BRAZIL TRUMPET WORKSHOP,
NOVEMBER 2009

By Dave Monette

Almost immediately after finishing up Charlie Schlueter’s Decorated Presentation RAJA SAMADHI, my partner Karen and I flew to Salvador, Brazil and met him there for a weeklong National Trumpet Symposium, hosted by Dr. Heinz Schwebel. Heinz is the trumpet instructor at the local university, and is also principal trumpet in the Salvador Symphony Orchestra. He has studied with Charlie his entire adult life - receiving his DMA in performance as Charlie’s student almost 20 years ago! Also attending and performing was our dear friend Dr. Nailson Simões, the catalyst for much of Charlie’s work in Brazil and also his very first Brazilian DMA student, going back to the early 1980’s.

Players attended from all over Brazil for this event, and joining the group as a special guest was Mireia Farres, Principal Trumpet in the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. Mireia took delivery of her new PRANA 3 C TRUMPET, which we brought with us from the States for the occasion, and she played a full recital on the horn less than 24 hours after receiving this new instrument! She also played Charlie’s new SAMADHI and sounded great on it. Check out the video excerpts of her recital below.

Mireia Recital Neruda - Concerto E-flat I & II

Mireia Recital Neruda - Concerto E-flat III

Mireia Recital Manuel de Falla - Peças:#1, 4, 5, 7

Mireia Recital Ravel - Pièce en forme d'habanera

I worked with many players there one on one, and Karen taught a YOGA FOR BRASS PLAYERS CLASS. The purpose of the class was to give players the experience of conscious awareness of where they hold tension in their bodies, and then give them the tools to release this tension and play with more ease and resonance. Yoga and the associated breath work helps players access the entire body as a resonance chamber, which in turn enhances all aspects of performance. The immediate and direct benefits are a more resonant, brilliant sound with improved intonation and more energy exchange between performers and their audience. The class was very well attended and beautifully complimented the other instruction students were receiving throughout the week. Video clips of this special Yoga class can be found in the “Brazil Collage 1” and “Brazil Collage 2” videos on this page.

Charlie Schlueter also played a recital on his new C trumpet, and we have a highlight video below. Of course everyone wanted to try Charlie’s new horn, and we have a few informal collage videos of various friends from Brazil playing both their own Monette instruments and the two new horns delivered for this trip. These videos are just amazing - listen to the incredible level of artistry and sound these players share! On this trip someone mentioned that there are five or six Brazilian trumpet players with DMA’s in performance, and they are all pupils of Charlie Schlueter! These same performers are the teachers of many of the players and students who attended this conference from all over the country.

Charlie's Recital Part 1

Charlie's Recital Part 2

Video Collage 1

Video Collage 2

Aryton Benck

One of the many highlights of the week was a performance of Gilson Santos’ “Seventy Springs,” a lovely trumpet ensemble piece written to celebrate Charlie’s 70th birthday. Yes, that is Dr. Nailson Simões playing his Monette Bb piccolo trumpet. You can watch a video of the performance below.

Seventy Springs written for Charlie's 70th birthday by Gilson Santos

We stayed up one night with Dr. Ayrton Benck till after 1:00 AM, as that was the only time we found for me to work with him one on one without other scheduled events conflicting. So at the end of an 18 hour day, Ayrton picked up his two Monette trumpets and gave us a spontaneous demonstration of exactly how Monette trumpets should be played! Ayrton, a star student of Dr. Nailson Simões, just lit up the conference room in the hotel where we were staying. Check out the video of Ayrton looking tired but sounding phenomenal HERE.

Other Monette clients we enjoyed hearing included Joatan Nascimento, Arthur Fernandes, Gilson Santos, Paulo Ronqui, Glaucio Xavier, Cicero Cordao, Maico Lopes, and Nairam Simões!

Thanks to everyone down there who showed us the typical amazing Brazilian hospitality, including our tireless host Dr. Heinz Schwebel! And get ready for Adam Rapa with his TANTRA this year, guys!