Professional life

Editorial

Mass media, record-industry economics and the return of cornet virtuosity collide in a sharp warning about fashion, manipulation and musical independence.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Being a Concert Trombone

By Ronald Barron

Cleveland Orchestra Audition in 1966

George Szell’s demanding 1966 audition process unfolds through orchestral excerpts, dynamic extremes and the search for absolute ensemble precision.

By Ronald T. Bishop

A guide to commercial tuba playing in the Los Angeles area

Hollywood reality check: Tommy Johnson reveals what it really takes to become a commercial tuba player in Los Angeles—skill, versatility… and patience.

By Tommy Johnson

Miroslav Kejmar

Portrait in brief

From Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto to Czech contemporary music, the Prague trumpeter combined Baroque precision with orchestral versatility across Europe.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Mario Guarneri

Portrait in brief

From San Francisco to New York and Los Angeles, a trumpet career unfolds across major orchestras, recordings and teaching, alongside a sustained commitment to access and contemporary music.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

When careers pause and certainty fades, real progress begins in private, where discipline, friendship and chamber music reshape what it means to be a musician.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

New editorial formats separate current news from long-form content while creating new links between performers, composers, and the evolving brass community.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

10 Outstanding Trumpet Players in the Los Angeles Area

Behind the polished sound of Los Angeles studio trumpet playing stood remarkably similar training, disciplined routines, and a craft shaped by constant stylistic demands.

By Boyde Hood

Part 2

How and why I became a musician

A teenage double bassist in 1920s Lausanne turns family resistance, scout orchestras and hard-earned engagements into the beginnings of a professional life.

By Edouard Gros

The Audition System

Why American Musicians Emigrate?

Behind orchestral vacancies in North America, travel costs, subjective selection and hidden hiring practices help explain a growing flow of musicians abroad.

By David P. Searfoss

British brass players training

In 1980s Britain, brass bands, state schools and conservatoires offered different paths into music, while rising standards collided with shrinking budgets and uncertain careers.

By Thomas Aitken

Glenn Ferris - Profile

Beyond fame and labels: Glenn Ferris rejects the music business game—defining a raw, uncompromising vision of creativity, freedom, and what it means to truly play.

By Lee Underwood

Tuba Editorial

Roger Bobo reflects on orchestral auditions, examining imbalance between candidates and positions and questioning training, selection criteria and prospects for aspiring tubists.

By Roger Bobo

Special Hungary

Studying music in Hungary

Music education, secure jobs and modest salaries shaped a Hungarian brass culture where exceptional training coexisted with striking economic realities.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Part 2

Arnold Jacobs

Interview

From Curtis to Chicago, a tuba player's path crosses Reiner, Koussevitzky and Ormandy, while teaching evolves toward breathing, thought and musical function.

By Roger Bobo

Meir Rimon

Portrait and conversation

Orchestral discipline, solo freedom and an endless appetite for learning shaped Meir Rimon’s horn playing across Israeli, European and American traditions.

By Jeffrey Agrell

Part 1

Anton Hansen (1877-1947)

Father of trombone playing in Scandinavia

From Nørrebro cafés to the Royal Orchestra, Anton Hansen’s early years reveal the shift from valve to slide trombone in Scandinavian orchestras.

By Per Gade

What's your proper job?

A social portrait of the British brass player

Four British brass players confront a profession transformed by orchestras, freelance work, social prejudice and the shrinking certainties of musical life.

By Thomas Aitken

Part 3

How and why I became a musician

As cinema orchestras vanished and radio reshaped musical life, Edouard Gros learned that survival could mean changing instruments, cities and expectations.

By Edouard Gros

Editorial

As costs rose and ambitions grew, an editorial from 1983 captures the fragile balance between sustaining an international brass journal and preserving its vision.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Benny Sluchin

Portrait in brief

Between Paris, Cologne and Tel Aviv, Benny Sluchin brings mathematics, acoustics and contemporary performance into the brass world.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez