Byron Stripling and K.O. Skinsnes visit Utah State University

World-class trumpet soloist Byron Stripling visited Utah State University in Logan, Utah, during the week of April 22, 2013. There he conducted a master class, taught private and group lessons, and performed with both the USU Jazz Orchestra and USU Wind Orchestra.

Stripling opened the master class with a performance of Louis Armstrong’s solo from Back Home in Indiana. He covered a variety of topics including fundamentals, listening, effective verbalization of trumpet tone, and transcription for an audience of students and faculty from Utah State University and high school students and educators from Northern Utah. Later Stripling co-hosted a three-hour jazz jam session alongside USU jazz faculty.

K.O. Skinsnes from Stomvi, U.S.A. also visited the Utah State campus April 21 –24th. He gave a well-attended, informative seminar titled “The Mouthpiece/Trumpet Annulus (Gap): What it is, what it does, and how adjusting it by as little as 1/32’ can turn a bad trumpet into a great one and can make or break your performance.” He also provided mouthpiece consultations for USU students as well as local professional and amateur players from the Cache Valley area. Using Stomvi FLEX mouthpieces and couplers, he was able to demonstrate great improvement with tone, articulation and range from having a properly adjusted gap.

Source: Max Matzen, Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Brass Studies, Utah State University