The 2000 Euro-ITG Conference	January 7, 2001

New Euro-ITG President Pierre Dutot The 10th Anniversary Euro-ITG Conference took place in Bad Säckingen, Germany from Nov. 24 to 26, 2000. The conference was hosted by Frank Amrein and Dr. Edward H. Tarr, who integrated the Ellsworth Smith competition into the Conference program. The performances of the contestants were therefore part of the evening concerts, drawing Bad Säckingen's own inhabitants by the hundreds to enjoy the young and enthusiastic musicians. ITG and Bad Säckingen's mayor Dr. Dr. h. c. Günther Nufer had generously contributed to the city's 5th Trumpet Festival. Dr. Tarr greeted us with the following words: "At the end of the old millennium and the beginning of the new one, this festival signifies a pause for mutual reflection. During the Pedagogy Day we shall determine where we stand, on the Musicology Afternoon we shall learn about the latest research, and in the Ellsworth Smith Competition the soloists of tomorrow will announce themselves." The opening ceremony took place in a small Evangelical church which possesses wonderful acoustic properties. The Trumpet Ensemble of the Richard Strauss Conservatory, Munich, celebrated the overwhelmingly beautiful German trumpet sound under the direction of Wolfgang Guggenberger. The young players (with rotary-valve trumpets, naturally) all were students of Guggenberger. TV reporters from the Südwest Rundfunk recorded the event for the Baden Württemberg region. Pierre Dutot lectured on how he works with gifted students. "You don't teach a gifted student how to play technical things. You work on his sound and survey his career. What you do with the student out of class is more important! [smiling] My class is like the Mafia, they stay together all the time, we go swimming and skiing, I am also a sport teacher!" He demonstrated how he warms up by creating sounds inside his body by humming like Tibetan Buddhist monks. The vibrations conquer new parts of his body every day and act like a massage. The trumpet is just his amplifier/loudspeaker. His demonstration was incredible! Klaus Schuhwerk taught the players in his master class that their air flow through the trumpet is as important for sound as the movement of a violin's bow over the strings. ITG Vice-President Vincent DiMartino and son Gabriel Valery Posvaliuk, solo trumpeter of the Kiev Opera, lectured on his teacher Wilhelm Yablonsky (1889-1977), who was considered to be the best trumpet player in Russia. He was a great leader for teachers and musicians for 50 years. Yablonsky was himself a student of Wilhelm Wurm (from Braunschweig, 1826-1904, founder of the St. Petersburg school of trumpet playing), and Wurm's etudes were his favorites for teaching and practicing. Richard Carson Steuart and his guitarist Christian Reichert gave an afternoon concert, Spanish - Blue, in the Trumpeter's Castle. They attracted so many listeners - including many children with their parents - that we were standing and sitting like packed sardines on the floor. These world-class musicians lifted the audience to ecstatic levels on a rainbow of sounds and charming Spanish and South American rhythms! Steuart donated the proceeds from the sales of his CD, Spanish Blue to a fund for commissioning works from eastern European composers. In addition to presenting his fantastic La Tromba trumpets and mouthpieces, Richard Carson Steuart was active through the whole conference with his ensemble, The Prince-Bishop's Wind Consortium of Wuerzburg. They presented not less than 4 world premieres that he had commissioned from the following composers: Bertold Hummel, Valery Strukov, and Peter Lawrence. Trumpet Ensemble from the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich, with director Wolfgang Guggenberger The English trumpet player and composer Peter Lawrence presently holds a position in the Hof Symphony and also plays in Steuart's ensemble. He arranges for German Brass and other groups. His compositions, in a moderate pop style, were eagerly and enthusiastically accepted by the audience. James Thompson, from the Eastman School of Music and formerly first trumpeter in Mexico City, Montreal, and Atlanta, gave a master class in which he presented his favorite teaching etudes, Melodious Etudes, with piano accompaniment CD, by Marco Bordogni (1788-1856). Gabriel DiMartino, 15, played these vocalises with a wonderfully soft and shiny sound. Thompson recommends that everyone practice with piano accompaniment to learn to play with good intonation. "Go for the overtones, they can penetrate an orchestra without being played fff." Players from the new Marcali Brass Band in Hungary, created by Frode Jakobsen's Benjamin foundation in July 2000, also performed admirably well in the master class. Dr. Edward Tarr performs on a rotary trumpet pitched in low Eb The German pedagogue and trumpeter Michael Stecher gave an important lecture on Ganzheitlicher Trumpetenunterricht (Holistic Trumpet Instruction). It dealt with the question of how to give a complete education to children of a world that has lost its integration. Stecher recommended learning through developing skills (as a child learns to speak), not through increasing knowledge. Frank Amrein led a round-table discussion on "How do you share your love for music with your students?" This seance almost developed to a revival meeting! Anatoly Selianin told how he brings cheese and apples to his students, and lends them his CDs! Valery Posvaliuk gives a big part of his heart and time to his students and creates a family of teaching! R. C. Steuart stated: "The truth comes out of the bell. You can play all the notes in the world, but if you aren't honest with yourself, you will not have anything to say that is worthwhile listening to." He plays together with his students, and shares his love through the music! Bengt Eklund founded his Göteborg Brass Band 18 years ago. They give concerts in Sweden or abroad most weekends throughout the whole year. He eats and lives with his students! Bo Nilsson gets to know students well and attends all their concerts. Then they go out to celebrate together! Wolfgang Guggenberger makes his students listen to themselves and become independent of people who give directions! Pierre Dutot goes for confidence, pleasure and passion for both teacher and student! A Büchel duo Spanish Luur Metalls gave a spectacular rendition of their high-quality repertoire of contemporary, classical and typical Spanish and South American music in the gala concert of the second day. It could have lasted the whole night! The newspaper Badische Zeitung gave an excellent review of this concert. They also sponsored the Festival program booklet and concluding reception. An avant-garde and mini concert was composed and performed in the Villa Berberich (in the midst of an art exhibit) by Peter Knodt & the Ensemble Trumpet Meets Voice, featuring two trumpets, a countertenor singer, a dancer, and a tape! The exciting and expressive performance of his Opus 1, Sound Glimpses from a Metropolis, gave an impression of Manhattan, New York, and the busy life there. The house was full! Dr. Dominik Sackmann (Basel) gave a lecture in musicology on Classical Cadenzas for Wind Instruments. The cadenza should just be a short, witty improvisation! Dr. Alexander Stephanov (Bratislava/St. Petersburg) presented exciting new research on Kölbel and the invention of the valve (1766). He has discovered that Kölbel created a so called Amor-Schall in 1766, an instrument that now must be considered the first valved brass instrument, long before Blühmel's and Stölzel's epoch-making invention of 1811-14. A Swiss Alphorn trio George Foreman opened his well-attended lecture with "If the Cornet is the King, then the Carnival of Venice is its Queen!" ITG vice president Vincent DiMartino had brought his son Gabriel, 15, who studies with Stanley Friedman at the Interlochen Arts Academy, to the conference. Together they presented a thrilling and humorous program with lots of dazzling cornet demonstrations of different versions of the Carnival of Venice! What a treat! The trumpet gauntlet in the cathedral square on the last evening gathered inhabitants in the hundreds to listen to trumpet ensembles and to Steghalten, a Swiss alphorn trio, perform in three voices on their 12-foot-long wooden instruments. A büchel duo (i.e. shorter alphorns folded like a natural trumpet) also let their tones fly over the city from a high trestle. Dressed in national costumes they nourished the eye as well as the ear, delighting in the warm and penetrating sounds of these impressive instruments. Steghalten appeared in Bad Säckingen to celebrate the Trumpet Museum's recent acquisition of the oldest playable Swiss alphorn, made in the Bern Oberland around 1850. The conference came to an end while still at its peak. Those attending could return to their homes all over Europe, filled with musical inspiration, valuable knowledge and wallets bristling with visiting cards from new trumpet friends! The 2nd International Altenburg Competition for Baroque Trumpet and another European Trumpet Guild Conference will take place in Bad Säckingen, November 1-4, 2001. Source: Vera Hørven, ITG European Correspondent

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