 My
first experience in a musical ensemble
was in Kindergarden. I played in the
Kindergarden percussion ensemble.
Returning home after the first rehearsal
I told my mother that we played
tangerines and thimbles. She repeated
this story ad-nauseam for the rest of
her life.
My career as a brass player, but not yet
as a trumpeter began in 7th grade with a
music test, the Seashore musical
abilities test. I must have done well
because I was told that as a result of
this test I was being given an
instrument and would be in the band. I
thought this was great until I found out
what the instrument was, the Eb tuba.
This seemed to be more of a punishment
than an award, considering the
instrument, my small size at that time
and the condition of the tuba I was
given. I learned how to play the tuba,
more or less, but yearned to go on to
something smaller.
Finally the summer before high
school, I had saved $10.00 and my
father bought a "Sterling" trumpet from
a friend for my first trumpet. This was
very exciting. I started taking trumpet
lessons at the local Sherwood School of
Music, but from the clarinet teacher,
there seemingly being no real trumpet
teacher available. I could read music by
this time so I started playing from one
of the more advanced method books of the
Klose clarinet system. After a few
months of poor progress I decided I
needed a real trumpet teacher. My
clarinet/trumpet teacher warned me that
by quitting I would lose all that I had
learned from him.. True, my chalumeau
register was developing but I didn't
really see my hoped for career as a
trumpet player going in the right
direction. I still have this first
clarinet method book and never could do
much better with it than I did
then.
Entering South Shore high school I
heard of a real trumpet teacher in the
neighborhood. This teacher, Isabelle
Harridge, was a dream come true for me.
She introduced me to the normal
beginning trumpet methods, Arban,
H.L.Clarke etc. and I started to make
real progress. Unfortunately my fame as
a grammar school tuba player had
preceded me to South Shore and in order
to be in the intermediate band on
trumpet I had to play tuba, now grown to
a Sousaphone, in the advanced band.
Trumpet players were a dime a dozen but
tuba players of my caliber, in fact of
any caliber, were at a premium.
I hated the Sousaphone even more than
the tuba and being very small for my age
was the butt of constant jokes. Marching
band at football games was a nightmare.
I tried to be as inconspicuous as
possible getting to the games with the
Sousaphone over my shoulder. This
involved a route down back alleys
sometimes on my bicycle for more speed.
The worst part of all this of course was
what it did to my trumpet embouchure. A
typical rehearsal day of, first advanced
band on tuba and then intermediate band
on trumpet, left me very discouraged and
my lip wiped out. Our band director,
known affectionately to us as "potato
nose" insisted my future was with the Eb
Sousaphone. Even my mother's many talks
with the school principal couldn't
change his mind. He wouldn't allow me to
quit the tuba and play trumpet in the
advanced band. My solution was to quit
the band completely which I did in my
second year of high school. After this
major step my progress on the trumpet
was rapid. I started playing with
neighborhood dance bands and also bought
a new trumpet, an Olds Studio. I don't
think I have since been as thrilled with
a new [it was used] trumpet as with this
beautiful OIds.
Mrs. Hanidge thought my progress was
so good after a year that she
recommended I start taking trumpet
lessons with Renold Schilke. This was a
big step for me as Mr. Schilke was "the"
trumpet teacher at that time, and a
member of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra. Mrs. Harridge had arranged a
special price for me with Mr.Schilke,
$2.00. I was paying all of my own
expenses for instruments and lessons so
$2.00, plus the fare on the Illinois
Central to Downtown Chicago was a major
expenditure. I was also starting to play
some dance jobs that paid as much as
$4.00 a job.
First lessons with Renold Schilke
were very impressive. He seemed to me to
be the essence of the professional
trumpet player. I thought he was quite
old, [actually he was then 35] always
wore a dark business suit and tie, and
looked as if he were just coming from or
going to some incredibly difficult and
important rehearsal or concert. He
played, as did most symphonic trumpet
players at that time, a silver plated Bb
French Besson. Others played a Benge
medium large bore Bb that seemed to be a
copy and an improvement of the Besson.
Lessons consisted mostly of exercises
from the Arban book. Perhaps because of
my early clarinet training I could still
not play consistently above middle C in
the staff, although I could read well
and didn't get lost playing in a group.
We started with the famous Schilke
routine that consisted of exercises on
page 127 of the Arban book, each note
held four beats, maximum fortissimo,
then four beats rest, etc., hopefully
advancing higher and higher as the weeks
went by. Mr.Schilke would sit across the
studio with his trumpet and we would
alternately go at it. I continued with
this routine for about a year and a
half, practicing three or four hours a
day. My patient parents might
occasionally say, "Tommy, don't you
think you've practiced enough today ?"
when I was into my third or fourth hour,
but I persisted. After about a year Mr.
Schilke dropped out of these blasting
sessions as I had passed into the
stratosphere. I was now able to play
page 127 on a high F. I think these
exercises permanently damaged my
flexibility and lip. I did, however
finally get out of the chalumeau
register. With this new range and
strength I greatly impressed my
colleagues in our teen age bands on "In
The Mood" and other high note pieces.
Fortunately for my ego, Maynard Ferguson
had not yet appeared on the scene.
After high school I continued
studying with Renold Schilke. I
auditioned for and was accepted in the
Chicago Civic Orchestra, the training
orchestra of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra. While in Civic I was given a
scholarship to study with Adolph Herseth.
His lessons were invaluable. I also
later studied with Arnold Jacobs, more
invaluable insights into brass playing.
I graduated from Roosevelt
University-Chicago Musical College with
a Bachelor and Master's degree in music
education.
My first real professional job was
playing with the Grant Park Symphony
Orchestra. This led to a tour with
Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops
Orchestra. I then was hired at WGN Radio
TV as first trumpet, to replace Elden
Benge, who was moving to California.
Shortly after starting at WGN I was
drafted into the US Army. After playing
in several post bands, I was transferred
to the 7th Army Symphony Orchestra,
stationed near Stuttgart, Germany. My
short stint with the 7th ASO, about 8
months, was a defining period of my
life, as it must have been for many
other members of the orchestra. During
this time, we toured France, Italy and
Great Britain, and played innumerable
concerts in Germany. It was an exciting
time, with exposure to other cultures
and languages that have influenced the
rest of my life.
After discharge I returned to W.G.N.
playing in classical, show, Bozo circus
and big band formations for ten years. I
joined the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra
in 1964 and continued for 30 years.
During most of this time I taught
trumpet and brass instruments at
Roosevelt University-Chicago Musical
College.
I married Donna Frank, a trombone
player, in 1959 and we have had an
exciting life together with many trips
to Europe, Latin America, and Japan. She
has played an important part in the
success of the Tom Crown mute company.
In 1974-75 I played with the Deutsche
Oper Berlin in an exchange that brought
a friend, Arno Lange, to Chicago to play
with Lyric for a year.
In 1969, inspired by a mute that
Adolph Herseth used on the D trumpet, I
started producing mutes, with an
original production of 10 mutes. With
help and feedback from friends in the
Lyric Opera Orchestra and the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, I developed other
trumpet mutes, piccolo trumpet mutes,
tenor and bass trombone mutes and a
French horn mute.
We have three co-workers, William
Camp, Chitaka Nishikiori and Gene
Arnold, all professional trumpet
players.
Tom Crown mutes are used by brass
players world-wide. |
