ITG 2001 Conference - Solo Competition

Jim Bovinette, Reporter
The 2001 solo performance competition was once again one of the featured events of this year’s annual International Trumpet Guild Conference. Finalists this year were Ashley Hall, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Teacher-Marie Speciale, Fabio Brum, Louisville, Kentucky, Teacher-Michael Tunnell, and Kelly Watkins, Illinois State University, - student of Amy Gilreath. The compulsory piece selected for this year’s competition was the Fantasy by Malcom Arnold. Anne Fielder, from the Evansville University served as the accompanist for all of the finalists. Judges for the competition were Leonard Candelaria, Allen Cox, and Allen Vizzutti. The ITG Chair for the event was John Schlabach.

Ashley Hall was the first performer on the program. She

Ashley Hall - 1st Place

opened her program with her chosen selection, Concerto Number 1, by Vassily Brandt. Ms. Hall performed both the Brandt and the Arnold from memory on a Bach B-flat trumpet with excellent tone and technique, demonstrating a great command of both her low and upper registers. She performed both works aggressively and with great confidence, and the over all effect of here playing was very dynamic.

The next performer in the competition was Fabio Brum. Mr.

Fabio Brum, second place

Brum performed in this year’s finals as an alternate for Mark Allen of Manchester, England. Fabio elected to open his program with the Arnold Fantasy. Mr Brum also performed both the Arnold and his chosen piece, the Arutunian Concerto from memory. Fabio performed on a custom B-flat instrument, which added a welcome variety of color and sound to this year’s competition. His playing was very musical and his tone was rich, warm and beautiful. Fabio had an excellent interpretation of the Arnold Fantasy and his Artunian was exceptional.

The final performer was Kelly Watkins. Ms Watkins’s

Kelly Watkins, Third Place

performed the Arnold first, and followed with her chosen piece, the Arutunian Concerto. Kelly performed her program on a Bach B-flat and was the only performer to use music. Her interpretation of the Arnold was a little less aggressive that the previous soloists, but was also very accurate. The Arutunian was played with excellent style, good tone, and solid articulation.

Overall this year’s competition could quite possibly be one of the best and tightest contests in recent past. All of the performers were well prepared, they all played on B-flat instruments, and all were definitely up to the task. In addition, the compulsory piece was unaccompanied and all of the finalists used the same accompanist for their chosen selection. The fact that the compulsory piece was unaccompanied made the judges task to rank these players more difficult as ensemble was not a consideration. Both performers of the Arutunian used a fairly standard Dokshizer model for their interpretation; even the cup mutes were the same-Denis Wick adjustable cups.