Summer Update

I know it is a bit early for a new update, but I can’t wait to fill you in on what is happening this Summer!

I am recording my first solo CD in June, with the help of the brilliant Paul Poston (and two of whose works will be featured). On the CD will be the aforementioned two works for trumpet and live electronics by by Paul; the amazing violinist/accordionist/folk musician, a Michigander and Princetoner, Annika Socolofsky; a minimalistic work for trumpet/saxophone/percussion/trumpet by the talented Daniel Harrison; an exciting narrative work about haunted New Orleans by the phenomenal opera-trained pianist Stephen Variames; two transcriptions from the late Jeff Buckley’s repertoire; and a commission from my time at UMKC, for the UMKC trumpet studio, a collection of miniatures by John Cheetham entitled “Contraptions.” My collaborators and I have been doing opportunistic performances of many of the works already, with great results, and I am excited to get the opportunity to share these works with the music community.

Second, I am booked up for my umpteenth trip to Germany. This time, I am staying in Karlsruhe for the month of July, and have trips planned for Trossingen, Munich, Stuttgart, and Geneva. The main thrust of this trip is to continue some of the research I had started on several years ago, although these new works and some of the more established works by Erickson, Stockhausen, Plog, and others, will be getting added to the mix. I will be exploring a type of music called Intuitive Music (which you heard some of, if you caught my recital), and exploring why German musicians and orchestras program so much more vividly than elsewhere. I am also foraging for new research angles, as always, and hope to touch base with some of my contacts from last time. I also generally plan on vacationing and look forward to much hiking, climbing, skiing, running, and whatever my little brain thinks sounds fun.

Lastly, but actually firstly, I am involved with this year’s ITG conference in a stage manager capacity (putting those Blue Lake and CCM skills to good use!), and look forward to connecting with some great friends as well as meeting some new ones.

Newsletter, Spring 2015

Hello colleagues!

It is time for my Spring Update, and there is plenty of news to fill you in on. I have my hands on two new commissions, Erasing Myself for trumpet, alto saxophone, percussion, and electric guitar, by Daniel Harrison, and Voices from an Unseen World for trumpet and piano by Stephen Variames. Both pieces are outstanding and will make great additions to the repertoire.

I have a lot of exciting performing opportunities coming up with all kinds of groups. First is Kentucky Symphony, playing some high notes on Holst’s The Planets and some other great works. Then, my personal recital, which is the debut of several long-term projects and groups with which I’ve been working throughout my doctorate. Maria Fuller is playing with me on the Haydn, David Abraham (percussion) and I are performing a particularly challenging work by David Crumb called Awakening, Paul Poston and I are premiering a revision of his work for trumpet and live electronics called Anticitizen One, and the Iridium Brass Quintet is performing Ewazen’s Frostfire.

In the coming weeks, we will hit the booth with Paul’s, Dan’s, and Stephen’s piece, and add a work adapted for me by Annika Socolofsky called Zelik which I premiered on my last recital. I also plan on recording John Cheetham’s Contraptions for solo trumpet, which I helped commission while a Masters student at UMKC. On the subject of adaptation, I’ve begun work on a trumpet ensemble arrangement of Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Tam O’Shanter, for no less than 9 trumpets. I’ve also got a couple of articles coming up for submission to our journal, one on the origin of the Torelli Sinfonia and another about practice technique, so I am excited for those to see the light of day. Speaking of ITG, I will be helping out with stage management at the conference this year.

With the Iridium Brass Quintet, we are working on a couple of projects, first and foremost our debut group recital here at CCM’s campus, and working on a couple of venues in Over-the-Rhine, and at area colleges. The group sounds fantastic and I am lucky to be working with these amazing musicians.

It’s all about the music.

That’s all for now!

 

Newsletter, Winter 2015

Hello world!

I have seen the need for a quarterly newsletter. There are so many people involved peripherally in my career that deserve to see the big picture. So here it is! Volume 1, issue 1.

I am excited by the sheer number of fantastic things happening in my trumpeting career lately. Just in the last month or so, I have been admitted to the trumpet seminar at the Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale, and I am a semi-finalist for the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. I have just secured confirmation for the sixth piece written for me that will ultimately be funneled into my DMA project, which will be a CD and tour of all of this fantastic new music. These are all fantastic victories for me, and I am very proud. I have outstanding applications with a number of other organizations as well, so stay tuned for information on all of that.

In general, my doctorate is going well. I have scheduled a recital for April 20 and I am still picking repertoire. I know it will be Tomasi and a piece by John Cheetham called “Contraptions” that I helped commission while at UMKC. I am playing around with repertoire beyond that. I have always wanted to play rotary trumpet on a recital so I am leaning toward that. I am part of a quintet at CCM tentatively named “Brass Balls.” I have been involved with many, many chamber music projects, and I am happy to say that, with this one, we could go wherever we collectively want.

It is great to see all of my colleagues at UMKC, University of Miami, and CCM achieving lots of success on the trumpet and I have tried to keep in touch with many of them. It is a pleasure watching my friends succeed as well.

Everybody that knows me knows that my long-term goal is to continue Fulbright. My DMA project is really the crux of my application, so I will keep you all updated especially on that front. Right now, everything is progressing very nicely.

Alright, that’s the two cent version. More later!

Welcome!

Welcome to the homepage of Andy Harms (me)! I am currently a DMA trumpet student at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. My research focuses are on German studies, new music, and the Italian Baroque (random, I know…). I have played with many great orchestras over the years. I have studied with many of the finest teachers in the field, including Alan Siebert, Phil Collins, Charlie Geyer, Keith Benjamin, Craig Morris, and Keith Johnson.

This web site will become the home to many sound recordings and posts in the coming months, but right now it is the home of my quarterly newsletter to interested parties.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Andy