Improvisation class (L-R): David Rosenboom (at piano), Amy Horvey, Jeremy Maitland, Phillipe Brunet, Annie Lemieux, Marc Kaptijn, Simon Wolnizer

Thomas Stevens

Natural Trumpet Ensemble (L-R): Simone Telandro, Andreas Stoltzfus, Gabriele Cassone, Tom Dambly, Giuseppe Di Natale, David Wharton, Heather Ni

Mark Gould (L) and Huw Dann

Thirty-five participants, representing Australia, Singapore, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Holland, Canada and the United States joined faculty members Stephen Burns, Edward Carroll, Gabriele Cassone, Mark Gould, David Rosenboom (composer-in-residence), Thomas Stevens, and Markus Stockhausen at the second annual Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, June 18-30, 2007 at the Enfield Shaker Museum in Enfield, New Hampshire. The seminar was presented by the Center for Advanced Musical Studies and was sponsored, in part, by the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and the Yamaha Corporation of America.

Forging a Context for Advancing our Art

The emerging generation of young trumpeters has more information at their disposal than ever before—the tremendous technological advances of the last decade have made musical communication truly global. Many, however, are still struggling to put their own work into a musical context that is meaningful to their own lives and to their artistic communities. They came to Chosen Vale to find that context.

Nightly masterclasses and public concerts, supplemented by chamber music, group lessons and workshops filled a busy daily schedule at Chosen Vale. Faculty and participants lived together in the Great Stone Dwelling, a former Shaker dormitory built in 1841, lending a collegial atmosphere to the seminar, and promoting the exchange of ideas. Shared meals in the Shaker dining hall became a chance to continue discussions of interest.

Workshop topics covered the wide range of skills needed by a musician in today’s world, including:

• Finding one’s own voice via improvisation: “The Trumpeter Performer/Composer: Composing One's Self” (Markus Stockhausen & David Rosenboom)
• Performing in an electronic environment: “The Trumpeter Performer/Composer: Exploring Technology and Interactive Processing” (Rosenboom)
• Examining the similarities found in Baroque and modern gesture and articulation: “A Soloist’s Range: Bach to Berio” (Gabriele Cassone)
• Deep listening/communication of the total composition accompanied by silence: “Music in Solitude: Works for trumpet alone” (Edward Carroll)
• Examining the musical characteristics of French composition and the soloist’s methods of presenting language: “Virtuosity: French Flair with American Air” (Stephen Burns)
• Looking inward to build clarity in instrumental technique: “Approaching James Stamp’s Warm-ups and Studies” (Thomas Stevens, assisted by Tom Dambly)
• Exploring the art of both solo and section playing in an orchestral context: “Orchestral Passages with Piano Accompaniment” (Mark Gould & Carroll)
• A close look at what we hold in our hands: “Recent Developments in Trumpet Design” (special guest: Bob Malone)

A faculty panel discussion on career development was joined by Charles Schlueter, the recently retired principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The discussion covered a lot of ground, but topics remained musical throughout—mouthpiece size and backbore shape were never discussed!

The 18th and 21st Centuries: Bookends of the Same Tradition

The contrast of old and new at Chosen Vale lent great vitality to the course. Music from the Baroque to the present day was represented in workshops, masterclasses, and performance.

The natural trumpet class and ensemble at Chosen Vale was conducted, once again, by Gabriele Cassone. He was joined by seven natural trumpeters, plus Ed Carroll on timpani (which he admits he plays like a trumpeter) in a performance of H.I.F. Biber’s Sonata Scti Polycarpi (1673). Also on natural trumpet, Nathaniel Mayfield offered a brilliant rendition of G.P. Telemann’s Concerto in D (c. 1720) with organist Rebecca Wilt.

What distinguishes the Chosen Vale seminar from most other events of this nature is the bright light focused on new repertoire and improvisation. In addition to standards of the trumpet literature (including sonatas by Hindemith, Ewazen, Davies, and Anthiel, concerti by Jolivet, Tomasi, Boehme, Telemann, Poncielli, Hummel, and Haydn, and miniatures by Enescu, Brandt, Scelsi, and Staigers) a large number of new and noteworthy works, from the second half of the twentieth century to today, were presented and performed by seminar participants:

• Peter Maxwell Davies: Litany for a Ruined Chapel Between Sheep and Shore (1999) performed by Jason Price
• H.K. Gruber: Exposed Throat (2001) performed by Philippe Brunet
• Mauricio Kagel: Atem (1970) performed by Tom Dambly
• Makiko Nishikaze: Northern Stars (1992) performed by Matthew Conley
• Robert Erickson: Kryl (1977) performed by Philippe Brunet
• Alex Eddington: So Joab Blew a Trumpet (2007) performed by Jeremy Maitland
• Wilhelm Killmayer: Tre Pezzi (1968) performed by Marc Kaptijn
• Samuel Barber: Hermit Songs (1953) performed by Huw Dann
• David Rosenboom: Tango Secretum (2006) performed by Rosenboom and Mark Gould
• Ryan Purchase: Apparatus Inconcinnus (2006) performed by Amy Horvey
• Mark-Anthony Turnage: An Aria (with Dancing) (2004) performed by Stephen Burns
• Joan Tower: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman (1986) performed by Katie Miller, Sandra Coffin, Rachel Allen, Emily Lawyer
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Clarino Quartet (1977) performed by Stephen Burns, David Seals, Philippe Brunet, Katie Miller)
• Stephen Burns: Fanfare for Thibaud (2002) performed by Nate Mayfield, Heather Madeira Ni, David Seals, Rob Reustle, Amy Horvey, Andreas Stoltzfus, Jeremy Maitland, Erik Thogerson
• Thomas Stevens: Triangles III (1991) performed by Thomas Stevens (solo), Jason Price, Katie Miller, Marc Kaptijn, Amy Horvey
• David Dzubay: 2 Celebratory Fanfares (1995) performed by Simon Wolnizer, Najib Wong, Peter Schiller, David Wharton, Alex Serio, Simone Telandro
• Mark Gould: The Trumpet in Time of War (2007) performed by Mark Gould, Tom Dambly, Huw Dann, Mark Gould, Kevin Maloney, Katie Miller, Alexander White
• David Rosenboom: a set of ensemble pieces adapted specifically for the Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar: Continental Divide (1964) for piano and trumpets, In the Beginning: Etude III (1980) for trumpets and electronics, In the Beginning: Etude I (1979) for eight trumpets, Shiftless Drifters (2001) for trumpets and electronics, and Attunement (1999) for trumpets, electronic orchestra, and narrator (Mark Gould)
• New compositions from Dartmouth: five works for trumpet(s) and electronics by graduate students in the electro-acoustic music department at Dartmouth College (performed by Philippe Brunet, Andreas Stoltzfus, Jeremy Maitland).

Markus Stockhausen and David Rosenboom performed an entire concert of duo improvisations and led a workshop in collaborative improvisation. Additional group improvisation workshops and a group performance were directed by Markus Stockhausen.

Plans are being made for another edition of the seminar in June 2008. Faculty names and dates should be released by October 2007 and details, including an application form that can be submitted online, can be found at the website linked below.

Participants in the 2007 Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar

Rachel Allen (BM in progress, Oberlin Conservatory), Philippe Brunet (BMus, McGill University; MFA in progress, CalArts), Sandra Coffin (professional musician in New York City; BM, Oberlin Conservatory, MM, Manhattan School of Music), Matthew Conley (BM in progress, Cincinnati College Conservatory), Tom Dambly (professional musician in the SF Bay Area; MA, UCSD, MFA, Mills College), Huw Dann (professional musician in Melbourne, Australia; BMus, Victorian College of the Arts), Giuseppe Di Natale (professional musician in Torino, Italy; Diploma, Conservatorio Regio Calabria), Alex Gotay (freelance musician in Honolulu, Hawaii; undergraduate study at the Peabody Conservatory), Samantha Greenberg (BM in progress, Purchase Conservatory), Amy Horvey (BMus, University of Victoria; MMus, Rotterdam Conservatory; DMus in progress, McGill University), Chris Kallmyer (BM, St. Mary’s College; MFA in progress, CalArts), Marc Kaptijn (professional musician in The Hague, Holland; BM, Rotterdam Conservatory, MMus, the Royal Academy of Music, London), Joe Klause (BM in progress, New England Conservatory), Emily Lawyer (BM in progress, Oberlin Conservatory), Annie Lemieux (high school student from Maryland), Jeremy Maitland (BMus, University of Alberta, MLic, McGill University, MM in progress, Eastman School), Kevin Maloney (BM, East Carolina University, MM, PD in progress, Boston University), Katie Miller (BM in progress, Juilliard School), Russell Monahan (BA, North Central College, MM in progress, University of Louisiana -Lafayette), Heather Madeira Ni (professional musician in Luxembourg; BM, Boston University, MM, Temple University, PGS, Royal Academy of Music, London), Robert Reustle (BM, University of the Arts, MM in progress, Boston University), Raul Miguel Rodriguez (professional musician in Madrid, Spain; degrees from the Conservatoire “Marcos Redondo”, Cuidad Real, and the National Conservatoire of Madrid), Peter Schiller (BM in progress, New England Conservatory), David Seals (professional musician in New Jersey, BS; Messiah College, MM, Rowan University), Alex Serio (BM in progress, Shenandoah University), Joshua Silva (BM in progress, San Francisco Conservatory), Alexandria Smith (high school student from Maryland), Andreas Stoltzfus (BMus, MMus in progress, McGill University), Matthew Sullivan (BM in progress, UMass, Lowell), Ashley Tarr (BM in progress, Eastern Illinois University), Simone Telandro (University of Torino, Conservatorio “Guido Cantelli” Novara, Italy), Erik Thogerson (BM in progress, Indiana University), David Wharton (BM in progress, Oberlin Conservatory), Alexander White (BM in progress, Juilliard School), Simon Wolnizer (BMus in progress, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Australia), Najib Wong (BM in progress, New England Conservatory).

Assistants to the Director: Nathaniel Mayfield (BA, Columbia Univ./Juilliard, Fulbright Scholar in Karlsruhe, Germany; professional musicians in Austin, TX) and Jason Price (BA, Virginia Tech University, MM, DMA, Eastman School; professional musician in East Lansing, MI).

Sound engineer and recordist: Yuri Spitzen (Composer, programmer, and engineer; cofounder of the Theremin Center of Electro-Acoustic Music at the Moscow Conservatory; Technical Director of the graduate program of electro-acoustic music at Dartmouth College).

Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar participants in the news

Brandon Ridenour (2006) performed the Raphael Mendez transcription of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the National Symphony, directed by Marvin Hamlisch, at the Kennedy Center in December 2006 and toured with the Canadian Brass in March 2007.

Tristram Williams (2006) has been nominated for the Australian Freedman Fellowship, which provides the winner with a sum of money for the “establishment of an international career”.  He has left his post as associate principal trumpet with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to pursue a career performing contemporary music.

Daniel Rosenboom (2006) was featured, along with the Industrial Jazz Group, at the Hague Jazz Festival and BimHuis, Amsterdam (Holland) in May 2007.  His hour-long composition “Book of Riddles” was premiered at CalArts in April 2007 and will soon join his CD “Bloodier Mean Son” on Nine Winds records.

Heather Madeira Ni (2006, 2007) and her brass quintet The Ni Ensemble (Luxembourg) has been awarded the first prize at the Internationaler Wettbewerb für Blechbläser-Ensembles um den Preis der Europa-Stadt Passau, 2006, the Passau International Brass Ensemble Competition. 

Nathaniel Mayfield (2006, 2007) will be touring the United States and Canada in September 2008 with the celebrated Swedish trumpeter Niklas Eklund in a program for 2 natural trumpets, soprano, and organ.

Tom Dambly (2006, 2007), a freelance trumpet player in San Francisco, was Assistant Producer of jazz trumpeter Brian Lynch's "Simpático," which won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.

Amy Horvey (2007) toured North America with a program of contemporary music for solo trumpet, appearing at the Vancouver Jazz Festival, Open SpaceVictoria, and the 2006 Festival of New Trumpet (FONT) in New York City, among other venues. She is currently developing a solo show inspired by the life and work of trumpeter Edna White, with funding from the Saskatchewan Arts Board.

Jason Price (2007) will perform this fall at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam for the Holland Festival, the Atypical Jazz Festival in Vienna, and the FONT Festival, the Kitchen and Carnegie Hall in New York. His new music ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, is releasing their second CD on Nonesuch and releasing their third CD on Cantaloupe Records.

Link:
Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar