John's "Chicago" Background

[johntpt]

Early Background:

I grew up in Plymouth, Wisconsin, a small town halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay. Yes beer and the Packers (and bratwurst) are very important to folk where I come from! I played cornet and later trumpet in the school band program, later in various community groups and German bands in the area. My first trumpet teacher was Jeff Schieble, one of the best lead and jazz players in eastern Wisconsin. He really got me started on the right track, and continues to be a great friend of mine. Later I spent 2 summers touring with the "Kid's from Wisconsin" show band - something like 90 shows in 60 days. This guy Jon Germain was the section leader. We split the lead book both summers, Jon playing a little more 1st than me. He sounded awesome and really inspired me, but I have no idea where he ended up.

The rest of my bio can be read by clicking on the "WWW" link below, so I won't repeat too much of that. I have been very fortunate to have a great job here in Mexico for the last 5 years. I play in a world class orchestra in a chair formerly held by some big names (current members of the orchestras of Cleveland, Baltimore, the Met, a prominent former member of the Boston Pops, and a prominent former member of the Montreal and Atlanta Symphonies). I am very lucky to make my living playing the trumpet and I hope to for many years to come.

While I have never lived in Chicago and never studied regularly with any CSO member I have always had a keen interest in the CSO.
I was first introduced to the sound of the Chicago Symphony by Glenn Finch, one of my high school trumpet teachers. One day while working on the Franck Symphony in D minor Glenn pulled an old LP off his shelf - Pierre Monteux and the Chicago Symphony on RCA from 1961. WOW! I'll never forget hearing that brass section for the first time. Glenn told me that any time I was learning a standard rep piece I needed to find a CSO recording to learn the proper style and sound. Bud's playing is the standard we all need to have in our ears.

BTW Glenn Finch was a fine player who had played in Chicago Civic and had studied with Bud and Jacobs. He was my first introduction to the "Chicago School" way of thinking, playing and teaching.

Later during my student years in Madison, Wisconsin, I used to make the 2.5 hour trek to Chicago several times each year to hear the CSO. The first trip was in 1990 to hear Bud play the Hummel with Erich Leinsdorf conducting. Several friends and I bought student rush tix on the main floor. Wow! What a sound! What stage presence! What musicality! After the intermission we headed upstairs to catch the 2nd half of the concert - all Wagner, and with Bud playing 1st trumpet! Talk about chops of steel. Afterwords Bud's reply to our compliments was "Thank you, but what did you think of the Wagner? Now THAT'S some real music!"

In the early 90s I heard the CSO play many big brass pieces both downtown and at Ravinia, including Mahlers 5, 8, & 9, Verdi Requiem, Rite of Spring, Petrouchka, Bruckner 3 & 5, Tchaikovsky 5 & 6, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Prokofiev 5 & Romeo and Juliet, and Beethoven 9. I never heard Bud sound less than great. Each concert was truly an inspiration!

Over the years I have also collected many CSO recordings and live broadcasts. I hope others on this forum have an interest in discussing various CDs and CDRs.

In the summer of 1995 I had the great fortune to spend a week with Bud while studying at the Music Academy of the West. This was an unforgettable experience that I will discuss at another time.

Anyways I am very excited to be a co-moderator of this forum and I hope to participate in as many topics as I can and start a few of my own. I hope to learn a lot and hear some great stories!

John Urness