Andrew Stetson joins the Front Row to talk about a visit by a world-class trumpet soloist, Allen Vizzutti.
Tell us about the event that will be going on.
We are hosting Allen Vizzutti, who is a world-renowned trumpeter, who crosses just about every musical idiom you can think of, from classical to jazz and everywhere in between. He’s here for three days, on Sunday night, this weekend, with a trumpet Master Class, which will feature Texas Tech students performing for him and getting feedback. And then Monday night is the big event, he is performing with our jazz ensemble one and jazz combo one as a soloist for the entire concert. So it’s a big concert…
How did you become aware of Allen Vizzutti?
I actually saw him play for the first time when I was a student. I was lucky enough to perform in the National Trumpet Competition and he gave a full recital performance while we were there. And he played a piece called the “Carnival of Venus.” He does things that don’t seem possible on the trumpet. Then I actually got to meet him face to face at TMEA (Texas Music Educator’s Association), we were the only two trumpet players at this event and we found each other and talked trumpet for about an hour.
I knew right then and there that he would be an exciting person to bring here and introduce to our students, and have them interact with him because so many of our students are performing in jazz ensembles and classical ensembles. Often times we bring in performers who are one or the other, this is really the first time, since I’ve been around, that we’ve brought someone who really can do just about everything on the instrument and will be an inspiration to everybody.
…I almost bet that he’s such a talented trumpet player that crossing these genres for him is nothing.
Listen to the full interview at the top of the article.
