Arkansas Trumpet Guild's 4th annual trumpet workshop
The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith (UAFS) hosted the 4th annual Arkansas Trumpet Guild Workshop on February 25, 2012. The event was coordinated by Dr. Matthew Vangjel, trumpet professor at UAFS, and the featured clinician and performer was trumpeter Joe Burgstaller.
A former member of the Canadian Brass and the Meridian Arts Ensemble, Burgstaller is now on faculty at the Peabody Conservatory. He is also a Yamaha Performing Artist and regularly gives master classes and performances in the U.S. and around the world.
The workshop drew more than fifty professional musicians, educators, and students from across the state. Five universities participating from Arkansas were the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith, University of Arkansas, Arkansas State University, Henderson State University, and the University of Central Arkansas. The event opened with the first of two master classes by Burgstaller. Concepts addressed in the initial master class included appropriately incorporating and engaging an audience, dealing with performance anxiety, and developing effective practice habits. 
The afternoon session commenced with a performance by three trumpet ensembles. The Arkansas State University Trumpet Ensemble, led by Dr. Christopher Wilson, performed David Williams’ Flicker for 8 Trumpets. Next on the program was the UAFS Trumpet Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Matthew Vangjel. UAFS began their program with Within Sacred Walls by Eric Morales with guest conductor Dr. Alexandra Zacharella, Director of Bands and professor of low brass at UAFS. The next piece was Thomas Tallis’ If Ye Love Me arranged by Dr. Jason Dovel, the professor of trumpet at Northeastern State University in Talequah, Oklahoma. The UAFS Trumpet Ensemble closed out their program with Fisher Tull’s Canonical Trilogy. The final group to perform was the University of Arkansas Trumpet Ensemble led by Dr. Richard Rulli. Their program included Festival Fanfare by Joseph Turrin, Fantasia for Seven Trumpets by Eric Ewazen and, lastly, Robin Prince of Thieves by Michael Kamen, arranged by Wesley Nance.
The concert was followed by another opportunity for participants to work with Burgstaller. During the afternoon master class, he addressed connecting with the music, effective practicing, memorization, preparation, and the myth of perfection. The master class concluded with an in depth question and answer session.
A brief reading session followed during which Dr. Jim Buckner (HSU) and Dr. Vangjel led the mass ensemble through selections including Tournament of Trumpets by David Bennett, The Lost Chord arranged by Howard Stube, and Anton Bruckner’s Ave Maria arranged by David Marlatt.
The culminating event of the day was a recital by Joe Burgstaller. Pianit Kristy Mezines, of the University of Arkansas, collaborated with Burgstaller on his varied program. The first half included Rafael Mendez’s La Virgen de la Macarena, the spiritual Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, and Alexander Arutunian’s Concerto for Trumpet, and ended with the first movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets where Burgstaller invited Vangjel to share the stage. The second half of the recital included two movements from the Vivaldi-Bach Concerto, an arrangement of Astor Piazzola’s Ave Maria, and an improvised circle song incorporating the entire audience. Burgstaller closed the program with a piece from his most recent Burgstaller-Martignon 4 recording entitled Echoes of Harlem.
The 4th annual Arkansas Trumpet Guild Workshop was made possible by the music department of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith and by generous grants from the International Trumpet Guild, the Yamaha Corporation, and the Sandy and Sandi Sanders Endowment.
Source: Matt Vangjiel, DMA