Colorado State University Special Assistant Professor of Horn, John McGuire, is currently traveling in Russia by special invitation, as a member of Fortress Brass Quintet.

Saint Petersburg Music Academy masterclass.

Today I spent the day with my colleagues in the Fortress Brass as we taught masterclasses and gave a short recital for the students at the Saint Petersburg Music Academy. These students are pre-college age and showed us that there is a tremendous amount of musical talent in the younger generation here in Russia. They performed for us collectively as a brass ensemble, playing an arrangement of part of Mahler ‘s Kindertotenlieder and later individuals on each instrument volunteered to play for each of us in front of a large audience.

Saint Petersburg Music Academy masterclass.

As a pedagogue, I have to be honest, these students, while still young, displayed a tremendous amount of maturity and musical acumen. They each had things that needed attention, but it was very refreshing to see just how eager and capable they were to hear our perspectives and to implement them quickly. You hear so often in our media about the Arts dying, but I can assure you that they are alive and well and quite secure for the future over here in Russia! How wonderful  to see!

Fortress Brass and students from the St. Petersburg Music Academy.

After that,  the Fortress Brass performed a short recital, including several standards from the Baroque period as well as jazz standards. The audience was quite enthusiastic and eager to hear more, especially the jazz tunes.

Madame Butterfly at the Mariinsky Theatre.

And lastly, as a sign of appreciation for our efforts, members of the Academy’s faculty gave us tickets to tonight’s performance of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at the famed Mariinsky Theatre! As I said before, the Russian people have shown time and again how kind, generous, and appreciative they are.

~ Submitted by John McGuire, Special Assistant Professor of Horn at Colorado State University