On May 12, at Wentz Concert Hall, the brass private lesson faculty put on its first recital. At this recital students got to hear a wide array of music performed by the many different brass instruments.
There were five instruments featured in total: trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, and piano. Each one of these respective instruments had a master musician playing it; Paul Lowry on trumpet, Chelsea French on trombone, Dan O’Connell on French horn, Scott Tegge on tuba, and Carrie Marcotte as the piano accompanist.
A native of Cartersville, Ga., Paul Lowry has been playing trumpet for many years. Graduating with a master’s degree in trumpet performance, Lowry has been a member of multiple ensembles and won numerous solo competitions across the country. For the recital, Lowry opened with “Intrada for Trumpet and Piano” composed by Arthur Honegger. He also played “Concerto for Trumpet in D Major” composed by Georg Philipp Telemann that contained four movements with various tempos and melodies.
Chelsea French began playing the trombone when she was only ten years old. She continued her musical passion by pursuing a master’s degree in trombone performance from Northwestern University. French has enjoyed performing with many Chicago based groups. On top of winning a variety of solo competitions, French is currently a faculty member at the Music Institute of Chicago. French played two pieces for the recital: “Concerto for Trombone” composed by Mozart and “Morceau Symponique, op. 88,” a trombone-centered piece, composed by Alexandre Guilmant.
In addition to being the horn instructor at North Central College, Dan O’Connell also teaches at Merit School of Music and the Birch Creek Music Center. He has been a part of multiple Chicago symphonies and orchestras, and owns his own private studio. O’Connell played “Sonata in E-flat, for Horn and Piano,” a double movement piece composed by York Bowen, for the recital.
After graduating from the University of Miami with a master’s in Tuba Performance, Scott Tegge played for many ensembles in Miami and later Chicago. For the recital, Tegge played a three movement piece called “Sonata for Tuba and Piano” that was composed by Bruce Broughton.
After playing their individual pieces, the four faculty members joined together to play three quartets to close out the recital; while listening to these quartets, students got to hear how each brass instrument complemented the other and stood out on their own. Students also got a sense of the level of talent and work that goes into performing in a group for a live audience.
“I have put a lot hard work into preparing this performance,” Lowry said before the recital began. “So for me, I hope my students gain an appreciation of what level the music should be prepared before playing it for the public.”
This recital was the first time the private lesson faculty got to perform for the students. Hopefully, like Lowry goes on to say, it will not be the last.
“I certainly hope we will continue to put on recitals. I feel it’s very important for the student body to hear their faculty perform,” he said.
