Terry with University of Costa Rica student Raul Robles

National SO trumpet section: Bary Chaves, Luis M. Araya, Rafael Chaves, Juan C. Meza

In late February, writes Luis M. Araya, we had the privilege of welcoming Terry Everson to Costa Rica to conduct the brass section of the Costa Rica National Symphony Orchestra for a concert, and to provide two masterclasses for all Costa Rican trumpet players.

The rehearsals with the CRNS brass were from Tuesday to Friday and the concert was on the Sunday, 24th February, at 10:30 am. The program was:

• John Cheetham - Keystone Celebration
• Morten Lauridsen - O Magnum Mysterium
• Gunther Schuller - Symphony for Brass and Percussion
• Chris Hazell - Three Brass Cats
• Traditional, arr. Peter Knudsvig - Two Spirituals. Terry Everson, Soloist.
• Alfred Reed - Symphony for Brass and Percussion

Everson planned the rehearsals very carefully and always knew what to ask for in order to get the best from all of us, talking to us with much respect and in a very positive way. During the concert, he transmitted lots of energy and enthusiasm to all of us and the event was a great success!

The masterclasses were on Tuesday and Wednesday and Everson started by playing a short piece (Vizzuti´s Cascades on the Tuesday and Persichetti’s Parable on Wednesday) and talked about his approach to music for a little while before working with some trumpet players. He is one of the most incredible artists I have ever seen playing. He is not only a great trumpet player, but transcends even this: he is a true artist.

I must add that Terry Everson´s approach to teaching is great. He had players focus mainly on the music to fix any other physical/technical difficulty, and the results were always that people ended up playing with a more resonant and ringing sound and an ease of playing that was reflected in a more expressive approach.

Some of the players were students of the National Institute of Music, Costa Rica University´s School of Music, with some professional players also participating.

I am personally very thankful to Terry Everson for the hard work he did in Costa Rica and I hope to see him here again in the future.

Link:
Terry Everson
Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica (in Spanish)