CAS CONNECT 2016

11 DAY 1 NTC: The National Trumpet Competition. This year, Columbus State University in Georgia graciously played host. Hundreds of soloists and ensembles rang- ing from junior high to graduate students showcased their talents for the best players and teachers from across the country. For us, the students of Oklahoma State University, NTC has become an annual trip. In 2016, four soloists (two under- graduate and two graduate) and three ensembles were competing. Dr. Ryan Gardner, our teacher and ensemble coach, has built an NTC dynasty at OSU. We have been preparing for this competition since August, and finally the day came for us to depart. Tuesday, March 8, began with every member of the trum- pet studio meeting at the Seretean Center to load cars and head to the Tulsa airport. We arrived in Atlanta around 5 p.m. Eastern, rented cars and got on the road to Columbus. My car was filled with a great amount of enlightening conversa- tion as well as the 1979 recording of Leonard Bernstein conducting a performance of Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich with the New York Philharmonic. We have to be nerds somehow. After checking into our hotel and getting dinner, we found a janitor who opened the orches- tra room at CSU for our rehearsal. All three groups ran our compe- tition day routine: small spots from our pieces followed by full runs. The Silver Ensemble, a quar- tet, begins with their arrange- ment of J.S. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G minor . Next, the Black Ensemble, a septet that I am in, hits our problem spots and performs a full run, an arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture, arranged by Dr. Gardner. Finally, the Orange Ensemble, a quintet that is performing “Bacchanale” from Camille Saint- Saens’ opera Samson et Delila, thought that they would do spot checks, but instead they cranked out the best full run of their piece to date! So we packed up and called it a night. DAY 2 Day 2 of our trip was much more relaxed, with no flying and minimal driving. The only thing on our minds was the competi- tion. One day left to improve and solidify our ensembles. Morning rehearsals at CSU were simple: spot checks and runs. All three groups came in, acted like it was the actual competition day, and each group performed wonderfully. After lunch, Dr. Gardner, the four soloists and I returned to CSU to rehearse with pianists. Each soloist had 30 minutes with a pianist to rehearse — the only time the soloists get to work with the pianists until they take the stage on Friday. The times were all back-to- back, and we returned to the hotel around 4:30 p.m. During our second rehearsal of the day, all three groups performed well, but we each needed to work on intonation and being together throughout the entire piece. After dinner (capped off by a cookie sundae and a “Happy Birthday” serenade to me on my 22nd birthday), we settled in for the evening, all of us feeling some level of nerves over tomorrow’s competition. DAY 3 Competition day has arrived for the ensemble division semifinalists. “Next to perform, the Oklahoma State University ensemble perform- ing Russian Easter Overture by Rimsky-Korsakov, arranged by Gardner.” Sophomore Kevin Kamau led us onto stage. We looked out into a 2,000-seat hall that dwarfs the Seretean Concert Hall of only 800. Lorenzo Diaz, a second-year master’s student, leads our bow. I heard the breathing of every- one down the line: a bit shallow but still confident. Freshman Ian Mertes began the piece, and we took off. Seven and a half minutes later, we finished with our unison D, hearing our sounds resonate for what seems like ages. The audience erupts. Now it was up to the judges to decide if we were good enough to make the cut. When the OSU quartet finally took the stage, our nerves were a little visible from the audience. Sophomore Bryson Tuttle, who began completely alone, had shak- ing hands. The performance went Editor’s Note: Grant Harper is an OSU senior, majoring in trum- pet performance and vocal music education. He kept a travel log for A&S magazine during his recent trip to the National Trumpet Competition. The highlights follow: