Huggy Bear

Hi there A-Mac-Daddy,

You said that Mr. Charlie Geyer is the best teacher of the trumpet ever. Why?

Also, will you rate your bests

Classical Player - Mr. Michael Sachs (obviously!!!)
Teacher - Mr. Charlie Geyer (?)
Jazz Player - ?
Lead Player - ?
Low Note Player - ?
Conductor - uh....maybe not
Pimp/Informant - wink wink
Method Book - ?
Valve Oil - ?

Rowuk can also feel free to chime in....Fo' Shizzle!

Love,
Huggy Bear

amtrpt

Huggy,
Whoa there. I think what I said is that Barbara and Charlie are the best teachers ever. I will explain why I think that in a new topic that I will try to get up in the next few days. Here are my favorites.

orchestral player-Jim Thompson
teacher-Barbara Butler
jazz player-Chet Baker
lead player-Steve McDade
low note player-Jimmy Spragg
conductor-Dutoit
pimp-TBD
method book-Getchell Second Studies
valve oil-Holton

Andrew

rowuk

Armondo Ghitalla
Vince Chicowitz
Arnold Jacobs
Maurice André
Heinz Zickler
Dan Patrylak

are THE best teachers in my opinion (only my first hand experiences, but not in any particular order). They have all withstood the test of time. Ms. Butler and Mr. Geyer have powerful followings, I think we need to wait a generation or two to "rate" them.

amtrpt

Rowuk,
Let me give you an example of what they have done in North America since 1989 when I first went to Eastman to study with them.

This is a list of orchestras that either have now or have had Butler/Geyer students in the section.

Chicago Symphony (3 out of 4)
New York Philharmonic (2 out of 4)
Philadelphia Orchestra
Los Angeles Philharmonic
San Francisco Symphony
Atlanta Symphony
Toronto Symphony
Vancouver Symphony
Montreal Symphony
Dallas Symphony
Saint Louis Symphony

These are just the ones off the top of my head and they don't include orchestras with smaller budgets. You can wait as long as you want, but these numbers won't change. I believe they will continue to grow as they have since they started in the eighties. Opinions are great, but it's pretty hard to argue these kinds of numbers. By the way I wouldn't call it a following so much as a really long line of success stories that to some degree owe their successes to Barbara and Charlie.
Andrew

timothypierson

The conductor of the Community College/community orchestra I play principal in is friends with Charles Geyer,in fact he lived with him and Barbara for 2 years, in the 1970"s when he was in the Chicago Symphony. I always enjoy hearing stories of how quickly Mr. Geyer could sight read and how the brass section is like a giant organ and the sound would never break. I also study at the University of Oregon but really enjoy his insights. He is tough on me but in a good way. Last term we did the Leonore overture No. 3 and this term we are expanding the orchestra using extras from around town to do Pictures at an Exhibition. I'm hoping some day to get a lesson and check out the program. I'm an older player (35) and don't really expect to get in the program but I think spending a few days in Chicago and checking out the scene would be quite rewarding.

amtrpt

HI,
On second thought let me revise me original statement. I would say that Barbara and Charlie are the best orchestral teachers in North America and I think that their success at placing students in jobs makes them the best I have ever heard of. Everyone has their own opinion and the truth is that nobody can really be wrong on this sort of thing. I am of course totally biased because I am sure I would not have my job without having worked with them.
Andrew

MrClean

Vacchiano's track record as a teacher was pretty remarkable, too...

Froggy

Best orchestral Player- Glenn Fischthal/ Mike Sachs
Best Teacher- Jim Dooley/Mike Sachs ----although its whomever you work the best with and who can get you to produce the best.
Conductor- Blomstedt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Valve oil- T2
Orchestra-San Francisco!!!!!!!

rowuk

Andrew,
no arguments from me about their qualifications and successes (many of which I was not aware of)!

My list came from people that I studied with that also have had incredible impact on the brassworld as a whole. I didn't think about checking how many students my favorites have placed. I don't think that we even need to rate great anythings in this world. It makes more sense just to enjoy the fruits and there are truly plenty of enjoyable recordings available!

Speaking of which, Toronto is getting a lot of playtime on German radio these days, great playing and you also have a great recording engineer. Lots of fine details in the recordings!

MrClean

Hi Rowuk,

Andrew is in Toronto, not Montreal.

You've probably been listening to Jim Thompson (or "Chompson" if you've been listening to the Dutoit Petrouchka ). The bulk of their recording seems to have been done when Jim was there.

J