Ira Taxin, composer and chair of the composition department at Juilliard Pre-College visited my brass quintet coaching today at Juilliard. The quintet was preparing for a performance of his Fanfare for Brass Quintet.

This Fanfare is a challenging and fun 30 second piece for brass- packed full of complex rhythms, with  low notes and high notes for everyone.  It’s takes a bit of work to pull this piece off well!

Here are some things we learned during his visit.

• Composed for the Empire Brass Quintet

• Mr. Taxin went to school in Boston with Rolf Smedvig, hence the connection with the EBQ.

• Composed around the time of the United States Bicentennial (1976), and is in the same vein as many of the other pieces which were commissioned in the United States at the time: flashy, celebratory, patriotic.

• Taxin’s brass writing was influenced by the music of Varese.

• Attacks should be crisp, especially accents and forte-piano sections, with big swells in dynamics from soft to loud.

• The crazy horn/trombone duet in the middle of the piece should definably sound wild, dramatic, and very loud. It is in the middle of the piece, and the most musical tension should be built up here.

• Mr. Taxin loves the sound of tuba in quintet, and the low brass octaves should be full and thick, especially near the end of the piece.

• Much of the music is centered around the contrast/conflict between the two conflicting groups- the two trumpet parts and the three low brass parts.

It’s not often you get to spend time with the composer of a well known piece, so it was a special treat to be able to speak with Mr. Taxin about his music.  Hopefully he enjoys the performance later today at the chamber music recital!

This video gives a quick overview of the brass program at Juilliard Pre-College.

If you’re interested in attending, there is an opening for 1 tuba in the Juilliard Pre-College Program for the 2012-13 school year. There are also a few openings for trombone and bass trombone. Feel free to contact me if you’d like any additional info.

This is a Saturday program in New York City, at Juilliard. It is a great opportunity to play and learn alongside a fantastic group of student musicians.

In addition to lessons and music classes like theory and ear-training, tuba students perform in one of the two orchestras, in brass quintets, and “Brass Classes” (each focusing on a different topic, and hosted by members of our brass faculty.) The orchestras sound awesome, and are always playing great repertoire. Our students do a lot of playing, work hard, and have a lot of fun every week.

Julliard Pre-College Brass Faculty
Ray Mase, trumpet
David Krauss, trumpet
James Hamlin, trumpet
Javier Gandara, horn
Brad Gemeinhardt, horn
Demian Austin, trombone
Tim Albright, trombone
Andrew Bove, tuba

Application deadline is march 1; if you’re reading this too late and still want to apply, please contact me or the Pre-College office. Auditions are in May. Tuba Audition Rep: Scales, and three contrasting pieces showing your musical and technical ability, such as movements from a standard sonata, concerto and/or études.

Financial aid is definitely available for low brass.

Info:
http://www.juilliard.edu/precollege/precollege.html