Some may ask “are there any trumpet choirs at the professional level”? Not many…… The most important trumpet choir that I have had any contact with is not even a trumpet choir any more. I’m speaking of one of my favorite brass ensembles of all time and was/is the Kings Brass. The Kings Brass began as a true trumpet choir with all of the members of the trumpet family represented i.e. piccolo, C, D, Eb and Bb being represented as well as the bass trumpet. This ensemble had such an impact on me many years ago and that was the…

For thirty years, I taught at the University of Northern Iowa in various capacities. When I started my tenure there, we had established a very active Brass Quintet which toured all of Iowa playing concerts and giving clinics nearly every Friday during the school year. One such year, we logged in over fifty-two concerts. Because of this concerted effort to recruit the best brass players in the state we began to feel the growing pains of our ever enlarging trumpet studios. Mr. Keith Johnson and I were teaching nearly eighteen trumpet majors each and eventually we added an additional instructor…

To many casual observers, the importance of a regularly rehearsing and performing trumpet choir may seem questionable. And for that reason, I felt compelled to defend my campaign for the value of such an ensemble. The average high school band may have between six to sixteen trumpets in their ensemble and the level of playing ability usually rages from the very gifted to the very challenged. Building confidence in the stronger players is not a problem for the more advanced performers seem to be self-motivated. What about the middle to lower section players? The students at these levels of performance,…

From time to time I enjoy checking back with musicians who I think will be a moving force in the trumpet world; and this is my fourth visit back to our good friend Mr. Victor Haskins. These repeated visits began back in 2012 when I first ran across one of Victor’s videos on line and to understand my continued interest in this jazz “mover and shaker”, be sure to read my earlier posts which document his continued evolution in the world of jazz and his continued contribution to the art form of improvisation and musical compositions. SEPTEMBER 29, 2012  …