<p>Has anyone here (or their child) had any experience/lessons with David Washburn, principal of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra? We have heard he is an effective teacher in the LA area.</p>
<p>Son went to a master class. Delightful man, phenomenal trumpet player. Definitely take lessons if you can.</p>
<p>mommab:
Congratualations on your son starting Easman. Wow. I happened to be in the neighborhood for dinner Saturday night and kids were moving in -- it looked exciting!</p>
<p>Will he play with Doug Prosser at all? I know he is an associate prof there. I really like Doug a lot. My son took trumpet lessons through the community division and had Doug as a substitute once or twice, but he is the first chair trumpet in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (my son's teacher is second chair) and I know people think very highly of him.</p>
<p>weenie:
Thanks for the congrats. My son thinks he's in heaven! The place is just so venerable, I imagine it's almost like a religious experience for music students. </p>
<p>When I asked him several months ago about Doug Prosser, he said he thinks Prosser is the primary teacher for music ed majors and Thompson for performance majors. I'm not sure if that's correct, though. I'd be surprsied if he doesn't eventually have some opportunities to play with Doug over the course of the next 4 years.</p>
<p>Also, just wanted to say again that we really liked your city. A teacher recruiting my son for another program told him that Rochester was "butt ugly" so H and I were expecting the worst and pleasantly surprised. I was especially impressed by Wegman's and the Dinosaur Barbecue (tell me the other good restaurants in the area) and looking forward to a side trip to the Finger Lakes wineries next time we head north.</p>
<p>Hubby and I did a Finger Lakes winery tour last year when we went out for his senior recital. It was very fun. We only did a day, but it could easily be spread over 2 or 3. We also went to an Irish pub not too far from Eastman but I don't remember the name. It was very Irish and the food was quite good. The George Eastman House is worth a visit as well.</p>
<p>symphonymom:
I just thought about something that might be helpful for your son - Has he considered entering any of the big trumpet competitions this year? Two I'm familiar with are the National Trumpet Competition in Fairfax, VA in March and the International Trumpet Guild Competition held at various locations in conjunction with their annual convention in June. Most of the big dogs in the trumpet world are present at either one or both of these events. Junior year is the perfect time to enter the high school divisions of these competitions. Assuming that your son plays decently, he will get some name recognition among lots of teachers and might begin getting some recruiting contacts. </p>
<p>Since my son wasn't able to visit and have lessons at all the universities/conservatories before he applied, he also scheduled lessons with several teachers over the course of the 2-3 day competition events. It was a relatively efficient way to check out some teachers without flying all over the country and missing a bunch of school.</p>
<p>You can find the websites by Googling National Trumpet Competition and International Trumpet Guild. Good Luck!</p>
<p>mommab - excellent advice - That's exactly what my S did junior year. He won an international competition, and ended up getting lots of attention. It was "funny" looking back - he had a less than stellar junior year; several less than perfect auditions in a row. I found that competition on the Internet, and made him enter just to get his confidence back, and because I felt he needed to compete, for a change, against a different group of kids. He "won" a scholarship to attend the annual symposium, complete with a solo performance. He DID get his confidence back. :)</p>
<p>Symphonymom - I just tried to PM you (a PS to the one I sent previously) and your box is full.</p>
<p>Hey guys, thank you!! ITG is early this year. My son will be in finals week. I'll check out National Trumpet...I think it's in March. If it doesn't conflict with SATs or youth orchestra performances, we're there! Binx, I'm cleaning out my in box. What international competition did your son do? Can we start a thread on good competitions for kids? My son would love to do some and I"ll start scouting too! Thanks very much for the great advice!</p>
<p>I'll agree that the school alone doesn't make the player, but with regard to Northwestern (particularly, Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer) and its trumpet graduates, it seems to play some role. Christopher Martin graduated from Eastmen, having been taught primarily by Geyer and Butler, and after serving as associate principle in philadelphia and principal in atlanta, he's sitting in Bud's chair as principal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra trumpet section. Matt Muckey, as was mentioned, was appointed to the New York Phil at his time of graduation, but Ethan Bensdorf was as well (so, yes, half of the NY Phil trumpet section is...23?)</p>
<p>Great teachers and great talent are a killer combination. There is no doubt that Geyer and Butler are incredible teachers....and when they work with talents such as Martin, Mackey and Bensdorf...well, the results speak for themselves. I think you absolutely need both.</p>
<p>Muckey...sorry Matt:)</p>
<p>Pulling up and bumping another old trumpet thread since there are at least 3 of us looking for information at this time. This thread also has the
“only visiting schools where he has been accepted” line that I did not understand.</p>
<p>More classical information than jazz.</p>
<p>Hi,
Has anyone heard anything about Allan Cox at Vanderbilt? Or Cathy Leach at UT Knoxville?</p>
<p>No, but I’d be interested in any independent info on Vanderbilt, Blair, and Cox as well. We contacted him recently for information and he’s been very responsive (thus passing my first test). D is considering adding Vandy to her list, but would like to know more about Prof. Cox first - he’s not someone her teacher knows.</p>
<p>If you are looking at schools in the south, I’m going to put in a plug for University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. The trumpet teacher there, Judith Saxton, is wonderful. UNCSA is a small public conservatory which is part of the UNC system. It has a music, drama, dance, design and production and filmmaking programs. The opportunities for performance include the orchestras, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, opera orchestra, and chamber music groups. Also UNCSA students also often sub in some of the regional orchestras in the area. Our DS went there for grad school. It was a fabulous experience and he had many, many playing opportunities while he was there. Judith Saxton is an excellent teacher (my son and several friends also worked with her at Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro for summers). Check it out…this is one “sleeper” program, in my opinion.</p>
<p>I am familiar with Prof Cox and his studio. Please feel free to private message me.</p>
<p>I’m a professional player with some insights into the top trumpet studios and teachers. </p>
<p>Ed Carroll teaches at Dartmouth, McGill, and CalArts. Right now, there are few better teachers anywhere. He runs a summer program, Chosen Vale, in New Hampshire that attracts the best players from around the world to study and teach. Hakan Hardenberger, arguably the most important soloist in the world today, teaches there in the summer.</p>
<p>Scott Thornburg at Western Michigan is a stellar teacher with excellent students. </p>
<p>Eastman in Rochester, NY is about as good as it gets. James Thompson is a legendary pedagogue. </p>
<p>Juilliard is Juilliard. Katie Miller is one of the top up-and-coming players. She wins just about every competition she enters. Mark Gould is a fabulous teacher. But, this is Juilliard and they’re going to attract the creme-de-la-creme. </p>
<p>The Purchase Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase boasts Graham Ashton. And SUNY Fredonia has a great trumpet studio, as well.</p>
<p>Trumpet playing is going in new directions. Orchestra gigs are nearly impossible to land; 600 auditionees for each spot is typical. Traditional art music is dying in this country, and it’s smart for a kid looking into music schools to learn the fundamentals but also stretch his/her imagination in other fields. Ed Carroll wants his graduate students at CalArts (and he only takes grad students there, mostly from Eastman) to take classes in dance, circus arts, and whatever else interests them. Traditional universities will have more opportunities for self-exploration. This is vital to a musical career after college, because orchestral players are ridiculously good. I’ve heard players who blow the house down who fail auditions for small regional orchestras. </p>
<p>Bud Herseth, the greatest American orchestral trumpet player of all-time, attended a small Lutheran college. So even a kid at a humble college can ascend to greatness. </p>
<p>Maurice Andre once told me that music isn’t the Olympics. Sometimes, in our achievement and award happy culture, that’s forgotten. But it’s well worth remembering.</p>
<p>Great post, trumpetwriter.</p>
<p>What might you say to a prospective trumpet student who is jazz-oriented?</p>
<p>Son will be attending Eastman Summer Jazz Studies program this summer.</p>
<p>Interesting tidbits…particularly in the NY area. Any thoughts on Frank Campos at Ithaca that you’d care to share here or in a PM?</p>
<p>Taking the opportunity to stretch into other fields during college is something D and I have discussed at length. She’s definitely screening schools based on what else they have to offer beyond trumpet programs.</p>
<p>I have to say I don’t get the post title. To what does “Kind of misleading” refer?</p>
<p>I’m replying to a very old thread, but for anyone interested, I thought I would comment on the Matthew Muckey - Scott Macomber comments. Someone posted that Scott is a “freelancer,” which sounded a touch negative. Maybe it wasn’t meant that way, but I suppose 99% of all professional musicians are freelancers. My daughter studies with Scott. We were referred to him by Mark Inouye, the principal of the San Francisco Symphony.</p>
<p>Scott DID work with MM for some time. I don’t know which years, although I believe it was during high school. Possibly earlier as well. Scott protects his student’s confidentiality, as he should, so I don’t know too much. I actually did not know Scott was his teacher until I saw the info on MM’s website. Sometimes, Scott will tell my daughter how MM accomplished something, say a trill on Hummel 1, but that is about it.</p>
<p>Scott is a member of the faculty at University of California, Davis. He has 5 or 6 college students and 2 high school students, one of whom is my 15 year old. She has worked with him for 3 years. He has very high expectations, demands a lot, but never utters a demeaning or negative word. Just a gem of a teacher. She also has a separate jazz teacher, which some would not tolerate, but Scott does not have a fat ego to get in the way.</p>
<p>Scott has played with the San Francisco Symphony as acting 3rd and 4th over the last few years. He has played with the San Francisco Opera Symphony as well. He has been first chair with several regional symphonies around the bay area as well.</p>
<p>My daughter is incredibly lucky to have him as an instructor. I don’t know if he is taking on new students, but he is great.</p>