News & Events
The HBS has commissioned fanfares for performance at our conferences over the years. For the first time we're making the scores available in
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News & Events
News & Events
The Great American Brass Band Festival (GABBF) in Danville, Kentucky announces a call for papers and presentations for the 2018 GABBF Brass Symposium. The Brass Symposium, held June 1, 2018, is an educational event that serves as part of the Great American Brass Band Festival, which runs May 31-June 3, 2018.
Presenters who are selected will be offered a $350 stipend plus free lodging on the Centre College campus.
Presentations are typically 25-30 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions. There is no particular format required. Proposals may be academic paper presentations, performance demonstrations, historical lectures, or other formats. Creative or unusual presentation proposals are welcomed and encouraged. (Powerpoint, video and sound playback resources will be available to the presenter.)
The 2018 GABBF theme is "Main Street America" however, papers and presentations for the Brass Symposium are not required to be on this topic. Historically, presentations have been on topics such as brass instruments, brass bands, band history, performance practice, and music history/literature.
Proposals, or questions about proposals, should be sent via email to Jeffrey Barrington at
News & Events
Conference attendees in the background of an exhibit of brass instruments at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC
On July 13-16th, 2017 nearly 200 early brass enthusiasts participated in the HBS Third International Historic Brass Symposium in three different venues in New York City. Concerts, lectures, discussion sessions and a social event were help at New York University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and St. Luke’s in the Field Church. The scope of the symposium activities ranged from a talk and presentation of copies of ancient brass instruments from Antiquity to the brass music of Iannis Xenakis and a world premiere of a recently commissioned composition for two early brass instruments. Abstracts of the lectures and lecture/performances are listed below. Two senior musicians in the early brass community, Don Smithers and Friedemann Immer were both unable to attend as planned due to health concerns. Many at the symposium sent regards and wishes for speedy recovery.
During the first day of the symposium the presentation of the 2017 HBS Christopher Monk Award to Sabine Klaus took place. Her important brass scholarship was noted. Klaus has recently published the 3rd volume of a proposed 5 volume series on brass instruments, notably reflected on the Utley Collection of which she is the curator. In her presentation Klaus made mention of the four recipients of the Joe and Joella Utley Student Travel Award; April Legatt, Liza Malamut, Jeremy Sexton and Merissa Youngs. This Award given through the generosity of the Utley Foundation offers travel support to young scholars and musicians to attend HBS events. Thanks were extended to Joella Utley who was prevented from attend at the last minute due to a medical issue. The Symposium was attended by 10 past Monk Award recipients and Renato Meucci, Trevor Herbert, Wim Becu, Dan Morgenstern, Arnold Myers, Herbert Heyde, Keith Polk Rainer Egger, and Bruce Dickey joined Sabine Klaus in a group photo. Stew Carter, also a Monk recipient missed the photo op but attended the Symposium later in the week.
As many long-time HBS members have noticed, the range of topics has expanded from primarily Renaissance through classical period topics that were the main focus of early brass interests when the HBS first started. Now early 20th century musical topics, including jazz, are common. In this spirit, in addition to the Hell Fighters session and concert, Trevor Herbert conducted a special session with the noted jazz critic Dan Morgenstern. Morgenstern selected 6 jazz recordings that feature brass and provided a jump-off point for discussion. The recordings were all from the first half of the century and included recordings by Kid Ory, Jack Teagarden, Vic Dickenson, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and the brass section of Duke Ellington’s recording of “Braggin’ in Brass” which featured Rex Steward and Cootie Williams.
Elisa Kohler, Robin Pyle, Ralph Dudgeon
One particularly involved project of the symposium was a discussion session, “Entering the Sound-World of James Reese Europe” led by Trevor Herbert, John Graziano and John Wallace. That session which included discussion about James Reese Europe, his importance as a link between ragtime and early jazz and other musical developments of the turn of the 20th century was followed by an outstanding performance of the rarely performed repertoire of the Harlem Hell Fighters with John Wallace leading a 20-piece period instrument band. In addition to Wallace the star-studded ensemble included many of the leading musicians active today including Allan Dean, Bobby Sanabria, Paquito D’Rivers, Dan Block, Bruce Eidem, Scott Robinson, Frank Hosticka, John Miller, Sam Burtis and many others. Special care was the selection of instruments from the period of approximately 1900 -1920s. Instruments depicted in photographs of Europe and the Harlem Hell Fighters were used as a guide for the instrumentation of the ensemble. Helicons, melophones, small-bore trombones, cornets, period clarinets and even a period drum set were used. In the audience at the Grace Rainey Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were descendants of two key musicians of that era; James Reese Europe III and Noble Sissle Jr.
Two lectures that included extensive performance were Jamie Savan’s talk “New Perspectives on the Venetian Cornett” and Sandy Coffin’s presentation on the cornet soloist Tom Short. Jamie played some early braroque repertoire to demonstrate issues involving pitch and articulation. Sandy beautifully played solos on a period cornet and did some amazing detective work tracing some repertoire to the little known Short.
Cornettist Bruce Dickey and sackbut player Wim Becu presented a brilliant recital at St Luke’s in the Field church with music by Cima, Lasso, Carrozza, Palestrina and Merula. They were ably assisted by organist Avi Stein. Dickey and Becu were among the number of leading musicians who were also at the first HBS International Symposium in 1995. There performance demonstrated why they are still the leading virtuosos on their instruments. On the other end of the age scale, Patrick Wibart tore the house down with his spectacular playing on the ophicleide and serpent assisted by pianist Halter Hilse. They played works by Couperin, Corrette and Ferdinand David. As Wibart’sperformance was on July 14th, Bastille Day, the young French virtuoso played as an encore, his own version of La Marseillaise with spell binding variations on the ophicleide. Michael Collver did double duty performing on cornetto as well as singing. He seamlessly blended back and forth on early Baroque repertoire by Sances, Biber and D’India. He was assisted by Avi Stein on organ and Glorianne Collver on guitar and lute.
Sabine Klaus
Lecture topics and performances were well matched. Cornet and cornett talks were presented as well as outstanding performances. Allan Dean and Mark Ponzo presented a recital of duo works by H. King, Herman Koenig and Herbert L. Clarke played on period cornets from the extensive Ponzo collection. Raquel Rodriguez’s brilliant recital consisted of works by Jules Levy, Vincent Bach, John Hartmann and Herbert L. Clarke. Ralph Dudgeon played a beautiful Polonaise by Baissieres-Faber on the keyed-bugle. All were wonderfully accompanied by pianist Walter Hilse.
As at some past HBS events, a contemporary piece for early brass was commissioned by the HBS. The world premiere of Caduceus Mixtus for serpent and ophicleide by Jaron Lanier was performed on Saturday. Lanier is a composer and performer but most notably know as a celebrated futurist and computer scientist. He has been called by Time magazine as “one of the one hundred most influential thinkers in the world.” Having the contribution of someone with such diverse talents added a dimension to the HBS Symposium not previously attained. The piece was masterfully performed by Douglas Yeo on serpent and Scott Robinson on ophiceide. Robinson also astounded symposium attendees with his amazing high Eb clarinet playing the previous day at the Hell Fighters concert.
On Sunday afternoon the horns had their time to shine. Rick Seraphinoff organized a horn recical and was joined by hornists; Anneke Scott, R.J. Kelley, Ulrich Huebner, Linda Dempf, Celeste Holmes, Tom Hiebert, Bradley Strauchen, Yoni Kahn and Meredith Moore. They performed a wide program of sextets, quartets and solo works by Gallay, Dauprat, Crusell. The entire horn ensemble ended with a rousing fafare de Chasse by Rossini. Nicole Kilkner’s lecture “From Utility to Fancy: Making music with coach horns in Paris, 1880-1910” was aided by Ralph Dudgeon, Elisa Koehler, Robin Pyle, Henry Meredity and Richard Thomas performances of coach horn pieces using period coach horns and cavalry trumpets.
Chris Belluscio and Henry Meredith
Several established ensembles performed at the symposium. It simply wouldn’t be an HBS event without a natural trumpet ensemble and this symposium had the good fortune to have three different trumpet ensembles. The Trumpet Consort von Humboldt under the direction of Gil Cline performed in the Arms and Armour Courtyard at the Met. They played on a set of copies of the 1667 Simon Beale trumpet made by David Edwards as well as the copy of the 1715 John Harris natural trumpet also made by Edwards. In addition to beautifully playing works by Byrd, Dauverne, and several anonymous pieces, the ensemble engaged in some theatrical movement and dance moves. Cline was joined by Chris Cox, Andrew Henderson, Kevin Blake, Charlie McClung, Ryan Blake, and Nicholas Camacho. The University of Kentucky Baroque Trumpet Ensemble was led by Jason Dovel. He was joined by guest soloist John Foster and guest timpanist Ben Harms along with ensemble members Caden Holmes, Drew Burke, Jessica Lambert, Kyle Mitchell, Rhiannon Montgomery, Coleman Scott, Marisa Youngs, Bailey Goff, Jared Wallis, Phillip Chase Hawkins, and Denver Pascua. They played workds by Buhl, Delalande, Altenburg, Bendinelli, Rossini, Monteverdi and a contemporary piece that employed some jazz idioms by Jason Dovel. The Kentucky Baroque Trumpets under the direction of Don Johnson III played works by Kunert, Bendinelli, Alberti and several anonymous pieces. The ensemble consisted of Don Johnson III, Bill Budai, David Davenport, Jason Dovel, John Foster, Chase Hawkins, Jay Martin, Scott Muntefering, and Alan Siebert. In addition to their performance at the Met Museum on the organ loft overlooking the Arms and Armour Courtyard, the Kentucky Baroque Trumpets played the Bendinelli Sonata 332 at the beginning of the Friday evening church concert. This was a tribute to Don Johnson II the founder of the ensemble and long-time HBS supporter who tragically died at a young age in an accident last year.
Monk Award winners, past and present
Also participating were two ensembles that feature 19th century repertoire; Prince Regents Band and Grand Harmonie Brass. The Prince Regents Band traveled from the UK to present a concert that featured the repertoire and instrumentation of the celebrated Distin family. Richard Fomison and Richard Thomas (cornets and alto saxhorns), Anneke Scott (tenor saxhorn), Phil Dale (baritone saxhorn) and Jeff Miller (contrabass saxhorn) played a brilliant program including arrangements of works by Verdi, Berlioz, Fauconnier, Donizetti, Gretry, Handel and Distin. The Grand Harmonie Brass played a wonderful program employing some rather unusual and seldom heard period brass instruments. The ensemble, under the direction of Chris Belluscio performed Divertimentio by Von Neukomm, trumpet duets by Norton, horn trios by Anton Reicha and the Quatre Pas redoubles by Cherubini. The ensemble consisted of Chris Belluscio (English slide trumpet and trompette demilune), Paul Perfetti (English slide trumpet), Yoni Kahn, Linda Dempf, Meredith Morre (natural horns), Liza Malamut (alto trombone), Steve Lundahl (tenor trombone), Motoaki Kashino (bass trombone) and Barry Bocaner (ophicleide and serpent).
As with past HBS Symposia, this event was fortunate to have an instrument maker’s exhibition. Rainer Egger, Dave Maller, Rick Seraphinoff, and Nate Woods were brass makers who displayed their wares and many symposium participants had a chance to try the latest early brass instruments. A number of musicians were also able to sell recent publications and recordings.
I was ably assisted in organizing and presenting this event by Sandy Coffin, Greg Ericson and Bradley Strauchen-Scherer. Words can’t properly express my gratitude to them as well as to the staff members at the Met museum, NYU as well as to David Shuller and the administration at St Luke’s in the Field Church. Our participation at the Metropolitan Museum gave symposium participants the fortunate opportunity to have a sneak preview of a number of brass instruments from the collection that will be on display in the soon to be opened and newly renovated and reorganized musical instrument galleries. Abstract of the talks are presented below
-- Jeffrey Nussbaum
Abstracts from the 2017 Conference
News & Events
Call For Papers and Performances
Historic Brass Society
International Historic Brass Symposium
July 13-16, 2017
New York University
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musical Instrument Collection
As at the 2012 Symposium in New York, many of the leading early brass performers, scholars, instrument makers, collectors, curators, and educators will be participating in our 2017 HBS International Symposium. Of special note will be the premiere performance of a newly commissioned composition for serpent and ophicleide, a special workshop and period-instrument performance of the music of James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hell Fighters 369th Regimental Band, as well as other performances and many lectures and round-table discussions.
The Historic Brass Society is accepting proposals for period brass instrument performances and early brass lectures. All early brass topics from Antiquity through to the 20th century will be considered. Please submit a one-page proposal for either a performance or lecture. Lectures will be 20 minutes with an additional 10 minute question and discussion period added. Performances typically are 20 minutes to 45 minutes depending upon size and nature of the ensemble. Keyboard accompanists will be available if needed.
Submission Deadlines: November 1, 2016 For Performance Proposals; December 1, 2016 For Paper Proposals
Please send proposals to:
Symposium Program Committee: Stewart Carter, Trevor Herbert, Jeff Nussbaum, Keith Polk, Bradley Strauchen.
News & Events
The 6th Indiana Sackbut Workshop will pay a visit to Renaissance Naples, a melting pot of Hispano-Italian culture and ideas. We will be touching upon late 15th-century alta-capella repertoire, mid-16th-century improvisation, and the development of extensive chromaticism in the later 16th and early 17th centuries. As always, we will work towards adopting the frame of mind of a Renaissance musician: in addition to lots of playing in small ensembles, there will be sessions on solmization, theory and composition, and musical language, which includes reading from original manuscript and print sources. Of course, we want everyone to challenge themselves on an appropriate level, so modern editions of all the music will also be provided.
As was the case last year, an optional extra day of just sackbuts and dulcians from Tuesday, May 23 at 12 PM to Wednesday, May 24 at 5 PM will allow us to explore the more chromatic music from around 1600. The official workshop for sackbuts and early double reeds runs from Wednesday, May 24 at 5 PM to Sunday, May 28 at 12 PM at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, IN.
Here is a link to all pertinent information concerning registration and fees: http://earlymusicinmotion.org/event-registration/?ee=35
If you have any specific questions about the workshop, please feel free to contact Adam Bregman (
News & Events
The publication of the proceedings of Adolphe Sax, His Influence and Legacy: A Bicentenary Conference has just been announced. The conference held at the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels, was a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great instrument maker and was co-sponsored by the Historic Brass Society. The proceedings will be a special issue of the Revue belge de Musicologie vol.70 (2016). The proceedings can be ordered at the postal address of the Society: Rue de la Régence 30, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium, or via e-mail to Olivia Wahnon
Editor’s note: at the time of this announcement the publication was not yet listed on their website: www.belsocmus.org.
Contents
Billiet, Jeroen, “Adolphe Sax en de conservatoria van Gent en Brussel: de spraakmakende experimenten met koperblazers met onafhankelijke ventielen (1869-1895)”
De Keyser, Ignace, “The Introduction of the Saxophone in Urban music in SubSaharan Africa”
Haine, Malou and Ignace De Keyser, “Le musée instrumental d’un artiste inventeur : la collection privée d’Adolphe Sax”
Haine, Malou, “Hector Berlioz, chantre inconditionnel d’Adolphe Sax”
Haine, Malou, “Un réseau d’influence : les démarches d’Adolphe Sax pour obtenir la croix d’officier de la Légion d’honneur”
Herbert, Trevor, “Adolphe Sax, His Saxhorns and Their International Influence”
Howe, Robert, “Adolphe Sax: Myths Noted and Debunked. Sax’s Brass Instrument Markings. The “Orchestral” Saxophones. Ophicleide-shaped Saxophones”
Péronnet, Patrick, “Saxons et Carafons : Adolphe Sax et le Gymnase musical militaire, un conflit d’esthétique”
Postma, Marten, “‘Le cône parabolique’? een onderzoek naar de boringsprofielen van Sax’ instrumenten"
Rice, Albert R., "The bass clarinets of Adolphe Sax: his influence and legacy”
Strauchen-Scherer, E. Bradley, “Museum piece: Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown and the instruments of the Sax family at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”
von Steiger, Adrian, “Sax Figures: Can We Deduce Details of Adolphe Sax’s Instrument Production from the Sources?”
Wahnon de Oliveira, Olivia, “De l’intérêt de Fétis pour les instruments Sax à la création de la classe de saxophone (1867) au Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles”
News & Events
2017 GABBF History Conference Call for Papers
8/3: The Great American Brass Band Festival (GABBF) in Danville, Kentucky announces a call for papers and presentations for the 2017 GABBF Brass Symposium. The Brass Symposium will be June 2, 2017, an educational event that serves as part of the Great American Brass Band Festival, which runs June 1-4, 2017.
Presenters who are selected will be offered a $350 stipend plus free lodging on the Centre College campus.
Presentations are typically 25-30 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions. There is no particular format required. Proposals may be academic paper presentations, performance demonstrations, historical lectures, or other formats. Creative or unusual presentation proposals are welcomed and encouraged. (Powerpoint, video and sound playback resources will be available to the presenter.)
The 2017 GABBF theme is "The Roaring Twenties," however, papers and presentations for the Brass Symposium are not required to be on this topic. Historically, presentations have been on topics such as brass instruments, brass bands, band history, performance practice, and music history/literature.
Proposals, or questions about proposals, should be sent via email to Jason Dovel at Jason.Dovel -at- uky.edu. If large files need to be sent, a Dropbox link is preferred.
Proposals must be received by November 1, 2016.
For more information, please visit: http://www.gabbf.org/festival/education/brass-symposium/
Cornetto-making Workshop
5/23 - The Cambridge Woodwind Makers will be hosting a Cornetto-making workshop this summer in Cambridge over four days: June 15-18, 2016. The course is being led by Michael Münkwitz, Andrew Hallock and Sam Goble. Cost is £550. For more information, visit their website: http://www.cambridgewoodwindmakers.org/info/courses/cornetto-making+184.html. The Barclay natural trumpet building course organized by the same group has already filled up for 2016, so don't delay.Paul E. Bierley 1926-2016
4/14 - The HBS learned of Paul Bierley's passing this past week. He was great scholar to whom all musicologists interested in band music are forever indebted. Trevor Herbert has written an eloquent obituary for him as follows:
I never met Paul Bierley, but it feels as if I did. We corresponded and chatted two or three times on transatlantic phone calls. He was always courteous, modest and generous. He usually wanted to know what I was working on. I took this as evidence of his generosity, but I also concluded that his inquiries were genuine – he was insatiably curious and as we all know, curiosity is the nourishment of research. Without curiosity the urge to inquire fades and eventually vanishes. Paul never stopped inquiring.
He died in a retirement home overlooking the Scioto River on 9 April at the age of 90. He was a man of Ohio: born in Portsmouth, he lived the greatest part of his life in Westerville. In the later years of the Second World War he served as a bandsman and radio operator/gunner in the US Army Air Corps. After military service he spent his entire professional life as a design and product engineer and was highly respected in that field, but beyond his commitments to his close family his interests were absorbed by music. He played in or conducted bands and orchestras throughout his life. He was also of course a tireless researcher: he founded his own publishing firm (Integrity Press) and published on the life and work of Henry Fillmore, but he will be remembered primarily for his work on John Philip Sousa.
No one could accuse Paul of total objectivity when it came to Sousa, but it was his industry that led to the definitive chronicle of the life and work of one of the first global superstars of music. The first of his books, John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon, was published in 1973, and I reviewed his final book, The Incredible Band of John Philip Sousa, just a few years ago. Both are packed with verified detail, and they will remain essential texts for anyone with a serious or passing interest in Sousa or indeed in the roots of American music culture.
He was the recipient of many honours and awards – each of them richly deserved.
[Editor's note: a tribute written to commemorate the honorary doctorate he received from Ohio State is available by clicking here.]European Music Archaeology Project
4/13 - Scholars associated with the European Music Archeology Project (EMAP) have been in the news lately. For those that don't know, the project seeks to recreate ancient music - in the brass world that means Greek and Roman instruments, among others. A conference was held in Italy in 2015, in part sponsored by the HBS. For further information, feel free to peruse the links below.
New York Times article on EMAP
A document with further information on the instruments demonstrated in the above video
Brass Antiqua Workshop, North Virginia
3/24 - Adam Woolf (Sackbut) and Barry Bauguess (Natural and Baroque Trumpet) will be offering masterclasses at Brass Antiqua, a early brass workshop to be held in Winchester, Virginia (Northern Virginia) on August 10-13, 2016. Further details are available at: http://www.brassantiqua.org.2016 HBS Monk Awardee: Jeremy Montagu
3/17 - We are happy to announce that the 2016 recipient of the Historic Brass Society's Christopher Monk Award will be the noted organologist, curator, and instrument collector Jeremy Montagu. Montagu is the author of many important studies of musical instruments including Horns and Trumpets of the World, Musical Instruments of the Bible, The Horn, Timpani and Percussion, Origins and Development of Musical Instruments and many others. He is the current president of the Galpin Society and past curator of the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments at Oxford University. Jeremy has also emmassed one of the great private collections of musical instruments, including a wide range of brasswinds. His outstanding works as a writer and curator has made significant and lasting contributions to the understanding of historic brass instruments and their music. Jeremy Montagu will be presented with the Christopher Monk Award on June 25 at the Galpin Society Meeting held at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK.
Italian Brass Week
3/8 - Florence will be the host city for the 17th Italian Brass Week international festival from 17-24 July 2016, a project both conceived and directed by Luca Benucci, Solo Horn of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra. International and Italian virtuosi soloists and professors, Jazz groups and Brass Ensembles will participate in masterclasses, concerts, and other musical events, each held in various notable locations in Florence such as the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre, Palazzo Pitti, Ponte Vecchio, Bargello Museum, Boboli Gardens, and the Piazza della Signoria. The summer evenings of the musical week will be illuminated by the world’s brass stars: Andrea Dell’Ira, Otto Sauter, Sergei Nakariakov, Luca Benucci, Jorgen van Rijen, Alain Trudel, Francisco “Pacho” Flores, Dale Clevenger, Stefan de Leval Jezierski, Roger Bobo, Anne Jelle Visser, Sergio Carolino, Jamie Williams, Froydis Ree Wekre, Emanuele Antoniucci, and Gabriele Malloggi.While modern brass performance is the main focus of the week, this event has had early brass activities in the past
Click here for further information: www.italianbrass.com.
5th Annual Indiana Sackbut Workshop
The 5th Indiana Sackbut Workshop will be continuing a study of German wind band or "Stadtpfeiffer" repertoire from the fall, focusing on the 16th and 17th centuries. The main goal of the workshop, through the sources which we shall be exploring, is to become fluent purveyors of late medieval and early Renaissance music in its own language, and skilled and informed practitioners of the instruments and the historical performance practices involved. Our goal will be to play all of the repertoire in its original manuscript or print form, either becoming acquainted with this for the first time, or furthering our knowledge and fluency in it. But since we do not want to discourage anyone from attending the workshop, modern editions will be provided for all of the selections to help us out along the way.
We have a new, slightly more flexible set of dates this time around. The main workshop with sackbuts, dulcians and shawms will remain as advertised on the website as from Wednesday, May 4th at 5 PM to Sunday, May 8th at 1 PM at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, IN. There is, however, the option of arriving on Tuesday, May 3rd at 5 PM for one day of sackbut and dulcian ensemble playing. We will be specifically exploring this combination of instruments, experimenting with what early 17th-century theorist and composer Michael Praetorius elucidates on the subject.
If you plan on participating in the extra day (beginning on May 3rd), this will be an available option on the Early Music in Motion website that you will have to register for separately from the main workshop. Here is a link to all pertinent information concerning registration and fees: http://earlymusicinmotion.org/event-registration/?ee=12
If you have any specific questions about the workshop, please feel free to contact Adam Bregman (
Natural Trumpet Course in Arosa
3/2 - Mike Diprose will be conducting a special course in Arosa, Switzerland on August 7-13, 2016. The course has been expanded to include an entire orchestra - strings, woodwinds, trumpets with timpani and plucked instruments – all playing only equipment that we know was in general use in the early 18th century.
One side of the re-assimilation of historical brass instruments into Historically-informed Performance Practice is the technical challenge for trumpeters. Nowadays, when they play in ensemble with other musicians, it can be perhaps even more daunting for all involved. Does it really need to be that difficult? What were those dumb composers thinking? Or could we reassess the interpretation of their work and its context? This course is designed to help bring us closer to an understanding of the composers' sound-world and expectations. Rather than post-modernising all the instruments, our course re-approaches the repertoire by applying solutions from historical sources to the equipment for which it was written. This is a resonant experience for everybody, with and without brass.
For further information: http://musikkurswochen.ch/kurse/detail/247
International Cornett and Sackbutt Conference
2/9 - To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Le Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse will be presenting an international cornett and sackbut event on October 20-23, 2016. The event will include concerts, talks, and a competition. Details can be found on website: les-sacqueboutiers.com.American Bach Soloists Summer Academy
2/8 - The ABS summer academy will be held in San Francisco on August 1–14, 2016. John Thiessen will be the trumpet clinician. The deadline for applications is February 15. For further information and to apply see http://americanbach.org/academy/.New Information on Oskar Bohme
1/14 - We have received correspondence from Edward H. Tarr on some interesting new information that he wished to share with our members. The letter is as follows:
Dear Friends
A Russian historian has recently discovered how the cornetist Oskar Böhme came to an end. In a chapter about Böhme in my book East Meets West I had written: “The exact date and the circumstances of his death will probably never be known.” In the wake of Stalin’s “Great Terror” (1928-54) more than four million people were deported and/or executed. Especially after Central Committee Secretary Sergey M. Kirov had been assassinated on December 1, 1934, Stalin initiated a great series of purges of artists and scientists, also banishing many persons of German origin, including Böhme, to distant places. Böhme was arrested on April 13, 1935 because of supposed – i.e. trumped-up – anti-Soviet propaganda and agitation and sentenced to three years of banishment from St. Petersburg to Orenburg (Stalinist name: Chkalov), a traditionally German city at the foot of the southern Ural mountains. Until 1938 he was teaching at a music school there, without the right of correspondence. Historian Anatoly Jakovlevich Rasumov, with access to the KGB archive, has since 1995 been publishing the names and short biographies of those who were assassinated by Stalin’s henchmen; his Leningrad Martyrologium has reached 14 volumes so far. He has discovered that in October 1938 (probably on the 23rd) Oskar Böhme was shot. See Christian Neef, “Archivar des Terrors”, Der Spiegel 53 (December 2015), 94-97, here 96.
With best wishes,
Edward H. Tarr
Early Music Workshop (Western Carolina University)
1/12 - The Mountain Collegium Early Music & Folk Music Workshop will be held at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina on June 26-July 2, 2016. This week-long workshop is an opportunity to make music in a relaxed atmosphere with a talented group of faculty and students. Erik Schmalz, a member of Dark Horse Consort, serves as brass instructor. In addition to brass there are offerings for recorder, viol, voice, capped reeds, and folk instruments. For further information visit www.mountaincollegium.org, emailWar-Damaged Musical Instruments
1/11 -Sound artist Susan Philipsz has an interesting sound exhibition at the Tate Britain museum that features fourteen recordings of British and German brass and wind instruments damaged in conflicts over the last 200 years. The notes recorded are based on the tones of the military bugle call ‘The Last Post’, but the tune is fragmented to such an extent that it is almost unrecognizable. Forming part of the 14-18 NOW arts program to commemorate the First World War centenary, the work features several instruments from that period, and has a special resonance with the history of Tate Britain, as part of the site was originally a military hospital that treated soldiers injured in the First World War.Encyclopedia of British Amateur Bands
1/4 - Clifford Bevan has recently published the Encyclopedia of British Amateur Bands: Their Music, Composers, Conductors, Soloists and Patrons 1790-1914 along with an Addendum 1914-1919. It is published by Piccolo Press in printed and digital CD forms. The work is comprised of 6 sections.1. Directory of British bands before 1914
2. Biographies of band arrangers, composers, bandmaster, conductors, patrons, players up to 1919.
3. Works for brass band published before 1914 (Title order)
4. Works for brass band published before 1914 (Composer order)
5. Directory of organisations and enterprises supporting bands before 1914
6. Summary
Appendix 1. Band musicians as amateurs
Appendix 2. Comparative wealth at death
Appendix 3. The Boosey family
Appendix 4. Calendar of band events 1790-1914 showing varied activities
Australasian Trumpet Academy 2016
12/18 - The Australasian Trumpet Academy 2016 will be held 28 September to 2 October in Gold Coast, Australia. For further information click here.2016 Natural Trumpet Building Workshop
10/29 - Details for the 2016 Barclay/Seraphinoff natrual trumpet building workshop held in Bloomington, Indiana, have been announced. The course will be held in August. For further information visit http://www.seraphinoff.com/itw/content.php?p=naw. The workshop has been held annually for many years and participants, including a number of HBS members, can testify that the course is not only educational, musical, and historical, but also a great deal of fun and a wonderful opportunity to make friends in the discipline!
2016 HBS Early Brass Festival: Northfield, Minnesota
3/23 - Preparations are underway for the annual HBS conference: the 2016 Early Brass Festival. It will be held in conjunction with the Vintage Band Festival on July 28–31 in Northfield, Minnesota. Updates will be posted here periodically. If you wish to submit a proposal to present, please do so by emailing your abstract to Jeff Nussbaum (
Other Documents and Links
Registration Form with Housing Information
The Vintage Band Festival website
News & Events
10/18 - Mr. Donald Ray Johnson, Jr, age 61 of Raywick, KY, passed away Friday, October 14, 2016 in Bradfordsville, KY. He was born on July 24, 1955 in Lexington, KY. Mr. Johnson was a musician and a retired Captain of the Lexington Fire Department. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald Ray Johnson, Sr. and Iris Jeannine Vanwinkle Johnson, and his sister Karen Faye Shupp. He is survived by his wife Cindy Oakman Johnson--Raywick, KY, his son Donald Ray Johnson III--Cincinnati, OH, his daughter: Marie Ann Colletti--Brooklynn, NY, his brother Steven Lee Johnson--Paris, KY, three step-brothers David Wilds--Three links, KY, Joseph Wilds--Irvine, KY, Paul Wilds, and his sister Michelle Wilds--Hazard, KY.
A noted figure in historical brass performance, Don founded and led the Kentucky Baroque Trumpets. He organized and led President Lincoln's Own Band, a group featured in Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln (2012). When the crowd sings "We Are Coming Father Abraham" in that movie it is his cornet playing that you hear. An active figure in historical bands in Kentucky, Johnson played in the Advocate Brass Band, Danville, Kentucky for a number of years and was frequently heard on stage at the Great American Brass Band Festival. He also frequented our annual HBS Brass Symposiua, including this past year at the Vintage Band Festival in Northfield, Minnesota, presenting on the keyed trumpet. We will always remember Don as a humble scholar, an energetic, passionate, and enthusiastic performer, and a person who has left us a legacy of wonderful recordings and insights into historical trumpet and cornet performance. For information on his recordings and life see http://kybaroquetrumpets.com/.
Steven Plank and Bryan Proksch
News & Events
The Great American Brass Band Festival (GABBF) in Danville, Kentucky announces a call for papers and presentations for the 2017 GABBF Brass Symposium. The Brass Symposium will be June 2, 2017, an educational event that serves as part of the Great American Brass Band Festival, which runs June 1-4, 2017.
Presenters who are selected will be offered a $350 stipend plus free lodging on the Centre College campus.
Presentations are typically 25-30 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions. There is no particular format required. Proposals may be academic paper presentations, performance demonstrations, historical lectures, or other formats. Creative or unusual presentation proposals are welcomed and encouraged. (Powerpoint, video and sound playback resources will be available to the presenter.)
The 2017 GABBF theme is "The Roaring Twenties," however, papers and presentations for the Brass Symposium are not required to be on this topic. Historically, presentations have been on topics such as brass instruments, brass bands, band history, performance practice, and music history/literature.
Proposals, or questions about proposals, should be sent via email to Jason Dovel at Jason.Dovel -at- uky.edu. If large files need to be sent, a Dropbox link is preferred.
Proposals must be received by November 1, 2016.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.gabbf.org/festival/education/brass-symposium/
News & Events
2015 Monk Awardee - Wim Becu
3/10 - The HBS is pleased to announce that the 2015 recipient of the Christopher Monk Award is to be the trombonist Wim Becu. The selection committee recognized the contribution that Becu has made to further the aims of the Society though his period instrument performances and recordings in a wide range of repertoires. More information about Wim Becu’s work can be found at http://www.concertopalatino.com/Wim_Becu.html and http://www.oltremontano.com/
12/8 - update: we have posted pictures of Wim receiving his award (above left) and Wim with Jeff Nussbaum and Trevor Herbert (above right).
2015 EMAP Conference Report
12/18 - Jeremy Sexton has written up a report on the 2015 European Music Archaeology Project. The report can be read here: 2015 EMAP conference report.docx. Pictured left: Peter Holmes discussing a salphinx. Pictured right: Gabriele Cassone demonstrating some Baroque trumpet techniques.
IGEB (International Society for the Promotion and Research of Wind Music)
Proposals for papers or lecture-performances are invited for the 22nd conference on wind music of the International Society for the Promotion and Research of Wind Music (IGEB) to be held in Oberwölz, Austria, July 21-26, 2016.The deadline for proposals is January 29, 2016
Papers focusing on the theme of the conference, “Wind Music in Society” are especially invited, but papers on any aspect of wind music and research in progress are welcome. The lectures can represent the entire field of humanities in relation to wind music: musicology, ethnology, philosophy, sociology, and educational sciences. Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes, leaving 10 minutes for discussion. Papers will be considered for future publication in the Alta Musica series. Researchers are encouraged to submit abstracts of works in progress.
Send a one-page abstract to Doris Schweinzer <doris.schweinzer -at- kug.ac.at>. Registration materials and further information may be found at http://www.igeb.net and the IGEB Mitteilungsblatt.
Oberwölz, the historic smallest City of Styria, Austria, will for the second time host an IGEB conference from Thursday July 21 (arrival) to Tuesday July 26, 2016 (departure). Those who attended the 2004 meeting will undoubtedly fondly remember visiting the Austrian Band Music Museum located in this city.
The winner of the IGEB Research Award (formerly the Thelen prize), awarded to the scholar having completed an outstanding doctoral dissertation in the field of wind music within the last five years, will be asked to present a paper on his/her research.
Ralph Bryant 1943-2015
10/26 - Ralph Bryant was one of the unsung heroes of the early brass community. Born in North Adams, Massachusetts, he studied music and German at Washington University in St. Louis. After service in the Army Band at West Point, he went to Munich on a scholarship to study musicology. In 1971 he was appointed assistant solo trumpet of the Zurich Tonhalle and Theater Orchestra (now: Orchestra of the Zurich Opera), a position he held for over thirty years. In Zurich he performed on cornett and baroque trumpet in the legendary cycle of Monteverdi operas conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. With the Concentus Musicus Wien under Harnoncourt’s direction, he participated in a number of recordings for the Teldec Bach cantata cycle. Moreover, in the mid-1970s he played second trumpet to Edward Tarr on what was possibly the first recording of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets on historical instruments (albeit accompanied by a modern chamber orchestra). Ralph was also a talented woodworker whose baroque-trumpet mutes are still very much sought-after. Ralph Bryant died on 3 September 2015 in Männedorf near Zurich.
ANIMUSIC 2015
11/15 - The next ANIMUSIC (National Association for Musical Instruments - Portugal) conference will be held 18-20 December 2015 in Tavira-Algarve, Portugal. For those wishing to present, the call for submissions deadline is 20 October. Further information, including registration, transportation, etc, is available by following this link.Indiana Sackbut Workshop
8/26 - The 4th Indiana Sackbut Workshop will take place from Thursday, October 29th to Monday, November 2nd at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, IN. This year, we will be focusing on the rich German wind band or "Stadtpfeiffer" tradition of the 15th and 16th centuries. Sessions will focus on sackbut technique and repertoire, discussions on performance practice, and small ensemble playing sessions (combined with participants of the early double reed workshop running concurrently). The main focus of this workshop (and perhaps biggest challenge) will be use of original sources. While modern editions of some of the music will be available, the main body of repertoire will be provided in original notation. Of course, information packets and guides will accompany the manuscript as an aid.For a more complete description of the classes and events to take place during the workshop, please follow this link: http://earlymusicinmotion.org/sackbut-class-description/. Click here for information concerning registration and fees: http://earlymusicinmotion.org/workshop/sackbut-workshop/register/. Questions can be directed to Adam Bregman (
HBS Session at EMAP Event
8/5 - The European Music Archaeology Project (EMAP) under the direction of Stefano Di Angeli, and Peter Holmes, will present a 3 day event on ancient brass instrument in Viterbo, Italy on November 11-13, 2015. The HBS will present a lecture session on November 13th and will include Jeff Nussbaum, session chair, Cabriele Cassone, Keith Polk, Chris Hasselbring, Kirsty Montgomery, Jeremy Montagu, and Annemies Tamboer.EMAP commissioned a number of instrument makers to copy ancient brass instruments that will be demonstrated at this event. They will include; the Tintignac Carnyx, Loughnashade Iron-age horn, Etruscan Cornua and Litui from the Tomba dei Riliervi in Cerveteri, Italy, Roman cornua from Pompeii, Roman Tubae from iconography on Trajan's column, Tutankhamun's silver and copper trumpets, Boston Salpinx, Drumbest horns from Northern Ireland, Tattershall ferry Carnyx, Pian di Civita Etruscan lituus, Etruscan and Greek salpingi, Gullakra lur, Huseby lurs.
The conference website is http://www.emaproject.eu/events/conferences.html#brassinstruments. For further information on the HBS papers involved (abstracts, etc.) click here. (link updated 9/28/15)
Early Brass Mouthpiece Maker
6/29 - Cornetto player Sam Goble is making early brass mouthpieces including cornetto, natural trumpet, serpent, ophicliede, and sackbut: www.samgoble.com.Cornetto Maker
6/29 - Andrew Hallock of the Netherlands is making a wide range of beautiful cornetti including A=440 and A=465 cornetts, mute cornetts, and tenors. See www.hallock-cornetti.com.Gunther Schuller 1925-2015
6/22 - It is with a heavy heart that we report the passing of Gunther Schuller, a great musician, composer, and musicologist who was also the 2005 HBS Monk awardee. Many of our members will no doubt remember his presentations at past HBS conferences. A news story from NPR on his life can be read (and heard) by clicking here.Natural Trumpet Class in Switzerland, August 2015
3/24 - Mike Diprose will be leading a "risk free" natural trumpet class (no vent holes) in Switzerland this August. Details are available by following this link.Call for Papers: European Music Archaeology Project
The Historic Brass Society has been invited to give three sessions on Friday, November 13, 2015, the penultimate day of a four day conference in Viterbo, Italy. The conference more generally is the finale of a European wide project in the Ancient Brass Project segment of EMAP a project devoted to musical archaeology. Further on the conference see: http://www.emaproject.eu/
It may be helpful to think of the HBS sessions as a colloquium within the conference that is both complementary to and integrated with it. Proposals for presentations should address one or both of two broad topics: 1) Brass musical instruments in antiquity. 2) Transitions and interpretations of brass instruments between antiquity and post-antiquity eras. These may include apparent references to instruments between antiquity and the middle ages and renaissance, and the interpretations of brass instruments of antiquity in later times.These themes may be interpreted freely and approached from the perspective of iconography, organology or any other branch of musical and cultural history. The term "brass instruments" should be taken to mean lip vibrated instrument.
Proposals should be of no more than 300 words in length. They should contain a brief outline of content and the perspective/s from which it will be addressed (iconography, historical musicology, organology etc). The proposals should be for a paper of 20 or 30 minutes (excluding discussions) and the length of paper that is proposed should be mentioned in the proposal.
Proposals should be sent to
HBS Early Brass Festival 2015 Information
The HBS Early Brass Festival will be held at Oberlin College, July 10-12, 2015.
Housing and Registration (different this year!)
EBF registration, dorm room charges, and meal plan charges need to be made in advance. All checks should be payable to: Historic Brass Society and sent to: HBS, 148 West 23rd Street #5F, New York, NY 10011 USA.
Dorm rooms in the Harvey/Kade Halls are $32 per night. Note, No A/C, lines included. Fan rental available for the weekend, $10 deposit ($5 return upon return of fan).
Indiana Sackbut Workshop
2/16 - The third Indiana Sackbut Workshop will take place from Thursday, April 23rd - Monday, April 27th at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, IN. The theme this year, continued from the fall, is 16th- and early 17th-century music from the Iberian Peninsula. Sessions will focus on sackbut technique and repertoire, discussions on performance practice and small and large ensemble playing sessions (combined with participants of the early double reed workshop happening concurrently). There will be no specific solo repertoire this time around. Instead, we will be focusing more on the application of ornaments to actual music, taking a closer look at why, when and where we ornament.Click here for more information. If you have any specific questions about workshop, please feel free to contact Adam Bregman (
The Third Vienna Talk on Music Acoustics
2/22 - The upcoming 3rd Vienna Talk on Music Acoustics, an international symposium organised by the Institute of Music Acoustics (Wiener Klangstil) in association with the TCMA of the EAA and co-sponsored by ICA, ASA, ESCOM, HBS and AMIS, is fast approaching. The meeting will take place from 16–19 September 2015 on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of our institute at the downtown campus of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria.We want to address scientists, researchers, musicians, makers, and conservators of musical instruments. The idea, “Bridging the Gaps”, means to focus on the dialogue between the aforementioned groups. Scientists will be encouraged to present their papers in a generally understandable way, and instrument makers and musicians will be able to communicate their observations, hypotheses and problems to an interested scientific audience. This way, research might be directed towards new questions, while manufacturers, musicians, instrument conservators and collectors will have the opportunity to find answers and get access to new methods and tools.
Those interested in submitting a paper or session proposal should follow the instructions posted on the conference website: http://viennatalk2015.mdw.ac.at/?page_id=5000. The deadline for submissions is March 1. 2/25: the deadlines have been extended given that the original one provided too short a notice. The new deadlines are: Full papers (4-8 pages) intended for peer-review by March 22, 300-word abstracts by April 12th, and session proposals by April 12.
News & Events
2015 UK Natural Trumpet Building Course
12/9 - The 2015 Annual Trumpet Making Course with Robert Barclay, Michael Munkwitz & Richard Seraphinoff will run from Monday-Friday June 22-26 in Cambridge, England. Information and registration can be found at: http://cambridgewoodwindmakers.org/info/courses/trumpet-making+102.html. Those interested in attending are encouraged to register as soon as possible, as the course typically fills up quickly.
New Ophicleide Repertoire Website
12/9 - Nicolas Indermuehle is pleased to announce a new website dedicated to the ophicleide repertoire: ophi.referata.com. The site includes a searchable database of composers and works as well as links to libraries and archival materials.
New Louis Armstrong Documents
12/26 - A brief news item by William Grimes in the December 24, 2014 edition of the New York Times reveals some important information about the great trumpeter's youth. It is well known that young Armstrong was placed in the Colored Waif's Home in 1913 but the report of the incident that placed him there in the New Orleans Times-Democrat of January 2, 1913 described Armstrong as "an old offender" a description that has caused researchers confusion for years. Information known since 1980 but only now fully explored has shown that through daily census records kept by the home that Louis Armstrong was sent to the home previously in 1910. Also, a previously unknown news item about the brass band at the home lists Armstrong as the band's leader.
Reine Dahlqvist 1945-2014
Reine Dahlqvist was born on September 2, 1945, and died on October 17, 2014 of complications arising from prostate cancer.
A highly important researcher into the history of the trumpet, my Swedish colleague and friend Bengt Eklund acquainted me with him from the very start of his work. As a trumpeter, he was self-taught. He could play high notes on his piccolo trumpet, but I am not aware that he ever participated in orchestra performances. Dahlqvist’s groundbreaking dissertation—Bidrag till trumpeten och trumpetspelets historia från 1500-talet till mitten av 1800-talet med särskild hänsyn till perioden 1740-1830, two vols. (Gothenborg University 1988)—was written in Swedish but had a long summary in English that enabled non-Swedish speakers to gather important information.
Reine Dahlqvist wrote other important articles, including one on Anton Weidinger and the invention of the keyed trumpet: The Keyed Trumpet and Its Greatest Virtuoso, Anton Weidinger (Nashville: The Brass Press, 1975). In addition, he was concerned about bringing out a new edition of his dissertation that would be written in English and would present information that he had not known about in 1988. This work went on for decades, and since I was the one who helped him put his language into a presentable English, we were constantly in contact. About two years ago, his transmissions of texts in “Swinglish” (i.e., his brand of English) ceased, and we were only about one fifth through the text.
Reine lived alone in the house which formerly belonged to his parents. He is survived by his sister. He never held an academic position; throughout his life he subsisted through scholarships that he had received to continue his research. During the past decade he worked part time as a postman while continuing his research in the Gothenborg University library. Several years ago he developed prostate cancer. The treatments seemed to be successful for a time and he was optimistic to the end. He seems to have died a lonely death some two days before his neighbors discovered him in his house.
The trumpet world is much the poorer without Reine Dahlqvist and much the richer for his contributions to brass history. We can only hope that he typed the results of his research into his computer at the university library and that it is preserved in a state that will someday permit its contents to be made available.
Edward H. Tarr
Cornett and Sackbut Workshops
11/7 - Starting in January 2015 Sam Goble will be presenting workshops for cornett & sackbut ensemble on a regular basis in Berlin, Germany and a Summer School with Master Classes in Northern Germany for three weeks in August courtesy of the Renaissance Workshop. Goble is a member of the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble who is also well-known as a mouthpiece maker. For further information information visit www.renaissanceworkshop.org.
Sounds of War and Victories: Military Musicians on Battlefields and Promenades
10/13 - The thirteenth conference of the Research Center for Music Iconography will be held at the City University of New York Graduate Center on 11 November 2014. The conference theme will commemorate the centennial of World War I. It has been organized by Zdravko Blažeković with support by the Historic Brass Society.
For conference program and information please follow this line: http://rcmi.gc.cuny.edu/parent-page/sounds-of-wars-and-victories-military-musicians-on-battlefields-and-promenades/.
Immer Masterclass Ferrara, Italy, 27-29 March 2015
9/29 - On 27-29 March 2015, the association Amici della Musica di Sant’Agostino from Ferrara (Italy) under the artistic direction and contribution of the Ensemble Ottoni Romantici, will hold the 7th International Masterlclass on Baroque Trumpet. The Masterclass is taking place in Sant’Agostino (Ferrara), and will be led this year by Friedemann Immer. Both individual and group lessons are available and masterclass topics will include performance techniques, historical interpretation of the trumpet repertoire for soloists and orchestra, and the trumpet and timpani ensemble.
World Record Shofar Ensemble
9/29 - 1043 shofar players blew their way into the history books on Sunday in Whippany, New Jersey, setting a new record for the world’s largest shofar ensemble. Participants blasted the shofars in unison for five straight minutes in the parking lot of the Alex Aidekman Family Jewish Community Campus. The purportedly "meditative" sound of the horns gave way to jubilant cheers, as instrumentalists and spectators celebrated the achievement. New Jersey now can ring in the Jewish New Year on Wednesday with bragging rights as home of the biggest shofar band on the planet, at least according to Guinness World Records.
Big Carl Resurfaces
9/29 - Big Carl, the giant tuba that was on display for decades over the entrance door of the music publisher Carl Fischer has resurfaced after mysteriously disappearing in 1999. There is still much mystery about Big Carl, all 8 feet tall, 60 feet of tubing, 100 pounds of the BBBb monster. An article in the September 27, 2014 issue of the New York Times describes much of what is known about the instrument (it's valves are not functioning). The instrument was made in Bohemia by Bohland and Fuchs. Carl Fischer had Steve Dillion restore the instrument and there is talk of Big Carl making an appearance at he Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and at the Tuba Christmas Concert in Rockeffeller Center in New York. The instrument currently resides in a small conference room at 48 Wall Street in New York. A NY Times video describes the instrument.
Low Brass Conference: From the Serpent to the Tuba
9/17 - A special conference on many aspects of low brass instruments will take place from November, the 7th to 9th., 2014 in at the Stiftung Koster Michaelstein in Blankenburg, Germany. Of special interest to HBS members will be the presentation of the HBS Christopher Monk Award to Arnold Myers.
Click here for the pdf of the program with further information: tubakonferenz_2014.pdf Click here for the English-language program: programme_eng.doc. Click here for the full website: http://www2.kloster-michaelstein.de/de/start
2014 HBS Christopher Monk Award to Arnold Myers
9/17 - The distinguished organologist, Arnold Myers will be the recipient of the 2014 Historic Brass Society Christopher Monk Award. The Award will be presented to Arnold Myers by HBS member Sabine Klaus, at Michaelstein during the special low brass conference, From Serpent to Tuba, which will be held on November 7-9, 2014. The Christopher Monk Award was established to honor distinguished members of the brass community for significant and life-long contributions to the field.
A special plaque will be inscribed with the following: Arnold Myers is one of the most distinguished organologists and musical instrument curators of his generation. Throughout his career he has worked tirelessly and with the highest scholarly standards to increase understanding of brass musical instruments. His work has benefited performers, other researchers, his students and the public at large.
2014 Vintage Band Festival
8/6 - Paul Niemisto once again organized the Vintage Band Festival on August 2, 2014 in Northfield, MN. There were 12 bands presented in concerts over a period of 12 hours. Pictured above are the "Roving Ophicleides" (Paul Schmidt and Clark Wolf), who have been present at each of the past VBFs. The next VBF will be held on July 28-31, 2016 in Northfield, which will be held in conjunction with the annual HBS Early Brass Festival conference.
Kickstarter Campaign for Horn Recording
8/6 - Anneke Scott is looking to raise money to fund a recording project on J.-F. Gallay's Opera Fantasies. For further information on the project and information on how you can support her work, click here.Trevor Herbert Receives Baines Prize
8/6 - The Galpin Society has awarded the 16th Anthony Baines Memorial Prize to Trevor Herbert. The Baines Prize, established in 1997, is presented to musicians who have made important contributions to the field of organology. Trevor Herbert was noted, not only for his important scholarly contributions to the field of organology and the history of music and instruments but his important contributions as a teacher and performer as well. Herbert has written or co-authored many important books and articles including; "The British Brass Band", "Music in Words", "The Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments", "The Trombone", and most recently, "Music and the British Military in the Long 19th Century." Trevor Herbert is a long-time member of the Historic Brass Society Board of Directors and the HBS Editorial Board as well as a past recipient of the HBS Christopher Monk Award.
Adolphe Sax 2014 Bicentenary Conference
7/8 - The Historic Brass Society joined forces with the Musical Instrument Museum of Brussels and Belgian Society of Musicology in presenting a conference celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of great Belgian instrument maker, Adolphe Sax. The conference held in the beautiful city of Brussels on July 3-5, 2014 was a great success and paved the way for future research on Sax as well as other 19th century brass topics. Click here for the Program and Lecture Abstracts.
Photo captions: Adrian Steiger (left), Trevor Herbert and Arnold Myers (center), Al Rice and Arnold Myers (right)
Danny Lucin Cornetto Mouthpieces
6/6 - Danny Lucin is now making cornetto mouthpieces and has a variety of styles with a range of different shapes & sizes to suit individual requirements.
Mouthpiece Specs:
Total length: 34mm
Cup diameter: 14mm or 15mm (or larger if required)
Rim: 2mm, 2.5mm or 3mm (trumpet style mouthpiece)
Shank length: 18mm
Shank diameter: 8mm - will fit a Monk plastic instrument
Throat: 2.9mm with a tapered back-bore
Material: Black buffalo horn
Price: $80 AUD
For further information email
Bugles Across America
5/29 - In response to cutting back of the playing of TAPS in live performance by buglers for American military men and women, in 2000, Tom Day made it his mission to have TAPS played by a bugle player at every military funeral across the country. He created Bugles Across America to achieve that goal. For further information please visit www.buglesacrossamerica.org.
Call for Papers
5/12 - The HBS has recently becoming a supporting organization for an upcoming conference, "Sounds of Wars and Victories: Images of Military Musicians on Battlefields and Promenades." This conference will be presented at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York under the direction of the Research Center for Music Iconography and held in New York on November 11-13, 2014. The conference will focus on the iconography of military musicians of all times and performing in any occasion. The submission deadline for abstracts of proposals (200-300 words) is June 15, 2014. Submissions may be sent to: Zdravko Blazekovic at
Natural Horn Events This Summer
5/29 - Natural horn virtuoso Anneke Scott will be involved in a number of workshops and symposia coming up this summer. She's sent the following information about her activities: The first course (Ironwood Developing Artists Chamber Music Winter School) is being held at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music from Monday 7th of July – Saturday 12th of July and will focus on aspects of playing the classical natural horn. The course is open to anyone over the age of 17 and both period horn players AND modern horn players interested in gaining some insight into the natural horn or elements of performance practice are very welcome. http://vcam.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/r/68D32EE4FABD5B2E2540EF23F30FEDE
The second course (Ironwood Developing Artists Baroque Orchestra Winter School) will be held in Bundanon (near Sydney) from Wednesday 16th of July until Sunday 20th of July (although my participation is just for the first three days) - this course will be more focused on aspects of playing the baroque horn, though again people new to the instrument are welcome to apply. The application form says entries by 1st of May but I understand they're still accepting applications. http://www.ironwoodchamberensemble.com/IRONWOOD_Application_Form_2014.pdf
46th Annual Symposium of the International Horn Society - I’ll be giving a natural horn masterclass as part of the IHS festival in August, on Thursday 14th August. Anyone is able to apply for this masterclass, see http://london.hornworkshop.org/index.php?option=com_rsform&formId=7 for the application form and further details.
46th Annual Symposium of the International Horn Society - I’ll be giving a natural horn masterclass as part of the IHS festival in August, on Thursday 14th August. Anyone is able to apply for this masterclass, see http://london.hornworkshop.org/index.php?option=com_rsform&formId=7 for the application form and further details.
Wanted: J.W. York Catalogs
5/13 - I am seeking catalogs or other early J.W.York, York & Son or York & Sons printed materials. I have always thought that the J.W.York Monarch cornets and some of the Professional models, as well as the New Model Monarchs and New Model Professionals are among my favorite early 20thcentury cornets. Many have passed through my hands and virtually all have been worth the effort and money to restore. I have accumulated a dozen or more that I am restoring now and I have noticed that there are many different bell sizes and shapes as well as different engraving patterns through the years but I have almost no literature in my files that details their offerings, only articles in the Grand Rapids newspapers about the store and factory.Rich Ita
www.brassinstrumentworkshop.com
Jeffrey Snedeker Name National Phi Kappa Phi Artist
4/29 - Jeffrey Snedeker, natural hornist, frequent HBSJ author, and professor of music at Central Washington University, has been selected as the 2014-2016 Phi Kappa Phi Artist by The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi — the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline honor society. The award is in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician, professor, and campus leader. “Dr. Snedeker has had a sustained career as one of the foremost proponents of the historical importance of the natural horn. His extensive range of performances, compact discs, journal articles and presentations at international conferences have garnered widespread accolades throughout his impressive career,” said Dr. David Northington, chair of the Phi Kappa Phi Artist selection committee. Snedeker has been a performing artist and scholar for more than 25 years. He’s played concertos, recitals, and natural horn and jazz performances throughout the world. He has released two critically acclaimed solo recordings featuring the horn in a jazz setting and two solo recordings of the natural horn.
Snedeker has received numerous performance and teaching awards; most notably, first place in the Natural Horn Division of the 1991 American Horn Competition. He also holds the 2012 Washington Music Educators Association Higher Education Educator of the Year and the 2014 Washington State Ormsby Award for Faculty Citizenship. Since 1991 Snedeker has been at CWU where he teaches horn, music history, and brass literature and pedagogy. He was the 2012 CWU Distinguished University Professor for Service, and the 2008 CWU Phi Kappa Phi Scholar of the Year. “What the artist award represents to me is a wonderful acknowledgement of day-to-day work and taking risks. It’s really nice to get a pat on the back,” said Snedeker, whose decision to pursue a career in music came later than many musicians. “I wanted to be a baseball player,” Snedeker said. “Basically, when the obvious shortcomings on my part finally ran their course, I was looking for something that would sort of resemble that. And the act of practicing music, making music, has an athletic approach to it.” Playing an instrument and performing took the place of his athletic ambitions. Sports have an artistic aspect, says Snedeker, who sees music as a worthy alternative to baseball. “I don’t have rotator cuff problems and knee problems and I still play every day,” he said with a laugh.
First presented in 1983, the Phi Kappa Phi Artist Award recognizes the achievements of those who, in addition to their outstanding scholarship, have displayed talents in the broad realm of the arts—creative, graphic, performing, visual, and fine arts, according to a Phi Kappa Phi news release. The award is given once every two years. Recipients receive a $1,000 honorarium, a life membership, and a trip to the society’s biennial convention on August 9 in St. Louis, MO, where the award officially will be presented. “I still have much to learn, and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead,” Snedeker said. “I pride myself on my versatility, but as much as I want people to appreciate the wide range of possibilities of the horn, I also know that any musical instrument is limited first by the performer, and I embrace my responsibility in pursuit of my goals.”
For more information on Phi Kappa Phi visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.
New Trumpet Book
4/21 - Elisa Koehler has just had her new book, Fanfares and Finesse: A Performer's Guide to Trumpet History and Literature published by Indiana University Press. This fine book is guide for modern trumpet players on how to best to apply historically informed performance practice. Click here to see the Amazon listing.Friedemann Immer Master Class
3/18 - The Tertiary College of Church Music of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bayreuth, Bavaria, will host the 12th International Baroque Trumpet Seminar with Prof. Friedemann Immer (Cologne, Amsterdam) on 24-27 April 2014. For more information, please emailPeter Barton 1930-2013
3/18 - My mentor and teacher Peter Barton died late in autumn 2013 aged 83, after a short illness. After an initial career as a sports and Latin teacher Peter was taught brass repairing by an eccentric Hungarian called Villi Hertzeg, whose own formal apprenticeship, Peter told me, had been for fifteen years. Peter at first began working on historical brass instruments at the Bate collection in collaboration with Jeremy Montague, and then also for the Horniman and the Reid collections and for Cyrfatha castle. His work for the antique instrument dealer Tony Bingham may be found in collections across the world. At a time when restoration to playing condition was the fashion, Peter was always very careful to work in the least destructive way that he could and to preserve as much historical evidence as possible. He wrote articles for GSJ on his work on the Calcott radius horn, the Shaw trumpets in Warwick castle, and also on the Woodham Rodenbostel slide trumpet which stimulated his own interest and research into the English slide trumpet. His last major project, before arthritis forced a return to his other interests of miniature boat building and painting, was the restoration of the silver William Bull trumpet in the Ashmolean museum. Peter would most often spend substantially more time on an instrument than he could ever charge for, but aside from his great skill and patience (and his great generosity to me as a teacher) what most people will remember will be a very warm hearted and genial man with a huge store of entertaining stories and things to talk about.-- Nicholas Perry
Brussles Conference on Adolphe Sax
7/11 - A conference entitled "Adolphe Sax His Influence and Legacy: A Bicentenary Conference" will be presented at the Musical Instrument Museum (Brussels, Belgium) on July 3-5, 2014. Keynote speakers will be Steve Cottrell and Trevor Herbert. For information on submitting a proposal and/or attending the conference, please click here.
UPDATE: The conference schedule has been set and everything you need to prepare for it has been posted here: http://www.mim.be/adolphe-sax-his-influence-and-legacy-a-bicentenary-conference
UPDATE (3/21): The conference schedule has been tweaked somewhat, so please use this updated version: http://www.mim.be/adolphe-sax-his-influence-and-legacy-a-bicentenary-conference
3D "Printed" Cornetti
3/14 - There has been a flurry of discussion about 3D Printer cornetti recently. One maker is Ricardo Simian (http://www.ricardosimian.com/3D_Instruments_Home.html. Bruce Dickey is reported to have said that they play very well at A=466, but maybe not quite as well as the best wooden ones. This is encouraging. He also says that they haven't been scaled to A=440 yet, but the website seems to indicate they are available. Discussions on the "Cornettozink" group on Yahoo have revealed another website of interest: http://www.3dmusicinstruments.com/.
A Mute Cornett has been designed by instrument maker Steven Silverstein as well (silversteinligature.com). Steve reports, "I did nothing but take his measurements and put them into stl files. The Cornett needed to be cut into four pieces to fit into my print area. To facilitate gluing the pieces together I created alignment cones meant to keep the pieces aligned in the X-Y plane during the glue up. These truncated cones are the negative space at the center of the Cornett. I glued each piece together with two part epoxy. To keep the internal alignment cones from getting glued as well I wrapped the alignment cones in silicone embedded parchment paper. Both the alignment cones and the pieces of parchment paper came out with no fuss". You can
-- Jeffrey Nussbaum
UPDATE (3/18):
Cornetto player, Jamie Savan has sent this report ." Having noticed the post about 3D printed cornetti on the HBS website, I thought HBS members might be interested to know about my 'CyberZink' project which also uses CAD modelling and 3D printing for cornetto research: I started printing copies of historical mouthpieces around 18 months ago, and got my first cornetto printed in July last year. I'm using the dimensions for the Christ Church cornetti in the first instance, and the results so far have been very promising. There's further information on the project website:
New Contrabass Serpent (Anaconda) Available
3/3 - J.c. Sherman, an instrument maker in Bedford, Ohio, has built a new musical instrument, a contrabass serpent. Often referred to by players of the serpent and musical instrument historians as an “Anaconda”, the instrument is an octave below the usual serpent, and thus twice the size and length. The contrabass serpent named “Gabriel”, first completed in September 2013 and revised in 2014, is the fourth full instrument of this pitch. It has 6 holes covered by copper keys, and is made completely of metal, making this the only metal contrabass serpent extant. "Gabriel", this contrabass serpent/anaconda, is on 16-foot CC, and is made entirely from brass and related metals. For pictures, additional information, and purchasing inquiries, please contact J.c. Sherman at
Natural Trumpet Events in Switzerland
2/24 - Mike Diprose will be teaching a natural trumpet course in Arosa, Switzerland 17th-23rd August. The course, taught in both German and English, is geared towards the "unvented" natural trumpet and for those wishing to improve their playing technique without the use of tuning holes. For further information: http://musikkurswochen.ch/kurse/detail/247. He will also be hosting a number of workshops throughout the year in various locations, and will be posting those items on this website http://margreet.ch/MARGREET/Workshops.html.
2014 Mountain Collegium Early Music Workshop
1/3 - The 2014 Mountain Collegium Early Music Workshop will take place 29 June - 5 July 2014 at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. Erick Schmalz will be teaching brass this year. Classes include technique, improvisation, consorts, folk, Sephardic, and contemporary music. Continuing Ed Credit is available to teachers.
For further information and registration, click here for their website or contact Jody Miller via email.
Upcoming HBS Events
2/8 - The 2015 HBS Early Brass Festival will be held on Friday July 10 - Sunday July 12, 2015 at Oberlin College. Of special interest will be an up-close view of the Selch instrument collection which is housed at Oberlin. The 2016 event will be the HBS Early Brass Festival which will be held, once again, in collaboration with the Vintage Band Festival in Northfield, MN. Those dates are July 28-31, 2016. Long range plans for another large International Historic Brass Symposium to be held again in New York City. That Symposium will be held during the Summer of 2017.Query for Shofar Study
1/20 -Jeremy Montagu, president of the Galpin Society, is working on a detailed study of the shofar, including its use and history from Talmudic times onwards, and he is currently concerned with its typology. He has only just over a dozen in his own collection, from north-eastern Europe (18th and 19th centuries), Israel (late 19th century onwards), Morocco, and Iran, and needs help to fill the gaps with typology from other areas of the world and different periods in history. If you have any information, or know of any museums or collections that could assist in this study, he would very much appreciate being contactedThird International Romantic Brass Symposium
7/8 - Revised 10/27 with new dates. Originally scheduled from noon on Feb. 4 to noon on Feb. 6, it will now be from the morning of Feb. 4 through Feb. 5.
The Bern University of the Arts will host the third International Conference on Romantic Brass, to be held jointly with the Historic Brass Society (HBS) in Bern, February 4 - 5, 2014. The theme of the conference is The Saxhorn in Opera and Military Music.
The conference is organized in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Adolphe Sax (1814-1894). The Program Committee welcomes proposals for papers, lecture-recitals, lecture-demonstrations, performances, posters, and panel discussions on topics relating to the history, design, use, care, and acoustics of Romantic brasswind instruments. Proposals relating to the following themes are particularly welcomed:- Innovation in nineteenth-century wind-instrument engineering
- From handwork to mass production: the industrialization of wind-instrument making
- Restoration, documentation, and ethical treatment of nineteenth-century wind instruments
- Performing nineteenth-century wind music in the twenty-first century
For information about the Bern University's plans and schedule, click here.
For full details on the HBS side of the event, click here: PDF.
News & Events
His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts Fundraiser
12/4 - His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts is running a fundraising campaign to support their next recording project. It is currently 75% funded through a Kickstarter campaign, but needs your help to nudge us towards that £5000 goal. For further information, please follow this link: http://kck.st/1aX7cPf. There are a variety of rewards and incentives for those who donate. The campaign will end on 12/12, so don't delay!
News from Christopher Monk Workshops
12/2 - Jeremy West and Christoper Monk Workshops has sent news of a number of items of interest to historic brass enthusiasts, including a new resin cornett, the publication of 15 duos from 1590, and the latest recording project from His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts. For more information, click here.
Sackbuts on Broadway
12/2 - In his review in the November 30th edition of the NY Times, of a pair of Shakespeare plays, "Richard III" and Twelfth Night", now running at the Belasco Theater on Broadway, critic Michael Cooper described the show pit band as "more Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, rather than Irving Berlin!" In a rare change from the usual musical forces in a Broadway pit band, this production is using a band of early music performers including two sackbut players, Greg Ingles and Daniel Meyers. To read the full article: click here!An Open Letter of Thanks to the HBS from Vic Hobson
10/30 - My first involvement with the Historic Brass Society was at a joint international symposium of the society and the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, New Jersey in 2005. What I suspect nobody (including Jeff Nussbaum) knew at the time was that I was still a graduate student, and Jonathan Impett, my doctoral supervisor, had suggest the conference to me. Despite being surrounded by the world’s leading jazz scholars, I was scheduled to be the last speaker and to close the conference. If that wasn’t enough, I also got to publish my paper, “The Blues and the Uptown Brass Bands of New Orleans,” questioning how the blues became a part of New Orleans jazz, alongside these same luminaries in Howard T. Weiner ed., Early Twentieth Century Brass Idioms (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2009).
The conference put me in touch with Bruce Raeburn who, as curator of the Hogan Jazz Archive, suggested that the oral history interviews that archive held would be a good way to further my research. The following spring, as New Orleans struggled to recover from Hurricane Katrina, I made my first visit to the Crescent City. On my way back to the U.K., I met briefly with Lewis Porter to discuss writing an article “New Orleans Jazz and the Blues” Jazz Perspectives, vol. 5, no. 1 (2011). Although the essay established that the blues in all its forms was played around the turn of the century by New Orleans musicians, what this left unresolved was how they came to play the blues.
A Woest Fellowship in 2009 to the Historic New Orleans Collection gave me access to the original interview notes for the book Jazzmen (1939). Much of the information for Jazzmen came from a highly controversial source: Bunk Johnson. He claimed to have played with Buddy Bolden, the legendary “First Man of Jazz,” and that together they had pioneered jazz in New Orleans. From the original interview notes for Jazzmen it was clear that Bunk Johnson did play with Bolden. This has profound implications for Johnson's recorded legacy in describing the music of the early years of New Orleans jazz.
New Orleans jazz was different from ragtime in a number of ways. It was a music that was collectively improvised, and employed the tonality of the blues. Part of the reason New Orleans jazz developed as it did is that all the prominent jazz pioneers, including Buddy Bolden, Bunk Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, and Kid Ory, sang in barbershop (or barroom) quartets. My forthcoming book, Creating Jazz Counterpoint: New Orleans, Barbershop Harmony, and the Blues (Jacksonville, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2014), describes in both historical and musical terms how the practices of quartet singing were converted to the instruments of a jazz band, and how this, in turn, produced the collectively improvised, blues-inflected jazz of New Orleans.
http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Jazz-Counterpoint-Orleans-Barbershop/dp/1617039918
I am currently working on a paper for Jazz Education Network Conference in Dallas, Texas, January 8-11, 2014, exploring how Louis Armstrong developed the musical language of jazz through the application of quartet vocal practices on his instrument. There is still a long way to go, but I got off to an auspicious start at the HBS/IJS symposium back in 2005.
New Cornett "G2" from Christopher Monk
9/26 - At Christopher Monk Instruments we have very good news regarding the resin cornetts: after some 18 months of research and development the all new resin instrument, happily nicknamed the "G2", is about to be launched. If you have ordered, and are waiting for, a resin cornett, this is the model you will receive. As promised, you will get it at the price from the time of your order and not the price at the time of supply. New manufacturing techniques will also mean more reliable and quicker production; our aim is to clear the backlog of orders by early 2014 and then to hold a stock of these instruments for the future.This marks the end of the line for the trusty 'G1' which has seen 50 years of service, enabling and inspiring players in dozens of countries across the globe. One example even found its way onto a nuclear submarine on patrol beneath the polar ice cap during the Cold War.
The G2 will carry on where its predecessor left off whilst embracing 21st century technologies and materials. Far greater precision in the manufacturing process will make for added stability and a more centred and brighter sound. I am extremely excited about this new instrument!
The cornettino will continue with the new model (launched 2012), but now utilising improved production methods which will render it better than ever. Again, instruments will be held in stock from early 2014.
Once again I should like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding whilst waiting for their instruments. Your loyalty means a lot and is greatly appreciated.
For further information: www.jeremywest.co.uk
Sackbut Workshop
9/25 - The first annual Indiana Sackbut Workshop will take place from Thursday, October 31st through Monday, November 4th outside of Bloomington, IN (at Waycross in Morgantown). This year's theme for the workshop is late Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque Italian music. Sessions will focus on sackbut technique and repertoire, with discussions on performance practice and the sackbut in a historical context, small and large ensemble playing sessions (some combined with participants of the early double reed workshop happening concurrently), and masterclasses as a platform for solo performance of diminutions and madrigals.For further information, please visit http://earlymusicinmotion.org/EMIM/Sackbut_workshop.html.
Cornetto Lessons On-Line
8/5 - Jeremy West, one of the great cornetto virtuosos and Director of His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, is now offering online cornetto lessons via Skype or Facetime. As many potential cornetto enthusiasts are often hundreds or even thousands of miles from a good cornetto teacher, online lessons are the answer. For more details see Jeremy's website: www.jeremywest.co.uk.New Military Music Book
6/28 -Oxford University Press has just published a new book by Trevor Herbert on the history of British military music. Herbert offers a new and fascinating view on the importance of this often overlooked area of music making. For further information click here.New Weckmann Edition for Cornetto
6/20 - New music for cornetto published by Septenary Editions: Matthias Weckmann (c.1616-1674), Sonate à 3 e 4 istromenti, D-Lr KN207, Heft 14. This is a complete performance edition including score and parts. Click here for more information.Purcell Opera Premiere Seeks Support
6/12 - Later this year, dynamic period instrument ensemble Spiritato! will be making the world-premiere recording of Daniel Purcell's The Judgment of Paris (1701) for the Resonus Classics label. As individuals the members of the group can be found working with many of the finest period-instrument orchestras in the world, but together they share a passion for music from the Restoration. The work is an exciting combination of Purcellian harmonies and virtuosic Italianate vocal forms. The opera, featuring the trumpet throughout, is a unique window into English music at the beginning of the 18th century.Spiritato! are being supported in this unique project by public donations and are giving away fanfares, CDs and downloads to everyone who contributes. Even the smallest donation can make a big difference so to find out more about the group and Daniel Purcell's forgotten masterpiece please visit http://www.sponsume.com/project/judgment-paris.
Kentucky Baroque Trumpets Brings World Renowned Trumpeters to Lebanon, Kentucky
5/25 - Two of the finest trumpeters in the world, Friedemann Immer from Germany and John Foster from Australia, will be traveling to the United States to accompany Don Johnson of the Kentucky Baroque Trumpets in a concert held at St. Augustine Church in Lebanon, Kentucky on Saturday, 8 June at 7 pm. KBT will also be hosting a master class at Centre Square on Friday, 7 June at 7 pm. Anyone that can play a brass instrument is invited to come to the rehearsal and would be allowed to perform the selected piece of music at the concert the following day. Following the concert on Saturday night, the general public is invited to attend a reception at the Marion County Heritage Center, the old courthouse in downtown Lebanon on Main Street. The Marion County Heritage Center is home to Don’s collection of Civil War and J.W. Pepper instruments, light refreshments will be served.For further information visit http://kybaroquetrumpets.com/
Biber in San Francisco
5/6 - On July 13 the period-instrument virtuosos of the American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy (July 12-21, San Francisco) will perform Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber's gigantic Missa Salisburgensis. Performed only a handful of times since its 1682 premiere in Salzburg Cathedral, this choral extravaganza for nine different groups of instruments is massive, beautiful, and sure to be an extraordinary musical event! At 53 parts plus continuo it is probably the largest-scaled surviving work from the Baroque period. There is an especially heavy contingent of baroque trumpet players involved.English Brass Academy Summer Courses
4/30 - The English Brass Academy is offering high quality music training for students, aged 8 -18, this August. For information click here to go to their website. Based at the magnificent Shrewsbury School & Beechwood Park School, the week-long courses promise to be great fun as well as educational and culminate in a concert for family and friends on the Friday afternoon.BRASS WORKS Course
Brass Works is for all young brass players from beginner to grade 8 and the course contains small and large ensemble work; creative composition workshops, performance preparation and organised sports.
BRASS ELITE Course
Brass Elite is for advanced players (grade 8+) who would like to take their playing to the next level. This course contains masterclasses, chamber music, orchestral excerpts, creative composition workshops, mock auditions, health & well being and early music performance practice.
Serpent Session and Masterclass
4/29 - La Cie du Globe has organized conference on the cornet and sacquebout from 15-22 August in Ardèche (France). Bernard Fourtet will be discussing Sacqueboute Serpent and Catherine Escure will be presenting on Cornet à bouquin. The session will coincide with a production of Lully's opera Cadmus et Hermione. For further information, please visit their website: http://www.lacompagnieduglobe.com/site.htm.
Sacqueboute - Serpent : Bernard Fourtet
Musicien de la fin du XXe et début du XXI siècles ; ses études de trombone et de musicologie le conduisirent à des activités professionnelles multiples d’instrumentiste (La Fenice, Ohimè, les Saqueboutiers, Hesperion XXI, Gabrieli consort and players, Amsterdam baroque orchestra, etc...), de directeur d’écoles de musique et d’enseignant au conservatoire de Toulouse, en stages et en collèges. Spécialisé en saqueboute, serpent, ophicléide, pour les répertoires sur instruments anciens, il fut professeur de ces disciplines au Département de Musique Ancienne du CRR de Toulouse à partir de 1994. L’un des «redécouvreurs» du Serpent à partir de 1984, il fut cofondateur du Trio de serpents «méandre», l’auteur d’une méthode de Serpent (2003), fondateur de l’Adonis et de la Facqoqcaf.
Adolph Bud Herseth 1921-2013
4/26 - As many of you may already be aware, Adolph “Bud” Herseth, principal trumpet for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 53 years passed away on April 13, 2013. His orchestral playing inspired legions of trumpeters. In addition to his great career as a symphonic performer, he served as a Navy Musician during WWII. RIP Bud Herseth, Trumpeter and Navy Veteran. Click here to read his obituary in the Chicago Tribune.
Anneke Scott Teaching Natural and Modern Horn this Summer
6/5 - Anneke Scott will be teaching one-week natural and modern horn courses at Malvern College in the UK from 3rd - 10th August 2013. For further information see: http://www.cuillinsoundmusic.co.uk/CuillinSound/Malvern_Summer_Course.htmlNew Nartiss Tenor Sackbut
3/27 - George Butler has sent news about a new tenor sackbut by Lativian maker and trombonist Vairis Nartiss:
First impressions from a tourist friend from England tell me that the bore size is on the large side. Vairis Nartiss wanted to offer something that modern players could pick up and feel comfortable with right away, or something for the modern player to double with. The bell lines up with third position, chrome-nickel inner slides and there is a water key. They are lacquered. The mouthpiece rim is rounded, the cup is a funnel, the backbore is big, and it's gold plated. Apparently the source of manufacturing is wide and some bits are from China, some from eastern Germany, some from Czech Republic, and some from Latvia. It comes with a nice, light, black-canvas-over-styrofoam case and the price until the end of March is €990.
More info: http://nartiss.lv/en/news/article/lorem-ipsum-dolor-sit-ametWind Band History Books Reissued
3/15 - David Whitwell's 13-volume History and Literature of the Wind Band and Wind Ensemble is now available in a new second edition. The individual volumes can be seen and ordered from www.whitwellbooks.com Also available on this site are his modern editions of early German, Italian and French original compositions and transcriptions for large wind band.
Cornetto and Sackbut Study in Madison
3/12 - Kiri Tollaksen and Greg Ingles will be teaching at the Madison Early Music Festival from July 6 - 12 (http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/lsa/memf/).The ensemble Dark Horse Consort will also be featured on the MEMF concert series.Madeuf Ventless Brandenburg No. 2 Video
3/19 - Last year's release of a recording of Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto played on a ventless natural trumpet by J. F. Madeuf created quite a stir. For those of you who do not believe it possible, there is a video on Youtube so you can see it with your own eyes: .Walter Salmen (1926-2013)
3/15 - We regret to report the passing of German musicologist Walter Salmen. Salmen studied musicology (under Besseler), philosophy, and history at the University of Heidelberg from 1944 to 1948, earning his doctorate from the University of Münster in 1949 with a dissertation on the German Tenorlied. After holding positions in Freiburg (research assistant at the German Folksong Archive), Saarbrücken (adjunct professor from 1963), and Kiel (full professor and director of the musicology department from 1966), he was appointed to the musicology chair at the University of Innsbruck in 1974. Following his retirement in 1992, he returned to the Freiburg area and was made honorary professor at the University of Freiburg in 1996.A prolific author, Salmen was active in many areas of musical research, including the social history of music, iconography, the history of dance, and music and musicians in Goethe's circle. Salmen also maintained an association with the Historic Brass Society, presenting a paper at the HBS sessions of the Musical Intersections Conference in Toronto in November 2000, contributing an article to the 2002 issue of the HBS Journal, and attending the 2004 HBS Symposium in Basel/Bad Säckingen. Walter Salmen died in Freiburg on 2 February 2013.
A Darker View of Wobisch
3/15 - A new examination of the the famed trumpeter of the Vienna Philharmonic Helmut Wobisch (1912-1980) has revealed some disturbing information. According to a news article in the March 12th issue of the New York Times by James R. Oestreich, the Vienna Philharmonic commissioned three historians to conduct an independent study of the orchestra's Nazi past. The study revealed that Wobisch joined the Nazi Party in 1933, while it was still illegal in Austria, and the SS in 1938, and spied on and denounced fellow musicians in the orchestra. He was fired by the orchestra after the war, rejoined it in 1947, became its executive director in 1954 and played in it until 1968. After convicted war criminal Baldur von Schirach was released from Spandau prison in 1966, Wobisch presented him, in an allegedly "private initiative," with a replica of the orchestra's “Honorary Ring,” as a replacement for Schirach’s original that was confiscated by US troops after the war. Wobisch's artistic activities were more noble than his personal ones. Wobsich made the first LP recording of the Haydn trumpet concerto, paving the way for the trumpet as a solo instrument, was a noted performer of the music of Bach and helped develop early attempts at designing Baroque trumpets.
Edingurgh Serpentarium 2013
3/7 - The Edinburgh Serpentarium 2013, hosted by Arnold Meyers and Murray Campbell will be held on 24-27 May. Further details and a schedule of events are available on their website: http://www.homepages.ed.ac.uk/am/.
Historic "Lincoln's Own" on the Silver Screen
2/19 - Don Johnson, who led "President Lincoln's Own Band" in the recent blockbuster movie "Lincoln" wrote up the story about his involvement with the movie for us. It has been posted under our interviews section.
