Wednesday, May 30th - 10:00 a. m

The finalists for this years competition were Jason Bergman and Scott Copeland, both students of William Campbell at the University of Michigan, and Jeffrey Lewandowski, a student of Richard Stoelzel at Grand Valley State University. These finalist were picked through a preliminary round by the trumpet section of the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, Gary Schutza, Philip Clark, and Brian Rood. Judging the finals were Stephen Chenette, Manny Laureano, and Charles Schlueter. A very interesting panel indeed, these three represent forty-seven consecutive years of principal trumpet experience in the Minnesota Orchestra, from 1960 to the present.

The excerpts for this final round were numerous, and were compiled from both the preliminary and finals lists. They were performed in the following order: J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio No. 64, Beethoven's offstage call from Leonore Overture #2, Strauss' Don Quixote, Shostakovich's Symphony #1 3rd movement, Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, Debussy's Fetes, Mahler's Symphony # 1 Blumine Movement, and finally the opening to Mahler's 5th Symphony.

After a delay of nearly twenty minutes (Once again proving that auditions are hardly ever predictable) the competition was ready to begin, and the competition chair Steve Leisring announced each of the finalists.

Jason Bergman performed first. His focus and concentration was evident from the beginning and throughout his performance as he took extra time between each excerpt to prepare. Bergman's ability to change musical styles quickly should be noted, from a powerful Leonore call to his very emotional and lyrical interpretation of the Blumine Movement, he seemed in control.

Scott Copeland performed second and demonstrated wonderfully impressive articulated passages, the most memorable being the crisp style used in Don Quixote. His Leonore call was more conservative in tempo than the other finalist but was accomplished with a sense confidence and strength that made it pleasant to listen to.

The competition closed with Jeffrey Lewandowski who demonstrated an impressive dynamic range. The dramatic difference in volume between the two passages in Fetes being a prime example of this dynamic precision. Lewandowski's musicality was also notable, and clearly displayed during his dance like interpretation of Christmas Oratorio.

Each finalist performed admirably under the stresses of a well attended live audition.