Springfield Symphony Orchestra shines spotlight on principal trumpet Thomas Bergeron
It is always a special occasion when the Springfield Symphony Orchestra features its own members as soloists.
On Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m., SSO Principal Trumpet Thomas Bergeron will be in the spotlight, playing Haydn's "Trumpet Concerto in E-flat," and sharing solo duties in Aaron Copland's beautiful tone poem "Quiet City" with SSO Principal Oboist Nancy Dimock, who will play the English horn solo.
As anyone who has heard Bergeron play under any of his different hats knows, Thomas Bergeron is extremely adept at creating beautiful music. The Haydn Trumpet Concerto that he will play on Saturday gives him many opportunities to do just that. It has been in his repertoire for many years. He played an arrangement of its first movement with his high school wind ensemble, then performed it with the South Hadley Community Band.
While at Yale, he won the Music School's Concerto Competition with the Haydn and performed it with the Yale Philharmonic (video on YouTube). One of the competition judges was the current conductor of the Hartford Symphony and he invited Bergeron to play the Concerto with that orchestra.
"But this performance in Springfield Symphony Hall will truly be something special," Bergeron admitted. "Springfield is blessed with one of the greatest halls in the country. Very few regional orchestras can boast a space that was specifically designed for orchestra performances. All of us in the orchestra feel very lucky to be able to share symphonic music with our audiences in such a special setting. I'm used to sitting in the back of the stage with the brass section. It's going to be so special to be able to stand at the front edge of the stage, so close to the audience, and share this beautiful music."
