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My summer report
August 2007
It is back-to-school time, and it is one of the classic assignments to write or tell about "what I did this summer". I always look forward to hearing about what my students did over the summer. Many worked jobs, some attended music festivals, some were camp counselors, some traveled, and some did many of those things and more! Here is my report:
May - I took ten days off from playing and then practiced almost every day in anticipation of my participation in the ITF, Las Vegas. I flew there on the 29th, met with some of the other panel discussion participants, rehearsed with the pianist, and got to acquaint or re-acquaint with many trombonists as they arrived, enjoying the exchanges immensely. The festival commenced on the 31st, and was a wonderful experience. I was on four or five competition juries - heard some great talent (especially the 18-and-under crowd!!), took part in two panel discusions (both of which caused me to miss other events that really interested me - such is the nature of these festivals), led a trombone choir in two rehearsals/day (this feature was one of the real attractions of the ITF this time - everyone played in an ensemble coached by one of the faculty artists.), shared a recital with Chris Houlding, co-soloed with Alex Iles on Tommy Pederson's What Color is the Wind with Nat Brickens and his award-winning University of Texas (Austin) Trombone Choir, and then - at the grand finale concert I conducted an all-participant trombone choir in Al Cobine's beloved arrangement of Let There be Peace on Earth. What a sound!! I was pleased and honored to be featured at such an event.
June - On June 3rd, I flew from Las Vegas to Munich, Germany to meet daughter Anna (Linguistics major at Purdue University) for a three-week trip there. This was a wonderful time, filled with dear friends, great music, wonderful Alpine hikes, and much more. We heard marvelous concert and opera performances in various cities, and I was pleased to meet some new trombonists as well as catch up with many dear former colleagues. One (of many) special times was playing some beautiful Alpine and Bohemian Folk Music in a Beer Garden with former colleagues from the Bamberg Symphony. This is a tradition that began in my years with that group, and I was glad to experience first hand that it is being continued as a much-anticipated, well-visited event.
While in Germany, I visited with the B&S specialists for continued work on the evolving trombone prototype - yet to be named - and am now, finally, excited about where the developent is leading. I hope that the final version is done by October.
July - (well, actually starting the very end of June) - Summer Session 2 began, and my teaching load was, all told, about half that of a normal semester. This is the highest it has been in the summer to date, and included three Festival Orchestra programs with repertoire from Bartok, Liszt, and Mahler. There were also concerts with the Indianapolis Symphony at their summer outdoor venue Conner Prairie and elsewhere. June 23-28 was then the Summit Brass Rafael Mendez Brass Institute (RMBI). This great event, held at the Denver University's Lamont School of Music, was overshadowed by the heart attack and, at week's end, death of beloved Summit Brass member Milt Stevens. Milt (Principal-Trombonist of the National Symphony) arrived feeling ill, and was immediately hospitalized. At week's end he was released and - to everyone's relief - was able to take part in the photo shoot and attend the final concert. That much more shocking was the news of his death the following night. Milton Lewis Stevens (1942-2007)
A piece of good news: next year's RMBI promises to be fully funded to the point of allowing 150 or more students to attend tuition free! Details will likely follow at the RMBI WebSite.
August - Things slowed down on the performance front in August, and some lazy summer days were enjoyed, snoozing through baseball games being one of my favorite activities. As teachers know, August is like a month of Sunday evenings, with a lot of preparation going into the coming school year.
And that is what I am doing now!
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