The Kansas State University Trumpet Ensemble traveled to London over Thanksgiving Break/2008 to perform concerts and master classes during the six-day overseas trip. On Thursday, November 27th they spent the day at the Camden School for Girls as the guests of Paul Newbury – director of the school’s music department. During two master class sessions, students from Camden performed ensemble and solo music for comments by Gary Mortenson and Paul Mueller from KSU, and by Ibrahim Maalouf from Paris. Maalouf had come across the channel for the day to participate in the master classes and to perform his composition Klezmarab for solo quarter tone trumpet, violin solo, and five trumpets. The violin soloist for the Camden performance was Kristin Mortenson, associate concertmaster of the Topeka, Kansas Symphony Orchestra. Kristin had premiered the work with Maalouf in November of 2007 with performances in Kansas and in France.

On Friday, November 28th, the KSU students performed on an early afternoon recital series at St. Anne’s Lutheran Church located in London very near St. Paul’s Cathedral. Originating in a suggestion from Neville Young, this concert featured the ensemble’s full London repertoire of about fifty minutes’ duration. A large and enthusiastic audience enjoyed a variety of repertoire that included much of the literature presented at Camden, plus works by J.S. Bach, Jukka Viitasaari, Paul Basler, and James Olcott. St. Anne’s presents a variety of music on their lunchtime concerts series, managed by the church’s cantor Martin Knizia.

Later that same day, the KSU group headed to The Royal Academy of Music to collaborate on a concert titled Transatlantic Trumpets with the students of James Watson, Head of Brass and professor of trumpet at the RAM. This early evening concert included four works that featured both groups alone and then in combined ensemble. The RAM Trumpet Ensemble opened the concert with Marche Triomphale for trumpets and organ by Jean Françaix (1912-1997). The program continued with the KSU Trumpet Ensemble’s offering of Infinite Ascent by American composer Erik Morales (b. 1966). This work was written expressly for the ensemble’s London tour. Morales included the following program notes for the KSU commission: “The title ‘Infinite Ascent’ was inspired by the favorite popular children's story The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge) by Albert Lamorisse. This was one of my favorite books growing up as a child. The dream-like story revolves around Pascal, a little boy in Paris, who discovers a brilliant red balloon on his way to school one day. The balloon comes alive for Pascal and they develop a relationship much like a boy and his pet dog…The brilliant red balloon stands out in stark contrast to the drab grays and browns of the city streets. The red balloon is a metaphor for love and friendship.”

For the final two selections on the program, the KSU and RAM trumpet ensembles combined forces. The first work, Influx by Alyson Barber (b. 1983), was a world premiere of a work written specifically for this program. The premiere of Influx was conducted by James Watson. The composer supplied the following program notes: “Influx for twelve trumpets was commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music Trumpet Ensemble and the Kansas State University Trumpet Ensemble. Whilst writing this piece I was influenced by the space of the Duke’s Hall and how sound could work within this area. I became interested in moving sound within this space by placing trumpets in different groups around the hall and having them interact with each other in various ways.” The premiere of Influx was greeted with enthusiasm by an appreciative audience. James Watson did an admirable job of rehearsing and performing the piece with players who had met each other for the first time during the 90 minutes before the premiere! His guidance and critical comments assured an excellent reading of Influx to the delight of the composer who was in attendance throughout the day’s activities.

The program ended with the combined groups performing The Ascension by Paul Basler (b. 1963). Tarri Lynn Iskenderian’s notes for the program supplied to the audience at the RAM summarize the piece most effectively: “The Ascension is characterized by Basler’s use of rhythm and syncopation. The piece gains its momentum through its rhythmic drive, while short glimpses of melodic fragments appear underneath the rhythmic texture. Accents leap out of the texture, creating an active feeling propelling the piece forward as the rhythmic patterns interplay between parts. The piece ends its journey in a chorale-like fashion, as if signaling that the music has arrived at its enlightened destination. The use of its once consistent rhythmic drive is suddenly abandoned and a slower, more heartfelt melody emerges. In less than four minutes Basler takes us on a brisk spiritual journey, and presents what is perhaps his own personal search for ‘enlightenment.’” The Ascension was rehearsed and conducted by Gary Mortenson. More information on the Royal Academy of Music and Kansas State University is available at their respective website locations:

http://www.ram.ac.uk/

http://www.k-state.edu/music/

Rebecca Ronen, a junior trumpet performance major at Kansas State University had this to say about her overseas experience. “I will cherish the trip to London for the rest of my life. Having the opportunity to work with some of the finest people on my instrument at the Royal Academy of Music, making great friends like Neville Young, giving master classes and performing for middle school and high school students at the Camden School for Girls, and performing at St. Anne’s on their lunchtime recital series is more than I could have ever asked for in a trip abroad. I am so incredibly lucky to have had this experience.”

Personnel for the Transatlantic Trumpets program included the following:

Royal Academy of Music – Alexis Anderson, Jack Bennington, Hannah Bishop, Oliver Carey, Dimitrios Gkogkas, Barrett Hocking, Guy McIntosh, James Woods-Davison

Kansas State University – Lindsay Bennett, Alex Cook, Alan Martens, Paul Mueller, Samuel Mustain, Rebecca Ronen, Eric Starnes, Brian Stuckenschmidt, Brian Williams

Acknowledgements: The KSU Trumpet Ensemble wishes to thank Hannah Melville-Smith, Concerts Administrator at the Royal Academy of Music, for her assistance in arranging for the group’s appearance on the Transatlantic Trumpets concert. We also give a special thanks to Neville Young for his help in arranging for the ensemble’s appearances at St. Anne’s Lutheran Church and the Camden School for Girls, and for supplying the digital photograph used in this news item.

Students of James Watson (RAM) and Gary Mortenson (KSU) in Duke’s Hall prior to the Transatlantic Trumpets concert

Sources: Gary Mortenson and Neville Young