Euphonium.com

Well, IEI 2009 is officially over. It was an INCREDIBLE week for me and all 50 participants and all the staff as well. So many great performances and teaching by ALL the staff. It is such a pleasure for me to work with great musicians and staff and also wonderful to have a reason to hang out with my good friend Thomas Ruedi for 10 days.

I have just posted a slew of photos from the week in the photos tab, so check them out. We will be posting some videos to Youtube as well in the coming weeks.

My crazy summer is soon to kick off next week with trips all over the globe, so hope to see many of you at those events.

Best wishes and I promise to write more from the airplane!!

Well, we can't all write regularly, sorry about that. I will try to be better. Since April, I got to perform two packed concerts with the Athens Symphony Orchestra. More than 1,800 at each show and these were Pops concerts so we did more light hearted stuff. The staff arranger even did a version of Stairway to Heaven for Euphonium, Rhythm Section,and Orchestra...I was not sure at first, but it was GREAT fun and the audience TOTALLY loved it. I was asked many times if it was on one of my CDs...maybe an idea for the future...

I then was lucky enough to enjoy a one week vacation in St. Maarten...a really beautiful and awesome place...half the island is Dutch (where we stayed) and the other half French. We enjoyed a very peaceful vacation and drove around the island, had chocolate crossiants whiel sitting next to the yachts and drove around the island. It was a GREAT trip and I highly recommend this destination.

Since we got back I have been planning and prepping for the IEI Festival...one of my labors of love. It is going to be another incredible year...stellar artists, great students, and a fun time for sure. Check out the schedule on the IEI tab on the home page and please come join us for a concert or two. The will be amazing.

Also enjoyed some hiking and geocaching in North Georgia with my niece and nephew...good fun stuff.

Well, more next week as we get ready for fun camp.

This was a new performance opportunity for me this week in Houston, TX. I learned about the Association of Concert Bands when I played in Williamsburg, VA. A great organization focused on the development of community groups, the ACB hosts an annual convention. I got to solo with the Denver Concert Band on the Saturday night concert. They were wonderful and it was so easy to play De Luca's Beautiful Colorado and Buckley's Yellow Rose of Texas. My most sincere thanks to all the band members and their conductor, Jacinda Boughton, for all their hard work and dedication to great music making. I look forward to the opportunity to make music with this fine ensemble in the future.

Lastly, I had a great reunion with Robert Sheldon, composer and conductor. He was leading the convention band and they were performing the Fillmore march, The Klaxon. I remember Mr. Sheldon from my 9th grade All-State Band experience when he was the conductor and he had programmed the Klaxon…at that time in 9th grade it really was very hard for me. I asked him if I might join the band for this selection so that I might have another chance at playing it…it was GREAT fun!!

My thanks to all the people that really helped make it possible to be a part of the ACB Judy and Deidre!!

Well another full week with a trip to Des Moines, Iowa and Pella, Iowa at Central College for a number of concerts and master classes…I think I see 4 high schools, a full recital with piano, and 2 band performances in less than 2 and half days…it is going to be a lot of fun for sure!! Playing the Feinstein Concerto for Euphonium…the Director of Bands at Central College, Mitch Lutch, went to school with Allen Feinstein…it is indeed a small world many times.

Lima Peru has been so wonderful this week. We had incredibly sunny weather...sunny, blue skies, wonderful people and GREAT music. Since last time, the Peru Low Brass Festival has had many great concerts with the incredible staff. We heard an amazing Salsa Band...they use 4 trombones and have a really wonderful style. I also got to hear a very rare jazz euphonium player, Ramon Benitez. He is from Columbia and now lives in Miami playing jazz euphonium and trombone. His style and music certainly have a really hot Latin flavor.

We also had a low brass ensemble of the teachers and this group was a dream to play with during the week. The level and intensity was great and getting to hear all the teachers play and letting their energy build mine was awesome. We also played a "duet" version of Pantomime arranged for euphonium and 6 trombones. Wilson Diaz from Brazil and I made a version where we traded phrases and played some parts together. It is so much fun and a spontaneous musical adventure.

On the last day, the student ensembles played two concerts in the Plaza Major (the large public square) and also at the National Museum. They did so well and the audience enjoyed it. At the evening concert, after a big photo with everyone some tuba players started to play a Latin bass line and the entire group of about 100 players started to have a jam session. I improvised (which I normally do not play so often) and it was so much fun. I improvise more. It really makes one think more creatively.

Well a long flight home tonight and then off to Houston this week!!

All I can say is WOW!! Carlos Quiroz has organized a GREAT festival this week. We have more than 120 students for the low brass. Most are trombone, but the euphonium and tuba also have a younger tradition in South America...but I hope to help change this.

The amazing thing is all the INCREDIBLE faculty...we have Ben Van Dijk (Holland), Rotterdamn Phil Bass Trombone, Jorgen van Rijan (Holland), Javi Colomer (Spain), Carol Jarvis (UK - we played in Bras Band together and both went to the Royal Northern College of Music), Pato Consentino (Argentinean Tuba player), Wilson Diaz (Brazil - trombone and euphonium), Carlos Quiroz (Peru and Organizer), Ramon Benitez (jazz trombone and JAZZ EUPHONOIUM), Andy Hunter (US - Jazz trombonist in NYC), and Menlo Delgado (Peruvian tubbiest).

The recitals and concerts with the teachers have been amazing and I am inspired to practice. We play together in a faculty brass ensemble and played concerts at the Dutch Embassy and visited the US Embassy as well (a massive edifice). A short recital with euphonium got the audiences very enthused about the euphonium and working with the students has been great fun. They have so many questions and I am learning how to teach in Spanish, although I am lucky because I have many great translators.

Well off to the calienta (warm-up class) for the morning and then to technicas generales (general techniques).

Well it was a fun birthday on March 31st!! Been a busy year so far. On April Fool's Day, April 1, I got to drive to Greensboro, NC for a recital and master class with the students at the Univ of North Carolina - Greensboro. Dr. Dennis Askew teaches there and he is a fellow Univ of Georgia grad and studied with David Randolph as well.

We had a fun recital with a great pianist Inara that is one faculty. We played for a convocation of many undergrad music majors so we did a few transcriptions and then talked about the importance of new music and performed movements from the new Brusick Concerto for Euphonium and also from Roland Szentpali's Pearls 2.

We had a long 2 hour master class that featured 7 tuba and euphonium students. Dennis has a great situation at UNCG and the MASSIVE UNCG TUBABAND was great fun to hear 25 tubas and euphoniums. We had some wonderful discussions about interpretation and hope I presented some challenging concepts!!

From GreensBORO, I traveled to GreenVILLE where Eastern Carolina Univ and the studio of Tom McCaslin are located. It was another great visit with some very eager students. The worked and learned much I hope and it was truly great to hear the various students and meet many new hard working students. BTW, Tom's dog Franklin is so friendly and provided great entertainment for sure!!

In the end, it was AWESOME to visit with Dennis, Tom, and the students at both schools and I look forward to hearing them in the future again!!

I am off to Peru this week for a low brass festival...it is going to be great fun!!

Well, I returned home from Spain, heard some incredible auditions at Georgia State University...thanks to all the great students!! Then headed to Indy for the Music for All (Bands of America) Concert Band Festival.

The students and organization at this festival are TOP NOTCH!! Great to work with amazing students that have great questions, enthused to learn, and want to achieve great things.

It was especially great to see and work with the familiar faces of students that I knew from the IEI Festival, as well as lots of local Atlanta high school students from Pope and SW DeKalb High schools, and of course all the new friends.

Kudos to MFA and Yamaha for the invitation and as ALWAYS a great pleasure to work and meet with great players and students.

Back home for a few days before heading to NC and Peru in less than 2 weeks!!

I have had 4 WONDERFUL days in Spain for many hours of teaching at the Segovia Conservatoire in Linares Spain and my trip culminated with a FANTASTIC concert by the Municipal Band of Jaen conducted by guest conductor Javier Medina (who is also the euphonium / tuba teacher at the Segovia Conservatoire.

The band was MOST excellent and we have the European Premiere of the Feinstein Concerto for Euphonium as well played Fantasie Originale (Picchi) and Nessun Dorma (Puccini arr. Frey). They played so musically and listened SO well it was a great joy to make music with them. Also Javier did an INCREDIBLE job as my host and organizer...I especially enjoyed the very long lunches...the Spanish make everything so nice and relaxed.

I enjoyed the nearly 20 hours of teaching with the students of the conservatoire and they worked very hard for me. I salute them and look forward to hearing them again in the future!!

Andalusia is an AMAZING part of the country and they had exceptional weather...short sleeves and in the 65 (16-18 C) all the time and no rain...I am a little sad because I am going to Indianapolis at the end of this week and it is supposed to snow...but I don't think the kind I was lucky enough to ski in while I was in Utah.

Well, off to bed as I have to wake up at 3:45 AM (yes to read it correctly) to catch my flight back to Madrid and back to Atlanta for auditions for 7 incoming students at Georgia State...busy, busy, busy!!

My thanks again to Javier and the Segovia Conservatoire, and the Municipal Band of Jaen, and the town hall of Jaen that made this GREAT trip possible.

My congrats to Mark Norman and Brent Harvey for a fantastic SERTEC this past weekend. It was a great weekend, intense, VERY well run and organized. The playing was great by all the college ensembles (UGA, WCU, ECU, UNCG, UNCSA) and all the large ensembles were impressive, especially the James Madison Brass Band.

Some great recitals by the artists there...so sorry I did not hear everyone, but it is busy, busy time.

I got to play Brillante with the UNCSA Wind Ensemble and they did a very fine job and also am thankful to the great musicians that joined me on my recital for some great chamber music:

Mark Jenkins (US Marine Band) for a euphonium duet - The Windows Open to the Ocean by Censhu
Tom McCaslin (ECU) for Diversive Elements by David Gillingham - very exciting
Judith Saxton (trumpet at UNCSA) for Wilhelm's Duett Concertino.

Then I got to hear some great graduation auditions at GSU on Monday. Now I need to practice for my trip to Spain tomorrow!! Presenting the European Premiere of the Feinstein Euphonium Concerto with Wind Band...looking forward to it Javier!!

Hello All,
Well after a (actually) quite nice 16 hour flight from Atlanta, I arrived in Shanghai and we had a day of sightseeing before teaching and playing started with the APAC Honor Band course that is held at the Shanghai American School.

The Bund is a great display of Shanghai's new and old buildings, and style. Very cool neon lights and some amazing buildings and sky scrapers!! We also visiting the Yaun Gardens and had some great tea and food...so far I have eaten at restaurants were George Bush, (Sr) and the Clintons have eaten during their trips. Great and interesting tastes and NOT like the Chinese food we get in the states.

The band is 102 high school students pulled from 6 different international schools from China and South Korea. They are working very hard for the teachers and the energy is great. We are playing Nessun Dorma and Napoli with the band as well as about another 45 minutes of program.

Today, I got to play for some 3rd Graders at the school...they were TOTALLY into the euphonium and their excitement was great. So many times we forget about creating the next level of interest for the euphonium and "classical" audiences...they were enthralled and had loads of questions...about all sorts of things.

Well, some more practice for a recital tomorrow and then our final concert. Then back home on a 16 hour flight...should be an incredible finish to an amazing week.

Well, it has only been 9 days since my last post (an improvement for sure). I have been doing more editing on the two recording projects (Beyond the Horizon) and the Gemini with Jeff Nelsen. There are some sound samples links on the Newsletter that just come out.

I am starting out on a long series of trips tomorrow with a 16 hour flight from Atlanta to Shanghai...it will be fun. I am looking forward to performing and working with a number of students.

Also, updated some things in the webstore and have gotten the nice jukebox working on the CD page on the website. I hope you enjoy the upgrades and if you need the newsletter link, here it is:

You can also sign up to receive it automatically (along with literally thousands of other people...reallly there are that many people that want to hear about the cool things at Euphonium.com), sign up on the home page.

Just so you know I will be catching up on my email on the long flight!!

Wow, what a week in Salt Lake. My congrats to Scott Hagen and the University of Utah for an AMAZING recording session with Jeff Nelsen and myself. We were lucky enough to have Tony DiLorenzo on location for the world premiere and the recording on Friday. Kudos to the band for fine playing, focus, and energy through the long sessions. Jeff sounded great and we recorded Gemini (for horn, euph, and band - a piano reduction will also be available in the future) as well as a new arrangement of Monti's well-known Czardas.

After the recording, I was lucky enough to have my wife join Scott Hagen and myself for two days of amazing snow skiing. I don't get to vacation much, but had to build these days into my schedule almost a year in advance. We went to Alta and Brighton...two fabulous ski locations. Day 1 at Alta was great...I haven't been skiing in years, but the snow was wonderful and the conditions great...until day 2 at Brighton. Over night, Salt Lake and the mountains got more than 6" of snow...and it kept snowing all day on Tuesday, so bascially we had some of the best conditions possible...as one worker at Brighton said, "this is epic man." Scott also confirmed that the conditions were some of the best he had ever experienced...if you like to ski, you should know we basically had about 6" of fresh snow and powder. I actually opted for snow boarding this day as it was great fun. I will add some photos from the sessions in a few days.

All the best and a short break at home (not really...I am teaching most of the two weeks, listening to recordings, and hearing auditions at Georgia State University) and then starts a busy month of traveling.

Best wishes,

Adam

Hello all. It was a whirl wind end of January. The Georgia Brass Band gave a superb concert at the Georgia Music Educators conference on Jan 30th in Savannah. The group got to expose many teachers to the great sound of the brass band...something I miss from my schooling in the UK. I got to actually drive to Savannah that morning (about 4 and half hours), visit with some friends, play the concert, visit some more, and then drive home (arriving around 1) so I could catch an early morning flight to DC in time to visit the last day of the Army Band conference. Fantastic performances by all those that I heard and it was especially great to hear Adam Lessard play, a student that I taught when I was an undergrad at UGA and he was in high school. How so many of us mature and grow...

I am in Salt Lake City finishing up a really fun recording project with Scott Hagen and the University of Utah Wind Ensemble that features me and Jeff Nelsen, hornist with the Canadian Brass, as soloists and duet partners. We gave the world premiere of two new pieces on Thursday Feb 5th in Salt Lake. Gemini by Tony Dilorenzo is an AMAZING addition to the chamber repertoire for euphonium (there will also be a piano reduction available in the coming months...keep your eyes open for it in the next few months.

Also, just working on getting my VISA for a trip to China at the end of the month. Wow I am still THRILLED about my schedule for this coming spring...lots of fantastic trips.

All the best and more later,

Adam

Well, January has turned out to be a VERY busy month indeed. We spent 3 incredibly long days recording the 2nd and 3rd potential volumes of the Beyond the Horizon series. Some AMAZING new music being written for the euphonium and produced by the Euphonium Foundation Consortium for 2008. We expect some samples to appear at the end of Feb and also the disc out in time for the busy summer schedule.

We recently received confirmation for the Cosmopolitan Tuba Euphonium Workshop outside Boston for July. Mike Milnarik has put up a great website about the group and I encourage many of you to check out the workshop at www.c-tew.com. Also he made a fun animated website of the Cosmopolitan Quartet.

Also, some good news on the concert band front, I will be soloing with the Denver Concert Band on the final concert of the Association of Concert Bands Annual Conference in Houston, Texas on April 18. Please feel free to visit the ACB 2009 Convention Webpage.

Well back to listening to the material from the recording sessions, watch out for Pearls 2!!

Happy New Year to everyone. 2008 was a challenging year for many people and certainly 2009 holds great potential. As many people see cutbacks, I actually see a significant uptick in international trips. It is especially exciting to see return trips to Switzerland with the Graubunden Youth Brass Band and Thailand for the Tubamania Conference.

Also a number of recording projects that will include the next volumes in the Beyond the Horizon series as well as another duel recording project, this time with Canadian Brass Hornist, Jeff Nelsen, and Scott Hagen, conductor of the University of Utah Wind Ensemble.

I wish everyone a fantastic 2009 and know the arts will continue and flourish in the long run. Please continue to enjoy the new site and we will continue to have some small improvements in the future.

Best wishes,

Thank you to everyone that has sent nice comments about the new website and so happy everyone really likes the new feel and navigation.

We have some more plans for updates in the future and please feel free to send some feedback about improvements and ideas for content using the feedback form. I am really pleased and I hope you will take the time to really checkout all the photos from the past. It is an amazing a fun journey for me to view them and see all the people involved in making great memories.

I enjoyed a nice trip to New York City last week for some rehearsals with my pianist for the upcoming "Beyond the Horizon - Volume 2 and 3" recordings at the beginning of January.

We got so see a lot of the great sites: Rockefeller Center...caught only a glimpse of the Tuba Christmas as I had to leave after a fast view (through thousands of people) before I had to catch my flight home. I also took a break and saw Lion King...all I can say is WOW!! The sets and costumes were amazing and loads of amazing showmanship. I can highly recommend if you like Broadway. I like all types of music so this is a nice change of pace for sure.

I am heading to Mid-West this next week in Chicago. For those that don't know about this, it is an INCREDIBLE week and loads of great players performing and teaching. You can find more information at www.midwestclinic.org

It is hard to believe 2009 will mark 10 years since I gradauted from college and it has been an amazing journey for sure!! I was INCREDIBLY enthused to put together my list of orchestras, bands, and programs that I have worked with in the past as well as all the major conferences I have played out. You can find them at the bottom of my biography page.

Now if you see this before December 1st, the new site won't be active until the evening, so you will have to wait.

I hope you enjoy the new site and all its new things.

Adam

Wow - two posts in as many weeks...I am enthused. So many of you will be receiving the Fall Newsletter with some highlights being the new website coming out on December 1 as well as information about IEI 2009, and a wrap up on the 2008 Consortium Commission. The Consortium Commission pieces turned out GREAT especially the Ewazen Sonata and the Szentpali Pearls 2. The Ewazen and Fanfares for Tuba Euphonium Quartet are also good additions to the repertoire, but the solo pieces really shine.

IEI 2009 is shaping up to be an incredible week. MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR JUNE 14-20!! Sorry for the long delay on initial information. We were confirming dates and buildings for Emory and it took longer than planned. Thankfully, we will be welcoming back Thomas Ruedi from Switzerland and Jens Bjorn-Larsen from Denmark on tuba. We have lots of other exciting artists. Some are listed in the Newsletter, Most of the information will be available on the new website on December 1. Check back then.

Also, just a reminder that I will find something interesting to write about each week, so use our RSS Feed and be notified when information comes out.

All the best,

Adam

I am SO SORRY it has been a month since I have written. I will try to be better, but October had me traveling A LOT!! A residency in Texas with JD Salas at Stephen F Austin as well as a 2 week tour to Washington and Oregon.I performed with the Cascade Symphony Orchestra in Edmonds, WA to an incredibly enthusiastic audience. The really cool thing was that a local radio host for KING FM presented the pre-concert lecture and he was so enthused after the concert. The next two days he used tracks from Majestic Journey and Taking Flight as his choice fill-in music on the station. He hopes to do more in the future. Please send a message to the radio station that you enjoyed the euphonium programming, so they are enthused to do more in the future!!

Also during the WA and OR trip, I presented a few master classes and concerts at University of Oregon (Mike Grose), Portland State University (Jatik Clarke), and the University of Puget Sound (Ryan Schultz, who is a new father, and Robert Taylor). Lastly, I did spend some free time on my 1 day off to go to Mt. Rainer (not the top) and hike a little as well as do some geocaching. A fun new distraction perhaps.Well, I have lots to catch up after being gone for too many days.

Until next time,

Adam

It has been a very busy fall indeed. I was lucky enough to have a great vacation to Peru (pictures are on the Photos tab and in the category listing) in August. Macchu Picchu was amazing. I can't say enough postive things about the trip.

September cranked up my teaching studios and programs at Georgia State University and Emory University as well as a fun performance with the Williamsburg Consort - a 105 member community band that meets once a year in Williamsburg, VA. They were GREAT fun and the audience at the concert was so enthused. I performed the Variations Yellow Rose of Texas as well as Lewis Buckley’s American Patriotic Medley. Things are looking like it will be a VERY busy October with lots of travel and an update to the Euphonium.com website.Thanks again for visiting, and feel free to post any comments or questions that you would like to hear about in the comments section.

Back to the practice room to prep for Szentpali Pearls 2.

Just a quick message as I going to try to update more often!!In Peru for vacation and it has been amazing. Such an incredible place. We are heading out for 4 days to hike the Inca trail and see Macchu Picchu!! I will post some photos eventually. But certianly an adventure for sure...check the Photos tab on the main page.

Adam