L to R: John Marchiando, Jens Lindemann, David Hickman, Allan Dean, Allen Vizzutti, Terry Sawchuk

The world-renowned large brass ensemble, Summit Brass, was pleased to once again host the Rafael Méndez Brass Institute, June 8-14. Named in honor of the legendary Hollywood trumpeter, the Rafael Méndez Brass Institute is the world's leading annual performance and career development seminar for brass musicians. The week-long seminar provided aspiring brass players with many opportunities to interact with the performing members of the Summit Brass in daily coachings, masterclasses, career seminars, and concerts. This year marked the first for the Institute in its new home at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Trumpet players participating in the Institute were treated to a vast wealth of information from some of the finest performers and teachers in the field. David Hickman kicked off the first masterclass of the week with a discussion of pedagogical techniques. Hickman stressed the importance of the developing a balance of the "4 Ps" (embouchure Pucker, mouthpiece Pressure, tongue Position, and Push of the air), for creation of a strong embouchure and good sound. He talked about how lip bend and pedal tone exercises are very good ways to develop the 4 Ps. Mr. Hickman also introduced the audience to 'pop tones' and flutter-tonguing as a means for improving articulation on the trumpet. His clear explanations and brilliant demonstrations were very helpful to the audience. Terry Sawchuk, Professor of Trumpet at the University of Colorado, held a very insightful class on Tuesday. Mr. Sawchuk stressed the importance of obtaining as much knowledge of the trumpet as possible. He explained that he gives his students at Colorado lessons on jazz playing, in which they harmonize scales and jam with tapes. He stressed the importance of being able to be a "crossover" player, with the ability to do both classical and jazz well, something that Mr. Sawchuk certainly has a strong reputation for. Jens Lindemann used his class time to talk about the importance of playing trumpet in a loose, relaxed way. He spoke of breathing and playing with the entire body as a way to aid in that relaxation. Mr. Lindemann then talked about performing on stage, saying that the player "shouldn't impose, but instead, should share their performance" with the audience. A good way to achieve that is to perform from memory, eliminating that barrier between performer and audience. Allan Dean spent time talking about branching out into early music, something that he is certainly known for. He talked about the relationship of diaphragm and the chops and how being tense in the breathing can affect how we play. He stressed the importance of keeping the body in shape, as it can affect how well one is able to breath and play. Allen Vizzutti stressed to the audience that they should always strive to create something musical in their playing. "Be sincere, pick your own direction", he implored. He asked the aspiring players to cast off the list of reasons why they can't achieve their goals. In addition to the lectures given at each masterclass, several students were given the opportunity to play for each of the trumpet faculty, receiving expert opinions on specific matters of their performance.

The Rafael Méndez Brass Institute also held five career seminars in which the panelists offered sound advice to participants of a variety of subjects. Seminar topics included the business of music, selling CDs, auditions, artist management and writing, commissioning, arranging, and publishing music.

Of course, the high point of the Institute was the nightly performances. The Boulder Brass opened the festivities with a concert featuring music ranging from J. S. Bach to George Gershwin. Trumpeters Bruce Barrie, Dawn Kramer, Dan Kuehn and Terry Sawchuk performed brilliantly. Jens Lindemann played both trumpet and euphonium with Sam Pilafian, Terry Sawchuk gave a strong performance of one of his own compositions, and Allan Dean jammed with the resident combo on the "Jazz and Brass" concert. The Denver Brass presented a unique program of both traditional music for brass and arrangements that included bagpipes and drummers and steel drums. F. Joseph Docksey, Cami Kidwell-Dodge, Alan Hood and Roberta Goodall handled the diverse program with ease. Jens Lindemann appeared on the faculty concert, performing his rendition of Gershwin's Three Preludes. He then joined Allan Dean, David Hickman, Terry Sawchuk and Allen Vizzutti to perform Cocktail, for five trumpets, by Jerome Naulais. A concert featuring the chamber music of Eric Ewazen offered two works for trumpet. Mandala, a quintet for flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin and cello featured Terry Sawchuk with members of the Colorado Symphony, and Allan Dean, along with Milt Stevens on trombone, performed of one of Ewazen's newer works, An Elizabethan Songbook. Two concerts featuring Institute participants offered performances ranging from trumpet trios to brass octets. The students performed with much excitement and maturity. The Summit Brass wrapped up the week with a spectacular performance in Mackey Concert Hall that will be featured on a live recording to be released on Summit Records. The concert featured works by composer-in-residence Eric Ewazen, Richard Strauss, J. S. Bach, Dmitri Shostakovich, and the world premiere performance of Prism-Shards of Color for Brass and Percussion by Allen Vizzutti. Vizzutti, trumpet, Larry Zalkind, trombone, Gail Williams, horn, Daniel Perantoni, tuba, and Brian Bowman, euphonium, were each featured as soloists in the five-movement work. Other highlights included a work of Yiddish music for solo horn and brass entitled Doina Fantasy, featuring Thomas Bacon and a haunting transcription of the choral piece O Magnum Mysterium by Mortor Lauridsen. The Summit Brass finished the evening with a toe-tapping encore of It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing.

Performing with the Summit Brass for the 2003 Rafael Méndez Institute were Allan Dean, David Hickman, Jens Lindemann, John Marchiando, Terry Sawchuk, and Allen Vizzutti, trumpet; Thomas Bacon, Martin Hackleman, David Krehbiel, David Pinkow, Gail Williams, horn; Carl Lenthe, John Lofton, John Neurohr, Matthew Plummer, Bill Stanley, Milton Stevens and Larry Zalkind, trombone; Brian Bowman, euphonium; Michael Allen, Daniel Perantoni, and J. Samuel Pilafian, tuba; and Peter Cooper and Mark Foster, percussion.

Website:
Institute website

Related ITG News stories:
Rafael Méndez Brass Institute 2003, University of Colorado
RMBI 2004 - advance notice for June 2004
(added 28th October 2003)