TBJ201: Joe Burgstaller
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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:
Joe’s completely unsolicited opinion that tuba players are by far the best musicians in the brass world and ought to be leading chamber ensembles
Sam Pilafian discussing the value of teaching average band students how to improvise and how that translates back into their classical playing
“The Large Ensemble Trance”
Why the best conductors in the world don’t want people who simply execute well but want artistic partners
The time of day that Joe does his best creative work
The technique that Joe used to solo with 20 high school bands a year when he was still a college student
Why he doesn’t believe in perfect pitch
Joe’s approach to teaching improvisation and the theater exercise he starts with
His “fake opera voice” (and yes he gives us a glorious example)
The different learning styles and Joe learning how he learns best
Chris’s legendary father, Freddy, and his belief that music is community
Joe plays a beautiful example on the piano to show that in order to have harmony you have to have dissonance
Chris asking Joe if he’s running for Senate
The violent Sesame Street scrum Joe played through at the Lincoln Center Tree Lighting
The comment Alan Baer made to Chris Martin during Chris’s very first rehearsal with the New York Philharmonic
Joe’s audition for Canadian Brass (they sent him 33 pieces the day before the audition and it lasted six hours!)
What it was like when Joe first started playing with Canadian Brass and how seriously he took that opportunity
The importance of being able to drop into an ensemble and sound like you’ve been there for years and the skills needed to do that (spoiler alert: it’s not about the notes on the page)
The realization Joe made that he’s funny in Austria
That time when Chris gave Hans Gansch a mute and his hilarious response
Links:
Sam Pilafian’s interview about teaching students how to improvise
Frits Damrow’s Shape Up for Trumpet Players
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With Thanks
The brass program at The Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University
Parker Mouthpieces (including the Andrew Hitz and Lance LaDuke models)
The Brass Junkies is produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media
