A tempest of trumpets took over the Como Lakeside Pavilion on Monday, sharing a repertory ranging from tunes written to be performed in a cathedral during the Renaissance to Wagner as well as Disney favorites. The Twin Cities Trumpet Ensemble is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, having started with just a handful of musicians—including conductor and trumpet player James Olcott, a retired professor who spent 35 years teaching at Miami University in Ohio. The group has since grown to around two dozen players and has featured more than 60 trumpeters over the years.
The evening opened with a striking work written for the group by Paul Murtha, “Signature Fanfare.” The swelling sound, produced by trumpets of all sizes plus timpani, chimes, and other percussion, made for a rather magnificent start.
The group then performed a Sacrae Symphoniae, titled “Canzon per sonar septimi & octavi toni a 12,” by Italian composer and organist Giovanni Gabrieli. The music was originally written to be performed at the San Marco Cathedral, with sound coming from both choir lofts and from a third grouping of musicians in front of the altar. While Como Lakeside Pavilion may have markedly different acoustics from a cathedral, its architecture does create some echo. In addition, the sound of wind, the occasional airplane and a bird or two flying nearby made for a lively aural landscape accompanying the trumpet music. Olcott’s light and airy transposition of the work captured Gabrieli’s multi-voice structure.
There’s something beautiful about so many musicians who love the trumpet instrument gathering together to play as one ensemble. There may have been a stray note here or there, but the breezy setting and joyful sound made by so many trumpets made any wobbles float by with the breeze.
After the Gabrieli, the group performed Gabriel Fauré’s “Pavane,” also arranged by Olcott. A slinky trumpet solo wove through the piece, gradually joined by glowing harmonies that lifted the ensemble’s sound.
The group gave an impressive performance of its adaptation of a March taken from Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” also transposed by Olcott. With its military beat and rhythm that began slow and moved into a quicker pace, it was a grand and festive number.
The group featured several works from films, beginning with John Williams’ iconic “Star Wars” theme. Williams’ fanfare highlights a variety of brass instruments with trumpets featured prominently, so to have it performed by only trumpets plus percussion made it seem like it was always written that way.
They also performed a medley of Disney films, with music arranged by Michael Serber, and performed two works by 20th-century composer Leroy Anderson, known for his light orchestral works written for the Boston Pops orchestra. Anderson’s “A Trumpeter’s Lullaby” boasted wonderfully mellow solo work, while later in the show the composer’s “Bugler’s Holiday” offered a fast and furious explosion of energy.
One of the evening’s most ambitious selections was “The Great Gate of Kiev” from “Pictures at an Exhibition,” originally a piano suite by Modest Mussorgsky. The ensemble performed Bradley Ulrich’s arrangement, based on Maurice Ravel’s famous orchestration. They handled the piece’s grand cascading melodies handily, even as a gust of wind blew some of their sheet music off their stands.
As an encore, Olcott picked up his own trumpet to play “Hava Nagila,” the well-known Jewish folk tune, with the musicians joining with their instruments and by stamping their feet.
TCTE’s performance at the pavilion was a somewhat shortened version of concerts they performed throughout the year. At the show, they entreated the audience to follow them on social media to learn about upcoming concerts, including their annual performances for the holiday season.
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