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The Brass JunkiesAuthor: Pedal Note Media
The Brass Junkies, hosted by former Boston Brass tuba player Andrew Hitz and a rotating cast of characters, features interviews with the best and brightest brass players in the world. Subject matter includes everything from the serious to the ridiculous, just like the music business. Language: aa Genres: Arts, Music, Music Interviews, Performing Arts Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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TBJ224: Denise Tryon
Episode 224
Friday, 23 October, 2026
Find everything Denise Tryon has done with The Brass Junkies: https://www.brassjunkies.com/denise-tryon Get something interesting from the world of brass every week in The Brass Junkies Newsletter: https://www.brassjunkies.com/newsletter Horn interviews, masterclasses, and resources: https://www.brassjunkies.com/horn Trumpet interviews, masterclasses, and resources: https://www.brassjunkies.com/trumpet On This Episode of The Brass Junkies: • Andrew speaks with hornist Denise Tryon, Professor of Horn at Indiana University and former Fourth Horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra, back on the show nine years after her first appearance • In the premiere of Career Corner, presented by Hitz Academy, Andrew speaks with Dr. Julia Bell, Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Texas Tech University and founder of the Magnolia Brass Quintet • Andrew's thoughts on the Phoenix Symphony suspending its season and laying off its musicians, and why your support should go directly to the musicians • On a scale of nine to 10, exactly how much Denise missed Andrew • Her brand new album, Borrowed Bach, featuring Bach Cello Suites 1 through 5 on horn, and the companion book • The first movement of the album that made Andrew stop working and say "wow" out loud • The childhood piano lessons where she only wanted to play Bach, much to her teacher's chagrin • Chuck Kavalovski introducing her to the Wendell Hoss transcription in college • The decision she made at 19 or 20 that became a lifelong, "somewhat nagging" project • The suggestion that led her to create her own transcription, and how she chose the key for each suite • Gail Williams's request that changed how the book is laid out • Why Suite No. 6 didn't make the cut • How the book is designed to encourage players to make their own choices instead of copying hers • Andrew's first lesson at Northwestern with Rex Martin and the two very different Glenn Gould recordings of the Goldberg Variations • The dance between technique and musicianship over a career, and the Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recordings she has her students compare • The recording sessions that COVID and a series of setbacks postponed for years, and why she's glad she waited • Her approach to the repeats: first time as written, then adding ornamentation the second time • The Gavotte from Suite No. 5 that had her wondering what life decisions led her to that moment • The advice Sam Pilafian gave Andrew before he produced his first recording session • Working with engineer and producer Paul Eachus, a bass trombonist formerly of the Honolulu Symphony, and his rare gift for saying anything without her getting defensive • Why her best takes came when she let go, and the instinct to drive with your foot hovering over the brake • What she did 15 minutes into that Gavotte to get herself to the finish line • The pizza place discovery she credits as her secret sauce for keeping her face fresh • Recording in a church in Nashville, Indiana, its tree of life stained glass window, and why they ended up using the microphones closest to her • Why Borrowed Bach is the recording she's most proud of • The post-project slump her husband sees coming every single time • Why all of her students now play out of Bach, and the composer she begged not to write in her every nuance • Teaching creative problem solvers instead of teaching to the test • Why your job in an audition is to sell people on you, and Andrew's first date analogy • The advice from a colleague in her 30s that changed how she thought about her career • Being comfortable being different, and making a slower tempo convincing • The difference between an earned slowdown to breathe and a convenient one • Her train analogy for breathing in fast Bach movements (and the one train stop not to emulate) • Breathing as a low horn specialist, and Andrew's recommendation that everyone be 6'4" • The next recording project she might already be planning for this summer • What Andrew loves most about Denise's approach to music and to life • Career Corner: the simple theme that runs through everything Julia has done in her career so far • How her goal of an orchestral career evolved during her master's degree • What she did once she figured out what a trumpet professor's job actually requires • How she started a brass quintet with four women she had never met • Why you should apply even when you're sure you won't get the job • Andrew's seventh-grade audition for the Junior Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble, and why you should never say no for other people • Why seasoned players can tell right away when someone is driven and asking the right questions • All seven of Andrew's conversations with Julia are coming to The Brass Junkies YouTube channel Links: Phoenix Symphony Musicians on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phoenixsymphonymusicians Musicians of the Phoenix Symphony: https://musiciansofthephoenixsymphony.org/ Borrowed Bach on Navona Records: https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6901/ Borrowed Bach on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mj5h5taGDvS7Gp1BND9ZaGO82tkrFb30o Bach Cello Suites I-V for Horn, Transcribed by Denise Tryon: https://denisetryon.com/product/bach-cello-suites-i-v-for-horn-transcribed-by-denise-tryon/ Denise Tryon: https://denisetryon.com/ TBJ67, Denise's first appearance: https://www.brassjunkies.com/episodes/episode67 TEM174: Sam Pilafian on Producing: https://www.tem.fm/blog/tem174 Dr. Julia Bell at Texas Tech University: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/music/aboutus/faculty/julia-bell.php Gail Williams on The Brass Junkies: https://www.brassjunkies.com/gail-williams Parker Mouthpieces: https://parkermouthpieces.com
