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Masterclass: Pasi Pirinen
Thursday 11:30am
Jon Burgess, reviewer
Pasi Pirinen started the master class with a brief history of his studies and performance background. His primary teacher was John Miller at the Guildhall School of Music in London. After receiving his diploma he made it a point to get an international perspective of trumpet performance by studying with Antoine Curé in Paris and with Michael Sachs in the United States. Having played orchestras in Argentina for two years he returned to London to freelance and within a year was appointed principal trumpet with the Finnish Radio Orchestra.
The first participant Mathew Frederick, a student from Auburn University in Alabama, played sections from the first movement of Ewazen's Sonata for Trumpet. Pirinen's comments centered mainly on keeping the air moving forward, a topic that returned with each of the participants. He advised the student to think of playing one "long note" no matter if the notes are very short or longer in duration and not to "aim" for each note, this will only restrict airflow. Pirinen's concept of playing is to approach everything as if playing in the middle of the register; an idea based on the James Stamp exercises of staying down as you ascend. One exercise Pirinen had the student perform was to play the rhythm of certain passages on one note to promote good airflow and only then add the pitches.
Keith Geimer from Towson State University in Maryland performed the first movement of Boehm's Concerto for Trumpet. Pirinen's comments emphasized that the performer must make the composer's music interesting to the listeners. Especially with Romantic works the performer can be freer in his interpretation. Much of the discussion dealt with how to make each phrase interesting by using subtle dynamics changes, rubato and knowing the goal of each phrase in the music. Pirinen encouraged the audience to listen frequently to live concerts to help develop a strong concept of musical styles. In regard to Geimer's performance Pirinen was able to make an immediate difference in his sound by cautioning him not to raise his head as he ascends. It was Pirinen's opinion that everyone should keep a natural angle to his or her head position (which is often down), a concept he said that could be better understood by studying the Alexander Technique.
The final participant was Daniel Brown from New Mexico State University. He performed Malcomb Arnold's Fantasy for unaccompanied trumpet. Pirinen encouraged Daniel to imagine different characters in the music so that you concentrate on the music not the technical aspects of playing the trumpet. Pirinen warned that when learning technically difficult pieces it is very important to start by practicing very slowly and be patient in working the piece up to tempo. His concept is to "respect every note you play" and try to make quick notes "sound slow". Each of the participants played well and were greatly aided in their performances by Pirinen's concepts.
Final comments dealt with Pirinen's daily warm-up routine. The first forty-five minutes of his practice he tries to include all aspects of trumpet technique so that he can spend the rest of the day concentrating on the music he his playing and not on "playing the trumpet". He uses the Stamp warm-up routine everyday and combines this with various tonguing and finger exercises from Arban and Clarke. He cautioned that everyone has to find what works for them and that you should try to keep things as natural as possible when playing, avoiding over analyzing the playing process. The common theme throughout the master class was to minimize your efforts in playing the trumpet and concentrate on the music. (Jon Burgess, assistant professor of trumpet, Texas Christian University) |
