Posted by joe exley on February 03, 2004 at 15:17:57:
In Reply to: Re: serious question posted by Sean Chisham on February 02, 2004 at 16:49:50:
Without trying to sound too much like Rodney Dangerfield:
My only complaint is that the focus of the current ITEA seems to be narrow. It seems that players that are outside of the orchestral gigs/college teaching/military/legit solo genres don’t get the support and resources that they possibly could and perhaps should.
There are MANY tuba players (this is not meant as a narcissistic plug) that are doing many other things out there!!
For instance – there is talk between a few of us in NYC to put on a tuba-show of folks here in town that are doing "other" types of things (rock, jazz, new music, world music etc). (These shows used to happen, but have not happened for a while) But, as we were talking about this, we realized that there are SO many things happening, that we will need more than one night! We will need at least a weekend, possibly an entire week – and this is just to showcase the local cats. I was sitting here making a list of players just in NYC that are involved in "other" cool stuff, and I came up with at least 15 names (I am sure there are many more) – and these are just the local folks – and these are all folks that play professionally, but don’t hold chairs in major orchestras and don’t often do conventional solo recitals, and rarely appear at conventions.
What is SO darn ironic to me (pardon my little rant) is that the TUBA is the newest of the brass instruments, but WHY do we insist on focusing on OLD music??!! Don’t get me wrong, I love a luscious, phat Bruckner chord, or bouncy dixie tune as much as the next dude, but we are always dealing with the situation that there is such limited opportunity to play and that no one understands the tuba... We gotta get out there and create some new opportunities, AND our supporting professional organizations NEED to support, nurture and promote this!!
The first two objectives listed by ITEA are: "To expand performance and employment opportunities.", "To enhance the image and role of our instruments and performers."
This is what we need more of!!
The next int’l conference in Hungary looks to be a good one though – as I have heard that János Mazura is into some cool and progressive stuff. This may prove to be a big step for ITEA. (dont think I will be able to make the trek though :(
In the meantime, lets make a collective effort to promote *ALL* THINGS TUBA!!!
PEACE