TBJ205: Remembering Floyd Cooley - Brass Legacy Project

The music world lost a giant last month when Floyd Cooley, former Principal Tuba of the San Francisco Symphony, passed away.

For the latest installment of the Brass Legacy Project I invited six former students of Floyd's to share stories of him as a player, teacher and person:

• Kevin Harrison - Axiom Brass

• Daryl Johnson - Louisville Symphony Orchestra (retired)

• Pete Link - Kyoto Symphony Orchestra

• Mike Roylance - Boston Symphony Orchestra

• William Russell - Boston Brass

• Jerome Stover - Sam Houston State University

I never had the privilege of meeting Floyd which I regret. But after being a fly on the wall for this conversation, I feel like I got to know him a little bit and that is a gift.

Thanks to all six of them for joining me on The Brass Junkies on short notice.

You can find this and every TBJ episode on YouTube, wherever you listen to podcasts or via Pedal Note Media.

Now I'm going to go listen to Floyd's Nielsen 5 recording with San Francisco and Blomstedt for about the 600th time in my life...

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TBJ201: Joe Burgstaller with Special Co-Host Chris Martin

For the first episode of the post-Lance LaDuke era (he stepped down after we hit Episode 200) I was joined by the Principal Trumpet of the New York Philharmonic Chris Martin as my co-host.

We interviewed trumpet superstar Joe Burgstaller. It was an incredible conversation. Joe is one of the most thoughtful players and humans I’ve had the privilege of knowing and he was generous throughout this interview.

He literally started dropping serious knowledge about chamber music 30 seconds into the interview. It was amazing.

Highly recommend this one!

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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TBJ186: Beth Wiese

This conversation with Dr. Bethany Wiese, Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Appalachian State University, was incredibly engaging.

We had a deep conversation about things like how applying restrictions to the creative process can actually free you up to be more creative, the value of being “intelligently unpredictable” and separating the output of you as a musician with you as a person.

It’s a wonderful and thought-provoking conversation.

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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The Brass Junkies 70: Listener's Choice: Where Andrew & Lance share stories related to questions submitted by YOU!

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We are always trying new things at Pedal Note Media (after all, if you're not, what the hell is the fun in that?) So this is a new episode format where we answer a couple of questions from the audience. If this gets a good response, we will do more of these episodes in the future!

From the show notes:

This is the first in what may become a recurring episode type (depending on whether you nice folks like the format.) We get lots of questions on a variety of topics and thought we'd try answering some of them.

In this episode, we talk about our early influences and share stories from our formative years. We close out the episode explaining how we ended up in music school and will be unpacking the process of college applications/auditions for the next installment of the "Listener's Choice."

Let us know what you think!

The Brass Junkies: Rex Richardson

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Lance and I had a blast interviewing our good friend Rex Richardson for the latest episode of The Brass Junkies podcast.  Rex is one of the best trumpet players in the world and has one of the most interesting careers in the music business today.  He has played in more countries than any other musician I know.

We asked him about how he became so proficient at both jazz and classical music, about his travels are the world, and made a lot of fun of him for being a trumpet player.  You should be warned that we laugh an awful lot.

Thank you, Rex, for joining us!

Victor Barranco Joins The Brass Junkies

The latest episode of The Brass Junkies podcast features a hilarious interview with trombonist Victor Barranco of the US Army Blues.  He talks about the fascinating path he took from growing up in North Pole, Alaska to ending up in Washington, DC playing in one of the premier bands in the world.

He also speaks about how he became handy around the house (as in having his house featured on home improvement websites.)  Why is this important? It turns out he used the exact same growth mentality to teach himself how to play jazz and then just a few years later he was the lead trombone in the One O'Clock Band at UNT.  He speaks about how it is all about how you approach things.

Lance and I couldn't believe how much we laughed during this episode and how inspiring it was.  He will make you go practice and have you in stitches talking about being the only Puerto Rican family growing up in North Pole.

Subscribe to The Brass Junkies via iTunes

Victor Barranco Joins The Brass Junkies

My Interview with Seth Haines about a Career in Music

Seth Haines of the great resource, The Musician's Guide to Hustling, was kind enough to interview me on my career to this point.  We discussed a variety of subjects including:

• How I got the job with Boston Brass
• How I proactively planned for my career after Boston Brass
• Keys to freelancing
• How Lance LaDuke and I came to create Pedal Note Media
• All of my current projects including working with The Mockingbird Foundation
• And a lot more!

Seth has a good thing going over there and it was great to chat with him about making a career in music.  You can check out the interview here.

Andrew Hitz & Lance LaDuke: Monday YouTube Fix

Here is the presentation that I did with my Pedal Note Media partner, Lance LaDuke, at the 2015 Army Tuba-Euphonium Workshop at Fort Myer in Arlington, VA.  A big thank you to all of those from the Army Band who were not only involved with hosting the workshop but also with archiving all of the sessions for everyone to enjoy after the fact.

Our session was titled "Low Brass 101: It's Just Business" and discussed things that you can do today to help take your career to the next level.  As we stated at the beginning of the presentation, it really has nothing to do with low brass specific stuff.  We discussed things like networking, marketing, targeting specific customers, and many other business concepts.

We hope you enjoy!

8:00 a.m. - Two Part Warm-Up with Mitsuru Saito, euphonium. 8:45 a.m. - Tom Holz - "Life Outside the Orchestra" (HMusKorps Veitshochheim cancelled due to illness) 10:00 a.m. - What do You Mean - MUSICIANSHIP!!! with Dr. Brian Bowman, euphonium 11:15 a.m. - Ophiclide Recital with Dr. Richard Demy. 12:30 p.m.

Brass Recording Project Outtake: Monday YouTube Fix

This moment from the recently completed Brass Recording Project session is just too funny not to share. (Check back here soon for a full rundown of four of the most fun days of any of our careers.)

One of the tunes we recorded for the premiere Brass Recording Project album was Henry Fillmore's "Circus Bee" march.  After we got it in the can, Lance LaDuke (trombone, euphonium, all-around jackass) lost his mind and started doing a one man band version of the march.  I've already said too much.

Enjoy! And follow the Brass Recording Project on Facebook.  Cheers!

The Next Chapter

After over 13 years as the tuba player with Boston Brass, I am officially stepping down on January 1st to pursue other opportunities.  At some point, you realize that your present situation is a part of your past and not a part of your future.  This realization is a very liberating moment and enables the fear of change to be overtaken by its necessity. In my time with the quintet, I have performed in over 40 states and over 30 countries on 4 continents.  It's really incredible when I stop and think about it.  The places I've seen, the people I've met, the food I've eaten, the halls I've played in...it will take a lifetime to sort through the memories.

I have put many things on the back burner during my time on the road and I am very excited for them to step to the forefront.  I have multiple business ventures that will be unveiled shortly and there is a long list of things my wife and I have not been able to do as a result of my schedule.  I just can't put these things off any longer.  Lance LaDuke is also stepping down from Boston Brass.  He and I will be partnering on a number of business fronts moving forward which we are very excited about.

I'm thrilled to announce that I will remain an Educational Ambassador for Jupiter Band Instruments.  My solo playing and teaching engagements have taken in off in the last few years and I hope to continue that momentum.  I am eager for the next chapter.

Thanks to everyone for your support and stay tuned here for what's next.  To quote my favorite band from Vermont:

"This has all been wonderful, but now I'm on way."

Cheers,

Andrew