Posted by Rick Denney on January 27, 2003 at 19:46:23:
Lots of fun, as others have reported.
Roger Bobo's clinic was a highlight. He focused on fundamentals with a high-schooler, particularly air production. With a college player, he worked on musical interpretation in a broad sense, with the notion of shaping phrases. With Alex Lapins, he started with a wonderful treatise on the Vaughan Williams, very much on-topic for our thread on that subject. He reported having met the good Doctor during his lecture tour in the U.S. in 1953. RVW sent the young Bobo a pre-publication version of the Concerto, without the articulation markings added by its premiere performer. He demonstrated (by singing) the difference, and we all agreed the composer should have enforced his intentions on the publisher. Apparently, subsequent contacts with OUP have proved fruitless, and RB complained that they thought the Catelinet markings were more "characteristic." Alex acquitted himself quite nicely, and Bobo's comments mostly concerned interpretation and expression. The theme was constant for all three students, but tailored to their skill levels and rendered with compassion.
Mr. Bobo started with a little hypnosis. He asked us to ponder a work of music, say, the Schumann something-or-other for Horn, and to imagine Brain or Baughman emerging from the wings, standing before the orchestra, and starting the music. He pointed out that we were not listening to Brain or Baughman, but to ourselves as we carried out this exercise of musical imagination. He repeated it with a cellist--Ma or Dupre. His conclusion was that we all had within us a highly expressive musician, and the task was to connect our playing with that mental ideal. It was a good way to start a clinic. There was very little discussion of mechanics. I had always wondered if Mr. Bobo was a bit snooty, choosing as he has to live in a place like Lausanne. He isn't, and I came away from the clinic with even more admiration than I had going in, which was lots.
Boy, would I like to have a copy of that Vaughan Williams manuscript!
We won't talk about Ken Sloan and I running into Mr. Bobo in the Gentlemen's, and Ken The Iconoclast instantly whipping out a name tag (made for those of us from the online world) with "Roger Bobo" on it. Mr. Bobo accepted it without the obvious question ("Can I wash my hands first?") and without too obviously trying to fit Ken into his proper role within the insect world.
Jazz Night (Thursday) was a highlight for me. The Dixie Power Trio started it off well, putting on a great show, only to be topped (eventually) by John Allred on jazz euphonium. What a command of the instrument! I had always been impressed by the technique of his one-time teacher (Rich Matteson), but I believe the student has surpassed the master in the ability to boil the blood. His little improvisational duet with the incredible trombonist Harry Waters (who plays in the Army Blues, among many other gigs) was out of this world.
Steven Mead put on an enjoyable and entertaining "clinic" which focused on emotional, nearly operatic, expression, and Pat Sheridan followed him later on Saturday with a wonderful recital. The highlight of the recital was the Barnes "Yorkshire Ballad", which was all about music and not about blinding technique. His technique is overwhelming, but once you've heard it, you've heard it. His incredible musicianship came out in the Barnes. I can never hear enough of that.
There were many other performances and presentations, of course, that were each noteworthy, but these are the ones that still rattle in my head.
I always enjoy the reading sessions, and the first one was lots of fun. The second one, I have to confess, was not as fun, because we spent way too much time rehearsing. (At a reading session? What performance were we rehearsing for?)
We bolted early from the second session and had a great dinner with a bunch of folks from the online world (here and TubaEuph), plus a few notables from the military bands, including a couple who are both. I met Scott Cameron and finally found a decent Mexican restaurant in Virginia all in one evening.
Of course, the exhibits were a lot of fun. I played a bunch of tubas, but I didn't really find anything even worth dreaming about. The big Willson BBb was better to me this year than last year, but I like the Holton better. Now that I've played both, I agree with Joe that the Willson is all BAT--this is no 5/4 horn. But the ergonomics are still horrible, and I could find no place useful for my left hand, though I do like that thumb ring. I played the Willson F in both piston and rotary formats, and have finally found a rotary F that has a low register like a piston F. Its bell and bow were the same as the piston F, but the sound was still quite a bit different--more focused and not as broad. Both are downright contrabass-like.
I also played a couple of Rudy Meinl F's, including the 3/4 and the 5/4, and several Miraphones and Meinl-Westons. The little M-W 182 was pretty fun, and the Rudys had a lovely sound (at least as near as I could tell in the midst of too much bad Wagner), but the little silver 621 was still the F that was small enough to be a real F but with a wide enough range to play quintet literature easily. Against the Willson rotary and the 5/4 Rudy, the Miraphone 181 has some good company.
Why Scott Mendoker's horn hasn't sold yet is an absolute mystery. That horn has it all, it seems to me, both from my own playing of it and from listening to good players try it out. Dillon had also broght a most unusual Conn Eb that was the biggest eefer I'd ever seen. It looked like a contrabass, but it was apparently an original and not a frankentuba. It had four valves with a large bore, and except for the bell diameter it dwarfed an Eb Monster Bass. If it had any faults, I couldn't tell it. Steve H (of TubaEuph) took it home with him, and there were several who were envious.
At the show, I finally met Lee Stofer, who was there with several of his creations. He is thoughtful and soft-spoken, and his booth had lots of activity. He had a 20J that he'd impressively restored with the only modern satin-silver finish I've seen that really looks like they did in the old days. The Holton returned to Atlanta with him for a few needed repairs, and I'm looking forward to visiting his shop later this week when I pick it up.
For fun, I picked up a Weril in Baltimore Brass's booth for a couple of toots, and got into a conversation with Bin Love. Dave Fedderly walked up, looked at me, and said, "From the sublime to the ridiculous?" In terms of size at least, the Weril and the Holton are about as far apart as it gets and still be called a BBb tuba.
Any report can only scratch the surface of this great conference, and it's an amazing free service the Army Band sponsors for the tuba community. Now, I have to get ready to drive to Atlanta, which will give me the opportunity to listen to some new CD's.
Rick "who missed getting a T-shirt and is upset by that" Denney