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 | | Richard Carson Steuart |
Richard Carson Steuart, international trumpet soloist and owner of "La Tromba® Music" in Würzburg, Germany, was invited to Moscow and St. Petersburg to give several master classes and concerts. La Tromba® Music encompasses CD production and manufacture of handmade trumpets and CNC produced mouthpieces. The Russian students and teachers were fascinated and inspired by this musician who performed on instruments of his own design. The events took place December 4-11, 2000.
Mr. Steuart was invited to Moscow by the Russian composer Valery Strukov, and Leonid Tschumov, professor of trumpet at the Moscow State Conservatory (Tschaikovsky Conservatory). Mr. Steuart has worked with Valery Strukov since 1995 and regularly performs his works for solo trumpet and brass ensemble.
The invitation to St. Petersburg came from Viktor Soumerkine, "Honored Artist of Russia," a world renowned trombonist and head of the Brass Department of St. Petersburg State Conservatory (Rimsky-Korsakov), and Sergey Yevtushenko, director of the Hermitage Music Academy. The host of the events was the Ministry of Culture of Russia.
Richard Carson Steuart is a native Canadian residing in Germany since 1978. He grew up playing his cornet in an active amateur brass playing family in Regina Saskatchewan. He is the top prize winner of the Canadian (CBC/ Toronto), German (ARD/ Munich) and Swiss (Swiss Romand/Geneva) Radio and Television Solo trumpet competitions in 1976,1980 and 1981 respectively. He is also the former Solo Trumpeter of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, the German Opera in Düsseldorf, and the Bamberger Symphony Orchestra (1976 to 1983). As co-founder of German Brass he recorded as 1st Solo Trumpeter of the ensemble from 1979 until 1985. Then he formed Munich Brass® which is frequently featured on radio, TV, recordings, and high profile international events such as the G-7 conferences in Germany.
Mr. Steuart was pleased to expand his Russian invitation to two of his colleagues. He brought with him his personal piano accompanist Herrn Rudolf Ramming from Germany, and his good friend Dr. Harold (Skip) Gray, from the University of Kentucky, U.S.A., president of T.U.B.A. (the International Tuba and Euphonium Association).
 | | Richard Carson Steuart showing some mouthpieces to First Trumpeter Valery Posvaliuk from the National Opera and Ballet Theater Orchestra in Kiev. |
Masterclasses
In Moscow, the well attended masterclasses for both trumpet and tuba were presented in the three major state institutions of that city. Students of the Tschaikovsky Conservatory, the Genisin Institute (where Timofey Dokschitzer taught for decades), and the State Specialized School of Wind Art, as well as several young trumpeters competing that week in the "National Trumpet Competition," participated in his masterclasses with great enthusiasm. Enescu's Legend was a favored piece. Delighted students proceeded from Steuart's masterclasses to the competition with awakened insights to perform this piece themselves, with new musical "wind in their sails"!
Mr. Steuart focused each of his masterclasses on the following issues: Music as a language of "pure emotional expression" and virtuoso technique as a tool only to enhance a "singing style of playing." He challenged them to "play exactly what is written on the page," and demonstrated how to focus on the interactive musical dialog with his colleagues to create sensitive chamber music.
In St. Petersburg, Richard Carson Steuart was again warmly received by the brass members of the Marinsky Theater and the Leningrad Philharmonic as well as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Brass Quintet (Russian Brass). Students attended his master class at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory accompanied by members of the faculty and a large number of students. He was touched by the extraordinary honesty and musical cultivation of the masterclass participants. Because of this he added an extra 20 minutes to his lecture to convey his personal philosophy of "idealism as the true musical message." The master class participants would not let Mr. Steuart go before he had treated them to the slow movements of the Arutunian Concerto, (dedicated to Aikas Mesiyan) with its deeply moving emotional expression.
Concerts
The concert program included two works for trumpet commissioned for these events: Scherzo by the Russian composer Valery Strukov and Trio by the German composer Wolfram Buchenberg, both for Piccolo Trumpet in Bb, Tuba in F and Piano. The additional interpretation of mainstream works for trumpet and piano, such as Arthur Honegger`s Intrada, the Kent Kennan Sonata, and Georges Enescu's Legend, were also very much appreciated by the receptive audience.
Dr. Gray performed the demanding standard tuba and piano works such as the Paul Hindemith Sonata, Bertold Hummel Sonatine op.81a and Ernst-Thilo Kalke`s Mevagissey Tales. Rudolf Ramming charmingly performed 6 of the 12 virtuoso Preludes for Piano Solo by Valery Strukov.
As a result of the resounding success in both of the major Russian music centers, Prof. Viktor Soumerkine and the State Conservatory of St. Petersburg solicited concerts, extended lectures, and a master class series from Richard Carson Steuart. Performances and live recordings of newly commissioned works for solo trumpet (by among others Peter Lawrence) are planned with the State Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Petersburg Admiralty Navy Band under commander Alexey Karabanov. Both colleagues and concertgoers must be very excited about the concerts and CD recordings of new solo trumpet works written for the idealistic virtuoso trumpeter Richard Carson Steuart, planned for February of 2002.
These pictures were taken of Richard Carson Steuart in November 2000. Read more about his performances in the Euro-ITG conference at:
http://www.trumpetguild.org/news/news01/euroitg.htm
Source: Vera Hørven, Richard Carson Steuart |
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