We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Fritz Stansell, founder and president emeritus of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Fritz Stansell was also one of the original founders of the Falcone Festival and had an incredible impact on the music world. Our most sincere condolences to the Stansell family and BLFAC community during these difficult times.Uncategorised
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of presenting a guest artist, we will be broadcasting the world premieres of the winning pieces from the Solo Works Competition performed by the composers.
Solo Works Competition 2020 Winners
Unaccompanied Solo St
udent Euphonium
In Modo Humano by Thomas Rüedi
Thomas Rüedi is a Swiss-born international euphonium artist, music educator, composer, and arranger. His solo engagements have led him throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and the United States. Rüedi is professor of euphonium and chamber music at Bern University of the Arts and Lucerne University of the Arts; as a guest professor he regularly gives masterclasses throughout Europe and overseas. He is also an acclaimed arranger and composer, supporting the further development and enrichment of the euphonium repertoire—in particular, music for younger players.
PROGRAM NOTES: In Modo Humano (In A Human Way) is set out to explore some of the characteristics which mostly define us as who we are, as human beings. The first movement “La Fantasia” (Fantasy) plays with the imagination and creativity through the means of different sound colors, textures, and motions. The spirit is calm and thoughtful, but also has a sense of daring optimism through trying out different ideas. The second movement “La gioia” (Joy), explores the feeling of great pleasure and happiness; in the middle section, Beethoven sends his regards with a quote from the Pastoral Symphony, entitled Scene by the Bank of a Stream. The third movement “L’amore” (Love), freely follows the feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend; the music flows gently in the form of a Sicilienne. The fourth movement “La curiosità” (Curiosity) plays with the characteristics of inquisitiveness — the desire to learn or know about anything!
Unaccompanied Solo Student Tuba
Climate Strike by Evan Zegiel
Evan Zegiel is an active tubist, composer, and brass educator. He frequently performs across Southeast Michigan and has played with the Baltimore (MD) and Charlotte (NC) Symphonies. Zegiel performs regularly in chamber music settings and is co-founder, with Anthony DeMartinis, of BrassTaps Duo, a tuba and percussion duo which has commissioned multiple works by student and professional composers to expand the available repertoire for both instruments. Zegiel is also an active composer, currently studying Michigan State University. Zegiel won first place in the Falcone Festival Tuba Student (2013) and Tuba Artist (2017) divisions
PROGRAM NOTES: Climate Strike is structured in three roughly through-composed movements, each one reflecting an issue related to the changing climate of our world. The first movement reflects the most recent and devastating brush fires all over Australia, and presents the performer with challenging rhythmic motives which are developed in unexpected ways, representing the unpredictable nature of the sparking embers which ignite brush fires. The second movement meditates on the reality of the melting glaciers at the poles of the Earth, the consequent loss of habitat for arctic creatures, and the rising sea levels in coastal regions; the indication for an unstable tempo at the beginning should be taken literally throughout the movement. The final movement, Super-Hurricane, imagines the possibility of intense, world-changing storms in the future; the musical gestures resemble gusting winds. The reality of climate change will have dire consequences for all the species of the world unless decisive action is taken by humanity at every level of society. I was inspired to write this work after watching and reading of the recent climate change protests taking place in various parts of the world by schoolchildren.
The Falcone Festival held the 2020 Solo Works Competition to commemorate our 35th anniversary. These two winning pieces, performed by their composers, will be included in the 2020 Festival and are included in the required repertoire list for the 2021 Festival student division competitions. Honorable Mention winners are: “Modal Suite”* by Kayla Danielle Roth & “Subject to Change” by Andrew P. Markel (euphonium) and “The Mechanicals”* by Edmund Joliffe and “Whale Songs”* by Lynn Blake John (tuba).
*published by Cimarron Music Press
Dr. Kent Eshelman is Professor of Music (Euphonium and Tuba) at Baylor University, where he joined the faculty in 2009. Previously he held full-time teaching positions at Northern Arizona University and Western Kentucky University, and he has also taught at Grand Valley State University and the Interlochen Arts Camp. A graduate of the University of Michigan in Tuba Performance (BM) and Jazz Piano (BFA), he earned an MM in Tuba Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a DMA in Tuba Performance at Michigan State University. At UW-Madison he held the Prize University Fellowship and at Michigan State University the University Distinguished Fellowship. His primary teachers were Fritz Kaenzig, John Stevens, Phil Sinder, Ellen Rowe, Jim Akins, and Gary Tirey.
A highly acclaimed soloist, he has won first place in numerous national and international competitions, including the Jeju (South Korea) International Brass Competition, the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Competition (Gold medalist: 1997 Tuba Student and 2000 Tuba Artist), and the Midland-Odessa Symphony National Young Artist Competition. He was a finalist in the Philip Jones International Brass Competition (France) and a Level One awardee from the National YoungArts Foundation. He has been featured at many euphonium-tuba conferences, including as soloist with the Ventoscala Symphony Orchestra at the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference (ITEC) in Budapest, and he has premiered solo works by Bruce Broughton, John Cheetham, Frank Lynn Payne, and Anthony Plog. His solo albums, “Message in a Tuba” (Soundset Recordings, 2020) and “Flavors” (Equilibrium Recordings, 2013), have received strong critical acclaim. “Flavors” won the Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording, an award given biannually by the International Tuba-Euphonium Association (ITEA), and the American Record Guide commented, “Tubists are making fine recordings these days, but this one really stands out.”
In addition to solo performance, Dr. Eshelman is principal tubist of the Waco Symphony Orchestra and has performed as substitute or extra tubist with the Grand Rapids, San Antonio, and Toledo symphony orchestras as well as with the Sotto Voce Quartet on numerous concert tours. He is a member of Baylor’s faculty brass quintet, Baylor Brass, and with them has performed at many venues throughout the United States and released an album entitled “Four American Stories” (Soundset Recordings, 2015). As a jazz musician, he has won first place in the Rich Matteson International Jazz Tuba and Euphonium Competition, performed as soloist with the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble at the U.S. Army Tuba-Euphonium Workshop in Washington, D.C., and released an album entitled “Life is Good” (PKO Records). He is also a sponsored artist for Denis Wick Products.
A devoted educator, Dr. Eshelman received the Outstanding Professor Award in teaching from Baylor University in 2015. His students have had consistent success in competitions and auditions, and the Baylor Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble has performed under his direction at ITECs in Bloomington (IN) and Knoxville (TN), the U.S. Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Workshop in Washington, D.C., and regional tuba-euphonium conferences. He has served as adjudicator for the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest, selector of the Texas All-State euphonium and tuba etudes, sectional coach for the Texas All-State bands, and as a presenter at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention.
An active member of the international euphonium/tuba community, Dr. Eshelman has served on the board of directors of the ITEA as the Regional Conferences Coordinator. He has frequently performed and adjudicated at ITEA conferences, and he served as organizer and host of the 2011 ITEA South-Central Regional Conference at Baylor University. He has also served as an adjudicator for the Jeju International Brass Competition in South Korea (in both the euphonium and tuba divisions) and the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Competition.
Mai Kokubo is one of the most active euphonium performers in Japan both on stage and as a teacher. She began studying the euphonium at 11 years old, and three years later, she started to perform as a soloist. After graduating high school, she studied under Toru Miura at the Kunitachi College of Music and under Brian Bowman at the University of North Texas, where she completed her Master of Music Degree in Euphonium Performance.
In 2012, she won the top prize at the Japan Wind and Percussion Competition, launching her career as a professional Euphonium player. Her brilliant musicality and cheerful personality became well known as she was invited to be a guest artist at the 2014, 2016, and 2019 International Tuba Euphonium Conference (ITEC). She completed a highly successful recital tour after releasing her first CD “A War in Wonderland” in 2015 and “Miko Dance” in 2020. Both of the recordings were nominated by ITEC for the CD prize and the Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording in 2016 and 2021.
More recently, Mai has been involved in teaching. In 2015 and 2018, she hosted the Hamamatsu Euphonium Tuba Festival, where around 200 participants of junior and high school students, music college students, and professional and amateur performers joined to learn the instrument and enjoy concerts. She also hosted the Hamamatsu Euphonium Tuba Camp in 2019 and continues to teach at music colleges and high schools. Now she teaches at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music and Tokoha University Junior College.Mai Kokubo is a Willson artist.
Dr. Bethany Wiese is Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Vanderbilt University and Principal Tuba of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, as well as serving as low brass faculty at the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival.
Dr. Wiese has enjoyed a diverse career performing in orchestras and other large ensembles. She spent two years as a fellow of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. She is also a past fellow of summer programs including the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival and School, National Repertory Orchestra, and National Orchestral Institute, and spent one summer touring the United States with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with orchestras throughout the country and abroad, including the Charlotte (NC) Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), Macao Orchestra, and Korean Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Dr. Wiese has previously served as Principal E-flat Tuba in the North Carolina Brass Band (the only professional brass band in North Carolina) and has enjoyed performing with Monarch Brass, an all-female brass ensemble, at the International Women’s Brass Conference and International Trumpet Guild.
Dr. Wiese has been a prizewinner in several solo competitions, including the Falcone Festival, where she was a medalist in the 2007 Tuba Artist division.
A native of Davenport, Iowa, Dr. Wiese has been invited to present masterclasses at numerous universities and conferences throughout the country and is a past recipient of the Hayes School of Music Outstanding Teaching Award at Appalachian State University (Boone, NC), where she recently served as Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium. She received her Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University as a student of Rex Martin; additionally, she completed a Master of Music degree from Yale University (studying with Mike Roylance) and Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University (studying with Marty Erickson).
She says this about her teaching philosophy: “My teaching philosophy is simple: to help students become thoughtful musicians. Music is about communication and ultimately, we are storytellers.... [M]y goal is to help students refine the skills necessary to become compelling, creative, and clear storytellers.”
Guest Artist for 2009 - Velvet Brown
Velvet Brown is professor of tuba and euphonium at the Pennsylvania State University and the brass area coordinator. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State in 2003, she taught at Bowling Green State University (Ohio), Ball State University (Indiana), and served as an associate director of University Bands at Boston University. Currently Ms. Brown is a member of the ITEA Board of Directors and has served as the secretary of the Executive Committee for the International Tuba and Euphonium Association (2001-2007). She is also a board member of the International Women's Brass Conference. Ms. Brown is noted for receiving the 1999-2000 William Fulbright Fellowship Vinciguerra Award. She has had many successful students who have won prestigious playing and teaching positions as well as prizewinners at various regional, national and international competitions.
Velvet Brown also enjoys a professional career as an international soloist and chamber ensemble performer, recording artist, conductor and orchestral player. She has made regular appearances throughout Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Finland, France, England, Hungary, Slovenia, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the United States. Ms. Brown is currently the principal tubist of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra and the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra. She has served as principal tuba with the River City Brass Band, and as substitute or additional tubist with the Detroit Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, San Francisco Women's Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. In 2004, Brown joined Howard Johnson's "Gravity" Tuba Jazz Ensemble as lead tuba. She has also garnered high praise as a founding and current member of the Monarch Brass Quintet and Brass Ensemble, the Junction Tuba Quartet, and the Pennsylvania Brassworks (Faculty Brass at Penn State). She has released three solo CDs on the Crystal Records label, and a CD for the Nicolai Music Label. Velvet Brown can also be heard on Albany Records in her interpretation of John Williams' Tuba Concerto. Velvet Brown is a Meinl Weston Performing Artist performing on the MW 2182 F tuba and the MW 2000 C tuba.
