• An article from Henley on Thames entitled “Playing the tuba, or how to blow a big rasberry”.

This year, Charlotte proposed a new collaboration project for the University’s annual Dance Gala, which is a very popular event on campus and showcases the entire Dance department. Charlotte’s new work, “Catch” is a touching and personal expression of her feelings about the loss of her father, and the transition from child to caregiver. Presented in reverse chronological order, the opening scene is meant to convey represent death, and each scene progresses backwards, until the final scene represents a father comforting a crying infant. Other scenes depict catching (both the parent catching the child, and eventually the child catching the parent, both physically and metaphorically); stumbling, and joyful catching.

When we set out to help create the music for this work, we decided to employ more pre-composed and pre-recorded music, and kept improvisation to tonal and blues oriented styles. My partner on horn, Erin Vang, is a multi-talented musician, writer and consultant. One of her current projects is Kaddish in Two Part Harmony. Kaddish is the Jewish mourners prayer, often said each day for a year following the death of a loved one. When Charlotte was looking for something somber and mournful, it was only natural that Erin suggest the Kaddish. The dance begins in pitch black, with Erin lying on her back and playing the Kaddish. The lights slowly rise to reveal the dancers lying down on stage, positioned how they might be in a cemetery. The scene is rudely interrupted with blast of synthesized horns, and a dancer runs and steals the horn from Erin. The dancers commence running backwards in a circle, swarming and accelerating, as a recording of a musical backdrop I composed plays with clock-like ticking and a blend of disorienting beats and synthesized moods. Above that, Erin and I slowly start short scale-like patterns in opposing directions, based on the mode of the Kaddish.

The dancers converge and then dissipate, to reveal just two dancers playfully swinging their arms. For rehearsals and choreography, Charlotte used a recording of Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels, which is a bluesy, tongue in cheek ramble about a near death experience, and an ominous warning to “keep your business clean”. This music was so perfect, we improvised in the same key and tempo of the original with just tuba and horn.

Continuing with the death theme, we use the traditional spiritual “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” for the next scene. The dancers begin moving and crawling slowly, as we play a very slow version of the song, with very little elaboration. As the dance gets faster and more joyous, our tempos and style of the song adjust. This section ends in a frenzy, and one dancer climbing a human step-ladder and falling off into the arms of another.

For the next and final section, Charlotte nicknamed “Lullaby”, as it was to depict the dancers holding each other in pairs and conveying a soothing and calming mood – much like how Charlotte as a baby would only stop crying when she was placed on her father’s belly. For this, I chose to compose a simple, but touching melody recorded on my studio piano (Charlotte’s father played the piano) accompanied by synthesized strings and the sound of crickets. I called the composition “Daddy’s Home”.

“Catch” ends with Erin and I moving downstage, improvising on the lullaby, and after I lie down on the floor, a dancer rolls onto to my belly while Erin continues to improvise on the melody and the lights fade to black.

If you are interested, we have four more performances planned for this week. All of the pieces in the 2011 Dance Gala are fantastic. I am continually impressed and enlightened by our talented faculty and students. For more information on Dance Gala, click here or here.

This just in from the Annual Willam Bell Memorial Tuba and Euphonium Day:

To All Area Tubists and Friends:

Come join us for the 33rd Annual William Bell Memorial Tuba and Euphonium Day!

WHEN: 1:00 PM,  Saturday, Nov. 5th, 2011
WHERE:  Perry United Methodist Church, Third and Willis, Perry, IA
REGISTRATION FEES:  $10 Student/$15 Adult  (All registration fees will be collected on site Nov. 7th, 2009.)
FEATURED GUEST: Mitchell Lutch, Asst. Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Central College, Pella

Mitchell Lutch is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Central College in Pella, Iowa and also serves as conductor of the Central Iowa Wind Ensemble. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in instrumental conducting at the University of Washington where he served as teaching assistant for Professor Timothy Salzman. He earned his Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory where he studied with Frank Battisti serving as the graduate assistant for the NEC Wind Ensemble and assistant conductor of the Massachusetts Wind Ensemble. His Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education is from the University of Lowell. Artists he has collaborated with in his teaching career include Donald Hunsburger, Eric Ewazen, Dana Wilson, Ellis Marsalis, Frank Foster, Slide Hampton and Marian McPartland. Mr. Lutch is Past President of the New York State Band Directors Association and has been a guest speaker at several educational institutions including New England Conservatory and Shenandoah Conservatory. Conducting appearances and research presentations include concerts and conferences throughout the United States, Quebec, London, Japan, The People’s Republic of China, the former Soviet Union, and Luxembourg.

SCHEDULE:
1:00-1:30       Registration
1:30-  3:30     Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble Rehearsal (Please bring a music stand)
3:30 – 4:00     Break/Socializing
4:00-5:00       Concert (Free To Public, at Perry United Methodist Church)
5:30-5:45       Memorial Performance at Mr. Bell’s Gravesite
6:00 – ????     Socializing and Planning for 2012

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Feel free to forward this e-mail to friends and colleagues who may be interested.  An invitation is open to all. We’re also “Facebooking” – visit our page at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/William-Bell-Tuba-Day/149881746829

Please RSVP or address questions to:
Chad Thompson
4420 73rd Pl.
Urbandale, IA 50322

e-mail: chad_thompson@mac.com
Telephone (515) 999-0268.

All registration fees will be collected on site November 5th, 2011.

I was fortunate to be in a fairly large and talented band, and enjoyed playing in the brass quintet, and toured the Western US on a regular basis. The best part for me was taking lessons with Floyd Cooley and getting to live in Northern California.

When I was in college. I had dreams of being an orchestral musician and never imagined that I would enlist in the military. Looking back, I am really glad I made that choice, it was definitely a good experience.

These days, military bands are often being asked to do more with less, so bandsmen must be versatile, professional, and prepared for anything. Not a bad skill set to develop for any musician.

We took Megabus from Iowa City into Union Station in Chicago, and walked the two blocks to the Ogilvie Transportation Center (OTC), which was our connection to the Metra rail up to Ravinia. We were very impressed with OTC. Housed in a steel and glass Emerald-City-esque sky scraper, the center includes dozens of shops, stores, and services; including a Dunkin’ Donuts, bookstores, a bar, and a Fedex store, which came in handy to print out our tour bus tickets from my email. The Metra seemed clean, efficient, and inexpensive and got us back and forth from our hotel to downtown Chicago. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriot in Highland Park, which was only a few miles from the Metra and Ravinia.

On Thursday, July 7th, we headed to Ravinia for the first of two concerts; piano soloist Lang Lang playing Chopin and Liszt with Christoph Eschenbach conducting. The second half featured the Berlioz, so I moved from our blanket on the lawn to my seat in the pavilion. Morris Kainuma played second tuba to Gene Pokorny, and they sounded fantastic!

The next day, we rode a double-decker tour bus all around Chicago, and I finally got a good overview of this grand city. I was very impressed by the architecture, the cleanliness, and the friendliness of the city, and we really want to visit on a regular basis.

On Friday night, I really enjoyed my front row seat. André Watts performed Liszt, and I was struck at not only his musicality, but at how relaxed he looked. Listening to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring has always been a very powerful experience for me, and the second half did not disappoint. I got an up close and personal view of one of the most amazing orchestras in the world, playing probably the most important compositions of the 20th century.

TubaHead Alert: Gene Pokorny will be performing the Vaughan Williams tuba concerto four times next season; May 16-19, 2012. Order your tickets in advance!

It was a magnificent performance, and due to the seating of the brass, I enjoyed hearing every note of principal tubaist Steve Campbell’s playing. I know Steve from our days in Boston, and remember sitting on a panel with him at Tubonium, and hearing him speak of taking over 30 auditions before landing the Minnesota job – an inspiring example of persistence. I went backstage to congratulate him and Doug Wright, the principal trombonist, and happened to see Doc Severensen, who was in town for the trumpet conference.

I was so inspired by the performance. I sat there realizing that I just haven’t gotten to enjoy enough orchestral performances, so I vowed to attend more. Next month, my family and I will be hearing the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia to hear them perform Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique!

Last weekend, while in Louisville KY for their Klezmer Festival, I had the great pleasure to attend a fantastic concert by the Louisville Orchestra. The program included Respighi’s Pines of Rome, the Grieg piano concerto, and Brahms’ 2nd Symphony. Daryl Johnson, principal tuba, played wonderfully and made it look easy. I enjoyed the entire brass section, and was equally impressed with every single section. My friends Kathy and Matthew Karr, who are members of the orchestra, explained to me the financial challenges facing their orchestra, and expressed their concern for the future of the orchestra. It was a very emotional concert for all of the players, and probably the most enjoyable for me as a member of the audience. I sincerely wish them the best, this orchestra is absolutely world-class, and their players and patrons deserve to continue thriving.

Louisville is the not the first orchestra to have problems, nor will it be the last, and of course, the recent economic problems have a lot to do with it. I’m not sure what will solve each orchestra’s problems, but I don’t have a lot of faith in boards of directors – as they often put the bottom line ahead of the artistic integrity, and the finances ahead of the careers and financial obligations of the musicians. The blogosphere and news wires have plenty of stories and opinions on the subject, here are a few:

Wall Street Journal article Regional Orchestras in the Spotlight

Newsworks article Struggling Philadelphia Orchestra Suffers from ‘Cost Disease’

Wall Street Journal’s 24/7 Blog article The Death Of Classical Music in America

Keep Louisville Symphonic

Out of Tune from Leo Weekly

From the Globe and Mail interview with Leonard Slatkin

From Tony’s Blog (from the office of the president of the New England Conservatory) American Orchestras; Yes, it’s a Crisis