|
THOMPSON MUSIC PARTY IN OMAHA!
27th Anniversary of the first Monette Trumpet
by Mike Thompson
In celebration of the first Monette trumpet and the day that I met Dave Monette and Charlie Schlueter, I decided to invite Dave and Charlie to come to Omaha and present a weekend of master classes and a concert. Everyone checked their calendars and it was a go! Dave suggested we add another player to the list and I said it would be great if our good friend Adam Rapa could also participate. Adam agreed and we were then just a breath away from making this event happen. Speaking of breath, which was the only part we were short of (or lacking) to make this a great brass workshop, we invited Karen Hangsterfer to give a “Yoga for Brass Players and Breathing Techniques” class.
The field was set so we sent out email invitations and the
registrations began to pour in. The guest list grew quickly and we soon
realized that we were going to have far more participants than could fit
into the Thompson Music showroom.  We contacted the University of Nebraska School of Music and asked if we could move the event to their performing arts center and they graciously agreed to co-host the Saturday master classes and evening concert. A big thanks goes out to Pete Madson at UNOmaha for his support.
The plan was to have the presenters arrive in Omaha on Friday and have a rehearsal for the Saturday night concert. The concert was just about set when we received word that John Aley, Professor of Trumpet at the University of Wisconsin, was planning to attend. I called John immediately and ask if he would like to play on the evening concert and he agreed.
Friday arrived and we gathered at UNOmaha for the rehearsal, but it was more like a family reunion than a rehearsal! All day long, everyone huddled around Charlie to see his new trumpet and share fun stories. For lunch, we ate great food from McFoster’s, followed by the rehearsal before we called it a night.
Saturday, May 22, 2010 was here and packed full of trumpet fun! We began the day at 9:00 AM with a warm up session lead by Adam Rapa: “Zero to Double High C in 5.4 Seconds!” It was a casual but very informative look at Adam’s approach to the trumpet and the career he has developed.
 Karen Hangsterfer worked with all of the attendees in her class
titled “Accurate and Effective Breathing for Brass Players.” This lungs-on
session was highly enlightening for all who participated. If you get the
chance to take a private lesson with Karen, DO IT! I cannot begin to tell you all
that I learned from my lesson with her.
Charlie Schlueter Talks About Lessons With Bill Vacchiano | After lunch, Dave Monette gave us a video tour of “Modern Trumpet Building Techniques” followed by a Q & A in which he revealed all of the trade secrets that he has developed of the past 27 years. If you build trumpets and missed it, too bad because we were all sworn to secrecy! Dave also told some of my favorite stories from the early days working with Doc Severinsen and how the Monette Corporation came to be.
 2:30 PM, and time for Charles Schlueter’s master class! If you have not seen Charlie in action, then you haven’t seen the master at work. He has the ability to quickly pinpoint the cause of a problem and fix it on the spot. Everyone that played for Charlie made improvements in their short sessions and we all left the room as better musicians. Thank you Charlie, Dave, Adam and Karen!
One would normally think that this was a complete day, but no, we still had
a concert to perform. After a quick run for some great Indian food and the
stage lighting and setup we were ready for the 8:00 PM concert.
The program was as follows:
 Omaha’s Palladium Brass: Mike Thompson (PRANA LT STC C trumpet) and Tom Kelly (PRANA 1 C trumpet) Trumpets, Louis Stout (Horn), Mark Mendell (Trombone) and Steve Steager (Tuba). They performed “Intrada” by Thomas Simpson and Aaron Copland’s “Grovers Corners” from Our Town.
|
 John Aley (RAJA C Trumpet) with organist Stacie Lightner (former store manager from Thompson Music) performed the “Prayer of St. Gregory” by Hovhaness. |
 Charlie Schlueter (Decorated RAJA SAMADHI C trumpet) accompanied by Stacie Lightner, performed the Hubeau “Sonata for Trumpet and Piano.”
|
- Charlie Schlueter, Mike Thompson and Tom Kelly performed Leroy Anderson’s “Bugler’s Holiday”
|
|
|
 Adam Rapa (4-valve TANTRA Bb trumpet) with organist Stacie Lightner, played his transcription of Cesar Franck, "Op.20 Chorale #3, Finale."- Adam Rapa (4-valve TANTRA Bb trumpet) and the Omaha Jazz Trio featuring: Dan Cerveny (Piano), Mark Luebbe (Bass), Carlos Figueroa (Drums) and special guest artist, Karen Hangsterfer.
|
The concert was a blast and the audience was screaming for more!
Sunday, May 23, 2010 was private lesson and consultation day, held at Thompson Music.
Charlie, Adam and Karen had full schedules of lessons and Dave worked with individuals on all things trumpet. There were not enough hours in this day to work with everyone that came to the store; it was non-stop the entire day.
 At the end of the day, Adam jumped on a plane back to New York. Dave, Charlie and I went to my house for very competitive billiards match. We played several games of Cut-Throat in which Charlie killed us (we spotted him 4 games), and Dave made the most incredible cue ball jump shot that I have ever bet against. Now I owe Dave a dozen Monette mouthpiece cases!
After Concert Hang | The 27th Anniversary Weekend was a great success. We had trumpet players come from New York, Utah, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Colorado, Arkansas and Nebraska. The only regret I have is that we should have made it a four-day event! I cannot thank Charlie, Adam, Dave and Karen enough for all the energy they put into this event. You guys are incredible! I also need to thank the Thompson Music crew for their hard work. Thanks to: Rebecca and Jason Stromquist, Amanda Yadav, John Huss, John Handel and Stacie Lightner. Great job!
Mike Thompson
Thompson Music
|
