Trumpet playing Christmas marathon is over!

Dale Proctor

I just finished playing a 3-hour dress rehearsal, five 2-hour concerts, two 1-hour concerts, and a church service over the past 5 days. 1st part on everything except for 2nd part on Rutter’s Gloria. That, and 10 to 15 other pieces (many of them pretty demanding) every concert. Man , what a blow…I began to worry if I’d make it through the whole thing since I basically took 2020 off, didn’t play much in 2021, and have been trying to get back into shape this year. Rutter Gloria 10 times in 5 days…lol

So, what have all of you been playing/rehearsing for the holidays?

Kehaulani

Is that a 38-B?

SSmith1226

@dale-proctor said in [Trumpet playing Christmas marathon is over!]

So, what have all of you been playing/rehearsing for the holidays?

From Dec 2-15, nine performances and multiple rehearsals. The longest performance was 2 hours, the shortest performance was 1 hr, and the rest were 90 minutes. Three were Christmas Big Band performances and six were Brass Choir Performances.

Dale Proctor

@kehaulani said in Trumpet playing Christmas marathon is over!:

Is that a 38-B?

It’s a 1960 6B Victor. Same architecture as the Connstellation with the wide wrap and large bell flare, but less the slide stops, trigger, and some of the nickel plating.

administrator

I wish somebody would have called me to play just about anything! Super dry over here.

GeorgeB

Yeah ! Well I had 3 Christmas concerts last week and 2 this week, playing for the 5 local nursing homes, but all were canceled due to Covid + outbreaks. Same happened last year. Pretty damn depressing.
Now not even any band practices until January sometime. But I continue to practice and play 7 days a week.

George

Dr GO

I will be playing a Lutheran church service under contract l have had over the past 4 years with our local musicians union. It is a 2 hour service with the traditional Lutheran Christmas Hymns.

barliman2001

For me, this Christmas season started with four Christmas market gigs and will continue with five more of the same, but that is almost nothing compared to other years where sometimes I had to play Christmas Oratorio three times in a row... this year is centred around my wife's debut at Graz Opera (she sang almost everywhere else, but never before in Graz) in the small but important role of Mrs. Kramer in Kurt Weill's biggest Broadway success, A Touch of Venus - played many thousans of times in the US, but never before in Austria... Another 12 performances to go...

Dr GO

Leading up to Christmas, the Big Band I play with played a Christmas Party for a College Holiday Party, then the next week two concerts at two separate dance halls in Dayton. Really neat arrangements of Big Band Arrangements of Classic Christmas Songs and a couple Big Band arrangements from Charlie Brown Christmas. We also had a cool arrangement of Your A Mean One Mr. Grinch. Loved watching the ball room dancers dancing to Christmas Big Band Dance Music. I am attaching a pic of the trumpet section at our gig last Thursday at a Dance Club in Dayton called the Milton Club:

Dr GO

Generations Big Band at our College Gig (More Formal Venue)

SSmith1226

Peace on Earth and Good Will To Men

Youtube Video

J. Jericho

@ssmith1226 This brings tears of joy to my eyes every time I hear it.

Kehaulani

I miss al the musical involvement during Advent. Can't play at that level anymore.

My most memorable season was 1967. After an already busy Advent performance season, which culminated with playing in Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo's main performing hall, with the Tokyo Youth Philharmonic, some Colonel showed up backstage and told those of us who were in the military to go home, pack our bags, we were going to Viet Nam early the next morning.

Spent that Christmas playing everyplace Bob Hope wouldn't play. And it was the buildup to the big Tet Offensive the next week. Plenty of "the rockets' red glare" and fun time was had by all.

GeorgeB

@ssmith1226

Good Lord.....

George

GeorgeB

@kehaulani

Seems like you did it all, kehaulani. That's a lot of great memories.
I can't play as well anymore either, but I have great memories of all the gigs I enjoyed with my 5 piece band during the 50's/60's.
George