Euphonium.com

I had the great pleasure to return to Fredericton, New Brunswick (just north of the top northeast corner of the US) for the Fredericton International TubaFest 2010 this last weekend. Richard Riding has organized this event for 7 years now and it is a fantastic event for sure!! The growth of the festival has gone from 17 and this year had 39. This is AMAZING growth for a festival that pulls participants from the US and Canada. I had the pleasure to teach with Øystein Baadsvik and Lance Nagels (tubist in the Quebec Symphony). I taught this same festival in 2007 and the numbers were much higher this year, the level of playing has improved tremendously, and their level of great questions has matured. It was fantastic to see so many old friends and make many new ones as well.

Thanks and kudos to Richard Riding for his continued improvement and refinement of the two day festival. He has great ideas for the master classes and sessions. One other wonderful thing about the two days was the diversity of students in regards to age (11 years up to 70+) and playing levels. I appreciate the variety of questions also ranging from very simple questions from the beginners up to more subtle phrasing inquiries from the students.

We played chamber music on Friday night, I sat in with the Mainiacs (nick name for tuba euphonium ensemble of 8 players from Maine) group and we paid tribute to the Canadian hosts by starting with O Canada. Then played a nice set of duets with Øystein (Telemann Canonic Sonata) and with Lance (a new work I had not known before, the Double Portraits, by David Uber originally for trombone and tuba).

Conducting is a fun past time of fine and I enjoy it greatly, so working with a small group and the large ensemble on a few pieces. With the large group, I got to choose the Overture from the Poet and the Peasant arranged expertly by Mike Forbes. I got to play this piece when I was in 9th grade and it kicked my butt. I had just been promoted from the easy 8th grade band to the top band at the high school and the music was a bucket of cold water…I had to practice…a lot!! Anyway, I got to have a good time with this piece.

Another highlight for me was the faculty recital, Lance Nagels played a work by Macintyre for tuba and piano and one of the neat things was the multi-phonics in the 2nd movement (all three of the teachers featured multi-phonics at some point in their solo recital). I played the Sonata No. 6 by Handel, Ropartz Andante and Allegro, Rule Britannia, and a little solo encore.

We followed this up with the participants’ part and they played fantastic. They gave their heart especially when Øystein offered the audience to rate the last piece a thumbs up or thumbs down. If they gave the group a thumbs up, they would be able to partake of a cold adult beverage after the concert…they earned it COMPLETELY!! We (the teachers) realized we should have been offering this all weekend.

On a special note in regards to travel, I have now visited all but one of the US states, Delaware remains….for now. I had not been in Maine before, but had a lovely drive each way with my good friend Elliott Woodbury from Bangor, Maine across the state of Maine and then into New Brunswick. I got a nice view of Mt. Katahdin, the Saint John River, and some moose signs (check out the new photos page).

My thanks again to Richard Riding for his organization and dedication, Øystein and Lance for teaching me some things, and the participants for appreciating and working hard for us. Until next time…