Matthew Guilford, bass trombone soloist
The Washington Trombone Ensemble

Road Less Taken (World Premiere)
Concerto for Bass Trombone and Trombone Ensemble
by James M. Stephenson

Three Movements:
I. Two Roads
II. Diverged
III. All the Difference

Duration: Approx. 16 minutes.
Scored for Solo Bass Trombone and 11-player Trombone Ensemble:
1 Alto/Tenor Trombone
7 Tenor Trombones
3 Bass Trombones

As usual, December is my busiest month. As bass trombonist, I have 16 performances in 15 days beginning with the first National Symphony Holiday Pops concert on December 10, not including rehearsals and recording sessions. If you happen to be in the Washington, DC area near the holidays, please come to see one the the concerts listed below at the Kennedy Center or Strathmore Music Center. I am sure to be there.

One of the more unusual concerts for me this month is with the NSO for The Messiah. I have played Handel’s The Messiah before with the NSO in 1992, but in Mozart’s orchestration. This is my first time playing the Beecham/Goosens edition, which is written for a large symphony orchestra, including 3 trombones and tuba.

Also, a limited pressing recording of Candlelight Christmas with The Washington Chorus is planned for later this month, so stay tuned for news on this upcoming CD.

Season’s greetings and happy holidays to you.

Happy Holidays!
National Symphony Orchestra Pops, Marvin Hamlisch-conductor
John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Thursday, December 10, 2009 @ 7:00 PM
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 12, 2009 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday, December 13, 2009 @ 7:00 PM

The Messiah (G.F. Handel, Beecham/Goosens edition)
National Symphony Orchestra, Rossen Milanov-conductor
John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Thursday, December 17, 2009 @ 7:00 PM
Friday, December 18, 2009 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 19, 2009 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday, December 20, 2009 @ 1:00 PM

A Candlelight Christmas
The Washington Chorus, Julian Wachner-music director
John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Saturday, December 19, 2009 @ 1:00 PM
Monday, December 21, 2009 @ 7:00 PM
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 @ 7:00 PM
Music Center at Strathmore
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 @ 7:30 PM

Christmas Music
The Washington Symphonic Brass with The Choral Arts Society of Washington
John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Monday, December 14, 2009 @ 7:00 PM
Saturday, December 19, 2009 @ 4:00 PM
Sunday, December 20, 2009 @ 7:00PM
Thursday, December 24, 2009 @ 1:00 PM

I know that many of you are contemplating which colleges, conservatories and universities you will apply for in the next few months and I am writing to put in a plug for The University of Maryland at College Park.

The deadline is just around the corner for undergraduate applications to the University of Maryland School of Music: November 1, 2009 is the deadline for mailing in an undergraduate application and December 1, 2009 is the deadline for graduate applications.

Of immediate interest is a University of Maryland Trombone Studio Recital, featuring faculty, current students and alumni of The University of Maryland. The recital will take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 8:00 PM in Gildenhorn Recital Hall on the campus of The University of Maryland. Here is a link to the event:

http://claricesmithcenter.umd.edu/2009/c/performances/performance?rowid=9961

I should note that there are several openings in the studio for Fall 2010 admittance. We have particular need for undergraduate trombonists, both tenor and bass. I encourage all who are interested in The University of Maryland School of Music at College Park to contact the admissions department
as soon as possible to stay within the posted deadlines. You can contact them here:

Office of Admissions
UM School of Music
2110 Clarice Smith Center
College Park, MD 20742
Email: musicadmissions@umd.edu
Phone: 301-405-8435
Fax: 301-314-7966

The University of Maryland School of Music trombone faculty consists of:

-Matthew Guilford: Bass trombonist with the National Symphony Orchestra and Associate Artist in Residence at the University of Maryland School of Music:

-Christopher Dudley: Principal trombonist with the Baltimore Symphony and University of Maryland faculty member

-Craig Mulcahy: National Symphony trombonist and University of Maryland faculty member.

Each trombone faculty member brings to the music program at UMD unique skills and experiences. Though trombone students attending UMD are assigned one instructor, the three of us work together in many ways to assure that the students are being exposed to as many musical experiences as possible. For example:

Each week Professor Guilford holds Performance/Studio Class. This is an opportunity for all the students, not just those of Professor Guilford, to participate in a forum, which can range from master class, to mock auditions, to discussion of any music related subject.

Professor Dudley leads the UMD Trombone Ensemble. All the trombone students in the School of Music get together to read and rehearse ensemble music and generally have fun being trombone players. In addition to reading quartets, quintets, sextets, octets and many transcriptions, the Trombone Ensemble also rehearses and discusses the trombone parts of many major orchestral works.

The University of Maryland brass department faculty is second to none. Stephen Dumaine, Principal tuba with the National Symphony Orchestra and Dr. Steven Kellner, former Principal euphonium with The United States Marine Band round out the low brass faculty. Trumpet faculty members are Chris Gekker, formerly of the American Brass Quintet, and Steve Hendrickson, Principal Trumpet of the National Symphony Orchestra. Greg Miller, who also performs with the famous Empire Brass, is the full time teacher of Horn.

The Wind & Percussion department schedules student recitals on a weekly basis. Five to ten students of all levels perform one short work for the entire departmental student body and faculty. This helps refine the special skill of recital preparation and gives the students a number of opportunities over their college careers to feel the excitement of solo performance.

Other performing ensembles on campus (admittance by “seating auditions” in the fall) include the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, University of Maryland Wind Orchestra, University of Maryland Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band(s), and Brass Chamber Music quintets coached by the faculty. Additionally, there is an Repertoire orchestra, Marching Band, and various pep bands open to all University of Maryland students.

The University of Maryland at College Park is located about 15 miles northeast of Washington D.C. Easily accessible by public transportation, many students regularly venture into Washington D.C. The Foggy Bottom metro stop, which will get you to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, home of the National Symphony Orchestra. Students also travel to Baltimore in order to hear the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra perform at Meyerhoff Hall. The Washington based U. S. Military Bands are located around the Washington DC/Annapolis area. There is no better way to hear great band concert repertoire and jazz—all for free. Additionally, some of our students audition for these groups, pass the rigorous audition, and are now earning a living as professionals

If you have any remaining questions or concerns about attending the University of Maryland at College park, I encourage you to write to me by email or leave a message on my blog.

Everyone once in a while, I get to play with my favorite section. We all get along fabulously, are never out of tune with each other and are particularly handsome, if I may say. Here is a recent section photo:

All kidding aside, there at least a handful of works in the mainstream orchestral repertoire which call for bass trombone only, such as:

Chopin: Piano Concerto #1 and #2
Strauss: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Nielsen: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra

The NSO will perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto #2 with the amazing Yvgeny Kissin at this season opener, and I am pretty pumped to be the only trombonist onstage accompanying this great artist. Not to disparage my most excellent NSO trombone section colleagues, who are equally wonderful and almost as handsome

There is just something about being the only trombone player onstage with a full symphony orchestra which is simultaneously frightening and empowering. I had my first opportunity to play section solo while a student at New England Conservatory. One of the flute students, Ashildur Haraldsdottir, now a flutist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, had won the concerto competition with her performance of the Nielsen Flute Concerto. It was the one and only time I have every played this work

The next year, Doug Yeo was out sick when the Boston Symphony Orchestra was to play Strauss’ Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme under Edo DeWaardt. I got the call from the BSO personnel manager to come in and play that week for Doug, and it remains one of the musical highlights of my lifetime. That Strauss work is essentially chamber orchestra in size, and the bass trombone part is exposed at every turn. To share the stage with such BSO past greats as Harold Wright (clarinet), Sherm Walt (bassoon), Doriot Dwyer (flute), Al Genovese (oboe), Chuck Kavalovsky (horn) and Tim Morrison (trumpet) was a dream come true. Holding my own with them as a solo player gave me a real sense of legitimacy, and I believe it was the pure nakedness of the experience which made it so incredibly rewarding. A great, full section experience is fine as well, but this was extra special.

The bass trombone part to the Chopin Piano Concerto #2 is largely an extension of the the double bass part. In our configuration at the NSO, the basses line the back wall directly in back of me, so I get a tremendous wall of bass sound coming at me from a rockin’ bull fiddle section. On occasion the bass trombone plays with the the 2 trumpets and 2 horns, but mostly serves as projecting bass voice. Here is the part:

Chopin Piano Concerto #2 (1)

Chopin Piano Concerto #2 (2)

With any luck, I will have more chances in my career to play both the Strauss and the Nielsen again. Once is definitely not enough for these gems.

Washington Symphonic Brass
“The Best of the WSB!”

A collection of favorites from 17 years of great brass playing, this concert features the music of Bizet, Brahms, Prokofiev, Puccini, Richard Strauss, and more, and includes performances by some of your favorite soloists in the WSB! Conducted by A. Scott Wood from the Amadeus Orchestra.

Two Concerts:

Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts
Annapolis, MD

Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Saint Luke Catholic Church
McLean, VA

Sep 24, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Concert Hall
NSO Pops: Ben Folds Rocks the Pops

See the NSO Pops transform when mild-mannered, hero-in-disguise Ben Folds sits down in front of his grand piano to give the audience a peek at his indie-rock superhero persona.

Sep 26, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
National Symphony Orchestra: Season Opening Ball Concert
Iván Fischer , conductor
Evgeny Kissin , piano
József Lendvay, Jr. , violin

Program:
GLINKA – Russlan and Ludmilla – Overture
KODALY – Dances of Galánta
SARASATE – Zigeunerweisen
CHOPIN – Piano Concerto No. 2
R. STRAUSS – Salome’s Dance
J. STRAUSS, JR. – On the Beautiful Blue Danube

A no-valve bass trombone?! That is simply against nature, some would say. “Blasphemy” cry others.

Thanks to my good friends at S.E. Shires Co., I have a valveless bass trombone. I can not quite bring myself to call it a “straight” bass trombone, as somehow, that might imply that a bass trombone with valves is, well, something else altogether. Let’s not go there. The valveless bass trombone, pictured above left, is a pruned version of the bass trombone on the right. (Click on each photo to enlarge). The TruBore double in-line valve section pops out, and the goose neck connecting the hand slide and the main tuning slide pops in. Add a counter-weight and before you can say, “Dude, where’s my tuba on-a-stick?”, I have a no-valve bass trombone.

I like to use this valveless instrument in the late classical and early romanic repertoire. Just last week, it saw the light of day when the NSO performed two works of Robert Schumann on the same program; the Konzertstuck for Four Horns and Orchestra and the Symphony #1 (Spring).

To me, playing this horn is the bass trombonist’s equivalent of driving a stick vs. an automatic. You are actually relying upon a bona-fide slide technique to get the job done, rather than pressing on valves. The precision required to do this reminds me that I am a trombone player first and foremost, not a button pusher. It is honestly a great deal of fun to play. The sound quality is actually richer than its valved counterpart. It resonates like crazy and feels totally alive in your hands, probably due to the weight loss in dropping the valve section. I love that. The sound complimented the alto trombone on top and the .547 tenor in the middle very well.

I do have to cherry pick the repertoire for which I can break out this instrument. For the most part, we are talking about Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Schubert. Berlioz, perhaps. Any works with notes lower than Eb below the bass clef are out, unless they are only pedal tones. Still, I had to take just one low Eb up the octave in bar 149 of the Schumann Symphony #1 finale. Doing so actually made the phrase more symmetrical, so I was happy with the result. The conductor did not notice and I have received not one letter from outraged patrons demanding their low Eb back.

What exactly defines a bass trombone? Is it the presence of a valve or multiple valve combinations The bore size? Mouthpiece or bell size? The definitions and boundaries are becoming a bit more blurred as time marches on. Let’s explore just one defining aspect of the bass trombone below.

BORE SIZE
For several decades now, the standard orchestral benchmark bore size for the bass trombone handslde has been set at .562″. Many, if not most of the bass trombonists in today’s modern symphony orchestra opt for a dual-bore slide measuring .562 on the mouthpiece side and .578 on the bell receiver side. I even own, and use on occasion (don’t tell anyone!) a slide which boasts of .578 on both sides. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

Sackbuts and early trombones often had little variety in the way of bore size. Instrument pitch and name (alto, tenor, bass, etc.) were typically derived from employing varying lengths of tubing. Bore size variation in trombones became more of a determining factor in trombone types in the later 1800′s. Still, one can find a bass trombone pitched in G with a bore size hovering around .483″. My contrabass trombone pitched in F (Hermann Kuhl: Kassel, Germany circa 1950) has a starting bore size similar to my bass at around .562, which increases exponentially on the other side of the slide and throughout the valve section. I know of many tenor trombonists in symphony orchestras who use a .562 slide on their large bore tenors.

As you see, we have already established a wide variety of nomenclature and usage for bass trombone attributes with regard to bore size. Tough to pigeon hole this sucker and we have not even begun to talk about mouthpieces, lead pipes (or no lead pipes!), valves and bells. Let me know your thoughts on the matter. I say the valveless bass trombone is a bass trombone. That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

Jun Märkl , conductor
Garrick Ohlsson , piano
Program:
SCHUMANN – Konzertstück in F major for Four Horns and Orchestra, Op. 86
MOZART – Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503
SCHUMANN – Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 38, “Spring”
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Haydn: The Creation
Performances: Thursday, April 30, 2009 @ 7 PM
Friday, May 1, 2009 @ 8 PM
Saturday, May 2, 2009 @ 8 PM

Helmuth Rilling , conductor
Klara Ek , soprano
James Taylor , tenor
Nathan Berg , bass-baritone
The University of Maryland Concert Choir
Edward Maclary , director

After working so diligently on #26 from Haydn’s Creation for the past 30 or so years, I finally get my chance to perform this work with the National Symphony Orchestra this week under Helmut Rilling.
I have played this oratorio twice before, once in Boston and once in San Francisco with freelance ensembles on each occasion. Playing it with my orchestra under such a great conductor should be thrilling.

I will be appearing as a visiting faculty member on April 19 & 20, 2009. In addition to this recital, I will present master classes and give lessons during my two day residency at Boston University.

TROMBONE FACULTY RECITAL

Monday, April 20. 2009 at 8:00 PM

Boston University School of Music Concert Hall

855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA. 02215

http://www.bu.edu/cfa/music/

SOLOISTS:

Don Lucas: Boston University Associate Professor of Music, Trombone. Chairman of Brass, Woodwind, & Percussion

Matthew Guilford: Boston University, Visiting Faculty, Bass Trombone

Shiela Kibbe: piano

Boston University Trombone Choir

Program to include:

Nesterov: Concerto for Trombone

Wilder: Sonata for Bass Trombone and Piano

Wilborn: Southern Jazz Duets for Tenor and Bass Trombone

Anderson: Minstrel Man for Bass Trombone, Bass Drum and Hi-Hat Cymbals (one-player)

Small: Conversation for Tenor and Bass Trombone

Stevens: The Chief for Bass Trombone solo with trombone choir

Schemmer: “Couldn’t Say How” from the opera Phaust for tenor and bass trombone

http://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/

Saturday, March 21, 2009 @ 4:45 PM

The Eastern Trombone Workshop (ETW)
National Symphony Orchestra Low Brass Section Clinic
Craig Mulcahy, Principal
Barry Hearn, 2nd Trombone
Gus Mitchell, Assistant
Matthew Guilford, Bass
Stephen Dumaine, Tuba

March 23 – 31, 2009

National Symphony Orchestra
Educational Residency: Arkansas

April 19 & 20, 2009

Matthew Guilford: Boston University School of Music Visiting Faculty
Lessons, Master classes and Recital
Boston University
School for the Arts

I am joining the faculty of Boston University’s School of Music as a Visiting Artist. This weekend of lessons, master classes and a shared recital with B.U. Associate Professor of Music, Don Lucas,
represent my entrance to the faculty. The recital will take place on Monday, April 20, 2009 at 8:00 PM in the Concert Hall within the B.U. School of Music at 855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA.

Recital program to include:

Alec Wilder: Sonata for Bass Trombone and Piano
T.J. Anderson: Minstrel Man (For bass trombone, bass drum and high-hat: one player)
Charles Small: Conversation (duet for tenor and bass trombone)
John Stevens: The Chief (For solo bass trombone with trombone choir)

June, 2009

National Symphony Orchestra
Far East Tour
Macau
China: Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an
Korea: Seoul and Goyang