Author Archives: brassforbeginners

Interval Studies with Gabriel

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Gabriel started with the Brass for Beginners method three years ago in private lessons and then moved to the valve trumpet. He has recently returned to the natural trumpet and is shown here playing interval studies by Dauverne as they appear in Edward Tarr’s The Art of Baroque Trumpet Playing. It is much harder than it looks! Gabriel must be able to hear the pitches in his mind very clearly while the instructor plays different pitches, and to make it sound good, he must be able to fine-tune the pitch depending on the interval in question. Nice playing Gabriel!

BFB Teaching Assistant Sasha Boutilier

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This is high school senior, Music Institute of Chicago (MIC) student, Sasha Boutilier playing a modern replica of a natural trumpet. Sasha started playing trumpet in 3rd grade and has been playing natural trumpet for seven years. The music is From Fanfare #2 by Johan Dismas Zelinka (1679-1745). Sasha currently plays first trumpet in the MIC Advanced Trumpet Ensemble and has been helping as an assistant instructor for Brass for Beginners residencies over the past several years (see photo below of Sasha with Lincoln Elementary BFB students in Evanston). Thanks Sasha!

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Congrats to MIC Trumpet Quartet at IGSMA

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Congratulations to members of the MIC Trumpet Quartet (Angelina Escobar, Abby Gilliland, Charlie Lindland, and Adam Marquardt) who received a “1” rating and top scores in all categories for their performance yesterday at the IGSMA (Illinois Grade School Music Association) held at Nichols Middle School. They performed an arrangement of Finlandia by Finnish Composer, Jean Sibelius. They will be performing this work along with a fugue by Baroque composer, Pachelbel, at the Chicago Brass Festival on Saturday March 9th. Great Job!!

MIC Trumpet Quartet (left to right: Charlie, Adam, Abby, and Angelina)

MIC Trumpet Quartet  (left to right: Charlie, Adam, Abby, and Angelina)

“Tooting my own horn”

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I sometimes share my performance schedule with students in case there is an opportunity to see a live concert. Here is a list of some of the performances I was involved with over the fall and winter and a list of upcoming engagements. I feel very fortunate to have so many opportunities to perform with such wonderful ensembles and musicians in the Chicago area. These experiences enhance my ability to convey musical relevance to my many wonderful students at the Music Institute of Chicago.

Fall/Winter performances:

  • Camerata Chicago performing Beethoven Sym. 7  Live From WFMT
  • Chicagoland Pops Orchestra at Chicago Theater playing the Legend of Zelda
  • “Deck The Hall” Holiday Concerts at Old St. Pats Church
  • Featured performer with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago performing Handel’s Messiah at Skokie Center for The Performing Arts and Harris Theater in Chicago (click here to see a review by Chicago Tribune music critic John von Rhein- I am mentioned near the end of the article)
  • Featured performer for Handel’s Messiah performances at St. Clement Church in Chicago and with the the Bach Institute at Valparaiso University
  • Chicagoland Pops Orchestra with Andrea Bocelli at the All State Arena
  • Mannheim Steamroller at the Rialto Theater in Joliet
  • Featured performer for “Too Hot To Handel” at the Auditorium Theater
  • Chicagoland Pops Orchestra with Jackie Evancho at Symphony Center in Chicago
  • Warner Brothers Symphony performing Bugs Bunny at the Symphony at Symphony Center in Chicago

Upcoming Performances:

  • Feb 15th through 24th – Joffrey Ballet performing American Legends at Auditorium Theater with the Chicago Philharmonic (click here for info)
  • March 2nd, 7:30pm – Apollo Chorus performing Charpentier’s Te Deum and Haydn’s Theresienmesse (click here for info)
  • March 3rd, 3:00pm – Handel Week in Oak Park featuring Handel’s Oratorio Theodora (click here for info)
  • March 9th and 10th – Mozart Journey VI with St. Charles Singers at St. Vincent DePaul in Chicago and College Church in Wheaton (click here for info)
  • March 11th, 7:30pm – Siamsa Na Ngael at Symphony Center in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day (click here for info)
  • March 15th and 16th, 8:00pm – Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 and the Tempest (click here for info)
  • March 23rd, 7:00pm – Bach Institute at Valparaiso University performing Bach’s Mass in B Minor (click here for info)
  • March 27th, 8:00pm – “Chicago Bach Project” performing Bach’s Mass in B Minor at St. Vincent DePaul in Chicago (click here for info)
  • April 10th through April 13th – Sweeny Todd at NEIU (click here for info)
  • April 20th 7:30pm – Rockefellor Chapel Choir performing Mozart’s Requiem (click here for info)
  • April 24th through May 5th – Joffrey Ballet performing Othello at Auditorium Theater with the Chicago Philharmonic (click here for info)
  • May 17th and 18th, 8:00pm – Lake Forest Symphony performing Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, the Resurrection Symphony (click here for info)

Congrats Will!

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William Johnson received a “1” rating for his performance last weekend at the IGSMA (Illinois Grade School Music Association) for his performance of Rondo Cappricio by Keith Snell. He will start Lake Forest High School in the fall of 2013. Will’s older brother, Thomas Johnson, was a founding member of the MIC Advanced Trumpet Ensemble 6 years ago and is currently enrolled in graduate school at Rush University studying biomedical technology.

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“The world sends us garbage. We send back music”

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Part of the goal of the MIC Trumpets blog is to share music-related media and resources with my studio. Please consider sharing these posts with your trumpeter as you see fit.

The video below is about a program in a small village in Paraguay that uses landfill to create musical instruments so that children can have access to music education. Click here for more information as it appeared in the Dec. 11th, 2012 edition of Time NewsFeed.

Congrats Michael!

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MIC trumpet student Michael Werner auditioned for 2013 Chicago Youth in Music Festival and was one of only two high school age trumpeters accepted (click here for more info). He has been playing major orchestral repertoire with members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has been invited to participate in a reading session in collaboration with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (more info here) on Wednesday Jan 30th at the Benito Juarez Community Academy Performing Arts Center in Chicago. He has been selected to play 1st trumpet on Rimsky Korsakov’s Cappricio Espagnol under the direction of YOA Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto. The 2013 Youth in Music Festival is in collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, and the Music Institute of Chicago. Congrats Michael!

Michael at Symphony Center for Youth in Music Festival 2013

Youth in Music Festival 2013 in rehearsal at Symphony Center under the direction of Cliff Colnot (Michael is the trumpeter closest to the timpanist)

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