Euph Got to be Kidding Me

I was a very specific kid in high school. I was the president and drum major of the band. I was the president of the chorus. And I was the president of the drama club. I played drums in a rock band.  I loved music, theater, performing, and creating. So needless to say, when YouTube came onto the scene, I spent a lot of time looking up videos of my favorite musical groups.  There was one video that I can accurately say altered the trajectory of my life. And that is Mnozil Brass's rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. This group, seemingly, was catered to my exact passions - singing, brass playing, theater, arranging, classic rock. I wish I could remember my first reactions exactly. But I remember being so excited about it that I made my brother watch it the second he got home from a 2 week trip to Germany. He walked in the door and I said "sit down and watch this." It was his lukewarm reaction that made me realize that I had to stop talking like a crazy person to other people ab...

This weekend, I had the privilege of attending and presenting at the 2023 US Army Band Tuba Euphonium Workshop. It was an incredible 3 days of tuba, euphonium, friendship, music and learning. I re-capped it on my music instagram page, drewbonnermusic, if you want hear and see more about it.  One of the great things about this event is the opportunity to hear some of the world's greatest euphonium players in one place. The US military might be the largest employer of euphonium players in the country. While a career in a military band never interested me, the players in these ensembles are remarkable and achieve a level of musicianship that I aspire to.  Pictured above is the Inter-service Euphonium Choir conducted by Dr. Brian Bowman. The ensemble is made up of various military band euphonium players from across the armed forces. They played an assortment of arrangements of classic band and orchestra pieces, but they also played a few pieces written specifically for a homogenou...

Boston Brass is one of the most recognized and active brass quintets touring today. The group was founded in 1986 and has gone through numerous personnel changes over the last 35+ years. In fact, my former teacher Velvet Brown was the founding tubist. I've had the opportunity to hear the quintet perform live twice. The first time was at ITEC 2016 with Sam Pilafian on tuba. It was a life changing evening for me. Hearing Sam play live, with a quintet, was so inspiring. But I wish I got to hear the group with Lance LaDuke on trombone/euphonium.  In 2006, Lance LaDuke joined the quintet in the trombone role. There was just one problem. LaDuke was a euphonium player. Nonetheless, the quintet accepted him into the group on euphonium, with the understanding that there would be some required trombone playing. This new aspect of the quintet created opportunities for creative new arrangements and colors. LaDuke's euphonium playing can be heard on this video of a performance from 2012. Th...

This Blog is primarily a part of a Brass Ensemble Literature course I'm taking here at the University of Iowa. But I'm hoping to use this as a catalyst for my own professional blog on my website down the line.