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Finale for BSO Brass By Andrea Shea  Listen to story (Real Audio)
But Sunday's concert will be bittersweet for three veteran brass players. It's their last performance because they're stepping down after decades with the BSO. WBUR's Andrea Shea has been to Tanglewood to meet the retiring, but not shy, musicians. TEXT OF STORY: ANDREA SHEA: There are about 100 musicians in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 14 sit in the brass section, including trombonist Ron Barron. RON BARRON: This instrument is a Conn 8AH which my parents purchased for me in High School. SHEA: That was in 1963. Ron Barron playing an English folk tune SHEA: Seven years later, in 1970, the BSO hired Barron. The orchestra employs two others trombonists. Now, after 38 years as lead trombone Barron is retiring. BARRON: Well the Boston Symphony it's not unusual for people to serve 30 to 40 years and in fact 50 years. SHEA: After Sunday's concert Barron will focus on running the Bed and Breakfast he owns with his wife just a few miles from Tanglewood. Sound of walking down steps SHEA: A narrow wooden staircase leads down to the 200 year old farmhouse's dirty-floor basement. It's cool and serves as Barron's makeshift wine-cellar. The musician is a major enthusiast and shows off some vintage 1970 wines that he recently popped with friends to mark the year he began his tenure at the BSO. BARRON: I brought along from my collection a 1970 Chateau La Tour and Chateau lynch Boge. A colleague brought from California a Cabernet and a Barollo from Giuseppe Mascarello. All of these are 1970 red wines? Barron playing from his CD "An Evening from the 18th Century" SHEA: Good wine and good music go together. That's why Barron recently poured bottles representing the years the other two retirees came on board with the BSO. Trumpeter Peter Chapman was hired in 1984, and Daniel Katzen won his job playing as the BSO's 2nd French Horn in '79. DANIEL KATZEN: I was a total neophyte in so many ways, there are about 250 major pieces that you have to play. SHEA: In addition to about 100 operas. When he tried out for the BSO, as a 27 year old, it was Katzen's 48th audition as an aspiring musician. After winning the job he admits he was a nervous wreck, constantly studying and practicing and showing up to rehearsals early. KATZEN: The days and the weeks were eternal. They lasted forever. SHEA: The years and decades, though, have piled up for Katzen, who says he can't pinpoint when he went from being new at the BSO to being a veteran. But he acknowledges that jobs in major orchestras are highly coveted, and they're hard to give up. KATZEN: I have had many long conversations with myself in the mirror saying do you really want to be leaving this job which is more than just a job and more than just a career it's your expression as an artist your expression as a person. I know that 250 people are going to try to take this job when I leave. (laughs) MUSIC: Katzen's Bach suite transcription SHEA: 23 year old Michael Martin is job hunting at the BSO. He plays the trumpet. Michael Martin playing an excerpt from "Pictures at an Exhibition" SHEA: Martin's one of 150 fellows studying at the Tanglewood Music Center this summer, and is preparing to audition for the 3rd and possibly the 2nd trumpet spots at the BSO. MARTIN: Two opportunities in potentially one year to play in an orchestra like the Boston Symphony is, you could sort of say once in a life time but it's twice in a life time, it's rare and I hope to take full advantage. MUSIC featuring Michael Martin SHEA: The BSO's Managing Director Mark Volpe isn't worried about the vacancies in the brass section, even though it could take as long as 2 years to fill the positions. The talent pool in this country is overflowing, Volpe says, thanks to football. MARK VOLPE: I'm a native of the mid-west so we have these huge marching bands in Michigan and Minnesota, you go down to Texas it's the same thing so the level of brass playing and wind playing in America is sensational. SHEA: But Volpe, and long-time classical music critic Richard Dyer, recognize the risks that come with hiring only youthful players. Dyer says an orchestra must be a complex organism. VOLPE: It has to have young hot shots who are all energy, chops, and ability. It has to have mature players who are at the peak of their game and then it also has to have older, wile experienced players who have gone through everything that can possibly happen. SHEA: Like playing Beethoven's notoriously difficult 9th Symphony. Beethoven's 9th Symphony SHEA: The 3rd person retiring from the BSO's brass section this Sunday is Peter Chapman. He plays 2nd trumpet and has tackled the 9th many times over his 25 years with the orchestra. PETER CHAPMAN: It's a lot of work (laughs). It's more of a physical activity than say a subtle one, Beethoven trumpet parts are generally not very melodic and mostly kind of the meat and potatoes, almost percussion like at times. Beethoven's 9th SHEA: This Sunday Peter Chapman, Ron Barron and Daniel Katzen will play Beethoven's 9th, as members of the BSO, for the last time. Katzen, the 2nd French Horn, swears the concert will end at 4:46. KATZEN: By 5:46 I think the brass players who are retiring from the orchestra will probably have opened the first of a series of bottles of wine to celebrate our time together. SHEA: Bottles of fine wine picked and poured by Principal Trombone, and certified wine specialist, Ron Barron. All three retiring brass players will enjoy active, actually, demanding, retirements, writing, teaching, and playing the instruments they love. For WBUR I'm Andrea Shea. Tanglewood is closing its summer season Saturday and Sunday with its "All-Beethoven" weekend.
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