Thom Ritter George Sonata for Euphonium - David Werden

The Sonata for Euphonium by Thom Ritter George, performed by David Werden in a guest recital at the University of Akron (Ohio). This is the 3rd movement from that work.

Thom Ritter George (b. June 23, 1942) discovered his great interest in music, particularly composition and orchestral conducting, as a boy growing up in Detroit, Michigan. He wrote his first composition when he was ten years old and conducted his first orchestral concert at the age of 17. During his high school years, he was a composition student of Harold Laudenslager, a pupil of Paul Hindemith.

Thom Ritter George's first published works date from the time he was studing at Eastman School of Music and include this Sonata for Baritone Horn and Piano.

Thom Ritter George's compositions have been played by the Chicago, Houston, Memphis, Eastman-Rochester orchestras, and other major ensembles in the United States and abroad.

About the artist:

A graduate of The University of Iowa, Mr. Werden was the euphonium soloist with The United States Coast Guard Band for more than 20 years. He has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, England, Japan, and the former Soviet Union. Through FM and TV broadcasts, his solos have been heard in dozens of countries around the world. He is a recitalist and clinician, and has performed at local, national, and international symposiums. He was a member of The USCG Band Euphonium/Tuba Quartet, the Atlantic Tuba Quartet, and the Classic Brass Band. He previously taught at the University of Connecticut and the University of Minnesota, and he is listed in Marquis' Who's Who in American Education. He operates the site http://www.dwerden.com, a major online community for euphonium players.

His efforts to expand the role and recognition of the euphonium led the British magazine Sounding Brass in conjunction with the American publication Euphonia to name him "Euphonium Player of the Year" in 1980. He is the first American awarded this honor. In 1981 he was elected to the post of Euphonium Coordinator for the International Tuba-Euphonium Association (formerly called Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association: T.U.B.A). In 1987 he was appointed to the Honorary Board of Advisers of ITEA. His many solo performances and his efforts to expand the role of the euphonium in music earned him the prestigious Coast Guard Commendation Medal. He has also been awarded two Coast Guard Achievement Medals, the Coast Guard Special Operations ribbon, two Coast Guard Unit Commendations, and three Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations. In 1993 he was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda honors society.

He has published articles in Euphonia magazine, The Instrumentalist magazine and the T.U.B.A. Journal. He is the author of The Blaikley Compensating System, Scoring for Euphonium, co-author with Denis Winter of the Euphonium Music Guide, and a co-author of the Brass Player's Cookbook. He compiled and edited a series of papers by Arthur Lehman into the book The Brass Musician. He has also published over four dozen arrangements for a variety of solo instruments and ensembles.

Since moving to Minnesota he has performed with Symphonia (America's Premier Large Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble), the Minnesota Orchestra, the Sheldon Theater Brass Band, was a special guest artist at the International Euphonium Institute, and has been heard on live national broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• classical music
• baritone horn
• euphonium