Episode #82 - Karl Sievers

06/17/20 • 70 min

The Other Side Of The Bell - A Trumpet Podcast

Dr. Karl Sievers enjoys a successful and varied performance career, having performed in countless studio sessions, on live television, in jazz ensembles, chamber music of all kinds, solo recitals, and in symphony orchestras.

Karl is principal trumpet for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Norman Philharmonic, part of the Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra, and he performs with local groups the Frontier Brass Band and the Opulent Brass Quintet. He has performed with artists such as Doc Severinsen, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Al Jarreau.

Karl Sievers has been a professor at The University of Oklahoma since 1999 and was named the 2017 Irene and Julian J. Rothbaum Presidential Professor of Excellence in the Arts at the University of Oklahoma Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts.

A student of William Adam at Indiana University, Karl has been instrumental in hosting and organizing the International William Adam Trumpet Festival. The 6th Annual festival will be from June 18-20, 2020 and held online on the the Bill Adam Facebook Group, where all the masterclasses will be available to view free of charge.

Previous Episode

Episode #81 - Matthias Höfs

When he was six years old, Matthias Hoefs declared the trumpet “his instrument, because it shines so nicely”. He received his musical education from Professor Peter Kallensee at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, and from Profes- sor Konradin Groth at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. When just 18 years of age, he was engaged as Solo-Trumpeter at the Philharmonic State Orchestra in Hamburg, where he enjoyed the fascinating world of opera for 16 years.

At the same time, Hoefs became a member of the GERMAN BRASS Ensemble, with whom he continues to achieve worldwide success. Since their first joint concert in 1985, he writes for himself and his colleagues tailored arrangements which span more then one genre and continue to inspire the world of Brass.

Matthias Hoefs has always shown a pioneering spirit, and thus has consistently widened the horizon of his instrument, either by close cooperation with other composers, who feel themselves inspired by his incomparable virtuosity and joy of experimentation, or as “trumpet ambassador” in his home state of Schleswig- Holstein in northern Germany, or in cooperation with the instrument makers Max and Heinrich Thein.

Since the year 2000, Matthias Hoefs has been teaching as Professor at the Ham- burg University of Music and Theatre, were he inspires his students with great enthusiasm, knowing how to pass on his passion for his instrument. In addition to his extensive concert performances as solo-trumpeter and chamber musician, Hoefs has produced numerous Solo CDs, and jointly with GERMAN BRASS, more than 20 recordings.

In October 2016 GERMAN BRASS was awarded with the ECHO Klassik – one of the most outstanding awards for national and international musicians. Learn more about Matthias at www.matthiashoefs.de.

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Episode #83 - Morris Northcutt

Morris Northcutt’s playing has been described as artistic, lyrical and expressive with a beautiful, smooth, and rich tone.

At home in all musical styles from swing to Broadway to classical, this Global Music Award Winner and Bach Conn-Selmer Solo Performing Artist has shared the stage with a wide range of performance groups from Mannheim Steamroller, Critical Mass Big Band, The Blues Brothers Reunion Band, Puget Brass, and the Tacoma Concert Band to the Seattle Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Breath of Aire, and the Tacoma Symphony. Morris has even performed the National Anthem for the Seattle Mariners Baseball Team.

After experiencing several unexpected personal losses and having taken nearly 12 years off from focused attention to the trumpet, Morris began a systematic approach to his practice sessions to not only bring back his playing but to take it to the next level. Focusing on his purpose led to an explosion on social media interested in his sound, style, and phrasing. This newly found attention helped launch his freelance career as a soloist and clinician, taking him across the globe from the Pacific Northwest to Canada, South America and Europe.

In 2019, Morris completed a solo recital/masterclass tour of Ireland that included an appearance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. This past January, he appeared at the 2020 Sao Paulo Trumpet Academy in Brazil. Later this year, Morris will debut his first EP, produced and engineered by Latin Grammy Award winner Danilo Alvarez with arrangements by Justo Morao.