Several musicians began preparing their pieces last summer. To enter the competition, each student was required to submit up to eight minutes of uncut video with a piano accompaniment. Martling was able to further familiarize herself with her NTC piece, “Variations on a Theme from Norma” since it was part of her “college repertoire.”
Ellis’ piece, “Hindemith’s Sonata,” was one that artist-in-residence Veselin Bozhilov, who has worked with all five trumpet players, described as “targeting piano so there are two equal parts (for both piano and trumpet), so it was very challenging for Emma."
“(The competition) is so special this year for us because Emma and Ella made it (to NTC) last year,” Bozhilov said. He expressed that Dang, Feuerborn, and Harper, as underclassmen, “had to overcome a lot.”
Harper, the youngest of the group to make it to the quarterfinals, described his preparation as a “process” with the hardest aspect being to find a piece that catered to his current level of musicianship. However, once Harper found a piece, he was able to begin his in-depth analysis.
“(I) try my best to know the song in and out, emotionally and technically.”
Band students partake in only one required event per year where they exclusively get to play with piano: Solo & Ensemble. Feuerborn expressed the challenge of having to play with a piano accompaniment.
“Because I've only worked with a pianist once before, it's really hard to sync (the piano and trumpet) up perfectly. Especially on parts where there’s slow downs (or) speed ups,” Feuerborn said.
Bozhilov’s wife, Milena Bozhilov, was the accompanying pianist for all of the entries.
“She plays a huge part in this whole process,” Mr. Bozhilov said. “It's a lot of hard work putting those pieces together with piano.”
By Yelaine Aguilar
Photo by Aiden Velez