ITG Recap!

Damn, that was fun!

I was going to do an in depth review of everything that happened at ITG, but, frankly, I don't have time to write that long, as I have several new opportunities to pursue.  More on that later.

Instead, I thought I'd write about what were the highlights for me:

1) Playing and hanging out again with the Tromba Mundi guys.  I can't begin to say how much I enjoy spending time with this great group of guys.  Thanks for including me in your ITG plans, guys!

2) The "ITG Gadget Tour" with Joey Tartell.  Joey, like me, is not into the all the gadget crap that is out there for trumpet players. For me there is NO substitution for actually practicing the trumpet. Most of the gadgets out there are a waste of money and time. This tour introduced me to some new stupidity, most notably, the Ombisure and the Vibrass (quite possibly the greatest name for a stupid trumpet gadget!). Thanks, Joey, for the good laughs!

3) Jouko Harjanne with the Minnesota Orchestra.  Holy crap, was this amazing!  Easily the best concert of the entire conference.  Jouko performed a Finnish concerto for trumpet that was, to say the least, pyrotechnic.  And he NAILED it!  I have never seen a better live solo performance, EVER!  To top off the concert, the MO then played Mahler 6.  Manny, Bob, Doug and Chuck sounded great!  What a great sections of players!

4)  Meeting Bob Dorer and Doug Carlsen.  It was a treat to meet to two gentlemen who share a legacy with me as Principal Trumpeters in the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.  It was especially nice to chat with them about good times in the NMSO, given the recent horrific spell.  Here's hoping that, maybe, I'm the next trumpeter from the NMSO to move up in the orchestral world!

5) Ron and Avis Romm Recital.  Ron is one of my childhood heroes.  And every time I get to hear him play is a treat.  He and Avis play exquisitely together and I consider myself very lucky to be a colleague of his!

6)  Meeting Steve Shires.  I am a performing artist for Shires Trumpets.  But I had not yet had the pleasure of meeting Steve.  Finally, we met at ITG.  It is a pleasure to chat and play a bit for the guy who makes your horns.  I look forward to continued work with a master craftsman and playing his horns well into the future.

7) All the following concerts/clinics: Joe Burgstaller recital, Allen Vizzutti/Anthony DiLorenzo recital, the Marine Band Brass Quintet, JC Dobrzelewski clinic, Vladislav Lavrik recital, Evgeny Gurev recital, Minnesota Orchestra Trumpet section clinic and the Steve Wright Big Band with Marcus Printup, Marvin Stamm and Wayne Bergeron concert.  All of these were incredibly enjoyable and made me glad I went to the conference.

8) The impromptu high note clinic by Joey Tartell and Liesl Whitaker.  Liesl was trying out horns in the Shires room with Joey listening to provide feedback.  Listening to two masters of lead playing share tips and ideas was incredibly informative for me.  Plus, it was just cool to hear than many dubba Cs!

Finally, the best thing about the conference..........

Watching Tony Sadlon compete in the Solo Competition Finals.  Tony is my Graduate Assistant at the UNM and was one of three finalist in the competition. He ended up finishing 2nd in the competition.  But his placement matters not to me.  He worked incredibly hard on this performance and the journey he made to prepare for this competition made him a better, stronger player.  It was a very exciting moment for me to listen to him perform at a very high level in the finals.  Well done, Tony!  You did me, UNM and, most importantly, yourself proud!

I could go on and on about old friends met and the laughs had over beers, but it would take several more pages to properly express the fun that was had by all!

Thank you, Del Lyren, Steve Wright and ITG, for a fantastic conference!  I look forward to next years trip to Atlanta!

Now time for some peace and quiet! ;)

JM