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#59: Winning The Job: Brendan Fitzgerald May 13, 2020

Show notes

Brendan Fitzgerald blog post
Questions about Brendan's audition prep? I'm happy to answer them! - Click here to schedule a 30 minute meeting!
A San Diego native and avid disc golfer, Brendan Fitzgerald joined the St. Louis Symphony in September 2019 after spending two seasons with the Seattle Symphony. During this time, he performed on numerous recording projects with Ludovic Morlot, including the recent commercial releases of Marc-André Dalbavie’s Cello Concerto, John Luther Adams’ Become Desert, and Berlioz’s Requiem.

Fitzgerald began his musical studies in elementary school on piano and trumpet before discovering the electric bass in eighth grade. He played in multiple punk, metal, and acoustic folk bands before deciding to devote himself more fully to the study of orchestral literature, studying with Travis Gore, a current member of the Seattle Symphony. After some time in the San Diego Youth Symphony, he attended Interlochen Arts Academy as a senior, before pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Double Bass Performance at Northwestern University. In 2012, he enjoyed a revelatory summer at Domaine Forget, where he worked closely with renowned pedagogues Paul Ellison and David Allen Moore. He then attended the Aspen Music Festival in 2016 and 2017 as a fellowship recipient, performing alongside members of the Pittsburgh, Dallas, St. Louis, and San Francisco symphonies.

Fitzgerald’s strongest influence and mentor is his undergraduate teacher, Northwestern University bass professor Andy Raciti, with whom he had the honor to perform alongside as a frequent substitute musician with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He is excited to begin work with Stepháne Denève and the rest of his SLSO colleagues, as well as enjoy the finest barbecue in the country.

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#58: Ryan Middagh May 06, 2020

Show notes

Ryan's Instagram - www.instagram.com/ryan_middagh (not insta_middagh. Episode was recorded in October, things changed!)
Buy "Live From Nashville!"
Ryan Middagh is the Director of Jazz Studies at the Blair School. Middagh is an innovative educator, composer, arranger, saxophonist, band leader and clinician who has traveled the globe sharing his unique blend of talents and musical influences with audiences and music students. A passionate advocate for jazz education at all levels, he pursues creative programming and is devoted to reaching diverse communities through jazz.
An active jazz composer and arranger, Middagh has received numerous commissions from musicians and ensembles throughout the United States. He has written for numerous Grammy-winning artists, DownBeat award-winning educational ensembles, and his work has been recorded by prominent collegiate and professional ensembles. Some notable collaborations include arranging for Victor Wooten, Wycliffe Gordon, David Paich, Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, and Middagh’s Blair School of Music colleague Jeff Coffin. Several of his works are published by UNC Jazz Press.

Equally skilled as a soloist, collaborator and band leader, Middagh performs at jazz festivals around the world, including tours and performances on behalf of the U.S. State Department. While at home, he is a top-call studio musician in Nashville and performs in a wide array of genres. Middagh has music directed, arranged and performed for two educational chamber concerts for the Nashville Symphony. In addition to leading his own jazz small groups, he has recently started the Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra, which features some of Nashville’s finest musicians and acts as a vehicle for his new compositions and arrangements. He has released two albums as a leader and is currently writing and recording his first professional big band project.

A scholar of jazz, Middagh has presented his research at multiple universities and conferences, hosted panel discussions on jazz composition and arranging, and presented at the International Jazz Composers’ Symposium. At Vanderbilt University he was the recipient of a 2017 Provost Research Studio Grant, and in 2018 received a Research Scholar Grant. Middagh is affiliate faculty for the Center for Latin American Studies.
Since Middagh's arrival at Blair in 2014, the school's jazz program has received national and international recognition, including invitations to the 2017 Jazz Education Network Conference in New Orleans and performances overseas. In addition to creating a new jazz curriculum, Middagh has recruited an all-star jazz faculty and installed the Nashville Jazz Composers Collective as the Blair School’s jazz ensemble in residence. Guest performers have included Wycliffe Gordon, Rashawn Ross, Socrates Garcia, Vijay Iyer, Dave Liebman, Jim White, Chuck Owen, Dynamo and more.

Middagh pursues creative collaborations with the Blair School faculty and student ensembles; a product of which is the Blair Big Band’s first studio album, Such Sweet Thunder, which features Blair faculty Jeremy Wilson (trombone), Christina Watson (voice), Jerry Kimbrough (jazz guitar), Roger Spencer (jazz bass), Jeff Coffin (jazz saxophone), and also features Nashville jazz piano legend Beegie Adair.

Many of Middagh’s former students have successfully gone on to enter graduate music programs, win performance and composition competitions, and begin significant, fulfilling careers in the music industry in Nashville and around the world.

Middagh is an artist and clinician for Yamaha Saxophones and D’addario Reeds.

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#57: It Is Not The Critic Who Counts Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

This episode is about my thoughts on dealing with criticism. While I haven't dealt with people who are overtly rude or mean, I've had my fair share of people who have decided who I am, and nothing is going to change their mind. The good news for me is this: they aren't in the ring, so I don't have to worry about what they think! Check out the episode for more.

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#56: Michael Harper Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, Michael Harper and I discuss a lip injury he sustained during his college education, and what his road back to healthy playing looked like.
Michael Harper joined the Jacksonville Symphony in January 2018 as 2nd trumpet. He has performed as a substitute musician with the Sydney Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra (on baroque trumpet), New World Symphony, and Chicago Civic Orchestra. Mr. Harper has spent his summers as a member of the Tanglewood, Verbier, Lucerne, Aspen, NOI, AIMS, Chosen Vale, and Interlochen music festivals. He performed the Arutunian Trumpet Concerto with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Jahja Ling in April 2016, having won the school’s concerto competition the fall prior. He won first prize in the 2016 Tuesday Musical Scholarship Competition brass division and second prize in the 2017 Edith Knox Performance Competition. In March 2010, Michael was featured on NPR’s From The Top with his trumpet trio, the only such ensemble to ever perform on the show.
Mr. Harper earned his Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance and in Music Theory at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, studying with Charles Geyer, Barbara Butler, Christopher Martin, and Robert Sullivan. He earned his Master of Music at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), studying with Michael Sachs and Michael Miller. While studying at CIM, Mr. Harper also developed a strong interest and earned certificates in Eurhythmics Pedagogy and Early Music Performance; he began playing the baroque trumpet and performed in the Case Western Reserve University baroque orchestra and chamber groups. He earned a Professional Studies Certificate at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, studying with Jim Wilt. Michael was born in Annapolis, Maryland, and began his musical studies on the bugle at the age of eight, studying with his father.

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#55: Tom Rolfs Apr 15, 2020

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Thomas Rolfs, Principal Trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops, began his career with the BSO in 1991 under Seiji Ozawa. He served first as 4th trumpet, and was later promoted by Ozawa to Associate Principal Trumpet. He was promoted to Principal Trumpet by James Levine. As a student, Mr. Rolfs was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 1978, earned his bachelor of music degree from the University of Minnesota, and received his master of music degree from Northwestern University. He returned to Minnesota for a five-year tenure with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist, Rolfs has performed with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as performing the posthorn solo in Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Dallas Symphony. At the request of John Williams, he was a featured soloist on the composer's Grammy-nominated soundtrack for the Academy Award-winning film Saving Private Ryan. He was also soloist in Williams's Summon the Heroes for the nationally televised Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade on July 4, 2001, under Keith Lockhart's direction. His varied performance background also includes appearances withthe National Brass Ensemble, Minnesota Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Empire Brass, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the American Ballet Orchestra. Rolfs is a founding member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet, which is in residence at Boston University. As an educator, Rolfs has presented masterclasses throughout the world, including North America, South America, Asia, and Europe. He has served on the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center since 1998, regularly coaches the New World Symphony, and teaches at both the New England Conservatory and Boston University.

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#54: We're Talking About (Organized) Practice Apr 07, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we're diving into the benefits of organized practice. Specifically, how it can help develop discipline, lessen practice anxiety, and develop your own authority learning music.
Feel free to reach out if you're interested in working together to organize your practice!

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#53: How We're Dealing With Our Life Under Quarantine: Kathleen Costello And Ryan Beach Apr 01, 2020

Show notes

This episode is a departure from our regularly scheduled interview content. Kathleen Costello and I wanted to share what we're doing during this quarantine to try and stay safe, healthy, and happy. Some things have worked, others have not.
Find beauty, connect with others, and hang in there.

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#52: Freeway Philharmonic: Eric Yates Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

Eric Yates serves as Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Alabama School of Music, principal trumpet of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, first trumpet of the Alabama Brass Quintet, and a founding member of the internationally-touring Fortress Brass

Yates is also an in-demand soloist and clinician and has appeared throughout the United States and the world as a soloist, ensemble member, and teacher. He has performed in England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Cuba, the Republic of Georgia, and numerous times in Russia where he has presented master classes and recitals at the St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories five times since 2009. He has also appeared at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana, Cuba; the American University of Rome, Italy; the Tbilisi State Conservatory in Georgia; and at numerous institutions in the U.S., including Emory University, Furman University, the University of Georgia, Mississippi State University, Western Carolina University, Northwestern University, and many others.

He has hosted the large regional trumpet conference the Trumpet Festival of the Southeast at the University of Alabama three times and serves on its board of directors, and he has judged several years at the National Trumpet Competition. He was awarded the Best Cornet Player of the 2006 U.S. Open Brass Band Championships; toured with the award-winning Fountain City Brass Band of Kansas City, MO; and served two years as Principal Solo Cornet of the Prairie Brass Band of Arlington Heights, IL. In 2012, he and four other university brass professors from around the United States formed the Fortress Brass, a quintet which has engaged in numerous tours in the U.S. and abroad.

Before his appointment at The University of Alabama in 2007, Dr. Yates was an active performer in the Chicago area as principal trumpet of the Northbrook Symphony, co-principal trumpet of the Chicago Brass Choir, and a faculty member of the Lake Forest College Department of Music and Wright City College Department of Fine Arts in Chicago. His performance career has included engagements with numerous professional orchestras in the United States, including the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, the South Bend Symphony, the Illinois Symphony, the Elmhurst Symphony, the Northwest Indiana Symphony, and the Nashville Symphony, and he performs regularly with the Alabama (Birmingham) Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Yates’s trumpet performance skills and experience encompass all aspects of classical trumpet and cornet playing, from modern symphonic, chamber, and solo work to authentic period performance on historic natural trumpets. He earned his Doctor of Music degree in trumpet performance from Northwestern University, and his principal teachers include Charles Geyer, Barbara Butler, Vincent Cichowicz, and Gary Armstrong.

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#51: Ben Wright Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

Ben's Website - www.benwrighttrumpet.com
Benjamin Wright enjoys a varied career, performing as a member of the Boston Symphony, as a soloist and chamber musician, and teaching. Wright joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra trumpet section in July 2002 as fourth trumpet. From 2006 to 2009, he was acting assistant principal trumpet of the BSO, and in 2010 became second trumpet.
Wright began playing the violin at age three, and the trumpet when he was ten. He hails from a long line of musicians going back to his great-grandfather, a bandleader and cornetist in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. Wright studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy and received his bachelor’s in music at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1996 Wright won the International Trumpet Guild and National Trumpet competitions, as well as the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition, and was awarded the Bernard Adelstein Prize for trumpet performance upon graduating in 1997.
Following two years as a member of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Wright spent two years as fourth trumpet in the Chicago Symphony. He has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. His appearances as guest principal trumpet with the San Francisco Symphony included performances of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.
Benjamin Wright has given masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard, Yale, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Arizona, Temple University, Mannes, SMU, Baylor, Yale, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. He has been a guest faculty member for the Bar Harbor Brass Institute, the National Orchestral Institute, and, since 2003, faculty at the Tanglewood Music Center.
His students have performed as members of the Atlanta, Dallas, Utah, Sarasota, and Seattle Symphonies, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and orchestras in Asia.
Mr. Wright is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

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#50: Winning The Job: Ryan Roberts Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

Ryan's website - www.ryanrobertsoboe.com
Ryan's Instagram - www.instagram.com/ryanjroberts
Noted for his “beautiful”, “eloquent” and “exquisite” playing by the New York Times, Ryan Roberts is the newly appointed English horn/Oboe of the New York Philharmonic. Ryan has performed with many of the country's leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the Ft. Worth Symphony. An award-winning oboist, Ryan received first prize at the International Double Reed Society's 2018 Young Artist Competition and the National Society of Arts and Letters' 2018 Woodwind Competition. Before joining the Philharmonic, Ryan spent one season as a member of the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas. Ryan recently premiered Michael Torke’s Oboe Concertino with the Albany Symphony and recorded the work for Albany Records. An avid chamber musician, Ryan performs at the Marlboro Music Festival during the summer under artistic directors Mitsuko Uchida and Jonathan Biss; he has also collaborated in recitals with the Pacifica Quartet and Emanuel Ax.
As a Kovner Fellow graduate of The Juilliard school, Ryan studied with Elaine Douvas and appeared frequently as principal oboist of the Juilliard Orchestra. Ryan has been a member of the New York String Orchestra Seminar and spent three summers as the oboe fellow at the Aspen Music Festival. In 2016, Ryan was featured as a recital soloist aboard the Crystal “Symphony" cruise line touring Portugal, Spain, France and England.
Ryan has studied piano since age 5 and made his concerto debut at age 11. When he isn’t busy making reeds, Ryan enjoys practicing piano and running with his retired racing Whippet named Malley.

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