Listening and Learning

SEELEY LAKE – The five University of Montana (UM) students who make up the 2016 Celebration Brass Quintet had a busy three days Nov. 20-22. They traveled the Seeley, Swan and Potomac valleys to perform four informances, four workshops and one community concert. Though the quintet played many of the same pieces at each venue, their presentation differed from group to group.

The full musical playlist was performed at the community concert at Swan Valley School. Incorporating music from Bach to contemporary composers, the selections highlighted the range of the individual brass instruments and the skills of the performers, each of whom is considered to be the best player in their respective horn groups at the university.

Interspersed between pieces played by the entire quintet were trumpet solos and a duet by Jenni Long and Paxton Marler; a trombone solo by Lukas Selfridge; a French horn solo by Clay Kellogg; a tuba solo by Will Roesch and a trio piece by Selfridge, Kellogg and Roesch. A playlist was included in each concert program and performers announced the pieces, sometimes with a brief explanation about the composer or the piece.

The quintet displayed a very different presentation style at the informances and workshops performed at Seeley Lake Elementary, Swan Valley Elementary School and Potomac School. The longer pieces from the playlist were dropped in favor of shorter pieces such as "Circus Bee" by Henry Fillmore. Introductions or commentary on the pieces focused more on information of interest to younger students. Suggestions on how to better understand certain music was given before the piece was played.

For instance, Roesch introduced Bach's "Contrapuntus" by saying it was a conversation among the five instruments. To explain, Roesch had Kellogg play just the melody line on the French horn. Calling those four measures the main topic of the conversation, Roesch had each of the other performers play the same measures on their instruments. Roesch then encouraged the students to listen to the conversation of the five instruments as they discussed the topic, each having different things to say, sometimes even wandering off into side discussions, but always returning again to the main topic/melody.

In the elementary schools each member of the quintet spent a few minutes showing their instruments to the students and explaining various aspects of them.

Long showed the students five muting devices she could place in the bell of her trumpet. She demonstrated how each changed the tonal sound produced.

Kellogg held up his French horn and described it as "a bunch of metal tubes curled up in a ball that's easier to hold." He said if the tubes were straightened his horn would be 18 feet long.

The quintet left time at each informance for the students to ask questions. One Potomac School kindergartener's question had all his classmates plugging their ears – he had asked what was the loudest noise the trombone could make.

Workshops at the elementary schools gave band students a more intimate chance to ask questions and get advice from the musicians. Though Potomac School has no band program, fourth through sixth grade students were allowed to stay longer and gather around the quintet. Along with a few more short musical selections and explanations, the group was given plenty of time to ask questions.

One student asked how the musicians cleaned the insides of their instruments.

Kellogg said, "Fill the bathtub with dish soap and hot water, take the instrument apart, put it in the water and let it sit."

This led to a discussion on the need for brass instruments to be cleaned regularly not only to keep the tone pure but to prevent germs from incubating in the coils and tubes. It also led to a demonstration by Selfridge on how to take apart a trombone. That in turn led to a comparison of mouthpieces and the important role of the mouthpiece.

Roesch held up his tuba mouthpiece and said, "This is the instrument." He then pointed to the body of his tuba and said, "This is just a $30,000 resonating tube."

One student asked what the difference was between woodwind and brass instruments. Roesch explained the mouthpieces of certain instruments such as saxophones and clarinets have a thin piece of wood called a reed. The vibration of air across the reed causes the sound. Wind instruments also have a larger number of buttons to change tones.

With brass instruments, the vibration is produced by the performer changing the shape of his or her lips and the amount of air sent through the tubing.

The performers were also asked how long it took them to learn their instruments. Long replied, "The process of learning never ends. There are always new things to learn about playing your instrument."

The quintet's informance for the high school students at Seeley-Swan High School (SSHS) struck a middle position between the concert performance and the elementary school informances. A few of the longer playlist pieces were performed and information was more detailed than at the community concert but not as extensive as that given to the elementary students.

The high school workshop, however, was very different from the primarily open question-and-answer format used with the elementary band students. Celebration Brass trombonist Selfridge directed the SSHS band through a quick course on playing the blues.

First Selfridge and Long taught the band members the 12-bar blues tune "Sonnymoon For Two" by Sonny Rollins.

Once the band seemed comfortable with the melody, Selfridge demonstrated how, using just two notes, a single instrument could play a solo as the band played in the background.

When the students expressed reluctance to try soloing, Selfridge said, "It's a musical instrument, nobody's going to get hurt."

The final few minutes of the class was a jam session with the band students confidently playing "Sonnymoon For Two" as the Celebration Brass members took turns soloing.

The Celebration Brass Quintet's three-day residency was sponsored by Alpine Artisans as part of its 2 Valleys Stage (2VS) 2016-2017 concert season. Each of the season's performing groups presents informances and workshops in the area schools as well as giving a concert for the community.

The next 2VS presentation will be Jan. 8 featuring Latin American music by the trio Maracujá.

 

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