Undiscovered Trumpet Concertos

Mladen Tarbuk

Mladen Tarbuk is one of the most versatile composers and conductors of his generation. He has conducted many prestigious symphony orchestras and opera companies, including the Hungarian State Opera, Teatro Verdi Trieste, the Prague State Opera, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Wien Concert-Verein Orchestra, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, the Hungarian Radio and Television Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra of the State Mexico, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Prague State Opera, and at the National Music Festival in Chestertown MD. From 2004–2009 he worked regularly at the Opera at Rhine in Düsseldorf as a guest conductor, conducting a large repertoire including An Abduction from Seraglio, Il Trittico, and La Wally. In 2013–2014 he was music director and in 2014–2017 general artistic director at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. From 2002–2005 he was the general director of Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

Thomas A. Bithell

Thomas A. Bithell is a professional trumpet player whose career spans both decades and continents. Bithell earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Graduate Performance degrees in music from the New England Conservatory in Boston MA and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore MD. He was privileged to be taught by several renowned artists including Charlie Schlueter and Timothy Morrison from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Josef Burgstaller from the Canadian Brass Quintet, Edward Hoffman from the Baltimore Symphony, and Steve Hendrickson from the National Symphony Orchestra. A longtime member of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra in Virginia, Bithell also plays with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. In July 2022, Bithell traveled with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra to Spain to perform concerts in Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza, and Granada.

The Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra

The Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra is Hungary’s most dynamic and versatile symphony orchestra, supported by the Municipality of Budafok-Tétény (22^nd District of Budapest). It was turned into a professional orchestra in 1993 and gained recognition on the Hungarian and international music scene, becoming a top classical music ensemble in a relatively short time span under the baton of Liszt Award-winning conductor, Artist of Merit, Maestro Gábor Hollerung.

Enjott Schneider

Enjott Schneider is a German composer whose works are performed worldwide, including 10 operas, 16 organ symphonies, eight orchestral symphonies, chamber music works, Musica Sacra with 12 oratorios, as well as choral and organ music and hundreds of film scores such as Schlafe Bruder Stalingrad, 23, and Stauffenberg, which have won the German Film Prize, German Television Prize, and Best European Film Music. He explores “cross culture composing” as creative communication with contexts of past times (historical dimension) and other cultural circles (geographical dimension). His work is recorded on more than 100 releases. He was Professor at the Munich University of Music and Theatre from 1979–2012, member of the GEMA Supervisory Board from 2003 to 2021 (Chairman of the Supervisory Board), and President of the German Composers’ Association from 2013-2020. For more information visit enjott.com

Jozef Podprocký

Jozef Podprocký (1944–2021) was a Slovak composer born in Žakarovce. He began to study composition while playing the piano at the Conservatory in Košice with Juraj Hatrík, who worked at the Conservatory during this period. He continued his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts (1965–1970) in the composition class of Ján Cikker before finishing his studies in the class of Alexander Moyzes. From 1969–2013 he worked at the Conservatory in Košice as a professor of composition and music-theoretical subjects. From 1986–1988 he also served as director of the State Philharmonic in Košice.

Carl Roskott

Carl Roskott (1953–2008) was a member of the University of Virginia Music Department from 1991–2005 where he was the conductor of the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia and taught composition and conducting. Roskott was a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the prestigious George Whitefield Chadwick Medal. Roskott attended the Tanglewood Institute on two Leonard Bernstein fellowships and was the recipient of the Dimitri Mitropoulos Award. He studied with Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller, Sheldon Morgenstern, Leo Mueller, Richard Pittman, and Michael Tilson Thomas. Previously, Roskott was a faculty member at Northern Illinois University (NIU) (1980–1991), receiving Downbeat Magazine’s award for the “Best Symphony Orchestra Recording” every year from 1980–1989 for his leadership of the NIU Philharmonic. Roskott conducted the Young Artist Orchestra at the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina for 25 years. Roskott has written numerous compositions for full orchestra, concertos for horn and for violin, several pieces for small ensemble, and a double concerto for violin and cello. His Fantasia for Two Trumpets was originally written with piano in 1985 and posthumously transcribed by Jan Bach in 2015 for full orchestra.

Jan Bach

Jan Bach (1937–2020) started writing music at the age of 5 and received his first composition award from BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) at the age of 19. An Illinois native, he studied at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, receiving the Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition in 1971. From 1966–2004, he taught theory and composition courses at Northern Illinois University where in 1982, he was awarded one of the university’s first eight prestigious Presidential Research Professorship grants. A performer on piano and French horn, Bach was taught by Roberto Gerhard, Aaron Copland, Kenneth Gaburo, Robert Kelly, and Thea Musgrave. Bach’s music continues to be performed and recorded worldwide. His rhythms, melodic placement, use of fugues and especially his fondness of writing for the “underdog” instruments (viola, tuba, bassoon, harp, steelpan, euphonium, to name a few), made Bach a key contributor to 20th Century Post-Modern Composition. He was the recipient of countless commissions, grants, recordings, and publications. Bach is a composer member of Broadcast Music, Inc., New York.

Terry Mizesko

Terry Mizesko was born in Morehead City NC. He received his Bachelor of Music in Theory/Composition from East Carolina University where he studied composition with Martin Mailman and Gregory Kosteck, and trombone and counterpoint with Eugene Narmour.

As a professional musician, Mizesko held the position of bass trombone with the North Carolina Symphony from 1971–2017. He was also on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival (EMF) (2000–2015) where he performed in the EMF orchestra under the direction of Jerry Schwarz.

Mizesko’s original compositions, as well as his holiday arrangements, have been performed by such prominent orchestras as Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Louisville, Fort Worth, Syracuse, Buffalo, Virginia, and North Carolina. He has also had his works performed in France and the United Kingdom.