Yes, I would say that it was. My Mum played the piano, but would not freely admit to it! and my Dad has played the cornet since he was a boy. However, it was not until Dad returned after a 'musical break' to conduct a local 4th section village brass band that I found out that he was musical.
What made you decide to play trumpet and at what age did you start?
I started playing the cornet in my junior school brass band around the same time as Dad started conducting. I think I was about 7 years old, it seems a long time ago now! The attraction of marching down the street at village fetes was too string an urge to resist! I played the cornet for a few years but most of my youth was spent playing the Flugel Horn in Loughborough Youth Brass Band. I switched to Flugel when I realised that as long as Martin Winter was in the band, I'd never make it onto principal cornet! Flugel seemed to be the next best thing! (Martin is a great friend of mine and for those not familiar with him, was until recently Associate Principal Trumpet with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra before he moved to Norway and joined the Bergen Philharmonic) I started playing the trumpet when I was 14 and thought that it was something I should do to broaden my horizons. I was fortunate to receive lessons from Don Blakeson in Leicestershire and continued to play with bands as well as the local county youth orchestra.
What about your later musical education?
I studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester [UK] from 1984 - 1988. I chose the RNCM over the London colleges because I wanted to study with Howard Snell (whom I'd known through Desford Brass Band) and also because I could watch my favourite football team, Manchester United, every other week! I continued to play with brass bands and had a couple of very enjoyable years at Fodens (again on Flugel) before I got busy orchestraly. During my time at the RNCM I also played in the European Community Youth Orchestra which was an unforgettable experience. It was a real eye-opener. I'd never heard such fantastic playing or experienced such deep commitment. Working with great conductors and soloists was a real buzz and we also got to see a lot of the world.
On leaving education, have you always been a full time musician?
Yes, I didn't particularly plan or aim to be a trumpet player as a youngster, I think basically there wasn't a lot else I was interested in or any good at! I had gained a lot of great experience during my time with Howard at the RNCM and was fortunate to be offered my first job in the Orchestra of the Royal Ballet just before I left college. (I did make sure I had a good Summer holiday though!) The RNCM has always been extremely good at letting students get as much outside professional experience as possible and I had been working regularly with all of the local orchestras for a couple of years.
Describe your orchestral experience
My first real break came after doing an audition for the college orchestra. This was taken by Alan Stringer (then principal trumpet of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra). This was the first time I had played to Alan and it led to me working with them the following week when someone went of sick and I continued to work there as a freelance player for the next couple of years. The practical experience that I gained sitting next to Alan and Ian Balmain was something that I will be eternally grateful for. (I also gained my taste for red wine in Antoni's Greek Restaurant and good beer in the Crack or the Belvadere! I really received a full education!) I had often listened to the Alan and RLPO from the audience but learnt so much about how to do it, from sitting next to him.
Howard Snell had always stressed to me the importance of doing a good audition and I'd proved to myself that it worked. Similar opportunities arose with the other local orchestras (BBC Philharmonic, Halle, Opera North) and I was fortunate enough to get work with those also. I think that my love affair with Opera North began during this period also. I was amazed by the enthusiasm and sense of fun within the band and so I think that deep down, I really hoped that someday I'd get a job there.
When I got the job in London with the Royal Ballet, I was fortunate enough to be able to keep up a pretty busy freelance schedule as well and worked with most of the major orchestras both in London and throughout the UK. I left the Orchestra of the Royal Ballet after only a short time when I was offered the principal trumpet job at, you guessed it, Opera North. I've been there ever since.
Shortly after leaving the RNCM I was asked by Howard Snell to go back and deputise for him on a couple of occasions. I really enjoyed this, being able to pass on my personal experiences and hopefully solutions to problems to others. It really made me start to think about my own playing (which is not always a good thing!) and I became very interested in it. Shortly afterwards I was offered a contract there and have been there ever since! Teaching is now a big part of my work and something that I am passionate about. I also tutor the trumpets in the National Youth Orchestra which has been a tremendous experience. I just love the enthusiasm and commitment that they all have and the way in which they are so open to new ideas and quick to learn.
What about your research into teaching?
After several years of teaching and trying to discover new ways around old problems, I decided to stretch my old grey matter a bit further and do some research into how the trumpet is taught world-wide and how the teacher / pupil relations actually works. I have been used to working in group lessons as well as the more conventional one - to - one type lessons but was interested to see the benefits of each of these and how they could be best integrated into my teaching programme.
I had been out of the education system for several years and so decided to return to Leeds University to do an MMus course that had a taught research techniques element to it that will hopefully stand me in good stead for a proposed PhD. I completed the MMus last year and am waiting untill next year to continue.
I spent a while at the Paris Conservatoire where lessons are taken in groups as well as toured some of the major Universities in the USA to see how things worked there. I also drew up a pretty comprehensive questionairre that were answered by Conservatoire / University Teachers world-wide comparing methods and thoughts.
I have lots of fascinating findings from this but don't have the web-site to make them publicly available, perhaps Roddy might be interested! …….[Yeh! Absolutely Mr.G!]
What session (Jingles / TV) experience have you had?
Having a full time orchestral job I don't get to do much commercial work. However, Mike Scott in Leeds is always very good to me and so when I can I work for him. We've recently done jingles / adverts for a new VW Golf and Multibiana multivitamin tablets!
What small group / ensemble experience have you had?
Within Opera North we have three brass groups that work quite often. We have a quintet, a sextet (2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba) and a ten piece group. This is great because we all know each others playing well from sitting with each other day in day out, but the scenario is different in that it is much more of a group activity and there's no conductor to get in the way! In 1995, along with three friend, Martin Winter, Gareth Small and John Blackshaw, we formed the Orfeo Trumpet Consort. This was something that we'd all wanted to do and have enjoyed thoroughly ever since. We have rediscovered a lot of original repertoire for trumpet ensemble (mainly quartet) as well as developing our own. Some of this material is published by Warwick Music.
It is increasingly hard to get together, each of us being in a different orchestra and geographically separated now as well. (Martin plays with the Bergen Philharmonic, John with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Gareth with the Halle). I have also very much enjoyed work I've done with the Wallace Collection.
What about your solo experiences?
Solo playing is something that I enjoy but it's only a small part of my musical make-up. I have performed concertos with many orchestras including my own but am not enough a fan of the solo trumpet repertoire to want to really push this any further. I very much respect the people such as John Wallace, Hakan Hardenberger, Mark O'Keeffe etc. who are constantly pushing the boundaries of possibility and having new works written for the trumpet, I enjoy hearing them but do not feel that it is something that I wish to pursue.
I really enjoy performing much of the Baroque solo repertoire and have done so on both original and modern instruments.
I think that audiences are very important and that they should be constantly entertained and that we as performers need to think about this and keep coming up with new ideas for programmes and performances.
Some of the most rewarding performances I have done lately have been recitals for trumpet, trombone and organ. This unusual combination has endless possibilities in terms of repertoire and Chris Houlding, Simon Lindley and I have discovered, arranged, cobbled together all kinds of entertaining material.
Would you list some of your recording work for others.
With the Orchestra of Opera North (who generally record under the name of the EnglishNorthern Philharmonia) we have recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Chandos, Collins Classics, Nimbus, Hyperion, ASV, Marco Polo aas well as a big collection of English orchestral music (Walton, Bliss, Vaughan Williams etc) for Naxos.
I have also played for recordings with many other orchestras (RPO, Halle, BBC Philharmonic, RLPO)
The most recent recording I've done was for Cala records last August which was "The London Trumpet Sound" This is part of a series instrumental ensemble CD's that Cala have done and was really great fun. Volume I comes out at the end of March and Volume II in June I think. The line up was just great - Maurice Murphy, John Wallace, Tony Fisher, Guy Barker, Rod Franks, James Watson, Henry Lowther, Pat White, Bill Houghton, Paul Beniston, Paul Newton, Anne McAnneny, Check out www.calarecords.com
This is a very hard one! I'm intentionally not going to include a classical recording because there are so many that I love and in a way like to appreciate afresh each time I hear them.
4 albums that are never far from my CD player are Bobby Shew with the Metropole Orchestra on Mons records, a compilation of Chet Baker fom a series called Jazz Masters on EMI jazz, Eva Cassidy's postumous Songbird album and an album by The Beautiful South - blue is the colour.
Favourite two movies?
I'm really not one for having favourites of anything, I like too many things but as I'm always being told that I'm a bit of a dreamer (apparently because I'm a Pisces) I suppose that my favourite all time film that I can relate to perfectly must be Shirley Valentine (sad I know but sometimes I really fancy the idea of just getting up and 'leving it all behind' - or is that the Louis Armstrong in me!) I recently went to see Harry Potter with my daughter and really enjoyed that too, even though she kept telling me what was about to happen 'cos she'd read the book and I hadn't!
Favourite three foods?
I'm a bit of a Francophile at heart and so would probably say that good French food is as good as it gets for me. However, the brass players staple diet of curry (and the odd beer!) probably comes a close second. I have yet to eat any food that I don't really like and as people who know me will vouch for, I really like my food!, so I couldn't relly give a third.
Non-musical hobbies / points of interest you enjoy?
As I mentioned before, I enjoy following Manchester United, though not as often as I'd like due to work commitments. I have recently started to play golf again and am really enjoying that. Good Food and Wine (and beer) are also firm favourites of mine.
Do you take days off from playing? (how does it affect you?)
I tend to take a day off if I feel like it (when the schedule allows). I think it is probably good for you but don't rely on it. I think you should know your own playing well enough to know when to leave well alone!
Three Trumpet tips you wish to share with the readers.
1 - Keep it simple - Trumpet playing is not rocket science! There is only so much information that we need to play the trumpet, stick to the basics, anything else merely gets in the way and makes things harder. As I basically feel that I am merely teaching the students to teach themselves, I often try to get them to compare what they know about what is needed (i.e the blue print) with what is actually happening and work out a solution from that.
2 - Practice with a sense of purpose - By building up short tern goals / targets we can achieve our long term desires. Practice the things that you can't do not just reinforcing the things you can. I find so many students will spend hours playing in a practice room without actually practicing / achieving anything. If a small section of the music isn't perfected then it's not going to suddenly be right when we play the whole piece. Likewise, if the technique is faulty / inadequate you are never going to be able to express yourself confidently through the music.
3 - Express yourself and enjoy it - At the end of the day we all play the trumpet because we enjoy it, we like the sound it makes, we like taking out the rest of the band on a high C etc, etc. No one wants to hear you trying to sound like someone else or trying to play like someone else, use the trumpet to express what you want.
End of interview sentiment.
I feel very thankful for the things that have happened to me so far in my career.
A life / career with music is a very fortunate one. Have fun, enjoy yourself and if in the process you can give some pleasure to others, that's all the better!