Roger Delmotte

Roger Delmotte has a special place in the French trumpet world. Solo trumpet at the prestigious Paris Opéra for 35 years, he has throughout his career remained receptive to new ideas, curious about and interested in every evolutionary movement. This is, doubtless, the reason for his amazing mental and physical youthfulness.

Roger Delmotte was born in Roubaix, in the north of France, and started his musical education there, completing it later at the Paris Conservatoire (1st prize for trumpet in 1946). In 1950 he was the first trumpeter to win 1st prize at the Geneva International Musical Performance Competition. That same year he was appointed Professor of Trumpet at the Versailles Conservatoire, where he still teaches.

In 1951 he secured the much sought after job of 1st solo trumpet at the Paris Opéra orchestra. He played regularly as a soloist with the great Paris orchestras — the beginning of a fine solo career, in France and abroad, involving many international festivals. He has been dedicatee and first performer of many works written for trumpet: Schmitt, Jolivet, Delerue, Moeschinger, Barraud, O’Hana, Boudon, etc.

Nadia Boulanger summoned him to her ensemble of early and modern music. Together with the late Pierre Cochereau, organist at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, he devised the trumpet-and-organ formula which has since become so popular. In 1976 he founded his brass ensemble and toured Europe and South Africa.

He is an exceptional teacher (he has the secret of filling his pupils with excitement and of showing them how to put depth into a performance) and has, since retiring from the Opéra, devoted himself passionately to teaching (summer courses and seminars in Basle, Bienne, Nice, Sion, Salzburg, Tokyo etc. and, since 1986, advanced professional classes at the Lausanne Conservatoire in Switzerland).

Roger Delmotte is often invited to judge at international competitions. He is artistic adviser to the Toulon competition. The French government has dubbed him Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Interview

BRASS BULLETIN: When someone has had as full a career as you have, what should he pass on to his pupils, the ones at the Lausanne Conservatoire now, for example?

Roger Delmotte: With this instrument it’s much more important to work on an approach to the profession — to aim to be 1st trumpet in an orchestra, in other words — than to build your hopes on a few trumpet and organ or trumpet and orchestra concerts. You have to be realistic! How many trumpet soloists are there in the world? How many could earn their living from it? Precious few, let’s admit it! We should guide young players towards fitting into an orchestral trumpet section. And since — unfortunately — orchestral auditions are run the same way whether they want a 1st or a 4th, you have to prepare for them accordingly.