Transcending Musical Borders & the Process of Birthing, Preparing For and Premiering Wynton Marsalis’ New Concerto for Trumpet with Paul Merkelo!
What are borders but mere lines imagined by politicians to separate and divide human beings?
And just as borders between states and countries are rather arbitrary, so are the borders we put on certain instruments, even entire genres of music.
Paul Merkelo stopped in to the Trumpet Dynamics Central Headquarters to discuss his collaboration with the great Wynton Marsalis on a brand new concerto written for trumpet that is making waves in the trumpet world and beyond.
Wynton’s new concerto not only pushes the finest players to their utmost limits as performers, but it transcends many of the arbitrary boundaries that have been placed upon the trumpet, and even ethnic and national identities related to music.
Paul was honored by being asked to help bring this piece into the public consciousness, and in this episode, he shares his experience of being included in the esteemed group of trumpeters who are premiering the piece around the world. The interview includes a detailed description of the process of preparing and allowing to see the light of day a piece of music that we expect will be part of the standard trumpet repertoire, regularly called upon by orchestras the world over, in due time.
We even managed to sneak in a hat tip to elephant sounds and horse whinnies, so you’re going to want to hang out until the very end of the episode!
What you’ll hear in this episode:
-How Paul was chosen to premiere Wynton’s concerto in Canada…03:30
-The moment Paul stepped on stage to premiere the piece…06:30
-“Like jumping out of an airplane”…13:20
-We’ve got to build the repertoire by crossing musical borders…15:45
-You can’t simply play with technical precision; you must play musically…18:30
-The “perfect” performance redefined…23:25
-The very long process of preparing for The Day of the performance…28:10
-Balancing the prep and practice with family and obligations to the day job…36:45
-Efforts to get the word out about the concerto…40:30
-How to make an elephant call with a trumpet…46:30
–Plus whatever your discerning ears deem worthy of your time and interest…
Resources mentioned:
Gershwin’s World on Medici TV featuring Paul Merkelo
A Conversation with Rafael Payare, Wynton Marsalis and Paul Merkelo
Trumpet Dynamics episode with Scott “Horse Whinny Maestro” Moore of the Memphis Symphony
About the Guest:
Paul Merkelo has been hailed as ‘the new Maurice André’ by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is recognized as ‘a spectacular soloist… a most impressive master of his instrument’ (Montreal Gazette) who ‘knows no limits’ (Der Spiegel online – Germany) with ‘unusual lyrical gifts’ (Gramophone). Principal trumpet with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 1995, he has been featured frequently with the OSM, including tours to South America and at the Lincoln Center in New York, and is the first member of the orchestra to be invited to record a debut solo album with the orchestra (French Trumpet Concertos – Kent Nagano).
In 1999, he was appointed Canadian musical ambassador to China for the inauguration of the Montreal Park in Shanghai, and as soloist with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in a national telecast. Merkelo made his New York debut at the Lincoln Center with the New World Symphony Orchestra and Michael Tilson Thomas in 1998. He has worked with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Charles Dutoit, Lorin Maazel, Sir Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta and Valery Gergiev, and has been invited as guest principal trumpet in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. As a soloist, Paul has been featured with orchestras worldwide, including English Chamber Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, Venice Baroque Orchestra and Eastman Wind Ensemble.
Merkelo’s first solo recording, A Simple Song was ranked #1 in Quebec’s classical recording chart in 2000. In 2004, Analekta released a highly praised second CD, Baroque Transcriptions, which was nominated by ADISQ for Best Classical Album of the Year. French Trumpet Concertos with OSM and Kent Nagano was nominated by the JUNO Awards as Best Classical Album of the Year-Soloist with large ensemble in 2016.
The English Chamber Orchestra will feature him with the Haydn and Leopold Mozart concerti on a UK tour in April 2020, while at the same time MediciTV will release a DVD concert of his ‘Gershwin Romance Music’ project which will showcase his jazz and improvisation skills.
Also in 2020, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has commissioned Gabriela Ortiz to write a new concerto for trumpet which will feature soloist and the principal trumpet of the orchestra.
Paul is on the faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and McGill University in Montreal. He is on the board of directors for the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (Canada), and is the founder of the Paul Merkelo Scholarship, which helps young, gifted brass players with financial aid and career guidance.
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