St. Petersburg Conservatory

Trumpet players and ITG members P. Bradley Ulrich, Grant Peters, and Eric Yates recently returned from a trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. The three Americans traveled to St. Petersburg on Sept. 27th to perform on the Oct. 1 Gala Concert of the 7th Annual International Romantic Trumpet Festival. The IRTF is hosted annually by Gennady Nikonov and Irina Vakulenko. Gennady Nikonov is a trumpet soloist and performs in the Marinsky Theatre Orchestra in St. Petersburg. Irina Vakulenko is a composer and pianist who is equally passionate about the trumpet.

The International Romantic Trumpet Festival consists of three or four concerts throughout the year that feature trumpet as a solo instrument. Often these concerts showcase the trumpet as a solo instrument with jazz band, orchestra, organ, piano, or brass ensembles. The October 1st Gala Concert took place in the Glinka Philhamonic Hall and featured classical trumpet concerti with orchestra accompaniment provided by the Orchestra of the Russian National Library with Vasily Zvariiichuk , Artistic Director and Conductor. P. Bradley Ulrich performed Neruda’s Concerto in E-flat, Grant Peters the Haydn Concerto in E-flat, and Eric Yates, the Hummel Concerto in E. The three Americans were joined by counter tenor Gennady Nikonov who performed Henry Purcell’s Sound the Trumpet, which was arranged for trumpet, flute, counter tenor, and orchestra. Nikonov both sang and played the trumpet on Vakulenko’s transcription. Near the end of the concert, Nikonov sang Ave Maria, arranged by Vakulenko as a tribute to the recently deceased Fred Mills. The program concluded with Leroy Anderson’s "Bugler’s Holiday."

The day after the concert, the soloists gave a master class at St. Petersburg Conservatory (Rimsky-Korsakov) the following day. The Russian students at the conservatory presented several works, including those by Tartini and Peskin. The professors at the Conservatory are Boris Taburetkin, former principal trumpet of the Marinsky Theatre Orchestra and Mikhail Romanov, Assistant Principal, Third Trumpet with the St Petersburg Philharmonic.

Moscow Conservatory

The Americans then travelled to Moscow to perform at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where they met their host Vladislav Lavrik, Principal Trumpet of the Russian National Orchestra. On October 5th, Lavrik, who also teaches at the Conservatory, provided the guests with an opportunity to work with many of the school’s trumpet students. In addition to Lavrik, the Conservatory trumpet faculty includes Vadim Novikov, a legendary teacher in Russia. The evening concert featured the same three concerti as the concert in St. Petersburg, this time accompanied by pianist, Svetlana Orujeva. Following the concerti, the performers were joined by Vlad Lavrik and four conservatory students to perform the trumpet ensemble works: "Concert Fanfare," by Eric Ewazen, "Canterbury Flourish" by Gordon Jacob, and Brad Ulrich’s arrangement of John Rutter’s, "What Sweeter Music." Grant Peters, a newly elected member of the ITG Board of Directors, then presented one-year ITG memberships to each of the four student performers and Vlad Lavric. The memberships for students Aseev Nikolay, Alexandr Egorov, Artem Sviridov and Mikhail Anissiforov were made possible by ITG’s Sponsor a Trumpeter program. Additionally, complimentary copies of "Shenandoah" and "Here’s that Rainy Day" for trumpet ensemble were presented to the hosts from both cities, courtesy of ITG Board Member Jim Olcott and Triplo Press.

Military Academy

Ulrich, Peters, and Yates were also invited by trumpet teacher Ahat Samadov to travel to the Russian Military Music Academy in Moscow to present a master class with Vlad Lavrik. All music students assembled for the clinic, with a student brass quintet greeting the Americans with a rendition of the jazz standard, "String of Pearls." Following this performance, each soloist played one movement of his concerto with piano accompaniment, and Lavrik performed an excerpt from the Arutunian Concerto. Four trumpet students from the academy then played for the Americans, who offered commentary. The question and answer session at the end of the clinic covered many topics, including American teaching styles, studio activities, and other topics.

Photos:

St. Petersburg Conservatory:  P. Bradley Ulrich, Eric Yates, Grant Peters with trumpet teachers of the conservatory, Boris Taburetkin, and Mikhail Romanov;  Festival Organizers Gennady Nikonov and Irina Vakulenko, and trumpet students of the Conservatory

Moscow Conservatory: Eric Yates, Vlad Lavrik, P. Bradley Ulrich, Andrei Ikov, Grant Peters after a master class at the Moscow Conservatory

Military Academy: Trumpet teacher, Ahat Samadov, Vlad Lavrik, Grant Peters, students of the Russian Military Music Academy, Eric Yates, P. Bradley Ulrich

StBasil’s: (Grant Peters, P. Bradley Ulrich, Eric Yates) in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square, Moscow

St. Basil's

Sources: P. Bradley Ulrich, Grant Peters, and Eric Yates