Professional life

Hermann Baumann

A virtuoso's career

A career built on sound, memory and the natural horn shows how Hermann Baumann helped redefine what a horn soloist could be on the international stage.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Barry Tuckwell

Interview

Between the London Symphony Orchestra, international solo tours and Mozart or Strauss concertos, Barry Tuckwell reflects on sound, risk and musical instinct.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

In Recognition of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble

At the height of his career, Philip Jones hands over his brass ensemble, prompting wider reflections on musical excellence, stage presence and the changing role of musicians.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Jazz and the Horn Series • Part 2

Julius Watkins

A pioneering career, landmark recordings and collaborations with jazz legends gave the French horn a place it had never occupied before.

By Jeffrey Agrell

Brass Players in Rome

Behind Rome’s musical prestige, RAI brass players describe shrinking salaries, insecure orchestral careers and the compromises required simply to remain musicians.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

A New Job¹

A professional horn player faces a late chance to change course, as routine, ambition and the unnerving reality of an orchestral audition collide.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Part 1

How and why I became a musician

A father determined to keep his son from music unwittingly gives him the foundations for a life shaped by orchestras, discipline and an irresistible vocation.

By Edouard Gros

Editorial

As concert life shifts away from brass, the future of the instrument depends on artistic standards, thoughtful programming and the commitment of every performer.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

To be «Lead Trumpet» in a Jazz Orchestra

Glenn Stuart explores the demanding role of the lead trumpet in a jazz orchestra, combining leadership, endurance and musical vision to shape the sound of the entire band.

By Glenn Stuart

Vitaly Bujanowsky

The world's Golden Horn

Called one of the Soviet school’s finest performers by Shostakovich, Vitaliy Buyanovskiy shaped horn playing through performance, teaching and composition.

By Anatoly Barantsev

Individuality and Uniformity in Brass Players

As international standards reshape brass playing, musical individuality risks giving way to imitation, leaving tradition, ensemble work and personal conviction at stake.

By Hans-Joachim Drechsler

Guy Touvron

Spotlight

Before international fame, Guy Touvron’s path ran through village bands, Maurice André’s class, competitions and a stubborn refusal to behave like a star.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Women and brass: 3 Portraits

Barbara Stone, Betty Anderson, Kate Kaminga

Three British and Dutch conductors moved from brass band performance to leadership roles, confronting a scene still largely shaped by male traditions.

By Markus S. Bach

Part 2

My contacts with the United States

About horns and how to play them

Double horn, descant, natural horn — which path? This article explores American vs German approaches and what it means to train a complete horn player.

By Michael Höltzel

Interview with Miles Anderson

Jean-Pierre Mathez traces Miles Anderson’s path from early training to orchestral and freelance work, expanding on the tension between livelihood and artistic pursuit.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Henri Renart (1887-1979)

Interview

Henri Renart looks back on a remarkable musical life, from the wind bands of northern France to Paris’s leading orchestras, performing under renowned conductors while witnessing decades of change in performance, recording, teaching, and brass playing.

By Robert Coutet

Part 5

How and why I became a musician

In wartime Switzerland, a military assignment, a conductor's confusion and an abandoned instrument unexpectedly changed the course of Edouard Gros's musical career.

By Edouard Gros

Part 4

How and why I became a musician

In Geneva on the eve of war, Edouard Gros navigates Ansermet’s demanding orchestra, summer trumpet engagements and the sudden upheaval of military mobilisation.

By Edouard Gros

Editorial

One magazine disappeared as another opened its pages, turning economic necessity into a rare act of editorial solidarity that reshaped the brass press.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Tell it the way it is:

A viewpoint of professional trumpet playing in the United States

A brutal reality check: Irving Bush exposes the gap between musical dreams and professional truth—revealing the harsh economics behind a career in trumpet playing.

By Irving Bush

A woman trombonist, Yvelise Girard

Women and Brass

From Paris conservatories to police bands, a young trombonist confronts isolation, scrutiny and ambition as women slowly enter the brass world.

By Jean Douay

Brass and Strings

A note on personality types among musicians

Behind the formal discipline of the symphony orchestra, contrasting views of brass and string players reveal enduring questions about personality, class and musical culture.

By John Davies

Women and Brass

Statements

Female brass players in British orchestras describe auditions, section dynamics and the pressure of proving themselves beyond musical ability.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Musical Piracy

Plagiarism, Photocopying

Long before digital piracy, publishers and performers were already confronting plagiarism, photocopying and blurred artistic ownership across the brass world.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez