Historical Trumpet Rosters for Major Symphony Orchestras

Derek Reaban · Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 8:47 pm Post subject:

As a brief summary, I believe that the following historical symphony trumpet sections are now complete (thanks to the great ITG Journal articles, and independent TH verification for reference):

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

Work still to be accomplished includes gathering information for:

Los Angeles Philharmonic - THer Gianni
Minnesota Orchestra - THer Manny Laureano
New York Philharmonic - I will continue reading the ITG Journals to see if I can extract this information, along with information from other THers (i.e. Wilmer, Ed Carroll)

Orchestras to be Included in the Future:

I would love to see players for the following groups (as a minimum):

Atlanta Symphony
Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM)
St. Louis Symphony
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic
Vienna Philharmonic

If you have others to add to this list, please do. If you can contribute to this information, please do.

Thanks,

_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

[ This Message was edited by: Derek Reaban on 2004-03-27 23:49 ]

Derek Reaban · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 10:15 pm Post subject:

Derek Reaban · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:14 am Post subject:

Nonsense Eliminator · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:14 am Post subject:

Derek --

I believe that the audition win Andrew announced was for a section position. The principal audition is pending.

MrClean · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:42 am Post subject:

Yes, Russ won the associate chair - he may indeed be acting principal (happened last time between Jeff and Andrew when Brian Brown was associate/acting principal).

Derek Reaban · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:45 am Post subject:

This is presented with the assistance of THer Andrew Tomlinson who shares my enthusiasm for reading about the many players who shaped the orchestras that we all enjoy so much. This list is a starting point for comments. Please help if you can!

Founded in 1904, the London Symphony Orchestra was England’s first independent, self-governing orchestra. It soon became a limited company, owned and managed by the players.

London Symphony Orchestra
Principal Trumpet Players

Start-End______Name

1990-Current_______Rod Franks (Principal)
1977-2000_________Maurice Murphy (Principal) (Semi-retired, Still Playing as of 2003-2004)
1983-1990_________Malcolm Smith (Principal) (Is 1990 correct?)
1975-1977_________John Wallace (Principal) (The dates are approximate, help needed)
1967-1976_________Howard Snell (Principal)
1961-196?_________William Lang (Principal)
1960-1961_________Alan Stringer
1932-1960_________George Eskdale
1929-1932_________????
1924-1930_________Ernest Hall
1904-1924_________John Solomon (Is 1924 correct?)

Web site: http://www.lso.co.uk/aboutus/players/

Current roster for the 2003-2004 Season:
Maurice Murphy – Principal Trumpet*
Rod Franks – Principal Trumpet*
Gerald Ruddock
Nigel Gomm

*NOTE: From the LSO web site: The LSO has always attracted players of top quality. In recent years the introduction of the 'joint Principal' scheme has encouraged musicians of the highest calibre to bring their skills to the Orchestra whilst giving them the flexibility to maintain their own solo and chamber careers.

EDIT: Andrew also sent me this information that I forgot to include the for the initial post:

Denis Clift Princ Co-Princ (1940's-1950's?)
George Reynolds Co-Princ (1950's-1960's?)

_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

<font size=-2>[ This Message was edited by: Derek Reaban on 2004-03-30 14:47 ]</font>

Derek Reaban · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:46 am Post subject:

Based on comments from Nonsense Eliminator and Mr. Clean, I have updated this list. Still lots of work needs to be done!

Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Principal Trumpet Players

Start-End______Name

2004-Current_______Audition to be Held May 3-4, 2004
2002-2004_________Andrew McCandless
2001-2002_________Brian Brown (Associate/Acting Principal)
1996-2001_________Jeffrey Curnow
1995-1996_________Possibly Acting Principal Position (Richard Giangiulio)?
1989-1995_________David Bilger
1993-2002_________Richard Giangiulio (Co-Principal)
1969-1993_________Richard Giangiulio
1960-1969_________Ronald Modell
1958-1960_________Possibly Tom Stevens???
1953-1958_________Frank Kaderabek
1950-1953_________???
1948-1950_________Bernard Adelstein
1947-1948_________John Ware (22 Weeks)
1900-1947_________Need Your Help!

Web Site: http://www.dallassymphony.com/?crs=mm&mmi=orchestra&mmid=place&mmex=Brass

Current roster for the 2003-2004 Season:
Andrew McCandless – Principal Trumpet
Christopher Sill – Associate Principal
Thomas Booth – Assistant Principal
Kevin Finamore
_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Winds / Symphony of the Southwest

Derek Reaban · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:53 am Post subject:

For those of you that don’t receive the ITG Journals, these lists are probably, at best, somewhat interesting. It’s when you get to read the stories and see the pictures that all of the “history” becomes fun. While Trumpet Herald was down last night, I did a few searches on Google and found an article about the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Symphony Orchestra (as it appeared in the September 1995 ITG Journal) (this list of players shown several pages back in this now rather lengthy list of orchetras). This puts MUCH more content in your hands! I hope you will download a copy of this article (it does take quite a while to load, but it’s worth it), if only for the pictures alone!

http://www.trumpetguild.org/journal/s95/9509Hurr.pdf (BBCSO Reference, Full Article)

Enjoy!
_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Winds / Symphony of the Southwest

mcstock · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 3:12 pm Post subject:

Derek,

According to Windplayer (Vol. 7, no. 2) Tom Stevens joined the Dallas Symphony in 1964 and left the following season to join Los Angeles. So this makes 1958-60 still a mystery.

As far as 95-96 goes, I think Jeff Curnow played first that season on a one year contract and officially became principal the following year. I saw the DSO fairly regularly at that time and don't recall anyone else in the chair.

Matt

[ This Message was edited by: mcstock on 2004-03-30 18:23 ]

Derek Reaban · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 11:07 pm Post subject:

I need some help verifying some information that I found on the Internet tonight related to the Dallas Symphony. I found Ron Modell's bio (Principal Trumpet with Dallas from 1960 - 1969) at the 2001 FMEA All-State Clinician site: http://www.geocities.com/fbatech/allstateclinicians.htm . He mentions studying with Milton Davidson (1st trumpet with the Dallas Symphony) who was also his Uncle. His other Uncle is Louis Davidson (Principal Trumpet with Cleveland from 1935 - 1958).

Can anyone verify the dates that Milton Davidson played Principal Trumpet in Dallas?

Thanks,

_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

[ This Message was edited by: Derek Reaban on 2004-03-31 02:08 ]

Derek Reaban · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 11:13 pm Post subject:

Based on comments from mcstock (Matt) and information I found on the Internet related to Milton Davidson I have updated this list. Still lots of work needs to be done!

Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Principal Trumpet Players

Start-End______Name

2004-Current_______Audition to be Held May 3-4, 2004
2002-2004_________Andrew McCandless
2001-2002_________Brian Brown (Associate/Acting Principal)
1996-2001_________Jeffrey Curnow
1995-1996_________Jeffrey Curnow (Acting Principal)
1989-1995_________David Bilger (Co-Principal)
1993-2002_________Richard Giangiulio (Co-Principal)
1969-1993_________Richard Giangiulio
1960-1969_________Ronald Modell
1958-1960_________Possibly Tom Stevens???
1953-1958_________Frank Kaderabek
1950-1953_________???
1948-1950_________Bernard Adelstein
1947-1948_________John Ware (22 Weeks)
193?-194?_________Milton Davidson
1900-193?_________Need Your Help!

Web Site: http://www.dallassymphony.com/?crs=mm&mmi=orchestra&mmid=place&mmex=Brass

Current roster for the 2003-2004 Season:
Andrew McCandless – Principal Trumpet
Christopher Sill – Associate Principal
Thomas Booth – Assistant Principal
Kevin Finamore

_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

[ This Message was edited by: Derek Reaban on 2004-03-31 02:16 ]

Derek Reaban · Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2004 11:22 am Post subject:

I just happened to bump into this list of players for the NBC Symphony on the Internet. I’m assuming it’s a complete list, but it doesn’t list dates of when player’s were with the orchestra or their position in the section. It does show an asterisk with the charter members, so I’ve shown the start dates for those players, and we know Harry Glantz began in 1942 as principal trumpet from other research. I’m wondering if Frank Venezia is the same F. Venezia that was principal trumpet with the Cleveland Orchestra from 1925-1927.

The dates and positions that I gathered for these players was from the March 2000 ITG Journal article entitled “Ray Crisara: Teaching by Example” by Keith Winking, page 36. This can be found on line at: http://www.trumpetguild.org/pdf/2000journal/0003wink.pdf and has some really great pictures!

NBC Symphony Orchestra
Trumpet Players

Start-End______Name

1942-1954_________Harry Glantz (1st Trumpet)
194?-1954_________Frank Falcone (2nd Trumept)
1946-1954_________Raymond Crisara (Associate 1st / 3rd)
194?-194?_________David Glickstein
1937-194?_________Bernard Baker (1st Trumpet)
1937-194?_________Sol Klass
1937-194?_________Humbert Pennino
1937-194?_________Frank Venezia

Here are the links to the web site that I found:

List of NBC Symphony Players: http://www.classicalmusiccd.com/znbc/nbcplayers.html
Photo of NBC Symphony: http://www.classicalmusiccd.com/znbc/photosnbc.html
_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Winds / Symphony of the Southwest

wiseone2 · Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2004 1:00 pm Post subject:

Add Murray Karpilovsky to the NBC list.
Murray played principal after Glantz left the orchestra.
I met Murray in the 70s, playing at Madison Square Garden.
They don't make them like Murray anymore.
We were playing an Ice Capades, the one that had Cat Anderson as lead trumpet/asst. MD.
Murray was warming up as he always did.............strong.
Murray was one of the most powerful players I have had the pleasure to work with.
He even got Cat's attention:-}
Murray played a Meha Besson with one of those Glantz looking mouthpieces.
Wilmer

scarface · Heavyweight Member Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 1806

Are the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra stats here? I was in scan mode and may have missed them. Anyway, can someone list the current trumpet section of The Met (not only the principal players)? Mr. Bond?

Derek Reaban · Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2004 7:32 am Post subject:

Scarface,

I haven’t gotten around to the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra section yet. It’s amazing how big a project this is!

Quickly looking on the Internet I found that Wayne duMaine lists he currently plays with the Met in his bio (this is on the Manhattan Brass Quintet page at: http://manhattanbrassquintet.org/web/MBQbios2.html). And we know that our own Peter Bond is also in the section. I would assume that they have at least 3, and probably 4 in the section, so let’s hope Peter can help with the others:

2003-2004 Section:
Peter Bond
Wayne duMaine
???
???

As far as historical players:

Mark Gould (Principal) beginning 1973 (Reference Jan. 2001 ITG Journal)
Mel Broiles before Mark, but I don’t have dates yet (and he was Co-Principal with Mark)
Ray Crisara (Principal) from 1941 to 1942 (Reference Mar 2000 ITG Journal)
Isadore Blank (Principal) 1930s (In a picture with William Vacchiano in an ITG Journal article). THer “bulos” can probably help with more information here
Joseph Rescigno (NY Phil and Met – Not sure what chair) probably from the 1920s (from his Grandson’s web site: http://www.concertatore.com/rescigno.html#bio)

This is on my list of orchestras to work on. If anyone has more details, please let me know!

Thanks,

_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

[ This Message was edited by: Derek Reaban on 2004-04-02 10:33 ]

Derek Reaban · Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2004 7:45 am Post subject:

Scarface,

On the Mark Gould reference from the Jan 2001 ITG Jounal, I wanted to add something.

He has some absolutely fantastic quotes about player’s sounds.

From page 20, “When I go to clinics, they talk about bright and dark. Bright is bad. Dark is good. This is the wrong model to set up. I like to hear a sound that is very centered and focused, one that has brilliance and can be both bright and dark. That kind of sound can have many colors, but the core of the sound has brilliance that will project. People used to tell me that Herseth had a dark sound, and I looked at them as if they were insane. [laughter] Are we hearing the same guy? There are dark elements to it, but there’s a lot more going on.”

And my favorite from Page 18, “Yes, I heard Vacchiano. I remember his sound. That sound! It was a big, strong, chocolate, beautiful sound.”

That article was one of the reasons that I became so interested in reading everything that I could about how to achieve a resonant sound. The whole article is fantastic!

FYI.
_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Winds / Symphony of the Southwest

Derek Reaban · Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2004 8:10 am Post subject:

The Internet is AMAZING!

Check out the entire Mark Gould article here:

http://www.trumpetguild.org/pdf/2001journal/0101dudg.pdf
_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Winds / Symphony of the Southwest

Derek Reaban · Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2004 10:47 am Post subject:

I’ve had this put together for several days now, waiting to find some additional information, but since I’m having trouble finding what I’m looking for I thought I would just post this and see what comments come back.

To begin this post on the New York Philharmonic, I think a brief history of the orchestra is appropriate. Here are some highlights from the NYP web site plus some interesting commentary from an interview with bassoonist Sol Schroenbach about the two New York orchestras prior to their merger in 1928:

Founded in 1842 by a group of local musicians led by American-born Ureli Corelli Hill, the New York Philharmonic is by far the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States and one of the oldest in the world. In continuous operation throughout two-thirds of our nation’s history, the Philharmonic has played a leading role in American musical life and development.

The Orchestra undertook its first domestic tour in 1882, under Leopold Damrosch. After its merger in 1928 with the Symphony Society of New York, the Philharmonic made its first European tour, under Arturo Toscanini, in 1930.

From an interview on the Internet with bassonist Sol Schoenbach (by William Dietz) on the music environment in New York in the 1920s: http://idrs.colorado.edu/Publications/DR/DR10.3/DR10.3.Dietz.html

At that time (prior to 1928) there were two orchestras in New York, the New York Philharmonic and the New York Symphony. Walter Damrosch, the conductor of the New York Symphony, dominated the entire New York City educational system of music. He had a theory that all string players should be Russian or Polish Jews, that all brass players should be German, and that all woodwind players should be French. His orchestra was made up of these different ethnic groups and he would hire European musicians each year from these various countries to staff openings in his orchestra. Two important wind players who were involved in this European importation were the flutist George Barrere, and Marcel Tabuteau, the famous oboist. Others included the French bassoonists Auguste Mesnard and Louis Letellier. This fine group of wind players became part of' the faculty of the Institute of Musical Art, which was founded by Frank Damrosch, the older brother of Walter Damrosch. The Institute of Musical Arts later merged with the Juilliard School.

New York Philharmonic
Principal Trumpet Players

Start-End________Name

1988-Current_______Phil Smith
1978-1988_________Phil Smith (Co-Principal)
1977-1978_________Louis Ranger
1973-1988_________John Ware (Co-Principal)
1973-1977_________Louis Ranger (Co-Principal)
1973-1977_________Gerard Schwarz (Co-Principal)
1942-1973_________William Vacchiano
1923-1942_________Harry Glantz
1911-1923_________Benjamin Klatzkin
1909-1911_________Christian H. Rodenkirchen
1908-1909_________???
1907-1908_________Jacob (Jake) Borodkin
1905-1907_________Christian H. Rodenkirchen
190?-190?_________Gustav F. Heim
1865-1899_________Friderick Dietz, Sr.

Web Site: http://www.newyorkphilharmonic.org/meet/orchestra/index.cfm?page=section§ionNum=21

Current roster for the 2003-2004 Season:
Phil Smith – Principal Trumpet
Robert Sullivan – Associate Principal
Thomas V. Smith
Vincent Penzarella

_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

[ This Message was edited by: Derek Reaban on 2004-04-02 14:11 ]

22925h · New Member Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 3

Current MET opera orch....

David Krauss Principal
James Ross 2nd tpt
Peter Bond third tpt

Ray Riccomini (one year )
Kenny Decarlo (one year)

Hope this helps

Derek Reaban · Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2004 1:17 pm Post subject:

22925H,

Thanks for the information! In looking on the Internet, I have found Peter Bond shown as the 2nd trumpet in many different references, for instance:

http://hartwickmusicfestival.org/Bond_bio.htm
http://www.ohiou.edu/noncredit/trumpet.htm

I’ve always wondered how they rotate Opera trumpet sections when there are multiple operas happening at the same time. I attend the Santa Fe Opera in the summers with my family, and considering they play almost every night of the week (same with the MET I’m assuming), with different programs, are there “floater” players that allow others to have a night off every once in a while. How does that work? If there is a Mozart opera for 2-3 trumpets one evening, and a Puccini opera with 4 the next, are they the same players (does the 5th player get rotated in occasionally, or is he just a floater).

Thanks,
_________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Winds / Symphony of the Southwest