Hello everyone. Today I bring you an interview with one of the young leaders of the Tuba in Germany and a recent colleague of a server. I hope and wish you enjoy your experience here today as much as I do.
Without further ado we begin. Let's start.
· Name and surname:
Prof. Thomas Brunmayr
· What instrument / s do you use?
F Tubas, BB flat Tubas and F Cimbasso for my work in the Orchestra.
I also own a F Helikon, E flat Sousaphone, Valve Trombone, Bass Trumpet and Euphonium which I rarely use for different things
· What manufacturer and model are the instruments you use:
I use 3 different F Tubas: Melton / Meinl Weston 4260 , Meister Walter Nirschl F Tuba, B&S F-Tuba from the early 80´s
I also have 3 different B-flat Tubas: 2 Melton/Meinl Weston 195 and a Meinl Weston/ Melton 197……. and looking forward to the new Nirschl 4/4 Bb flat tuba to receive soon
F Cimbasso by Lätzsch
F Helikon Bohland und Fuchs (pre WW 1), 4 valve E Flat Sousaphone by Conn (1924) goldplated, Getzen Valve trumpet and Getzen B Flat Bass Trumpet
· What manufacturer and model are the mouthpiece / s you use:
Franz Windhager W.H.F. / Austria
Let's talk about your EDUCATION:
· When and where did you start your Tuba studies?
I started to study the Tuba at our local music school in Attnang- Puchheim/ Austria in 1998
· At what age?
I was 13 at that time
· What reasons or circumstances led you to study this instrument?
All my brothers where, and still are, members of the local wind band of Attnang- Puchheim. One day my older brother came to me an said that the conductor of the windband asked him if I would like to play the tuba. At that time I had no Idea what a Tuba was but fortunately I said ok i will give it a try. A week later my brother brought an old Miraphone 4 valve F Tuba at home and than I realized what the Instrument looked alike. Actually the conductor was the same guy who teaches Tuba at the music school. I was really fortunate to have a good teacher in my early years.
· Who were your main teachers?
Most influential:
Walter Krempl at Attnang-Puchheim Musicschool
Wilfried Brandstötter at Bruckner University Linz
And to name two Mentors, Jozsef Juhasz from Frankfurt Opera and Christian Penz from Bruckner Orchester Linz who had influenced me a lot
Regarding your vast PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Please give us an account of your experience as a soloist, member of chamber groups, orchestra, band, etc.
· In Orchestra and / or Band:
I´m a member of Stuttgart State Orchestra/ State Opera Stuttgart in Germany. Previously to that i had an internship at Frankfurt Opera. As a substitute player I played with many big orchestras in Germany as the Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian State Opera Munich, SWR Symphony,……
I'm still a member of an amateur Wind Band too. I owe them a lot….
· Metal Ensembles:
A few years ago we formed a group with 4 (female) Horn Players and 1 Tuba with my colleagues of the Opera. There is quite a repertoire for this type of ensemble and the Horns and Tuba blends perfectly.
We also have a more or less regular Brass Quintet from the opera which I really enjoy to play with. (last concert bevor corona closed everything on 9.3.2020 with the quintett)
I´m also member of the Austrian Brass Ensemble Sound In(n) Brass
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| IN THE ORCHESTRA |
· Concerts as Soloist:
I really enjoy playing in a Duet with my wife who is an organ player. Unfortunately there is not so much repertoire for this combination so we arranged a few pieces and commissioned 2 pieces from a friend to enlarge the small repertoire for tuba and organ.
Please tell us about your experiences as an Opera Orchestra Tuba in Germany.
In Germany we are really really fortunate to have so many jobs for Orchestral musicians and so many good Orchestras. I really like the work in an Opera Orchestra because you have such a big repertoire from Opera to Ballett to Chamber Music and Symphony Concerts. In Stuttgart we have a world renowned Ballet and all the classical balletts where played many many times, it's a privilege to perform all these fantastic pieces. Sometimes you have to play Cimbasso in the morning in a rehearsal and play BB flat in the evening and next morning F Tuba. This can be challenging. I always try to figure my breathing out for every Instrument. Especially Cimbasso needs a differents type of playing in my opinion.
Treating OTHER TOPICS OF INTEREST.
Here in Spain, in some centers the Euphonium is considered to be an instrument that should have its own specialization and, on the other hand, some believe that, as an instrumentalist, one should know and master the Tuba and Euphonium.
• Could you give us your opinion on this and how you would approach this topic in the interest of education and training adapted to the necessary specialization that is currently required worldwide?
Unfortunately the Euphonium has not a really big lobby in Germany and is not taught at German Universities in general. I think if you want to become an Orchestral Tuba player you have to focus totally on Bass and Contrabass Tuba. In my opinion it would be necessary for every Tuba Player who want to go in Pedagogy to play also Euphonium. I think in the future it would be wise to establish a 1 year binding euphonium studying for every pedagogy student in Germany. I don't want to go too much in this because it's controversial but we really have to discuss such things for future music teachers an pedagoges.
• How do you see the tuba and euphonium teaching today and with a view to the future?
A lot of things changed in the last 50 years, more highly educated players, less orchestral jobs. A lot of people get worried about this circumstances but what also changed are the fields of possibilities to work in music. There are way more possibilities to live as a musician than 50 years ago. In 1960 there was only one chance to have a good life as a classical (brass) musician, to be an Orchestral player. Nowadays there are so many field, establish a chamber music group, musical comedy, crossover ensembles, be a Tuba/ euphonium teacher, music production, all the internet stuff………. All my colleagues from my studying time in Linz are doing totally different things, so there is enough space for everyone to live as a musician.
I think modern teaching should change a bit to focus not only on one thing. I think a wide spectrum of possibilities and creativity is necessary in modern times. I have to say that my teaching is naturally based on the orchestral style of playing because i'm an orchestral player and a lot of my knowledge comes from orchestral playing and from reach that goal of getting an orchestral job. Actually my teacher Will Brandtötter was not the typical Tuba Professor, they developed a completely new field for brass players with Mnozil brass.
Let's talk about your EXPERIENCE IN TEACHING:
· Tell us in which learning centers you have taught classes (visiting teacher, courses, master classes, etc.)
I teached for 4 Years as a “Lehrbeauftragter” at Musikhochschule Stuttgart. Since 2019 I have my own class as professor for Tuba at Musikhochschule Freiburg. In 2015 I organized a big workshop with classes from Linz, Stuttgart, Augsburg and Vienna University. I also teach at various workshops and Masterclasses in Austria and Germany. I´m also try to establish a Tuba Day in South of Freiburg in Collaboration with a Music School in Waldshut-Tiengen. For me it's really important to have contact to the local music schools, wind bands and teachers and know whats going on there.
· How do you organize your classes and the topic in general?
As an Orchestral musician and Professor for Tuba I have to organize my teaching with my orchestral schedule. I try to be in Freiburg 1-2 times per week. Normally I start in the morning with a Basics Group lesson with all members of the tuba class alternate B Flat and F Tuba from week to week. Then individual lessons. I also try to make regular audition training and mock auditions for the students. I'm really fortunate to have 2 wonderful pianists to work with my class and doing the Solo Repertoire with my students.
· How long are your classes?
Normally 1 ½ - 2 hours basics and 1 ½ hours individual lessons
· Do you think it is important for a student to make public presentations during their years of study? If so, how many times do you consider it appropriate and at what age or grade? Elementary, Professional, Superior?
It´s essential! We are musicians, we have to play for audience, jurys, committees. That's our job nobody cares how good anybody can play in the practice room. I suggest to start with playing concerts immediately after starting to play the instrument. That should be de most natural thing, to play for people. If you are not used to play concerts try to play as much as you can, if you have no experience with auditions try to make as much mock auditions as possible.
At Freiburg University I try to organize 2 Concerts of the Tuba Class per Semester. I also want to go outside of the city into the countryside and present our Tuba Class to a different audience.
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| IN CONCERT WITH "SOUND INN BRASS" AND ALLEN VIZZUTTI |
An important part of the course curriculum is standardized and based on the idea that the student masters the repertoire alone, sometimes to the detriment of the large group repertoire (Orchestra and Band), when in fact the majority of Tuba students and Bombardino are going to be teachers and / or members of a band and, to a lesser extent, of an orchestra in the case of the Tubas.
· In your opinion, how should this problem be addressed? How important do you think it is to include learning and mastery of the orchestral repertoire as part of the course curriculum?
In many facts you have to master a big part of the repertoire for your own because there is not enough time to teach everything. But that has also a lot of positive aspects. You learn to be your own person and prepare for your own and present your own thoughts. That's really important as a musician. Everyone is his own Boss. I always force my students to search for pieces and not to play the mainstream pieces all the time. In my studying days I was, and still i am, always searching for interesting pieces.
· If I had to choose as a student (in a hypothetical situation), would you have a preference between a Tuba student and a Euphonium student?
Unfortunately there is no chance to study Euphonium in Freiburg
About your DAILY WORK.
· What type of repertoire do you mainly work in?
Basics (Long tones, Intervals, tonguing, flexibilities, scales, loud and soft playing, Clark technical exercises ), Kopprasch, Bordogni, I also try to stay in shape with the Orchestral excerpts to be ready in the lessons to play them, more or less Solo repertoire
· What warm-up exercises do you use?
I have my routines for B Flat and F tuba. With B Flat Tuba i try to do a lot of Long tones and connecting long tones one to another, i try to do a little bit of tongue - air flow coordination exercises as well. Also part of my basics is to make exercises for short high airflow rate in different dynamics.
with F tuba i do scales – air flow studies, interval training, flexibility, technical exercises,
the goal is the same no matter which instrument – relaxed but full air flow
TALKING ABOUT TECHNICAL ISSUES:
· Could you give us your opinion on the different concepts of sound and what characteristics define it, the articulation, the types of instruments, the literature, if the influence of language and musical tradition on sound is considered important and how to play?
The preservation of the traditions is very important. Sometimes old traditions stands against physical and medical science. That's what i criticize about some traditions…. For me there is no problem to think about Arnold Jacobs or james stamps or emory remingtons thoughts and serve the german tradition too. I'm sure that a lot of playing characteristics are based on language.
· Tell us a bit about the manufacture of Tubas and / or Euphoniums and mouthpieces and tell us about your experiences and tastes of a particular manufacturer and why?
Every country has their own culture – tradition and every person has his own evolution. I would never judge what instrument is better. I´m used to Bb flat and F Tuba with rotary valves so thats my gear because i grew up with that. Others grew up with different experiences so they have a different sound picture in their head. It doesn't mean that my sound image changes with playing CC tuba but I feel more comfortable playing B Flat because I'm more used to it. I also grew up with a particular manufacturer that's why the playing habilites of these instruments are more of my taste.
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| AUDITION CLASS IN FREIBURG |
IN CONCLUSION:
· In your experience, do you think that the diversity of interpreters, instruments and the opportunity to train in various specialized schools is being homogenized in the interpretive centers that are already established? (Example: Russian, American, German-Austrian, English, etc.).
It´s getting more and more global. I think it´s important that we all think global but also preserve the different cultures. Vienna, Dresden, Milano, are very important and where role models for many great composers. It would be really sad if all that would go away and every orchestra sound the same in a few years. But all the preserving doesn't mean that we are not allowed to think in a modern, scientific based way of thinking about the technical aspect of playing.
Thomas, it is a pleasure count on your experience and collaboration in this series of interviews.
It was my pleasure. I want to thank you for doing your wonderful work with your blog and thank you for presenting my work in my class in Freiburg!
Thank you very much and best wishes.
A big hug.
