The morning started out with about 150 people attending a "Yoga for Brass Players" class taught by Karen Hangsterfer, LMT.  Karen worked on basic Yoga breathing, simple stretches designed for opening up the chest and shoulders, and some alignment work standing to help open the hips.  This work is similar in end result to the John Henes Alexander Technique clinic the day before, but with a different twist (pun intended!). 

Many of the participants commented that they loved the clinic, and could easily feel the difference in their breath and alignment after the clinic.  Most Hatha Yoga classes cost about $5 for an hour class, and are available in almost any location anywhere!  This is possibly the best cross-training for brass players, and definitely the best for using Monette equipment.

Andrew Balio is principal trumpet of the Israel Philharmonic, and started his clinic off where Karen Hangsterfer left off.  Andrew has studied Hatha Yoga for 15 years, and uses Yoga stretches and breathing excercises as a regular part of his daily warm up.  Andrew worked with the group on expanding the chest and opening up the rib cage, and shared his 10 minute "no-playing" warm up that he often uses when on tour with the Israel Philharmonic.

Andrew and Dave Monette have given countless clinics together in Europe, Scandanavia, the US and Japan.  This was his first appearance as a clincian at a Monette Brass Conference.

Mark Isham gave an exceptional clinic on film compositon, studio recording practices and jazz and commercial music performance in general.  He has produced the sound tracks for over 50 films including A River Runs Through It and Fly Away Home.

Mark had video monitors set up around the shop, and he talked about a handful of his favorite films… how he got the jobs writing the soundtracks, what the directors were like to work with, what the schedule was like (usually very tight!), and most importatnly what inspiration and techniques he used in composing the music for key scenes.  He gave us an in-depth view of how to express various emotions through different musical devices, and then played one example after another of his work to demonstrate his craft.  One could not help realizing that Mark is truly a genius in his field, and his clinic was very warmly received by the large crowd attending.

This clinic started out with a fanfare by Charlie Schlueter, Andrew Balio, Matt Sonneborn and John Raschella. 

Next, Dave Monette gave a very brief overview of his inspirations in mouthpiece and instrument design.  He led the group in some RAJA Yoga breathing techniques, and he had the group practice opening up and connecting from head to toe by using the breath to become more aware of blocks or misalignments in the body.  This is work from his 15 years experience  teaching Kundalini Yoga. He then took about 10 minutes of questions, and turned the clinic over to Charlie Schlueter.

Charlie demonstrated many musical concepts by using a trumpet section of players using large Monette instruments in a full trumpet section.  They played with Charlie giving musical commentary and/or telling performance stories about each excerpt played.  Charlie's presentation is always very popular - and this clinic was no exception.  Many of the other clinicians had never heard Charlie in person before, and they were notably impressed with his massive sound and command of the instruments he demonstrated in the clinic!

Dan, Dean and Travis work at our shop in instrument fabrication and assembly, and they gave this clinic for Monette owners covering the ins and outs of using and maintaining Monette instruments.  A demonstration on the unique temper of metal we use for our bells was especially effective, as a bell stem was bend almost at a 45 degree angle with almost no effort (Monette instrument are delicate!). This made the point quickly about not only proper handling of our instruments, but also the value of custom fit Monette cases! They also reviewed standard maintenance practices, and answered questions from the group about how we build various models of instruments. 

Mark Isham gave a full concert of electronic jazz, demonstrating many electronic effects, and also showed that he has more than his fair share of chops - especially for a full-time composer!  Mark's concert was very well received, and anyone interested in hearing more can check out any one of dozens of CD's he has produced over the years - including his Grammy award winning recording titled "Mark Isham".

Classical: Charles Schlueter, Matt Sonneborn, John Raschella, Ed Cord, Andrew Balio, Urban Agnas, John Aley, Andre Dubelsten 

Jazz: Scotty Barnhart, Brian Lynch, Mark Isham, Ravi Best, Thara Memory, Urban Agnas, Ron Steen Trio