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How did everyone like nertec? what was your favorite part?

As an exhibitor, I did not get to see all of the concerts so I will just speak about what I was able to see.

If you like new pieces for Brass Quintet, the Friday night concert was for you! Bala Brass (http://www.balabrass.org/) and Triton Brass (http://www.tritonbrass.org/) both performed about 40 minutes of music each. Both were excellent and played very difficult new pieces. I am not a huge fan of modern music in large doses and by the end of the night I was ready for some oom-pah music. Triton didn't provide oom-pah, but I got to hear the tuba play a bass line that included 5 to 1 progression! The lack of oom-pah did not take away from the performances. Both groups are top notch and if they are in your area, please check them out!

Saturday I made it to the evening concert and heard the Eastman Tuba Ensemble and Jobey Wilson. I had to get back and print music for the Sunday morning reading session so I was unable to stay for Art Hovey, but I heard it was great! The Eastman Tuba Ensemble was just great! Tight and entertaining. We even got to see TJ Ricer dance (not really sure what to call it) to Bohemian Rhapsody! Jobey was on next and in case have not heard him, go hear him. Great player and entertaining! He did a new chart for Drum set and Tuba which was quite cool! I am not sure if they were great recitals pieces, but he also did a set of excerpts with "funky" accompaniment. If you are sick of playing The Ride with Dr. Beat, contact Jobey and get the accompaniments. In addition to The Ride, he also did Mahler and Prokofiev 5. If I missed some of the excerpts, I apologize. If anyone knows the link to the accompaniments, maybe they could post it?

After exhibiting all day Saturday, I was finally able to listen to a day of concerts on Sunday! Bravo to Gary Buttery who did a mix from Bach to playing with whale sounds. As many of you know, Gary does some out there music and this recital did not disappoint!

After Gary's recital there was a reading session. Thanks to all who participated. It was quite a blast!

The next recital was Don Harry, Craig Sutherland and Adam Crowe all accompanied by Barbara York. Don Harry began the recital and performed Barbara York's Three Romances, Elegy for an Angel and Elizabeth Raum's Tribute. This was quite enjoyable to listen to and as always Don played gracefully and musically! Craig Sutherland was up next and he performed the Spata Sonata and 1/3 of the Convalescence Suite by Wilder. Craig's sound and technical facility were wonderful. He sure does get around on the horn! Adam was up next with the premiere of the new York Tuba Sonata. I know I am a bit biased here, but I think the piece is great. I have heard Adam play many times before, but this was the best I have ever heard him play. He just nailed the chart!

Warning plug: All of the York charts and the new Raum piece are available on the Cimarron website.

Next up was the finale. Accompanied by the Coast Guard Band, James Jackson performed Songs of a Wayfarer by Mahler flawlessly. His sound was crystal clear and emotion was exuding from the horn! Mike Roylance was up next and he played the James Woodward Concerto. If Mike is near you, go hear him. We all know this is a hard chart, but Mike was fantastic! His sound was great and it was especially nice hear a tuba player sore over a band!

If you did go, you know we all owe a huge thanks to Adam Crowe who organized most of the event. Even with some curve balls thrown at him, it all seemed to run relatively smoothly. A big thanks goes out to all of the Coast Guard Band volunteers who bussed people in and out of the Academy for the three day event.

The only disappointment was the lack of attendees. This was a free event and for the recitals I attended there were at most 40 people. These events/conferences are great, but if they are not attended I am not sure if they will be happening in the future. With so many tuba and and euphonium players in the Northeast, it was quite disappointing.

From a business point of view, I want to thank anyone who stopped by the Cimarron booth. It was great to put some more faces to the names I see on the TubeNet and in emails.

Thanks again to Adam and the Coast Guard Band,

Kudos to Adam Crowe, and all who helped him stage such a GREAT event!!!

I was able to attend both Saturday & Sunday, and I have to say, there was an absolute stunning array of people/performers at this conference!

The performances were jaw dropping, in many instances, and I particularly enjoyed the tribute to Don Butterfield, through his quartet music.

Bravi, to all involved, and thank you, Adam!

Larry Zaidan

Now that I've had some time to get back home and write on the computer, I'll share my experiences.

I missed 90% of Friday evening's recital, but the playing I heard (Triton) was great. The horn player had one heck of a sound, and the ensemble was very tight. The rep had something to be desired... perhaps a tad bit academic for tooobah players? In any case... VERY well played!

Saturday morning: I woke up a little late and just missed the shuttle, so I walked in at the end of George Palton's recital. Very nice playing with the percussionists.. especially in such a dry hall. Bonnie Denton had a very beautiful sound that was rich, just as I'd like to hear the Euphonium.. great!

Scott Mendoker's class was very informative. His playing, of course was very good (that goes without saying!)... but I have to say that I enjoyed his talk and perspectives of chamber playing and shared life experiences more.

HIGHLIGHT of my time in New London. Matt Murchison's recital! I've heard Matt play before, and I really enjoy his freshness and absolute love for the euphonium. His program was extremely well played, and I enjoyed the new pieces more than anything. This was a half comedy/half euphonium recital act. VERY audience accessible, and a great idea. If you have not heard or seen Matt play.. do so. He's fantastic!

I missed the Butterfield presentation, Mike Roylance's Masterclass (son of a...!!!) and Jason Ham's recital! I was rehearsing with my accompanist in the afternoon.

I caught the very end of Ken Amis' lecture. Very informative.. even if he did go a little long and delay the next recital by over 30 mins!

The West Point guys... Very well played. Christopher Sarangoulis played ".. Endearing young charms".. typical euphonium chart.. played very well.. but lacked some musical spark for my taste.. almost robotic (but, note perfect). Scott Cameron played two Wilder pieces.. the horn/tuba and Effie. I really enjoyed the hornist he brought along. Great sound and leadership in this piece. Both performers played this very effectively.. however.. I felt a real disconnect with the pianist. (I know just how hard it is to rehearse for a short time for a recital the next day!). Effie was.. Effie. Rearrangement of the movements made the piece more interesting. Scott played very well technically, but I felt that the music was missing here as well. Nice sound, good clarity.. but very much in a box.

The evening concert was very well done. Eastman's group provided a very entertaining, ice sounding beginning (TJ.. enjoyed the head banging) I especially liked the super mario tunes. Very well programmed!

Jobey's portion was something fresh as well. I'm not sure the audience "got it" though. I was seated stage left/center in the hall, and I had a hard hearing any tuba over the rock drum set. The snare carried very well in the hall. I did enjoy the new pieces... particularly the insight of the composer that Jobey brought along. Neat piece, and the talk prior definitely set it up well. Instead of "What the hell?.. It was.. "oh, yeah.. I see".

The dixie trio... yeah! I do not claim to know anything about jazz/dixie. My colleagues will tell you that the only time I've ever swung, I was being pushed on a strap of rubber. Karl's playing on that little helicon was great! Perfect sound that really highlighted the fantastic clarinet/piano backup from the Coast Guard band. Favorite part was the clarinet/Karl trading twos.. great and very tasty!

Sunday:

I had the great fortune (or misfortune) of playing after Gary Buttery. I had never heard Gary play. Man.. I wish I had! What a fantastic rich sound from his 3 and 3 valve F tuba! His upper register was so rich and light.. It's a sound I hope to achieve! Playing was stellar and his selections were incredibly varied. Learning about his work with whales was awesome, and the piece.. superb! A Great beginning, middle and end to a wonderful recital... definitely a tough act to follow. In fact, I pity the guy who had to play next!

The next recitalist was from some air force band. I won't comment on him.. thought I did like his shiny bald head.

I played the reading session at 10 that morning. Thanks to Brian for bringing some very accessible charts down, and to James for conducting. Nice stick waving.. for a eupher! Not a bad turnout on stage for this... maybe 15-20 people?

the solo recital at 11 was a real treat! I haven't had the pleasure of hearing Don Harry play before. Great!, lyrical tuba sound, and I enjoyed learning more from Barbara York about her pieces, and her connection with John Griffiths. Don played these very well!

Craig Sutherland.. wow! What a fantastic F tuba sound. The concerto, (written by TJ Ricer's brother in law) was awesome, and very well programmed! I'm about to order a copy, myself. I loved the clarity, and rich overtones of Craig's sound.. especially in a not so favorable hall.

The Turner duets were done very beautifully! It was obvious Craig and Don worked on these quite a bit, and played very well with each other. Two seasoned pros doing what they do best... music!

Adam's playing of the York was awesome! Great Bass tuba sound.. very smooth. His range was dead on, and I loved the richness he had to offer a wonderful piece. Yeah, man.


Finally... the Grand Finale! Coming from a band background... I was looking forward to hearing the Coast Guard Band play. Especially, low brass heavy pieces. The programming choices were fantastic.. a Respighi band piece! I never knew such an animal existed! The bass trombonist of his group (besides having an awesome haircut) was great! He really added some point to a powerful low brass section. James Jackson played the Mahler songs beautifully! A terrific tone, with great musicality.. Bravo! Mike Roylance's portion was astounding! The Woodward.. (not an easy piece by any measure, and heroically long) was awesome. Great playing with the band, fantastic playing in all registers, and very good stage presence. Yeah... he plays in one of the major US orchestras, folks. For a damn god reason! Great job, Mike!

Also.. one last bravo to Steve Lamb. Steve played a duet with Mike as an encore. (the same duet mike played with eli Newberger, If I'm not mistaken). The duet was played very well and together. Great musicality! In talking with Steve after, he found out he'd be playing right before the concert, and was sight-reading! Awesome job under pressure!

Congrats to Adam for pulling off a wonderful conference... even if attendance wasn't great. (my dissertation's about to end... my wife just handed me a very happy 8 month old boy who likes to type on the computer). Thanks to Adam for having me come up to play, and also to Brian for bringing what he and his company(ies) have to offer. What a fantastic guy!

A good time, a decent hang, and some great music! Shame on anyone from the Northeast who missed this...

(Sorry for the long report.. and if I missed anyone.. I apologize.)

After reading John's review I realized I left him out of my review! I was getting ready for the reading session at the time and didn't catch his whole recital, but I did catch one of my favorite and entertaining charts! John played Barnicle Bill the Sailor and it was great! He was not only entertaining, but he played clean and musically! I cannot remember if it is part of the original chart, but he even through some Vaughan Williams in the cadenza!

John is not just a recitalist "from some air force band." John is a top notch soloist. Look for his new CD when it comes out because I know it will be spectacular! I liked his shiny head as well!

Wishing all well,

tunefulone wrote: I met some new friends, heard some great music and some wonderful playing and came home inspired to write more for low brass.

So, get to WORK already!!!!!!

Hello all,
Update on "New Grooves" ...the excerpt "hip-hop" beats Brian mentioned from my presentation... Andrew Sorg has almost completed Volume 1 for Trumpet, and hopefully Volume 1 for Tuba will quickly follow...the beats heard at NERTEC were prototypes. Triton is performing at the NY Brass Conference on Saturday morning, Nov 9th, and as part of the performance, we all will perform an excerpt with finished versions of the beats (I'm doing Prokofiev 5), then all of us on "Da Ride!"

Big thanks to Adam Crowe and all (way too few) who attended!! Jobey