Roderick Macdonald

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International Music Institute 2009

 

 

 

 

Kurt Masur Gewandhauskapellmeister

 

 

 

 

 Hänsel & Gretel, Brass Quintet for NHK (Japan Television)

 

Roderick MacDonald's road to the principal trumpet chair of the Gewandhaus Orchestra could have been scripted in Hollywood. Born in Rhode Island, he began his professional life as an engineer. When he found that unsatisfactory, he enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1989, while attending the Tanglewood Music Festival, he auditioned for Kurt Masur and was awarded the principal chair of the Gewandhaus.
It's easy to see what impressed Masur. MacDonald is an outstanding player who strives more for elegance and grace than power and brilliance. His style is regal and vocal, and his sweet tone is rounder and darker than we usually hear from trumpet players, baroque or otherwise. I would call it the quintessential German sound--from an American trumpet player. In addition to his work with the orchestra, MacDonald has appeared worldwide as a soloist and conductor. Though ostensibly a solo enterprise, the delightful chamber program on Querstand has the air of collaboration. Following common baroque practice, the pieces are freely arranged for combinations of trumpet, violin, oboe, bassoon, double bass, and harpsichord that can be elegant, lively, and rustic at will. The performances are lucidly played with understanding and convivial spirit.”

 

“MacDonald has the soul of a chamber player--not a common quality in an orchestral principal trumpet. He also has presence, but he rarely dominates textures, and he freely shares the spotlight with the Gewandhaus principals who make up the Leipzig Baroque Soloists....

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The reviewer for the American Record Guide is Roger Hecht. This review appeared in the July / August 2003 edition of the American Record Guide (Vol. 66, No. 4).

 

 

 

Photos...

  

 

 

 Charles Schlueter master class at SUNY, Fredonia

 

SUNY, Fredonia Trumpet Studio members on the Great Wall of China.

May 2008 China Blog