Tuesday, June 21
11:00 A.M. - MASTER CLASS: Zhonghui Dai
Grand Hotel Grand Ballroom
Gary Mortenson, reporter
Zhonghui Dai is principal trumpet of the National Symphony Orchestra of China and professor of trumpet and head of brass at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. The first student opened with the first movement of the Hummel Concerto. Dai stressed the importance of maintaining a lyricism in the opening lines and not emphasizing the top note of the opening arpeggio. He also addressed the need to keep the air moving through the entire phrase including the return to tonic and the dotted patterns at the end of the initial entrance. Dai stressed the importance of the very first pitch of any entrance and worked with the student to get the initial attack to respond more clearly. He worked with her motive by motive on getting more precision and rhythmic accuracy into her interpretation of the work. His closing advice was to her was to practice slowly and to make sure that air goes through every note.
Dai repeatedly requested that the second participant use more air and to keep that air going throughout the passage. He quickly moved away from the solo work the student had prepared, and instead had him repeat passages he customized and played for the student to stress various pedagogical things the student needed to focus on for improvement. Dai worked with him on lip slurs stressing the need to blow through the second note of the slur whether it is ascending or descending. Dai repeatedly stressed fundamentals and moving the air through the instrument. He used orchestral excerpts from the Beethoven Lenore Overture and the Mahler posthorn solo from Symphony #3 to stress projection and airflow respectively. He went on to work on attacks and on centering the sound. Dai felt that both students needed to work on the physicality of playing trumpet in order to project with more strength and assurance. Dai suggested that trumpet playing requires intense physical exercise to have the physical tools in place.
Zhonghui Dai is principal trumpet of the National Symphony Orchestra of China and professor of trumpet and head of brass at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. The first student opened with the first movement of the Hummel Concerto. Dai stressed the importance of maintaining a lyricism in the opening lines and not emphasizing the top note of the opening arpeggio. He also addressed the need to keep the air moving through the entire phrase including the return to tonic and the dotted patterns at the end of the initial entrance. Dai stressed the importance of the very first pitch of any entrance and worked with the student to get the initial attack to respond more clearly. He worked with her motive by motive on getting more precision and rhythmic accuracy into her interpretation of the work. His closing advice was to her was to practice slowly and to make sure that air goes through every note.
Dai repeatedly requested that the second participant use more air and to keep that air going throughout the passage. He quickly moved away from the solo work the student had prepared, and instead had him repeat passages he customized and played for the student to stress various pedagogical things the student needed to focus on for improvement. Dai worked with him on lip slurs stressing the need to blow through the second note of the slur whether it is ascending or descending. Dai repeatedly stressed fundamentals and moving the air through the instrument. He used orchestral excerpts from the Beethoven Lenore Overture and the Mahler posthorn solo from Symphony #3 to stress projection and airflow respectively. He went on to work on attacks and on centering the sound. Dai felt that both students needed to work on the physicality of playing trumpet in order to project with more strength and assurance. Dai suggested that trumpet playing requires intense physical exercise to have the physical tools in place.