Jay Friedman retiring from CSO

[gocsick]

Not directly tuba related.... but Chicago Symphony has an open search for Principal Trombone... Jay Friedman is retiring and the last of the original power CSO brass section formed, molded, and anchored by Jacobs is leaving. The tail end of an era....

A great article from the CSO on the quintessential brass sound. .
https://cso.org/experience/article/3477 ... teamwork-a


One if my first classical records was this selection of excepts.
Originally recorded in 1971 by the legendary CSO Low Brass section: Jay Friedman, James Gilbertson, Frank Crisafulli, Ed Kleinhammer and Arnold Jacobs.

[matt g]

Was he playing most of the subscription season these last few years?

He’s been with the CS0 since 1962. 62 years with the group and 59 years as principal. That’s a long time for any job.

Hopefully he’s got several years left in him to enjoy not having to work the regular schedule and be completely independent.

[Mark]

Just guessing, but aren't all the CSO low brass in their seventies now?

[gocsick]

Was he playing most of the subscription season these last few years?

He’s been with the CS0 since 1962. 62 years with the group and 59 years as principal. That’s a long time for any job.

He really should have retired several years ago. My understanding was he had an assistant playing with him lately.

[bisontuba]

And another principal brass opening....

Following an extensive international audition process, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Esteban Batallán as principal trumpet (Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest Chair) beginning September 18, 2024. Esteban most recently served as principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, having been appointed by Riccardo Muti in 2019. Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin said it best: “From the first moment I heard Esteban play, I knew he was the perfect match for The Philadelphia Orchestra. This is a historic appointment that will have a generational impact on the sound of the Orchestra. We look forward to welcoming Esteban to our Orchestra family and to experiencing his contributions to our work.” To learn more, visit https://www.philorch.org/about-us/conta ... l-trumpet/

Photo Credit: Todd Rosenberg

[cjk]

As an amateur sometimes tuba player, I would have thought the Chicago Symphony to be one of those gigs that's the pinnacle of success, yet the last two principal trumpet players have left. What's up with that?

[bloke]

As an amateur sometimes tuba player, I would have thought the Chicago Symphony to be one of those gigs that's the pinnacle of success, yet the last two principal trumpet players have left. What's up with that?

All of the top-several American orchestras (seriously) are about equally good, with (yes? no?) some possibly being underrated.
I'm just as pleased to have a San Francisco Symphony recording (as a "reference recording") as anything...but how often is that orchestra mentioned here (or by most brass players)?

We don't know these people personally, and (for all we know) there might be teaching at the fill-in-the-blank school, being near aging parents, moving back to one's old stomping grounds, "My spouse could get a job there at blah-blah", even "I've always wanted to play in that magnificent hall", "I'm sick and tired of working with that (_!_)", or all sort of other unknown-to-us factors involved.

My son-in-law plays in Pittsburgh, where people (certainly compared to where I live) get their butts taxed off, but - compared to some other cities - is viewed by people in those other cities (where BOTH butts AND other appendages are taxed off) as somewhat of a tax haven...so (though far less likely, as musicians usually don't think in those terms) that could possibly be yet another factor (though I seriously doubt in the case of Chicago-to-Philly).