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Thursday, June 17 - 8:00 am  Lisa Blackmore, Reporter The 2004 Mock Orchestral Audition Competition finalists were Benjamin Albright, from the University of Michigan (a student of William Campbell), Catherine
Armstrong with no university affiliation (a student of Neal Bernsten), Robert P. McCabe from Grand Valley State (a student of Richard Stoelzel), and Alexander R. Noppe from the University of Michigan (a student of William Campbell). Bryan Edgett was the competition coordinator and announced that judges for the finals were: Michael Sachs (principal trumpet, Cleveland Orchestra), David Krauss (principal trumpet, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), and William Pfund (professor emeritus, University of Northern Colorado). The excerpts chosen for the finals included (in order) Beethoven: Leonore Overture #3 (off-stage call), Moussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition (Promenade), Bach: Magnificat (1st movement), Stravinsky: Petrouschka (1947 edition), Mahler: Symphony No. 3 (Posthorn solo), Debussy: Fetes and Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra (5th movement). Lots were picked for the order of finalists and Robert P. McCabe went first. He performed the “Promenade” with a full, broad tone that range throughout the hall. His articulation on Fetes was crisp and clear.
Benjamin Albright followed and played the Mahler with a nice lyrical style, generally using more vibrato. His tone on the larger trumpets was powerful and appropriate for each excerpt. The third finalist, Catherine Armstrong, performed all the excerpts from memory. Her rendition of the Bartok demonstrated a good evenness of tone. In general her sound was resonant if not as loud as the other finalists. The last finalist Alexander R. Noppe played very accurately and with less vibrato on most of the excerpts. Unlike the other finalists, he chose to play the Mahler not on C trumpet, but on flugelhorn. The judges requested each finalist to repeat either Fetes or the Bartok suggesting minor changes in their performance. All of the finalists performed admirably in an extremely stressful situation. Congratulations to all of the competitors and their teachers in this year’s competition. |
Chair: Bryan Edgett Preliminary Judges Finals Judges Finalists Repertoire – To be selected from the following: J.S. Bach: Magnificat (1st movement)
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