Thomas Hooten visits Florida State University
Principal trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and recently appointed principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Thomas Hooten was in residence at Florida State University March 27 and 28th.
In his residency Hooten taught several group lessons, performed a solo recital, and presented a lecture to music majors.
FSU trumpet majors participate in small group lessons with Hooten in which he discussed ways to improve. Additionally, selected students performed both solos and excerpts. Hooten gave instructions and demonstrated how to practice the skills needed for students to improve on their performance.
In addition to the lessons, Hooten gave a recital in Opperman Music Hall. The recital included Honneger’s Intrada, Francaix‘s Sonatine, three songs by Rachmaninoff, Stephenson’s Burden of Destiny, Enescu’s Legend, and Downie’s Trumpet Call.
On the second day of the residency, FSU music majors attended Hooten’s master
class. The master class pertained to all musicians as Hooten discussed how to
improve little increments at a time. He shared his method using an organizational spreadsheet listing fundamentals that are important to be developed while tracking his progress.
Source: Aaron Witek, Florida State University doctoral candidate