TUBA & EUPHONIUM NEWS
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Please note: The following News Column content was current as of the Fall 2006 issue of the Journal. Please visit iteaonline.org/news.html for the latest news submissions. UPCOMING EVENTS! EVENT NOTICE: New Mp3s available at the Performance Lab Calling all Yorkshire tuba and euphonium Players! The Yorkshire Wind Orchestra is a registered charity striving to promote the performance of quality British wind music in the Yorkshire region. We are currently welcoming new players, especially brass and percussion players and therefore if you are a tuba or euphonium player in the Yorkshire region and are able to commit to fortnightly rehearsals in Wakefield on a Monday night from 7.15 - 9.15 and perform up to 5 concerts around Yorkshire in 2007 please register your interest on our website http://www.yorkshirewinds.co.uk Conn Double Bell Euphonium FOR SALE
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The University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky welcomes Sean Greene as its new Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Low Brass. Sean will teach applied lessons in all low brass instruments, conduct the Patriot Marching Band, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and will teach courses in Music Education. Sean will continue to perform, compose, and change his seven-month-old daughter's diapers in addition to his new teaching schedule.
Congratulations to Frederick Boyd as he has accepted the position of Principal Tuba with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He replaces Toby Hanks upon his retirement. Fred held the position of Bass Trombone with the Syracuse Symphony from 1970–2002 and currently is Performer-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts is pleased to announce the appointment of Kenneth Amis , tuba player of Empire Brass, to the woodwinds and brass faculty. Amis will teach undergraduate and graduate tubists and coach chamber music in Longy's Conservatory program. An active composer with degrees from Boston University and New England Conservatory, Amis is also an affiliated artist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Congratulations to Nathan Turner as he recently won the tuba position opening in the United States Army Band at West Point. Nathan was a student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music studying tuba with Timothy Northcut. He is a native of Oregon.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Velvet Brown's New CD - Perspectives: Sound & Rhythm
Crystal Records has recently released Velvet Brown’s latest CD, a more than welcomed showcase of 21st century pieces for tuba and percussion ensemble. The project is the continuation of Velvet’s interest in expanding the tuba repertory with pieces that develop the technical and lyrical qualities of the instruments.
The CD, an international production, features: Concerto for Tuba and Percussion (2003) by the American James Beckel, a piece that the Percussion Plus Project commissioned to be premiered by Velvet Brown; Latin Jazz Suite (2003) by the American Alice Gomez, a very rhythmic five-movement piece originally written for trumpet and two conga drums and later transcribed for tuba; Digression V (2004) by the Austrian Franz Cibulka, a three-movement composition for tuba solo and three percussionists written for and dedicated to Velvet Brown. It was premiered at the ITEC in Budapest, Hungary; Highlife (2003), another piece by Alice Gomez that was commissioned and premiered by Velvet, it was conceived as a closing piece for concert performances with tuba and percussion; and Dance Movements (2005) by the Hungarian and also notable tuba player Roland Szentpáli, a piece for tuba and rhythmic session (percussion, bass, and electric guitar) commissioned by Velvet and featuring a blend of Eastern European ethnic flavors, classic rock fusion, and improvised sections.
The compositions included in this recording portray everything a tuba player of our time should be able to display: technical mastery, lyricism, a sound that can be powerful and delicate, clarity of articulation, a variety of genres and trends, and most of all fun in performance. The percussionists Jimmy Finnie, Roger Schupp, Laszlo Toth, and Rick Willis, and Chris Buzzelli at the electric and bass guitars accompanied Velvet in this wonderful venture. The CD is definitely a “must” for everyone interested in the new frontiers of tuba playing!
La Gazza Ladra Overture for Brass Choir published by Cherry Classics Music
Cherry Classics Music is pleased to announce a new publication for Brass Choir. La Gazza Ladra Overture by Rossini transcribed by Geoffrey Bergler, Trumpeter with the Seattle Symphony. This virtuoso edition is a showstopper for advanced groups and is well worth adding to your library. Contact Gordon Cherry for more information (gcherry@cherry-classics.com)
New Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble CD
Emeritus Recordings announces the release of our new CD, Echoes : Tuba and Euphonium Music of Sy Brandon and Mark Scott featuring performances by the 2005 International Euphonium Institute Crimson Euphonium Choir, The University of Arkansas Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble, and the Euphouria Quartet among others. It is available through http://cdbaby.com/cd/brandonscott. At this site, you can read a complete description of the CD, hear samples from the recording, and read complete reviews of the CD.
New Work from Warner Hutchinson
Dr. Warner Hutchison, composer of SONATINA FOR BARITONE HORN and Piano (Carl Fischer:1966), has recently composed a work for four euphoniums and two tubas entitled EUPHONIES, now available from Subito Music Corp., 60 Depot Street, Verona NJ 07044. (Three movements. Duration: 9:49). This is a challenging work for the euphoniun-tuba ensemble (Grade 6). For more info, please contact the composer at Warner Hutchison (PhD) 5415 Royal Drive NE Albuquerque, NM 87111-1632 (whcomposer@comcast.net)
Solo Tuba and Euphonium CD featuring John Stevens
Reverie is a new compact disc recording that features a wide variety of works for solo tuba with piano and duets with euphonium. The recording features John Stevens, tuba soloist and Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Katie Stevens on euphonium, and Martha Fischer on piano. Here are John Steven's liner notes about the music on the recording:
“When I select a recording to listen to at home, it is usually because I want to hear a particular genre, style, or mood of music. As a result, I am attracted to CDs that stay more or less in the same mood for the entire recording. I am also increasingly drawn to recordings that, regardless of the genre, feature music that is slow paced, expressive, thoughtful, and melodious. Whether I am listening attentively or the music is a background to other activities, recordings of this nature are a welcome peace and tranquility to my life. With this in mind, I chose to record this collection of lyrical, romantic melodies that span the last 175 years. Unlike a ‘recital' CD, with the usual variety of styles and periods of music, this recording is intended to showcase the sonorous, lyrical qualities of the low brass instruments.
The works on this recording include everything from pieces I first performed 35 years ago to some that are quite new to me. Composers from nine countries are represented: England (Bridge), Russia (Rachmaninov and Galzunov), Germany (Strauss and Schumann), France (Debussy and Bizet), Poland (Chopin), Italy (Donizetti), The Netherlands (Koetsier), Ireland (the traditional Danny Boy), and the U.S.A. (Ewazen and Stevens). The only work on this recording originally written fir the tuba is my own Elegy , composed in 2004 and published in the Gem Series of the International Tuba and Euphonium Association Journal . Everything else has been arranged, transcribed, or simply adapted for tuba and piano, tuba, euphonium and piano, or solo tuba.
The original instrumentations are quite varied. There are three works for cello and piano: the Brisge Berceuse , Chopin Largo , and Rachmaninov Andante . The Chopin and Rachmaninov are the slow movement from their respective sonatas for cello and piano, while the Bridge is one of a series of short piano works he composed for an instrumental combination. The Glazunov Reverie and the Strauss Nocturne were composed for horn and piano. The publication of the Strauss indicates that it many also be performed on cello, but various arrangements have been written to feature other instruments on the melodic line. I adapted this version from an arrangement for trombone and piano.
The Debussy Syrinx is for the solo flute, but the simple beauty of this short work can be conveyed effectively by any wind instrument. Eric Ewazen's Pastoral is from his Ballad, Pastorale and Dance for flute, horn and piano. The performance on this recording is played directly from an adaptation for tenor and bass trombone. Jan Koetsier's Gran Trio is a substantial four-movement work for trumpet, piano, and trombone. I have performed the entire work many times in an adaptation for euphonium and tuba and decided to include the lovely slow movement of this recording. Portions of this movement call for both brass instruments to be muted.
Although we have performed it in that way, we chose to play the entire movement open for this recording in order to best feature the sonorous blend of the conical low brass. There are four works originally for voice. The Donizetti is one of the beautiful duets in opera that is sung by two men. Schumann's Mondnacht is one of my favorite works of German lieder and Danny Boy is, of course, one of the most recognized and beloved songs in the world.”
This recording is available through Summit Records at www.summitrecords.com.
New “October” Tuba-Euphonium Quartets
Charlie Warren, long time performer and arranger at Disneyland, recently published a few settings for tuba-euphonium quartet of “October-flavored” tunes. These arrangements include “tongue-in-cheek” jazz settings of Funeral March of a Marionette , Toccata and Funeral (a combination of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in d minor and Chopin's Funeral March ) as well as settings of Sorcerer's Apprentice and Parry's Bogies and Sprites that Gambol by Nights . These pieces are available through the Cimarron Music Press website www.cimarronmusic.com where you can download some of the score or listen to an MP3 of the piece.
New Edition of the Clarke Technical Studies from Really Good Music
The Technical Studies for the Cornet by Herbert L. Clarke have long been a staple in the foundational training for trumpet players. Until now, they have not been available to euphonium and tuba players in an edition designed especially for those instruments. Jerry Young's edition, which he initially prepared as a tool for working with his students at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, takes Clarke's original studies and etudes and notates them specifically for the tuba student so the player doesn't have to read treble clef or bass clef down an octave, making them immediately accessible to tubists of all ages. Further, all the studies have been extended further into the upper register than in Clarke's original edition, encouraging all low brass players, whether euphonium, trombone, or tuba players, to use these chromatically progressive studies as a tool to extend their practical range in a logical manner and to improve reading in the extreme upper register in bass clef. Young has also replaced Clarke's original text with pedagogical comments that are more relevant to the 21st century low brass student and added a section on warm-up procedure. Suggestions for companion studies for the Clarke studies from the Arban Complete Methods for tuba and trombone/euphonium (published by Encore Music Publishing Company) are included with each study. This new edition of the Clarke Technical Studies is available from Really Good Music, LLC at www.reallygoodmusic.com or call (715) 834-7530.
INDUSTRY NEWS
David Childs solos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
David Childs and his euphonium took to the stage with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in one of the U.K.'s most prestigious classical music concerts of the season, the Last Night of the Welsh Proms.
Back in 2002, David was invited by Owain Arwel-Hughes OBE to appear as the guest soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Last Night of the Welsh Proms. Since that time David has performed as a soloist with many of Britain's finest orchestras including the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. This year, he will once again take to the stage with the RPO and Owain Arwel-Hughes as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra proudly celebrates its sixtieth anniversary.
Since its formation in 1946, the RPO has been directed by some of the world's finest conductors, most notably Rudolf Kempe, Antal Dorati, André Previn, and Vladimir Ashkenazy. The orchestra continues to thrive, undertaking a busy concert, touring, and recording schedule, under the inspired leadership of Maestro Daniele Gatti and also continues to maintain its legacy by offering audiences in the U.K. and abroad the highest possible standards of music-making, accompanied by some of the most acclaimed artists of the day. This year those artists include Pinchas Zukerman, Leonard Slatkin, Evelyn Glennie, Janina Fialkowska Owain Arwel Hughes, and David Childs.
The concert, sponsored by Classic FM, took place on July 29th at St. David's Hall Cardiff and was another huge coup for the euphonium world. David commented, “I am honored to be flying the flag for the euphonium at the last night of the Welsh Proms —a music festival which has attracted some of the biggest names in the world of classical music. Having had the privilege of performing at the Royal Albert Hall's BBC Proms on two occasions, I am now delighted to be making my second appearance at the Welsh Proms. It should be a lot of fun!”
David's solo contributions included Karl Jenkins' “Benedictus” from The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace , Peter Graham's Fantasy on Rule Britannia – Brillante , and Childs' own arrangements of Czardas , Myfanwy , and Flight of the Bumble Bee . For more information visit www.davechilds.com.
The Tuba Band recently held a concert at Nishi Kokubunji Hall, in Tokyo, Japan for nearly 300 euphonium and tuba students and music enthusiasts. Everyone was thrilled by the awesome display of ensemble playing and musicianship by these four talented professionals. The Tuba Band was founded in 1995 and is anchored by four of Japan's finest musicians: Shoichiro Hokazono, euphonium soloist with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force Central Band, Yashio Abe, recently retired tubist with the Japan Ground Self Defense Force Central Band, Jun Yamaoka, euphonium instructor at Shobi University, and Shin Ogino, tubist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
The February concert was a tour-de-force of superb musical sensitivity and technical flourishes that have earned this group accolades across Japan. The diverse program began with Beethoven's Egmont Overture , a challenging work arranged by Sawako Yamazato for the Tuba Band. The beginning “Sostenuto Ma Non Troppo” was beautifully expressed by the ensemble, and the work completed with a tremendous “Allegro Con Brio” that moved this reviewer with their technical agility and clarity of execution; vividly bringing to mind Count Egmont's own heroic demise at play's end.
Taro Iwashiro, a Japanese award winning composer and pianist, wrote Peaceful Piece in 1991 while he was still a student at Tokyo Art University. The beautifully lyrical ballad with flowing melodic lines, supported by moving traditional harmonic underpinnings was a short respite in a challenging program and would make an excellent encore piece as well.
Quatour , originally written for the group Tubium, is an extremely challenging work that stretches an ensemble's musical interpretation skills and technical mastery of their instruments as so ably demonstrated in the last movement. Written by Masamichi Amano, it begins with broken extended chords and joined by melody over top. The second movement presses forward from the driving bass line and staccato syncopations of the ensemble. This is interrupted by an adagio melodic interlude with parallel melodic motion and then returns to the main theme. The third movement highlights the tubas in the beginning with support from muted euphoniums and develops the material. Open euphoniums then take the lead with moving melodies that betray the composer's film affiliations. The movement ended sadly and quietly with a return to the opening material with tubas and muted euphoniums. A segue to the last movement where Ogino san displayed his wonderful control of the Yorkbrunner, was displayed in the bass line with punch and a driving allegretto tempo. The pristine tutti 16 th lines of the other three were astounding and flowed naturally to a heroic fanfare section and back ending with a 5-octave spread major chord.
The programmatic piece, Glider Landscape by Peter Smalley, rounded out the first half of the concert. The four-movement work represents views of Glider Faul and Glider Fatch in Snodonia National Park in North Wales. Chick Corea's Spain opened the second half of the program and brought back many fond jazz memories as the ensemble wispily played the introduction and tore loose through the head with the Latin groove of three percussionists joining in from the Japan Air Self Defense Force Central Band. Jun Yamaoka displayed improvisational flare over his choruses with the nonstop groove of the JASDF Latin rhythm section propelling the ensemble forward. Hints of “Mattesonesque” solo lines honored the memory of the jazz legend as well as the tight ensemble playing.
The five-movement work Socratic Irony is the title work on the Tuba Band's 2005 CD release. Written by Yoichi Murata of Solid Brass fame, it features cadenzas by all four players between each movement.
Dedicated to the great but hurricane devastated city of New Orleans, the Tuba Band marched through the swinging St. Louis Blues followed by another fun piece for musicians and audience alike, “Mr. Bass Man” by Johnny Cymbal and first recorded in 1963. For the first encore the Tuba Band performed a wonderful arrangement of “O' Danny Boy” by Norio Maeda. Of course, this tune is a natural winner for any ensemble. Their second encore, also arranged by Maeda was Sarasate's “Coffee Lumba” with the addition of the JASDF Latin percussionists. This work included a very clever “Sing Sing Sing” interlude and ending. The final encore was with the assistance of five elementary and pre-school kids shouting “Tequila” and always on cue. It is lots of fun for all with great Latin feels, tuttis, solos, and excited tequilas from the kids.
All of this made for a wonderful afternoon of music and a wonderful evening of camaraderie (three parties!). If you desire more information concerning The Tuba Band you can go to the Kosei website at www.kocd.jp/topics/050415.html, which also shows their latest album, Socratic Irony . Thanks to Eric Strohecker, SMSgt, United States Air Force, for this news article.
GENERAL NEWS
“Trip Across The Pond” inspires New Work for Euphonium
Wilson Euphonium artist Charley Brighton took the stage in the beautiful setting of St. Mary's Parish Church, Slough on August 19 th in another marathon recital as part of his 40 th Year celebrations of euphonium playing.
Following the visit of composer Joe Miserendino from Pennsylvania to the U.K. back in May, Major Mark Hill of the USAF in Yorktown, Virginia commissioned Joe Miserendino to write a piece for Charley as part of his 40 th year celebrations. Joe Miserendino said the work was “for Charley Brighton, who has brought solace and refreshment to our spirits throughout four decades of dedicated artistry and kindly mentorship.” “It came as a complete surprise to me and was a wonderful gift,” said Mr. Brighton.
The music was titled A London Nightscape , and is very atmospheric, certainly evoking the nightclub and late night London street scene. There were two premieres in the recital, both by American composers. The other work being the final movement of a brand new Euphonium Concerto by Kenneth D. Friedrich from Texas. Charley has already premiered the first two movements of the new concerto and will premiere the wind band version early in 2007. He will be the featured soloist in a concert given by the Canterbury Christ Church University Wind Orchestra, conductors Prof. Granville Hancox, MBE and Prof. Sonia Blandford, at the beautiful 13 th Century Street Eanswythe Church in Folkestone, Kent, U.K. Prof. Sonia Blandford and Charley were in the same school band together and have not met since. A chance contact via the website has led to this wonderful reunion. The three-movement work is titled Leggiero, Lament & Agitato .
Whilst the majority of the program was performed on the Willson 2900 Euphonium, Charley also used 2 vintage euphoniums from his collection in the recital, with plenty more on display: a tiny Highams 5-valve euphonium dating from 1891 and a slightly later Boosey Solbron 3-valve euphonium. Since starting this recital series in May of 2001, Charley has performed 22 recitals, playing 118 new solos for the instrument, by 87 different composers, from 13 different countries, with 104 on piano and 14 on organ. There have been 6 duets and an incredible 49 premiers, on 12 different euphonium models, to a total audience of over 1000 people. More information about Mr. Brighton can be found at www.euph9.freeserve.co.uk.
Brighton's Highams 5-valve euphonium dating from 1891
Boosey Solbron 3-valve euphonium from 1922
Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble 40th Anniversary Celebration
The internationally acclaimed Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble will celebrate its 40 th anniversary (1967–2007) with Performances in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City during the academic year 2006/2007. The ensemble was founded by its current director, R. Winston Morris, in the fall of 1967. The TTU group is the most recorded ensemble of its kind in the world, has toured throughout the eastern half of the United States for 40 years, and is the only music group in the state of Tennessee to receive the Tennessee Board of Regents “TBR Academic Excellence and Quality Award.” Since its inception in 1967, the TTU Tuba Ensemble has been responsible for the creation of hundreds of new compositions, has been listed on the Grammy Entry List for its recordings and is the only tuba ensemble to have performed multiple concerts in New York's famous Carnegie Recital Hall. The ensemble's greatest legacy, however, lies in the nurturing of dozens of professional music teachers and tuba/euphonium performers who actively teach and perform throughout the world and other members who have pursued and excelled in many other professions.
A number of activities will take place during the 2006/2007 academic year in celebration of this unique history. Over 200 former members of the TTTE have been invited back to campus to bring their horns and participate in the 40th Anniversary Reunion celebration on Sunday, November 5, 2006. A special twenty-piece 40th Anniversary All-Star Alumni Ensemble will meet on the Tech campus to record and present world-premiere performances of nine major new compositions ( David Baker, John Cheetham, Gregory Danner, Martin Ellerby, Eric Ewazen , Aldo Rafael Forte, Adam Gorb , Tony Plog, and Gunther Schuller ) that have been commissioned specifically for this event.
EVERYONE is invited to please join us for these performances as well as other performances throughout the year by the alumni group and the TTTE (for a complete schedule of activities visit the TTU tuba website at http://orgs.tntech.edu/tuba/index.html.
INTERNET PICKS OF THE QUARTER
Beth Macauley, faculty member in the Department of Communication Disorders at the University of Tulsa (TU), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA has initiated a research study on blocking in brass players with Martin Cochran (euphonium) and Skip Snead (horn). While at the University of Alabama, she presented on this topic at an international Horn conference in Tuscaloosa, Alabama last June. Because initial results with horn players were intriguing, they are expanding to include all brass musicians. Beth needs as many brass players as possible, from around the globe, to complete an online survey about the blocking behavior. The study has been approved by the University of Tulsa Institutional Review Board, is anonymous, and takes around 15–20 minutes to complete. ITEA members are encouraged to complete the survey and invite all of your brass members, students, and friends to do so as well. Thank you very much!
The survey link is http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=77001532209. The password is tulsa. If you have any questions or concerns, please give Beth an email: Beth Macauley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, HPCS, Assistant Professor, beth-macauley@utulsa.edu.
Wide Variety of Low Brass Chamber Music
Many wonderful low brass chamber works can be found on the site www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=253204&t=7439 performed by the Capriccioso Brass. The members of the group are Kate Thulborn, Andy Barrett, Charley Brighton, & David Elliott Smith and features one baritone horn, two euphoniums, and one bass tuba. The list of musical selections includes classical arrangements, folk tunes, popular tunes, dances, lyrical selections, etc. The site also has recorded selections from each work and allows you do download the recorded selections. The site also features links to many other tuba and euphonium related sites.
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