Wednesday, May 30th - 4:00p.m.

(Photos below)

With the recent passing of Maynard Ferguson and Vincent Cichowicz, it was nice to have the opportunity to celebrate the life and career of a great musician while he was present to enjoy it. Roger Voisin, former principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony, was honored in fine fashion by several of his former students in a tribute hosted by James Thompson. Many members of the Voisin family and close friends were in attendance for this special event. 

The tribute began with a bracing rendition of Mel Broiles’s Fanfare Voisin performed by a trumpet ensemble comprised of former Voisin students including Bill Pfund, Ed Hoffman, and David Hickman who played with enviable precision and panache. Another Voisin student, past ITG president Stephen Chenette, introduced the session by describing his teacher as “one of the truly great men of music,” and relating some tales of Voisin’s generosity and kindness as a teacher. 

Following Chenette’s remarks was a moving performance of La Torche, by Voisin’s son, Peter, who also performed in the trumpet ensemble. The work’s title refers to one of “Roger’s Rules” (printed in the program booklet): “Pass la Torche!” The artfully crafted work was performed by a seated brass quintet (with Eric Ruske, horn; Hans Bohn, trombone; and Matthew Gaunt, tuba) and organ (Doug Major) with an ensemble of eight trumpets standing behind. It ended dramatically with James Thompson sustaining a long note while the row of standing trumpeters hoisted their instruments in the air, bells up, like torches. When Thompson ended, he quickly held up his horn in the torch pose, gesturing with emotion to his teacher sitting in the front row.  

Next it was Thompson’s turn to speak. He reminisced about how his knee used to be “black and blue” from Voisin pounding it to improve rhythmic passages, and then introduced the next feature: a PowerPoint presentation narrated by Peter Voisin. Full of archival photographs and audio clips of interviews, the presentation outlined the details of Voisin’s impressive career and numerous contributions to the field. Peter Voisin’s fine narration was entertaining and informative. To highlight Voisin’s pioneering recordings of classical trumpet solo literature, tables were set up in front of the stage displaying the record jackets (LPs) along with Voisin’s trumpets played on those recordings and featured on the covers.  

The session closed with another trumpet ensemble: Fanfare for Roger by Joseph D. Foley. Following the performance, James Thompson again saluted his teacher and the entire audience rose to its feet for a sustained standing ovation that ended only when Roger Voisin made his way to the front of the stage and thanked the ITG for “not waiting too long” to honor him.