Now we're going to meet a trumpet player on our symphonic safari adventure.

Shall we?

Hello.

Hello.

I'm Roger.

Roger Rhythm.

And you are Julia?

Yes.

Hello.

I'm Julia.

I've been playing the trumpet for 15 years.

I've been in Tallahassee Symphony for just over three years, and now I'm a student at Florida State University, and I'm getting my doctorate in trumpet.

Wow.

Thank you so much.

Welcome to our show.

First of all, Julia, the trumpet is a member of the Brass Family.

Why do they call it the Brass Family?

What does that mean?

Yes.

So the trumpet is made out of brass.

Mine actually also happens to be silver plated, but all of our brass instruments are made out of brass.

All right, now, the trumpet is known as a very powerful instrument.

Nobility.

Why is that so?

That's actually one of my favorite things about the trumpet is that we can play a very loud and very powerfully, and we can also play very softly and very beautifully at the same time.

But trumpets were used historically in military bands.

Bugles are a relative of the trumpet so loud and powerful bugle calls as signals and military bands have been in tradition for a long time.

And we're going to hear that nobility.

And that power of the trumpet.

A little later on.

Julia, how old were you when you first started playing the trumpet?

I was ten years old when I first started playing the trumpet.

I was in entering the fifth grade.

Hmm.

And what made you choose the trumpet?

Well, I have a very musical family, so my grandfather was a band director.

My grandmother played the flute and she taught flute lessons.

And my dad plays the tuba and the euphonium.

So it was kind of a choice of which instrument to play, not whether to play.

And my parents used to play Canadian Brass CDs.

For me.

The Canadian Brass are a very famous brass quintet.

So by the time I got old enough to choose an instrument, the choice of trumpet was obvious.

Oh, that's great family history.

Now, of course, you practice quite a bit, Correct?

Yes.

How often do you practice the trumpet?

I practice every single day for a few hours.

Now, I know it's been a while, but everyone has a first song they've learned, and I'm sure you are no different than anyone else.

Could you tell us that first song you learned, and could you play some of it for us?

Yes, I remember very well in the fifth grade, the first song that we finally all learned and got to play was Hot Cross Buns.

So it sounded like this Fantastic!

It was very hard at the time.

I can understand that.

Now, what do you enjoy most about playing the trumpet?

My favorite thing about playing the trumpet is how versatile it is.

We can play in jazz band.

We can play in orchestras, and we can play in sit down concert bands, and we can also be a solo instrument.

So my favorite thing is playing in orchestras, and I do love playing loud.

Oh, tell me, why is it that the orchestra has such a connection for you?

Yes, well, I think the brass can be very impactful in the context of an orchestra.

A lot of times we are just counting rests and we're waiting.

But when we do get to come in, usually it's a very exciting part and we're able to really project over the orchestra.

Oh, Now, of course, when it comes to how many trumpets are there in this orchestra, we have anywhere on each concert between one, to sometimes three or four, depending on how many parts are in the music.

It changes a lot for the trumpet and when it comes to music, what is your favorite type of music and why?

Well, I do love playing many different types of music, but right now my favorite type of music to play is new music.

So I love exploring new solos that have been written within the past few years and things that I've never heard before.

Or maybe have never even been played yet.

Oh, and why is that something that makes you want to do, like as far as, As far as why is that something that thrills you, the new music as opposed to something back in the 18th or 19th century?

Well, I do love music from the 18th and 19th century as well, but I do really love exploring things that have been written by maybe people that I even know or that I've met in passing before.

I think it's very exciting and I think it's exciting to further our repertoire on the trumpet and keep discovering more staple pieces that we can add.

All right.

Now here's a question for you.

If the trumpet was an animal, what animal would it be and what sound would it make?

Well, the trumpet is notorious for doing the horse whinny at the end of sleigh ride.

So that's one comparison.

But many people also tend to compare it to an elephant and the elephant's trunk.

And can we hear a little of that?

Maybe just the loudness of the trumpet?

Yes.

woah, clearly I can see that you're very passionate about music.

So could you play us a piece of music that you feel very passionate about?

Yes, I would love to.

And today I brought a little bit of a piece called L'espirit de la Trompete It's written by a living composer.

His name is James Stephenson.

So this is one of these newer music pieces that I very much appreciate.

And it translates to the spirit of the trumpet.

So that's why I like it a lot.

I think it encompasses how we can play lightly, how we can play really beautiful music, but also some of that fiery intensity of the trumpet.

So I'll play a little bit of it.

All right.

Bravo!

Bravo!

Thank you.

What I liked about it was that it was fast and it was very quick.

You had the softness in it and the power of the trumpet.

Now, Julia, who has inspired you in your life to play the trumpet?

Well, I've always been very inspired when I listen to great trumpet players, recordings of soloists like Allison Balsam and Maurice Andre.

And then I'm also very inspired to work hard and be like my great teachers that I've had the pleasure of working with, including my current teacher, Dr. Christopher Moore.

He's actually in the orchestra as well with us and my other teachers, John Rommel, Edmund Cord, Chris Copus and Steve Robinette.

And what were some of the things they taught you that you remember today?

Well, they've taught me many life lessons and trumpet lessons, but they've all taught me the importance of practicing really hard and practicing our fundamentals like our scales and our arpeggios, so that then we can go and play all different types of music with more ease.

Do you feel like the trumpet is a very unique instrument?

I think the trumpet is very unique, go on, particularly because we're so versatile.

We can play jazz, we can play classical, we can play loud and soft, and we can make so many different types of tones in our sound.

So I think we're one of the most versatile and unique instruments there are.

Bravo.

Now, for example, I have a question for you about the orchestra.

Could you play a piece from a large orchestra where the trumpet is featured?

I see you switching horns.

I am.

Why is that?

So this is my C trumpet actually.

We learn on B-flat trumpet and in band and a lot of solo things.

We play B-flat trumpet, but in the orchestra we always play our C trumpet.

So I'm switching because I'm going to play an excerpt from the 1812 Overture for you.

That's one of our orchestral pieces Bravo.

Thank you so much.

That was so majestic and full of power and energy.

Something I've learned about the trumpet.

Thank you for playing that.

Is that the trumpet only has three vowels but can produce 35 notes?

We have three valves, but we can play so many different combinations that produce notes.

Yes.

And every time I press a valve down, it gives me access to another slide.

So if I add tubing to the horn, I can play lower.

And when I take away tubing, I can play higher.

Amazing.

And it's been around I hear for over 3000 years.

The trumpet and variations of the trumpet have been around for a very long time.

We can trace back thousands of years things like shells like conch shells.

Some early trumpets were made of bone, some for metal.

Eventually we got the natural trumpet.

It didn't have any valves at all.

And then we got our valves.

And now that's led us to where we are today with the modern trumpet.

Fantastic.

So a couple of things.

This is Rapid Fire.

Just give me one answer.

Indiana or Illinois?

Indiana.

I'm from Indiana.

Stranger Things or Goonies?

Stranger Things.

Scooby Doo or Scrappy Doo?

Scooby Doo.

And the last one is karaoke or go karts?

Karaoke.

All right.

Thank you so much, Julia for playing your trumpet.

Thank you!

And thank you all.

And bye bye.