Tag Archives: John McGuire

2017 International Horn Symposium tour photo

A Run-Out to Brazil

Wesley Ferreira and Dr. John McGuire holding Brazil and USA's flagWell, this trip unexpectedly turned into quite the adventure! Clarinet Professor Wesley Ferreira and I left Colorado on Sunday, June 25, to head to Natal, Brazil for the 2017 International Horn Symposium, held at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). This is the largest single French horn event in the entire world each year, and receiving an invite to perform at it is highly competitive. I have been lucky, though, because I work with such terrific musicians and colleagues!

Wesley and I discussed the possibility of going to the symposium back in the fall of 2016 with an idea for a new piece for horn, clarinet, and piano. We brought the request to our composer at CSU, Jim David, who was very excited and set to work on it right away. The result is what Wesley and I believe will be a fabulous addition to the repertoire, Batuque. The two-movement piece is based on traditional Brazilian folk music, with the 1st movement being lyrical in nature and the 2nd movement being highly rhythmic and percussive.

Dr. John McGuire playing hornOur flight from Denver to Atlanta went well, as did our flight from Atlanta to Sao Paolo. However, once we got to Sao Paolo things started to go a bit awry. We ended up missing our last flight to Natal and were delayed by an extra 12 hours! This turned our 24 hour travel day into a 36 hour travel day, and needless to say, we were both fairly tired when we finally got to our hotel at 1:30 in the morning on Tuesday.

With as long as that day was, the five hours of sleep that we were able to get seemed to fly by as we had to get up early on Tuesday in order to rehearse with our accompanist for our performance. But, no matter how tired we were, being in an exotic location, as well as having the opportunity to premiere a really terrific piece, gave us all the energy we needed. That, combined with some really strong Brazilian coffee!

Our performance was on Thursday at noon and it couldn’t have gone better! The hall was packed and the audience was incredibly receptive and genuinely excited after hearing Jim’s wonderful piece! We had numerous people come up to us afterwards, asking how they could to get a copy of Batuque. So, Jim, you may be having to answer a lot of emails from excited horn players!

Another thing that I would like to mention about this symposium, as well as almost all of the others I have been to over the course of my career, is just how thoroughly excited and inspired I usually find myself immediately after the event is over. And this symposium did not disappoint! Any time you get to hear some of the truly elite players in the horn world is a wonderful thing. One concert in particular stood out to us. The Wednesday evening concert featured such horn luminaries as Jeff Nelsen, Frank Lloyd, Abel Pereira, Kristina Mascher-Turner, and Marie-Louise Neunecker. This one program included both Richard Strauss horn concerti as well as Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns and Orchestra. The world-class horn playing left Wesley and me speechless! Any of you horn players out there know just how massive this program was, and after all that wonderful horn playing, the orchestra closed the concert with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture! I can’t wait to get home and practice my own horn!

two men playing clarinetsLastly, I would be remiss if I did not make special mention of my colleague Wesley Ferreira. Not only was this a thoroughly enjoyable artistic experience with him, but it is refreshing to see all of his hard work and dedication to his craft pay off, especially in a foreign land. When the faculty at UFRN heard that he was going to be in Natal, they immediately contacted him and asked him to do a master class at the University. Word on the street here is that he is quite well-known in Brazil…even though he has never been here! His master class was both engaging and entertaining, and the students clearly learned a lot from him. What clarinet player goes to a horn symposium and steals the show?! I’ll tell you who – my colleague, Wes Ferreira!

Next year’s International Horn Symposium will be held at Ball State University In Muncie, Indiana. It will be the 50th annual IHS. Maybe I will see you there!

~ Written by Dr. John McGuire, CSU Horn Professor


St. Petersburg 2016 Tour photo

Through the Lens of Art

Today was a day off for Fortress Brass, so our host, Irina, sent a driver to take us to some of the sights in St. Petersburg that are not within walking distance. Before we left, though, we walked to see the Kazansky Cathedral. This massive Russian Orthodox church was built in the early 1800s to celebrate the Russian victory over Napolean. I wish I could show you how stunningly beautiful the inside is, but they don’t allow pictures. (Note the massive scale and beauty of the outside!) Marble and granite of all colors, gold and silver decor and paintings more numerous than you could imagine. And it’s also a functioning church. We happened to be there during a service and the chanting in Russian was sublime. It’s very easy to see how one could find solace in such a serene setting. And when we walked out, just down the street we could see another glorious church, the Church on Spilled Blood. If you don’t know anything about that one, look it up! The history is interesting and the artistic quality of it’s architecture is gorgeous!

  • St. Petersburg 2016 Tour photo
    Kazansky Cathedral

Next, we went to the Piskaryovkoye Memorial Cemetery where almost half a million Russian civilians and soldiers are buried in mass graves. These people died of starvation and the extreme cold during the German blockade of St. Petersburg during WWII. I’ve had the opportunity to go to many WWII sites around Europe and it’s never easy. I always have such reverence and appreciation for what occurred. The beaches of Normandy, Dachau concentration camp, and now this, among many others. You feel the residual weight of history. It’s overwhelming on a deeply emotional level, reducing you to tears. It really makes you realize just how important what we do is, how much more we have in common when seen through the lens of the arts…

In past years, we went to the Artist’s Cemetery on the outskirts on St. Petersburg. Here we had the opportunity to visit the grave sites of some of the most significant figures in the history of Russian music. Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Cui, Rubinstein, Glinka, and more. And in order to get to their graves, we had to pass that of Tolstoy. One could stay there all day paying homage.

~ John McGuire
Assistant Professor of Horn


John McGuire pictured performing in Russia

Fortress Brass Returns to St. Petersburg

Well, here we are! Another year, another Fortress Brass tour! After a year off, we’ve come back to St. Petersburg, Russia as part of the Brass Autumn Music Festival.

  • St. Petersburg 2016 Tour photo
    First day in St. Petersburg, Russia. I am very tired from traveling, but had a good rehearsal with the orchestra.

It’s always so much fun to go on adventures, especially with this group. But, as enjoyable as a tour is, I always feel the hardest part is the initial journey to your destination. We flew for 24 hours, had two connections, and had to eat airline food for multiple meals. And the hardest part is that after all of this, we had to get off the plane and go directly into a rehearsal with an orchestra. My piece, the Concerto in E-flat by Christoph Forster, is hard enough when you’re well rested, but after a long travel day…oy!

That’s when you have to rely on your preparation and trust your training!

This particular concert involved each of the five of us playing solos with the orchestra and then playing several brass quintets for a packed hall. Having been over here before, we learned that with as much as the Russian audiences appreciate good classical tunes, they really are into jazz music, especially Dixieland, which happens to be a staple of our repertoire. They clapped along with several of our tunes and demanded encores! It was so invigorating to feel such appreciation for what we do! Afterwards, we signed a lot of autographs, took lots of pictures, and visited for a long time. Music really is transcendent!

More on some of our other experiences soon! Stay tuned!

~ John McGuire
Assistant Professor of Horn


Our Bond is Beautiful Music

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.

Eurail platform

After a 4 hour train ride on Sunday, we arrived in Moscow from St. Petersburg. We have been very fortunate to have great weather almost the entire trip. Normally,  it is pretty cold here by this time of year, but it is unseasonably warm and we Americans love it!

Fortress Brass in Moscow

Fortress Brass in Moscow

Our time in Moscow included a little sightseeing, but centered on a day of rehearsals for our final performance on Tuesday evening. Everything went smoothly, as expected. When you tour, it can be very tiresome to be out of your norm, but rehearsals become a time when your balance is restored and you get rejuvenated, and that certainly has been the case for the Fortress Brass!

street sign to the Moscow Conservatory

On Monday, we had a masterclass at the Moscow Conservatory, where we heard some tremendous young college age students. It is always interesting to see how, in spite of language and cultural barriers, we are always able to effectively work with these musicians. Words aren’t always needed! And they are so interested in our views that many students stay long after the masterclass to talk to us and ask about anything and everything, through an interpreter if course!

Dan Cherry, Fortress Brass trombonist, and a Moscow Conservatory student.

Dan Cherry, Fortress Brass trombonist, and a Moscow Conservatory student.

Tuesday evening we performed for the final time on this tour, this time at Rachmaninov Hall at the conservatory. We were one of several groups on this opening concert for the annual Brass Days Festival, where we performed Bach and American composer Arthur Frackenpohl, which was completely new to the Russian audience. The response was tremendous and completely thrilling!

Lobby to Rachmaninov Hall at the Moscow Conservatory.

Lobby to Rachmaninov Hall at the Moscow Conservatory.

But I must say, the coolest part of the evening for us was listening to all of the other groups on the concert, which were made up of the top professional brass players in all of Russia. They play with such power and authority that it is truly mind boggling – it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up!

Fortress Brass Quintet John McGuire 2014 Tour Photo

Afterwards, there was a reception with everyone who performed, and our host here in Moscow, Vladislav Lavrik – principal trumpet of the Russian National Orchestra and a leading international soloist – said in a toast that “despite all of the differences our cultures might have, we all are here for the same reason: to make beautiful music.” That is our bond and that is something we will always have. So, as I prepare to return to the U.S., I keep that in mind. Music is our bond. It transcends race, culture, politics. ..everything!  And that is a comforting thought, don’t you think?

~ submitted by Dr. John McGuire, Assistant Professor of Horn

What Words Cannot

CSU Horn Professor, Dr. John McGuire is traveling in Russia as a member of Fortress Brass. The quintet is performing and teaching masterclasses for the Wind Music Seasons International project, held throughout the year since 2003, as a component of the annual Romantic Trumpet International Festival. As the festival grew, it added traditional concerts of American soloists and brass quintets, called American Brass Autumn, to its offerings. We are enjoying Dr. McGuire’s blog entries from Russia!

Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace

Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace

10.10.14 – Tonight we performed at the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace in the heart of Saint Petersburg, a 200 year old palace that has also served as a hospital and now a concert hall. We shared the concert with a local band called The Defílé Brass, a group that specializes is popular music arranged for brass ensemble. They really got the crowd going with their exciting performance!

Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace performance hall.

Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace performance hall.

The Fortress Brass’ part of the show was just as exciting, focused on popular music of an older generation – Dixieland and the Roaring 20s! This was by far the largest audience we have had in Saint Petersburg and moreso than anything else, what I noticed was that it was such a varied crowd. There were families with young children who were clapping along with our tunes, elderly people who were just grinning from ear to ear with our standards from a bygone era, and every age in between.

Fortress Brass

Fortress Brass

In fact, there was one lovely elderly lady that came. She only spoke a few words of English, but it was quite clear what she was there to see. It was us! She comes to hear us perform every year when we are in Saint Petersburg, and she always comes up to say hi, and let us know how much she has been looking forward to hearing us. How utterly beautiful is that?! She even brought each of us a gift, a wonderful calendar with pictures from Russia. Somehow, I think I may keep that calendar well beyond its date of expiration!

Catherine's Palace

Catherine’s Palace

The sights and history of Saint Petersburg are astounding (like a visit to Catherine’s Palace), but the reason I have every intention of returning to perform here is simply for the people. Politics are nothing. People are people. And these wonderful Russian people welcome us, and embrace what we do with open arms and open hearts. Music expresses what words cannot.

Fortress Brass

Fortress Brass

Tomorrow is an off day, then on to Moscow! We will have a couple of rehearsal days and will teach masterclasses at the Moscow Conservatory before performing as part of the annual Brass Days music festival! More soon!

~ submitted by Dr. John McGuire, Assistant Professor of Horn

From Masterclasses to Mahler to Madame at the Mariinsky

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Expect the Unexpected

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. Over the next two weeks, he’ll share his touring and teaching experiences with us.

From John McGuire:

Experience has taught me that when traveling, expect the unexpected. As I headed out to travel to St. Petersburg, Russia last Thursday, I was supposed to have connections in NYC and Paris. But due to a baggage truck hitting our plane and knocking a hole in it, I had to be rerouted through Detroit (where I ran full speed with my horn to make my flight) then through Amsterdam. Still, I made it to St. Petersburg only a couple of hours later than planned, and was able to catch up with my quintet, the Fortress Brass, before our first rehearsal.

Fortress Brass rehearsing in their hotel conference room.

Fortress Brass rehearsing in their hotel conference room.

Our first concert was a gala event at the historic Cappella Concert Hall. This hall is part of a former palace just a block away from the Hermitage and Revolutionary Square. The concert included the Fortress Brass performing several jazz standards (of which the Dixieland tunes were by far the audience favorite!), solo Baroque concertos (including my performance of the Telemann Horn Concerto), and a second half that featured a Russian military band.

John McGuire warming up for his performance of the Telemann Horn Concerto.

John McGuire warming up for his performance of the Telemann Horn Concerto.

The hall was packed, and the audience was was enthused! At one point, the concert organizer came to the microphone and talked about how special and important it is for people from both our countries to come together and collaborate. The audience enthusiastically applauded and was clearly appreciative of everyone on stage.

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This is now my second trip to Russia and I have found the people here to be absolutely wonderful, warm, and gracious. Russian musicians are just like musicians anywhere. They have the same humor, the same artistic ideals, the same work ethic. And the audiences love hearing the music we bring to them, music they don’t usually get to hear. Whatever the political climate may be, I can tell you that the Russian people are wonderful beyond description. I hope you all can experience their rich culture and society someday!