Shostakovich Festive Overture for 8 trumpets

During rehearsal (2nd time, and then the show!!!!) before concert. The piece is arranged by Caleb Hudson, performed by members of 2009 Chosen Vale Trumpet Seminar, and directed by Ed Carroll.

Robert Erickson: Kryl. Philippe Brunet, Trumpet.

A performance of Kryl by Robert Erickson at the 2009 Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar.

For the next two weeks, the Upper Valley is the place to be if you’re a trumpeter or a fan of trumpet music.

The Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, which kicks off Monday and runs through June 27 at the Enfield Shaker Village, is becoming one of the premiere music programs in the world, said Edward Carroll, who teaches at Dartmouth College and is the founder and director of The Center for Advanced Musical Studies, the sponsor of the event.

Not only does the seminar draw some of the top names in music as faculty, it also brings to the area 43 of the top trumpet students from around the United States and from as far away as Japan, Thailand and Australia.

Faculty members and students are the featured performers at a series of four free public concerts during the seminar.

In 1996, Carroll founded the music program portion of the Lake Placid Institute for the Arts and Humanities in New York and was the music director there until 2003. He started the program in Enfield in 2006.

“This is our fourth seminar, and with the bad economy, I was concerned that we might not have as many participants. But we were fully subscribed in February. We have become a signature event,” he said.

The events have been so successful that in the next few years, the programming will be expanded and the center will hold two seminars each year, Carroll said.

The faculty lineup is impressive, and the music is not just classical. Here’s who’s teaching and performing in the concerts in addition to the students:

* Carroll, who has more than 20 solo albums, appeared as soloist on another 20 or so and is a featured soloist on an additional 12 CDs. He has served as the International Chair of Brass Studies at London’s Royal Academy, taught at the Rotterdam Conservatory and coordinated the brass studies program at California Institute of the Arts. In addition to teaching master classes at many of the top music schools in the world, he teaches at McGill University in Montreal and at Dartmouth.

* Trumpet virtuoso and conductor Stephen Burns, who has performed in the major concert halls from New York to Hong Kong. He has been a guest at the White House and appeared on the NBC’s Today Show and NPR’s All Things Considered. In addition to playing with some of the top orchestras in the world, he is the artistic director of the Fulcrum Point New Music Project in Chicago and the American Concerto Orchestra, which has a mission to champion classical music influenced and inspired by pop culture, jazz, rock, blues, Latin, folk and Klezmer music.

* Gabriele Cassone, who is well known as a historical artist performing on original instruments and as a contemporary musician. He has performed in the world’s top venues, ranging from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. He has been featured on more than 20 CDs and is a professor at the Conservatory of Novara in Italy.

* Mark Gould, who just retired as co-principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera after 35 years. He is on the faculty at Julliard School and the Manhattan School. His recent CD, Caf 1930, featuring a program of Brazilian and Argentinean music for solo trumpet and guitar, was a big hit. His latest band, Mark Gould and Pink Baby Monster, is playing to enthusiastic audiences in New York and has a new electronica-beat CD.

* Swedish trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger, who is considered one of the top soloists in the world and has performed with some of the top orchestras in the world, including the Los Angles Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic and the London Symphony. He performs and tours regularly with Swedish poet Jacques Werup, jazz pianist Jan Lundgen and percussionist Colin Currie. He has numerous CDs and appears with Currie on a recently released album. He is a professor at the Malmo (Sweden) Conservatoire and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.

* Composer, performer and conductor David Rosenboom, who is widely known as a pioneer in American experimental music. He is the dean of music and conductor of the New Century Players at the California Institute of the Arts. He has numerous recordings and is the author of Biofeedback and the Arts and Extended Musical Interface with the Human Nervous System.

* Thomas Stevens, who was the principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra for 27 years. He was a founding member of the Los Angeles Brass Quintet and has recorded a number of solo albums.

* German trumpeter and composer Markus Pirol Stockhausen, who has played with and led various jazz ensembles and recorded a number of records with his father, Karlheinz Stockhausen. His compositions have been performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic and others.

* Trumpet virtuoso John Wallace, who, while serving as principal trumpet with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, gained international fame and became one of the world’s most sought-after soloists.

* Collaborative pianist Rebecca Wilt, who is the director of the Accompanying Program at Messiah College in Pennsylvania.

“There are very few programs that have talent at this level, and something of this level never comes here,” Carroll said. “This is a real tribute to the Upper Valley and great opportunity for people who live here to see some of the top musicians in the world.”

The opening concert is Tuesday night at 8, featuring Ellsworth Smith Silver Medalist Kazuaki Kikumoto, who is the principal trumpet with Kyoto Symphony, and pianist Ayako Yoda, who has performed throughout the United States and internationally. The program includes the works of Krzywicki, Torelli, Hindemith, Takemitsu and Brandt.

On Saturday night, June 20, Burns, Carroll and Gould perform with participants of the seminar.

“The music will come out of the seminar, so it’s hard to say exactly what we will be playing,” Carroll said.

The concert on Friday night, June 27, is at 8 and features performances by Carroll, Cassone, Stevens and Hardenberger along with students. The program includes compositions by Stevens, Birtwistle and others.

Carroll, Cassone, Stevens, Hardenberger and some of the students are back on Saturday afternoon, June 28, at 4, with a program of trumpet favorites to close out the event.

Before each concert, Carroll will make the introductions. The concerts are free, although donations are appreciated.

The third session of the Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar convened in Enfield, New Hampshire from June 16–28, 2008. The seminar was presented by the Center for Advanced Musical Studies and received generous support from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and the Yamaha Corporation of America.

The 2008 session featured the same faculty from the first two years. Director Edward Carroll was joined by Gabriele Cassone, Mark Gould, and Stephen Burns the first week. Thomas Stevens and Markus Stockhausen joined the second week, and David Rosenboom was there as Composer-in-Residence for both weeks. Read More…

Music for Unstable Circuits

David Rosenboom: MUSIC FOR UNSTABLE CIRCUITS (1968, +trumpet 2005)

Performed by Daniel Rosenboom, trumpet and David Rosenboom interactive electronics, at the 2006 Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar

Terry Riley: IN C (excerpt)

A performance for 36 trumpets and pulse, conducted by David Rosenboom, at the 2008 Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar.

Michael Haydn Trumpet Concerto pt.1, Trent Austin Trumpet

Trent Austin, Trumpet
Rebecca Wilt, Piano

Recorded live at the 2008 Chosen Vale Trumpet Seminar, 6/21/08

The seminar attracts talent from all over the world to focus on a single maxim – any piece of music, no matter how sublime, can be improved. Read More…