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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The Brass Junkies Episode 182: Jeffrey Curnow

Jeff Curnow is a legend!

I have looked up to him since my very first Empire Brass concert in August of 1988.

Jeff was one of the five people who changed my life forever that afternoon and it’s crazy to me that we are now friends and colleagues. The music business is funny that way!

We got some Empire Brass stories I hadn’t heard before (and I’ve heard A LOT of them so I always get excited for new ones!)

And Jeff spoke so highly of Sam Pilafian. It is obvious how much of an impact Sam had on his life and career.

Pretty crazy that I get interview people who were on posters on my wall as a kid but here we are!

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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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• How proud the three of us are for figuring out how to get on the same Zoom call

• How playing in a full-time touring quintet is basically like living together and can feel like a reality show

• The similar approach that Sam and Rolf shared on how Empire should play

• When the mics came on for a recording session you either knew your part or didn’t which helped to focus everyone even between sessions

• Rolf’s vision of walking onstage and leveling the place and how that shaped the entire artistic trajectory of Empire Brass

• That time when Lance told a radio interviewer that he used be an astronaut

• That time when Rolf woke Jeff up at 8:00 am and he was suddenly on his way to a radio interview where he ended up playing Guns N’ Roses

• The Empire Brass Seminar and the profound impact it had on so many people and how that hit home for Jeff when former EBS student Jen Montone joined him in the Dallas Symphony

• The intense attention to detail you need to play in a professional chamber ensemble

• Getting your musical ideas to the back of the hall

• Why you always have to have a musical opinion, go out on stage and make people feel something

• That time when Andrew was playing a gig with Marty Hackleman in Mexico and made a toast that had Marty staring a hole in him

• How all the time he had on the road with Empire led to a rekindled love of cartooning

• The parallels between his detail-oriented approach to both cartooning and music

• His process for making cartoons for NPR and The Wall Street Journal

• How he and Mark Gould collaborated on Orchestra Confidential

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Inside the Practice Room with Michael Sachs

What better way to improve in the practice room than by joining the best musicians in the world while they practice?

Join Principal Trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra Michael Sachs for an intimate look into how he approaches practicing!

Michael took a deep dive into a number of different aspects of practicing during this workshop: 

• His preferred warm-up and why he has many different versions of the same routine (including one that's only 5 minutes long!)

• How long he practices in any given day (probably not as long as you might guess!)

• His advice for someone who needs to improve their focus in the practice room

• What tools he uses to help practice

• How he gets great results in the practice room to translate to performance

Purchase long-term access to this workshop for only $29!

Tom Hooten on Getting Organized and Not Labeling Yourself

This is some empowering stuff right here!

Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Tom Hooten joined me for a Winning the Audition workshop and the amount of knowledge he dropped in just one hour was insane. Here he talks about getting organized when practicing and why we shouldn’t label ourselves.

"Hey, isn't it interesting that I really don't feel that confident of soft playing and I've worked on it twice in 15 days. You're like, ‘Hey, that's cool because you know what? It's not a me thing. It's a mismanagement of my time thing.’ I don't have to be self-conscious like, ‘Oh, I am labeling myself. My soft playing sucks.’ Not really. It's just lacking attention.”

Tom went really deep on not just audition prep but also his entire approach to practicing and maintaining a healthy outlook on the horn.

Topics covered:

👉 Tom's five pillars to audition preparation
👉 Why Tom had to get brutally honest with himself about what he could do on the trumpet and where his approach to practicing needed improving
👉 The importance of intentionally addressing all of our weaknesses on a regular basis rather than inadvertently avoiding them in the practice room
👉 Why the judgements we have of ourselves and our limitations on the instrument are frequently just an issue of a lack of time spent in that area
👉 What is Neuro-Associative Conditioning and why Tom relied heavily on it during audition prep
👉 And much more!

You can get long-term access to this workshop through the Hitz Academy archives for only $19.

The Brass Junkies Episode 161: Thomas Gansch of Mnozil Brass

This guy is a legend!

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Mnozil Brass. It was at the ITG in Banff in 2008 and I actually stood on the wings and watched them from backstage. What a remarkable vantage point. I could see the crowd reacting to them. Saw them coming on and off. It was one of the best brass performances I’ve ever seen.

Thomas is a delight. He is a wonderful human being filled with so much creative energy that he barely has time to get it all out. And he just has a great attitude about everything: playing, touring, life.

This was one of my favorites (which I feel like I’ve been saying a lot lately but we’ve had an exceptional run of Brass Junkies interviews lately!)

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

Enjoy!

Winning the Audition with Chris Martin

Learn the audition preparation strategies that have won Chris Martin auditions for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and his current position of Principal Trumpet of the New York Philharmonic in this Winning the Audition workshop.

Chris covered a lot of ground!

👉 The almost 20 auditions Chris didn't win before winning his first win with Philadelphia and what he learned from those experiences
👉 The methodical work he did in the practice room to be able to play his best consistently
👉 How he learned to transfer playing his best from the practice room to the stage
👉 How he developed a "performer's mentality" (and the method was not what I expected!) and how long it took him to develop it
👉 How he dealt with getting nervous in auditions
👉 And much more!

Purchase long-term access to this workshop for only $29!

Mark Gould on Swing

I get asked by people a lot for my definition of swing. It is an incredibly difficult thing to succinctly put into words.

But Mark Gould does just that (with a little bit of singing thrown in) in just two minutes.

I have already played this clip for a number of my students in lessons. Because all music needs to swing.

You can hear the entire interview here.

Winning the Audition with Tom Hooten

Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Tom Hooten joined me for a very special Winning the Audition. I can't recommend this session any more highly - and not just for people preparing for auditions! His detailed thoughts about how he goes about approaching his practicing is something every musician should hear.

Tom went really deep on all things relating to auditions!

• Tom's five pillars to audition preparation

• Why Tom had to get brutally honest with himself about what he could do on the trumpet and where his approach to practicing needed improving

• The importance of intentionally addressing all of our weaknesses on a regular basis rather than inadvertently avoiding them in the practice room

• Why the judgements we have of ourselves and our limitations on the instrument are frequently just an issue of a lack of time spent in that area

• What is Neuro-Associative Conditioning and why Tom relied heavily on it during audition prep

• And much more!

Purchase long-term access to this through the Hitz Academy archives for only $29!

The Brass Junkies 106: Jim Pandolfi

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TBJ106: Jim Pandolfi legendary trumpeter Jim Pandolfi has one of the most amazing stories in music. Or most places.

Jim Pandolfi is a legend! Just an unbelievable story of triumph and kicking all available ass. Jim is legally blind and asked the Metropolitan Opera to not hold that against him. They gave him a fair shot and the rest is history.

Jim and I used to hang out way too much in New York City back in the day and never did anything productive. We take a trip down memory lane and also take a deep dive on brass pedagogy. Really good stuff!

The Brass Junkies 103: Mary Bowden of Shenandoah Conservatory

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TBJ103: Mary Bowden on her new upcoming album, Seraph Brass and the importance of networking

My soon-t0-be colleague at Shenandoah Conservatory joined us for her second appearance on The Brass Junkies. Mary is awesome. We could talk to her for hours.

You can check out the complete show notes including all links mentioned during TBJ103 over at Pedal Note Media.