Elisa Koehler, reporter

An eager, expectant crowd assembled to hear the afternoon recital by Barbara Butler, Professor of Trumpet at Northwestern University. The program began with a work freshly composed by one of Butler's students, Joe Ferruzzo, entitled Concertino for Trumpet and Piano (available from www.joeferruzzo.com). Performed on piccolo trumpet, the attractive, engaging work featured playful virtuosity with contrasting lyrical episodes. It's hard to imagine a recital where a work of fiendish difficulty in Brandenburg range was the “light” opener, but such was the case.

The next piece on the program was Andre Jolivet's Concertino for Trumpet. Throughout the performance, Butler's ringing high register and technical mastery were impressive. Her ability to illuminate hidden twists and turns in the phrasing made this repertoire staple sound fresh and new. To facilitate the fast mute changes in the work, Butler employed a music stand raised elbow high, which was ergonomically affective and less distracting for the audience. The playing of the pianist, Yoko Yamada-Selvaggio, was outstanding, however the balance between the somewhat subdued piano and Butler's brilliant trumpet struck this listener as being a bit uneven (perhaps the piano lid could have been raised higher?).

Speaking to the audience in the middle of the program, Butler confessed that three of the four works on the recital were new to her, and that she enjoys learning new pieces. Adding that she often hears about new repertoire from her students, she invited the audience to attend her “unbelievably early” master class at 8:30 a.m. the next morning.

The third piece on the concert, Concerto for Trumpet, Op. 42 by Estonian composer Eino Tamberg, was written for the late Russian virtuoso, Timofei Dokshizer. The three-movement concerto was reminiscent of Shostakovich and Prokofiev with fire-breathing virtuosity and introspective muted passages.

Before performing the last piece, Vladimir Peskin's Concerto No, 1 in C Minor (another piece written for Dokshizer), Butler encouraged the audience to explore the fine Russian literature that is now becoming more readily available (both the Tamberg and Peskin are published by Editions Marc Reift). The extensive opening movement ended with such bravura that the audience applauded as though it were the end, however two more movements followed that were equally impressive. Butler's amazing stamina, crystal clear attacks, intelligent musicianship, and cool control were evident throughout the entire recital. She rewarded the enthusiastic audience with a brief encore, the Cavatina from Verne Reynold's Fantastic Etudes.