Looking Back at the Humboldt State University Brass Chamber Music Workshop

One of my first posts in this highly occasional blog was a description of and introduction to the Humboldt State University Brass Chamber Workshop. It's a program I love and with which I've been associated for many years -- since 1985 as a coach and in 1981 and 1982 as a participant. Chamber music involves an intimacy of both music and friendship -- at least, it should, -- and of all the possible meanings the Workshop has for me, the friendships are chief among my treasured memories.

I just sent a few photos to a "brass camp" friend of mine, causing me to rummage through all my saved HSUBCMW pix, and it occurred to me that I should share them with the world in some manner. So, here you are.

There are shortcomings, of course. I've lost a lot of the photos I once had. Some shots are just bad shots. Some years, I took no photos. Some people appear more often than others. And so on.

But there are positives, too. Some of these pix will be of area attractions that not all participants have visited. Some will include people who didn't know I was taking their picture. Many, I hope, will bring back fun memories to those who've been there, and for those who haven't, perhaps you'll be enticed to go some year.

Comments and questions are welcome, and I have but one request. If anyone took a photo of the 2018 coaches' performance, I'd sure like to have a copy. Pretty sure I don't have one. Thanks.

My purpose in posting is not to display my activities at Humboldt, but obviously I'll appear in a bunch of the shots. My purpose, since it's so easy to upload digital memories, is just to share with the BCMW family a bunch of pix you might enjoy. So, Enjoy!


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For Sale: Bach D Trumpet, Long Bell model

UPDATE: SOLD.

I bought this long bell Bach D trumpet just as you see it, maybe 25 or 30 years ago. It looks to be the Strad D180L, which I think is no longer made. Bore is .459". 239 bell. Lacquer. Serial number suggests 1981 or 1982 as a manufacture date. It came with the Amado water key and the two heavy bottom valve caps, and maybe someone did some custom work, too, because the tuning slide doesn't go in quite all the way. 

I love the way it plays. Used it last on Pulcinella Suite, and it was great. But at one time I had 11 trumpets that could play in D, 5 with valves and 6 without, and even I thought that that might have been excessive. I now have a Yamaha/Schilke Eb/D trumpet, so I just don't need this any more. It's one of seven trumpets that I've been meaning to sell for a decade, and when they're gone, I'll still have too many! Check back for more "For Sale" blogs in the near future.

$1,500.00, shipped to CONUS.

Contact: ray@raymondburkhart.com

Interested SoCal locals can come test it.

For Sale: Bach C Trumpet, ML bore and Malone 'MC2' front end

I bought this trumpet just as you see it about 20 or 25 years ago. Bach C trumpet. Medium large bore. 229 bell. Serial number 258155, so it was made around 1986. Chassis and bell are silver plated. The lead pipe is a Malone MC2 with reverse lead pipe setup. It's even marked with Bob's "Malone" stamp on the bell brace, which you can see in a photo. Lead pipe and tuning crook are raw brass. It's in terrific shape and would look even spiffier if you polish the silver. I haven't polished a trumpet since college!

$2,300.00, shipped to CONUS.

Contact: ray@raymondburkhart.com

Interested SoCal locals can come test it.

I had a "thing" for medium-large Bach C trumpets back in the '90s and was thrilled when I found this one, especially with the Malone 'MC2' lead pipe and front end conversion. I mainly played it in chamber orchestra settings, but when I got good rotary trumpets, they blended even better, so I haven't played this trumpet in 15 years. Still love it; I just don't play it. 

Some people like these because the difference when switching between their Bb and a large-bore C is less exaggerated. Some just like the blow and sound better than a large-bore C trumpet, and of course, lots of players prefer a large-bore.

If you know the value and cost of Bob Malone's C trumpet conversions, you'll have an idea how rare this medium-large Bachalone is, and that they are made no more. The MC2 leadpipe is featured on the Yamaha New York Artist model at nearly twice the price.

Ganter B-flat Rotary Trumpet for sale

UPDATE: SOLD.

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Over time, some of us acquire more trumpets than we need. I achieved that long ago. I've been meaning to sell several for many years. This is just the start. :)

Coming soon: Bach long bell D; rotary valve C piccolo; Bach/Malone D/Db; Egger 3-hole baroque trumpet; Keavy/vanRyne 4-hole baroque trumpet; Bach ML C trumpet.

For Sale: Ganter B-flat rotary-valve trumpet: "Mod. Nr. G. 7a"

Really great shape. Lacquer with nickel (?) garland. $3,200.00. I'll add in a large Yamaha hard double case. Cases that fit rotary trumpets can be hard to find.

Contact: Ray@raymondburkhart.com

Interested L.A. locals can come test it.

Ganter was a top brand back in the 1980s, until the shop closed. Compare this with Weimann, Dowids, Schagerl, and Yamaha rotaries today.

Fun at the 2018 SoCal Scandinavian Festival

I think the concept of "blogging" didn't originally include skipping an entire year. Oh well. As is said in some big bands, "Where does the time come from?" Or something like that....

So. Yesterday I attended the 43rd Scandinavian Festival, held at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California. 'Twas a lovely, sunny day of 85 degrees F, or thereabouts, and I overheard some Norwegians remark on the heat. Apparently, it's somewhat warmer here than there.

My good friend, Dr. Joan Haaland Paddock, Professor of Music at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, was there, presenting, performing, and teaching about aspects of Scandinavian culture, especially the Norwegian wooden natural trumpet called the "lur." And all this time, I thought the lur of Norway was its fjords!

Dr. Joan Haaland Paddock plays the Norwegian lur

Joan and I have coached and played brass chamber music at the Humboldt State University Brass Chamber Music Workshop for quite a few years now, and we became old friends in about five minutes when we first met there. Hubby Paul bravely endures her various travels away from home, as she flies to Norway now and then and performs annually at the Norsk Høstfest in Minot, North Dakota. This was her second year at the SoCal ScanFest, but only my first. And it was wonderful!

What's that little guy on my shoulder doing?

It really isn't a large event, geographically, situated as it is in a beautiful dell on the Cal Lu campus, complete with trees and a stream, which was a big hit with the many kids there. Quite the family outing, and despite its title, the ethnic diversity in attendance was terrific. After all, who doesn't like aebleskiver? It had all the elements you'd expect -- Scandinavian food court, booths to buy all sorts of fun and beautiful things, cooking demonstrations, folk dancing, folk music, storytelling, and of course, the lur of Joan. And they had the truly requisite element -- an ABBA tribute band on the main stage at end of day. Mamma mia, it was good times. (If the Swedish Chef was there, I didn't see him.)

One highlight for me and other children was when Joan showed a dozen-or-so kids how to play the lur. Okay, they were in fact collapsible vuvuzelas, but the younguns got to decorate and keep them. Actual birch-wrapped spruce lurs might have been a bit pricey.

Another highlight was "Under the Northern Lights," a presentation by Stina Fagertun and Trine Strand featuring stories and traditional songs of northern Norway along with some of Trine's original songs. I learned a bit about the Sami culture and history, and Stina -- who hails from WAY up north in Norway -- told the best joke I've heard in quite awhile: Referring to the cold Norwegian temperatures, she said, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!" Perfect.

Stina Fagertun (L) and Trine Strand (R)

The show by Stina and Trine was actually very moving. I expect to study up on Norway and its northern climes. I could see composing a suite about it. And Trine Strand is quite the composer and recording artist. What a voice. She made a gift to me of her latest CD, "Nord," and I'm listening to it over and over. So beautiful, and I don't even know what she's singing about! I highly recommend it.  Please visit her site.

And I almost forgot. Joan played some of my music for postlude for yesterday's church service. Trumpet and organ, with a lur descant that she wrote herself. What an honor, Joan.

Thanks to Joan, Stina, and Trine for a lovely day.

Dr. Ray

Premiered and Published: Burkhart, 'Fanfare St. Antoni'

On Sunday, September 25, 2016 I had the pleasure of attending the world premiere of my new composition, Fanfare St. Antoni, played by the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra under the direction of my good friend, Timothy Smith, in the world-class Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California. Hear the world premiere HERE.

Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for the Arts

Fanfare St. Antoni is a strongly thematic and exciting fanfare for orchestral brass and percussion – 3 trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tenor drum, bass drum, cymbals, and tam-tam. One of the CCCO trumpeters told me, "This is a great fanfare! Every orchestra in the country should play it." Naturally, I agree, but I'd add two points: I hope it gets played outside the US, as well, and it need not be played by orchestras only! The brass and percussion sections of bands can play it, and there are many brass ensembles that will add a few percussion players and embrace the work.

Find out more and order HERE.

Smith commissioned the work to celebrate his tenth season conducting the CCCO. Fanfare St. Antoni opened the program, which included music by Wolfgang Mozart, John Brahms, Cindy McTee, and Paul Hanson.

Ray with CCCO conductor Timothy Smith

Hanson soloed on Mozart's Bassoon Concerto in B-flat and on his own composition, Concerto Serpentique for electronic bassoon and orchestra. I loved Hanson's work, and his improvised cadenza, during which he played continually for over four minutes using the "circular breathing" technique, was simply amazing. The entire concert was very well done. It concluded with Brahms' great and famous Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, which has long been one of my favorite works. It's one of Smith's favorites, as well.

The Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. Tim Smith, Conductor

In fact, in conceiving the commission for the new fanfare – which opened the CCCO concert with its "Now and Then" theme – Smith hoped I could make a new composition with references to either Brahms' Variations on a Theme of Haydn or to the Chorale St. Antoni upon which it was based. It's a mix. Post-Brahms scholarship has revealed that the Chorale St. Antoni was not composed by Haydn, and I felt that too close a relationship to the Brahms masterpiece might limit the appeal of the new work, and so Fanfare St. Antoni stands on its own as a concert opener or fanfare for a special occasion, and its special Haydn and Brahms elements only add to the interest when programmed accordingly.

I am very grateful to Tim Smith for commissioning the work and to the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra for premiering it. Bravi tutti!

Dr. Ray