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HBB players help bolster the Texas Medical Center Orchestra brass section for Mahler’s 2nd symphony

April 20, 2015

They say some things happen once in a blue moon! Well, this is definitely true for the Mahler Symphonies. Mahler seems to like extra Trumpets and demands 8 – 10 for his symphony No2. Add this to all the other extra brass and woodwind players required to perform this piece and it becomes a costly affair to stage the event at a professional level.

So, when an opportunity to perform Mahler’s Symphony no2 presented itself to a few members of the Houston Brass Band, we jumped at it with both feet! Just to give you a frame of reference, at an armature level, I may never get an opportunity to play this piece ever! Kudos to the Texas Medical Center Orchestra for dreaming big on this one!

As if this was not enough, on Sunday the trumpet section made its way to Jones Hall for a sectional rehearsal with Mark Hughes – Principal Trumpet of the Houston Symphony. All I can say is …wow…what a fantastic experience it was to have a sectional rehearsal with one of the top professional trumpet players in the US. For those of you who follow the HBB Blog, Mark was one of the adjudicators for our first annual solo competition a few weeks ago and is a colleague of the Bands Music Director, Robert Walp.

This is a great project to be part of and I urge you to get your tickets for the performance at the Wortham Center’s Cullam Theatre on the 9th May at 7:00pm.

Related Links:

The Wortham Center

Texas Medical Center Orchestra

Houston Symphony

Mark Hughes – Bio

Darren Rowan
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