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M a r k E m e r y
| Location: |
Boston, MA |
| Position: |
Vermont
Symphony Orchestra
Principal Trumpet
Opera North Orchestra
Principal Trumpet
Indian Hill Symphony
Second Trumpet
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| School: |
B.M.- Portland
State University (OR)
M.M.- New England Conservatory |
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Hometown: |
Portland, OR
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Greatest opportunity through music:
Other people and adventure!! The music I make requires an
ENSEMBLE. The act of discovering the music with child-like excitement,
then working for the highest possible level for performance is great and
noble. Doing it along side like-minded people is an experience to be
truly treasured. My love of music-making has taken me all over the world
where I've met and collaborated with people who look at the world so
differently than I do- I always come away changed. I'd have never
guessed music would open up the world to me.
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The best
thing about the trumpet is:
The trumpet is capable of the sweetest, singing soprano
voice, yet it can also cut through musical textures and signal power,
triumph, and change. I think its cool that my instrument is a metaphor
for my life. You see, I want to stand up and lead when asked to. I don't
want to be afraid to interrupt the "same old, same old" with my loud
voice. But sometimes I need to blend and support to let others take the
spotlight. If I go for balance in my playing, I tend to find examples of
that balance in life and vice versa.
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How I got
started in music:
Growing up with a father who was a minister, I was
surrounded by church music from a young age. I'm sure that's where my
"start" in music came. I taught myself how to read music and rhythms by
watching the hymnal and singing familiar songs. Later, when I was a
freshman in high school, I got to sit in with the Oregon Symphony to
play Mussorgsky/Ravel's "Pictures at and Exhibition" for some
educational concerts. It was during the last movement, the Great Gate of
Kiev, when I remember thinking, "how could I do anything else." I was so
taken back by those big brass chords and all that power! |
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T r u m p e t
_____________________________________
Bb
t r u m p e t &
p i c
c o l o
Bb T r u m p e t
There are
many different trumpets in various sizes and are pitched in different
keys. The most common are the piccolo trumpet, Eb, C, and Bb
trumpets
(click
here... to see the
difference in size).
The
Bb trumpet is the most popular trumpet played by all band and orchestra
students. It consists of a shallow cupped
mouthpiece at the end of a long metal tube looped once and ending in a
flared bell. Three valves on the top center of the modern instrument are
used to change the pitch resulting in a brilliant, penetrating sound. Its
predecessor, the NATURAL TRUMPET had no valves which limited the keys it
could play in.
Mutes are used to change not only the
instruments sound but to portray a specific style of music as well.
Mutes are placed in the bell and are made from many different kinds of
materials ranging from cardboard to plastic and metal. The material
they are made of combined with the different shape of each mute, accounts
for each one's unique sound. Click on a mute below to hear how it changes
the sound of the trumpet.
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Straight
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Cup
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Harmon
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Plunger
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P i c c o l o T r u m p e t
The
smallest of the trumpet family is the piccolo trumpet. The tubing
in the B-flat piccolo trumpet is exactly one-half the length of that in a
standard B-flat trumpet. Almost all piccolo trumpets have four valves
instead of the usual three. The fourth valve takes the instrument down in
pitch to make it possible to play lower notes.
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Hear Mark play: