I have a great deal of respect for the music we are playing in the WSO. It covers a wide range of styles, historical periods, and composers. I pride myself at the chance to be versatile. I thoroughly enjoy the music we are playing. I also really enjoyed the major symphonies of Beethoven and Shostakovich which we have performed in the past several years.
unique performance experiences
Seeing a trombone slide shooting out under my chair during the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony several years ago. The most exotic location I have ever played would have to be the ABC Theater in Belfast, Ireland. While touring with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the late 1970s, we went to Northern Ireland in the midst of the political tensions. We had an armed guard with a machine gun pointed at us while they searched our bus at the border. Not my idea of a fun day. On the same tour, we went behind the “Iron Curtain” to Poland and performed in Warsaw in a beautiful Russian-built theater. After five encores we managed to crawl out the windows of our dressing room to get to our bus and get on our way.
Whom do you admire?
Trumpeters Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Doc Severinsen, Adolph Herseth, Langston Fitzgerald, Maurice Andre, and Clifford Brown. I especially enjoy composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Gershwin, Bernstein, and Stravinsky.
Why trumpet?
I decided to play it when I was a young kid in Middleburg, PA, because my dad, Kenneth Orris, a very fine trumpeter, was teaching in the school at that time. It seemed to be a natural thing for me; I practiced diligently just because I loved to play and still do.
how do you communicate with audiences?
By playing and seeing the enjoyment on their faces. I really care what the audience thinks and feels. It gives me great pleasure when they are enjoying themselves and we are connecting.
hobbies? pets?
I love golf. My wife, Jo, and I have three crazy cats--Oliver, Ringo, and Dizzy--that keep our household absolutely nuts. They don’t stick around very long when I begin practicing at home.
