Trumpeting Again In Lake Placid	November 10, 2001

Mark Gould The promise of distant trumpets echoing from the mountain tops and careful listening lay just ahead. Thirty eight participants from North and South America, Asia, and Europe joined faculty members Ed Carroll, John Wallace, and myself (Mark Gould, urban as well as urbane, was with his family) as we trekked from the Copperas Pond trailhead high above thevillage of Lake Placid New York, to a pristine Adirondack setting, to hear an "al fresco" performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Michael's Farewell (originally performed from building tops surrounding Teatro La Scala). Conversations became muted and then fell silent as our ears were filled by subtle layers of counterpoint from the voices of five trumpeters situated around the lake, echoing loudly and then softly from the rocks and peaks above. It seemed as if the piece was written for just this time and just this place. The loons were singing a new tune. The body of work offered at the Lake Placid International Trumpet Seminar has evolved since our inaugural season, and with each new edition the faculty has challenged participants to stretch beyond their self imposed musical restrictions, to actively participate in music making using their own unique voice, to define and expand their often pedantic repertoire, and to experience the thrill of broadening musical horizons. I was certain that we were onto something special when Tom Stevens presented, with typical conviction and vision, a brilliant series of classes re-examining basic musical literacy through performance of standard etudes at our first seminar in 1996. It came as some surprise how many technically accomplished performers stepped willingly into the many traps presented by the etudes - ignoring primary beats, accenting passing tones, and being blissfully unaware of the shape of each phrase, let alone of the shape of each piece! Over subsequent years the faculty has challenged participants in the art of monologue through unaccompanied solo pieces and explored a wide variety of topics including improvisation, the natural trumpet, Russian romanticism, the French Tradition, the Symphonies of Gustav Mahler, and the cornet and its idiom in the 19th Century. Many new compositions by such well respected composers as Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Rhian Samuel, Andrew Wilson Dickson, Robin Holloway, Ned Rorem, Paul Moravec, and H.K. Gruber have been given first hearings in Lake Placid. Notable 2001 performances, both in masterclass and in concert, included works by Maxwell Davies (Denver Dill, Juilliard), Anthiel (Sean Maness, Eastman), Bozza (Skye Chang, Curtis), Bitsch (Zeb Upton, Rice), Pilss (David Seals, Rowan), Rachmaninov (Melissa Piña, Oberlin), Blätterman (Lisa Childs, Royal Academy of Music, London), and Ravel (Oregon highschoolerAndré Dubelsten) were well prepared and expected. Others, such as a fabulous collaborative reading by Blakley Carroll (FSU), Nathaniel Kritzer (Cincinatti), Elizabeth Meeker (Yale) and Mr. Dill of Petr Eben's Okna (with the brilliant English organist Simon Wright), Ives' From the Steeples and the Mountains by John Olin (Northwestern) and Jo Ann Lamolino (Manhattan), and early Italian Sonatas by Fantini and Viviani, performed in authentic affect by Erin Weldon (Florida), Kristen Gilli (CalArts), Ki-Bum Park (Seoul University), Dante Marinelli (DePauw) were assembled in just a few days. Composer Eric Ewazen was on hand as well, offering insight into his Trumpet Sonata and performing, with violinist Annamae Goldstein and myself, his Trio for trumpet, violin, and piano. Music must remain in a state of continious transformation and re-interpretation to remain as vital and alive as it was when it took form in the composer's imagination. Let's continue to hike its many trails, shall we? Lake Placid Participants and Faculty Participants in the Lake Placid Institute International Trumpet Seminar 2001 included Jessica Ashcraft, Eli Asher, Spencer Aston, Bill Baxtresser, C.J. Camerieri, Blakely Carroll, Skye Chang, Lisa Childs, Jennifer Dearden, Denver Dill, Brian Drake, André Dubelsten, Gordon Duncan, Jonas Feldman, Joseph Ferruzzo, Kristen Gilli, Reginald Grisham, Randall Haynes, Nathaniel Kritzer, Sebastian Kroll, Jo Ann Lamolino, Adam Makhluf, Sean Maness, Dante Marinelli, Matthew Mead, Elizabeth Meeker, Martin Mengle, Ian Milne, Stephen O'Connor, John Olin, Ki-Bum Park, Melissa Piña, David Seals, Eric Svoboda, Zebediah Upton, Erin Weldon, and Sarah Williams. The Lake Placid International Trumpet Seminar is sponsored by the Yamaha Coropration of America and presented by the Lake Placid Institute in partnership of the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance, Glasgow. For information about the Lake Placid Institute, please visit www.lakeplacidinstitute.org or call 1 (518) 523 1312. Source: James Thompson, Professor of Trumpet, Eastman School of Music.

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