Dealing With Frustration in the Practice Room - Zenas Kim-Banther

Trombonist Dr. Zenas Kim-Banther shares a strategy for dealing with frustration in the practice room and generously shares that it took her a long time to get good at this strategy - even though you'd think it would be easy!

Find her full interview here: TBJ211

"What about this passage is giving you the frustration? Is it the consistency? Getting the center of the notes? Is it the rhythm? Is it pitch?

And then just narrowing it down and just keeping it to the most simplest elements.  

If it's something super frustrating, just say, 'I'm gonna spend 10 minutes on this, walk away, do something that I really enjoy,' inviting peace of mind, and kind of go at it.

It sounds so stupid, you'd think you'd figure this out earlier on in your playing. But it took me a long time to really just stop myself from just playing it over and over until it magically gets better. And that's what I yell at my students about all the time. But it's really hard when you know what it should sound like but there's a couple of blocks along the way from getting there.

—Dr. Zenas Kim-Banther from TBJ211

TBJ205: Remembering Floyd Cooley - Brass Legacy Project

The music world lost a giant last month when Floyd Cooley, former Principal Tuba of the San Francisco Symphony, passed away.

For the latest installment of the Brass Legacy Project I invited six former students of Floyd's to share stories of him as a player, teacher and person:

• Kevin Harrison - Axiom Brass

• Daryl Johnson - Louisville Symphony Orchestra (retired)

• Pete Link - Kyoto Symphony Orchestra

• Mike Roylance - Boston Symphony Orchestra

• William Russell - Boston Brass

• Jerome Stover - Sam Houston State University

I never had the privilege of meeting Floyd which I regret. But after being a fly on the wall for this conversation, I feel like I got to know him a little bit and that is a gift.

Thanks to all six of them for joining me on The Brass Junkies on short notice.

You can find this and every TBJ episode on YouTube, wherever you listen to podcasts or via Pedal Note Media.

Now I'm going to go listen to Floyd's Nielsen 5 recording with San Francisco and Blomstedt for about the 600th time in my life...

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TBJ201: Joe Burgstaller with Special Co-Host Chris Martin

For the first episode of the post-Lance LaDuke era (he stepped down after we hit Episode 200) I was joined by the Principal Trumpet of the New York Philharmonic Chris Martin as my co-host.

We interviewed trumpet superstar Joe Burgstaller. It was an incredible conversation. Joe is one of the most thoughtful players and humans I’ve had the privilege of knowing and he was generous throughout this interview.

He literally started dropping serious knowledge about chamber music 30 seconds into the interview. It was amazing.

Highly recommend this one!

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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TBJ186: Beth Wiese

This conversation with Dr. Bethany Wiese, Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Appalachian State University, was incredibly engaging.

We had a deep conversation about things like how applying restrictions to the creative process can actually free you up to be more creative, the value of being “intelligently unpredictable” and separating the output of you as a musician with you as a person.

It’s a wonderful and thought-provoking conversation.

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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TBJ185: Sylvia Alimena

Sylvia Alimena is a gift to the brass world and the music world in general!

As you will hear, she has an incredibly refreshing outlook on performing, teaching and on life.

The work that she does with Brass of Peace will have a ripple effect on the world for many years to come.

I’m so glad we were finally able to make this interview happen!

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• Sylvia’s incredible 29-year run in the National Symphony Orchestra

• What it was like playing under Rostropovich

• The energy and passion that was captured in the National Symphony Orchestra recordings under Rostropovich

• The one-liners that Slava used to deliver in rehearsals

• A memorable concert of Shostakovich 8 in Orchestra Hall in Chicago where they really went for it

• The National Symphony’s transition from Rostropovich to Slatkin

• What she learned as a conductor from Leonard Slatkin

• Slatkin’s ability to convey everything in rehearsal with his hands rather than his word

• Rostropovich’s ability to motivate every single person in the orchestra and make them feel loved and how she has tried to bring that to all of her conducting engagements

• What she saw coming from the podium that she intentionally tried not to emulate herself as a conductor

• The benefit of an orchestral horn section that isn’t all playing the same brand of horn

• How Sylvia took over Brass of Peace from its founder

• Why it’s never too soon to talk to students about artistry

• Working through a common problem with “Guinea Pig Time”

• Why she stopped teaching for a while and why she felt a calling to come back to it

• Why the key of saying no to things is putting yourself and your health first

• Her need to convey strength and where she thinks that might come from

• What life was like as a female horn player in an orchestra early in her career

• How she has seen kids evolve mentally to be more human towards each other than they were 30+ years ago

• Lance teaching his studio to tango

• “Hold the torch high”

• Sylvia’s job as an educator is to give students the skills to differentiate themselves in college

• The three-step audition process for Brass of Peace and what a typical season looks like

• How COVID has changed whether some kids are looking to go into music for a career

• Fractured Atlas and how they help to support Brass of Peace

• Sylvia visits The Practicing Corner with two really good pieces of advice

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TBJ184: Sergio Carolino

We finally got around to interviewing the legend that is Sergio Carolino. He is a truly special musician and one hell of a human being.

This was one of those interviews that left me energized. Sergio is so kind and so generous. I really appreciate his approach to his craft and his outlook on life.

And he had a very special relationship with Sam Pilafian, which he told us about.

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• Why he feels the need to have something extra creatively on top of his orchestra gig

• What drives him to have so many projects

• His desire to keep tuba music moving forward as an artform

• Why he doesn’t make music for ego but in pursuit of excellence

• The 10 albums that Sergio has completely finished that he hasn’t released yet!

• How he still can’t believe that he gets to play recitals with people like Gene Pokorny and Dan Perantoni

• The first time he met Sam Pilafian and how blown away he was by one of his idols talking to him like they had known each other for years

• How his first tuba influences were Sam Pilafian, Kirk Joseph and Bob Stewart and not the classical guys

• The trouble he ran into at conservatory when he showed up and sounded like the jazz guys he grew up listening to

• How if you imitate the sound and the phrasing then the intonation and rhythm fall into line

• How lucky he was to get recordings of some of the giants of the tuba world at an early age

• Why he thinks about fretless bass even when he’s playing classical solos

• The curiosity that drives him

• His original plan to pursue a career as a caricature artist

• How he created his own musical opportunities with the other people in his village beginning at age 13 or 14

• Why he stays away from negative people

• The many ways that any of us can make the world, and the musical world, a better place

• The importance of being around musicians who are better than you

• The musicians he would most love to collaborate with (he doesn’t hesitate with his answer)

• His passion for learning styles of music which are new to him (and why the key to all of it is learning the phrasing)

• The low point he reached 6 or 7 years ago that almost led him to quitting the orchestra and moving to Nepal and the advice that Gene Pokorny that renewed his love of tuba playing

• How we are only here for a few years before moving on and why we need to make the most of our time

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The Brass Junkies Episode 183: Listener's Choice

Lance and I took questions from our listeners in another installment of Listener’s Choice.

My favorite part of the questions was when we talked about ways to stay focused in the practice room.

And I included a bonus rant about the Super Bowl halftime show. (Actually, about a music educator calling the performers “non-musicians” which absolutely set me the hell off!)

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• Melissa in Saginaw

  • What is a funny story your family tells about you that you’d like to share?

• Jimmy in Albuquerque

  • What is some advice you have about being more focused in the practice room?

• Bill in Carlsbad

  • What occupation (other than your own) would you try if you had to start tomorrow and it couldn’t be related to music at all?

• NFTs

• Super Bowl Halftime

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The Brass Junkies Episode 182: Jeffrey Curnow

Jeff Curnow is a legend!

I have looked up to him since my very first Empire Brass concert in August of 1988.

Jeff was one of the five people who changed my life forever that afternoon and it’s crazy to me that we are now friends and colleagues. The music business is funny that way!

We got some Empire Brass stories I hadn’t heard before (and I’ve heard A LOT of them so I always get excited for new ones!)

And Jeff spoke so highly of Sam Pilafian. It is obvious how much of an impact Sam had on his life and career.

Pretty crazy that I get interview people who were on posters on my wall as a kid but here we are!

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• How proud the three of us are for figuring out how to get on the same Zoom call

• How playing in a full-time touring quintet is basically like living together and can feel like a reality show

• The similar approach that Sam and Rolf shared on how Empire should play

• When the mics came on for a recording session you either knew your part or didn’t which helped to focus everyone even between sessions

• Rolf’s vision of walking onstage and leveling the place and how that shaped the entire artistic trajectory of Empire Brass

• That time when Lance told a radio interviewer that he used be an astronaut

• That time when Rolf woke Jeff up at 8:00 am and he was suddenly on his way to a radio interview where he ended up playing Guns N’ Roses

• The Empire Brass Seminar and the profound impact it had on so many people and how that hit home for Jeff when former EBS student Jen Montone joined him in the Dallas Symphony

• The intense attention to detail you need to play in a professional chamber ensemble

• Getting your musical ideas to the back of the hall

• Why you always have to have a musical opinion, go out on stage and make people feel something

• That time when Andrew was playing a gig with Marty Hackleman in Mexico and made a toast that had Marty staring a hole in him

• How all the time he had on the road with Empire led to a rekindled love of cartooning

• The parallels between his detail-oriented approach to both cartooning and music

• His process for making cartoons for NPR and The Wall Street Journal

• How he and Mark Gould collaborated on Orchestra Confidential

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The Perfect Mindset for Getting the Most Out of Graduate School

In this clip from Episode 181 of The Brass Junkies, the incredible Kevin Newton of Imani Winds shares what his mindset was before heading into graduate school.

I will play this clip for every single student I have who is entering graduate school.

It is remarkable when someone as young as he was is this intentional about their life.

For so many students, graduate school is what comes after undergrad and that’s as far as the soul searching goes for exactly why they want to get a graduate degree.

But Kevin saw graduate school as having a specific role in the development of his career and he crushed it.

We can all learn from this kind of awareness while heading into any new chapter of our lives!

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The Brass Junkies Episode 181: Kevin Newton of Imani Winds

Since I am the person who books the guests on The Brass Junkies, I always like who we speak to. I wouldn’t book them if I didn’t!

But sometimes we interview someone who leaves me feeling energized and ready to tackle anything. This conversation with the incredible Kevin Newton did exactly that.

This was one where as soon as hung up, Lance and I both were muttering to each other how incredible it was.

Kevin is the horn player for Imani Winds and is a rising star in the music world. His outlook on making music and on life is so refreshing.

You are going to love this one. I promise.

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• Growing up in the small town of South Boston, VA (where the joke is they have a Walmart and a high school)

• The benefit of having your first teacher being your mother

• Long car rides with his mother which comprised of 10% NPR and 90% making him do things like sing the alto part along with the radio

• Going to the movies twice a week as a kid and listening intently to the music and falling in love with the horn (and not even knowing which instrument he was hearing)

• The incredible mentors he has had from the very beginning of his musical journey including his high school band director, Reginald Pervis

• Having only two lessons in his life before college and how that helped him to shape his perspective

• Taking two years off between undergrad and graduate school to take lessons with different people and get some “data”

• His recognition at the beginning of graduate school that he had two years to figure out how to make a career out of this and he got to work

• Deciding early on that he wanted to study with David Jolley

• The large portion of his lessons with Jolley that were “career building” and intentionally building the specific skills needed to thrive to get Kevin where he wanted to go

• What it was like getting to audition for Imani Winds after looking up to them as kid

• His mental approach to auditions which involves thinking of it as actually doing the job rather than asking for it

• The belief that you should always look for the good in people that was instilled in him by his family

• His horn quartet, Metropolitan Horn Authority, and their quest to have as much fun as possible and to bring the horn to the world in a new light

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