Wednesday, May 30th - 2:30 p.m.

(photos below)

Manuel “Manny” Laureano presented a lecture entitled: “Playing in Character” on Wednesday, May 30 at 2:30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom. This presentation was well attended; as a result, the heat and humidity were severe, and Laureano had to practically shout for the first hour until a microphone was finally brought in.

Laureano joined the Minnesota Orchestra as principal trumpet in 1981. A native New Yorker, he studied with William Vacchiano of the New York Philharmonic. After graduating from The Juilliard School of Music, Laureano served as principal trumpet of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. A conductor as well as a brass player, he is music director of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies, and was appointed a Minnesota Orchestra assistant conductor for the 2005-2006 season.

Laureano touched on many subjects during his lecture, and also included the playing of numerous orchestral excerpts. Assisting Laureano were David Bamonte, a member of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, and Matthew Sonnenborn, principal trumpet of the Naples (Florida) Philharmonic.

 Laureano began by saying that the most important thing that trumpeters should do is “make music.” He differentiated between “sound” and “music” by describing music as “communication.” He also stated that having good “chops” does not guarantee that a player makes music.

He recounted his first lesson with William Vacchiano. At the end of the lesson Laureano asked for permission to perform the Brandt Concertpiece (a piece that he had been working on). He played the first phrase and Vacchiano “looked as though I had shot him!” Vacchiano said: “What are you doing?!” and proceeded to explain the concept of choosing which notes in a phase should be brought out. Vacchiano described the “feminine ending,” where the last note of a phrase is not the note to be emphasized. Laureano then performed the off-stage trumpet solo from Mahler’s Third Symphony to demonstrate the concept of “strong beat vs. weak beat.” He also explained that Vacchiano used string bowings to indicate this information, and that Laureano has music at his home filled with these markings made by Vacchiano.

After playing a portion of Strauss’s Don Juan, Laureano said that phrasing “is not about the high notes.” He stated that many students make the high note of a phrase different than the rest of the line, and that high notes must be organic. He described a method used by Marcel Tabuteau, who taught at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia for many years, whereby a number from 1 (softest dynamic) to 6 (loudest dynamic) is assigned to each note in a phrase. This allows the player to create an overall shape to the phrase and to realize that the “high note of the phrase is not necessarily the high point of the phrase.” He gave several examples of incorrect phrasing, and followed each performance by saying: “Don’t DO that!” and then played a more musical rendition. Laureano asked: “Do you have the innate or learned ability to make people want to hear more [of your playing]?” He also said that nerves “should never be about whether or not you are going to miss notes [in a performance].” Rather, have you done the real learning to create musical phrases? Will your playing inspire someone?

Laureano reiterated that trumpet players should not allow technical issues to destroy the character of the music, and that we should be musicians first. He explained how articulations and even vibrato enhance or destroy the character of a piece. He referred to the famous practice recordings of Arturo Toscanini and noted that Toscanini never launched into one of his “tirades” because someone missed a note. Rather, Toscanini would get mad when someone didn’t play musically. To him, “line was everything.” Laureano spoke of having a “musical morality” when playing.

Following the performance of several excerpts with Bamonte and Sonnenborn, Laureano concluded by saying: “Rethink the way you are used to hearing these excerpts, and learn to listen more critically.” Although his comments and examples were directed to orchestral players, every trumpet player can benefit from this advise!