Grove City College Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands Dr. Andrew Erb’s Northwest Passage Trumpet Trio released a new album titled "Expeditions" on May 15.
The trio consists of Erb, Tim Winfield, professor of trumpet and music education at Westminster College and Jennifer Dearden, professor of trumpet and music at Allegheny College. “Collaborating with Tim and Jen has been a true blessing. They are tremendous musicians, and I learned a lot from them through this process,” Erb said.
A trumpet trio is an unusual ensemble and not nearly as prevalent as trumpet quartets, quintets and larger ensembles, which Erb said makes it difficult to find quality music. The ensemble did a lot of research to track down pieces and commissioned Brazilian composer Fernando Dedos to write "Nuvens de Junho,” which appears on the album, along with most of the existing work for the trio configuration.
Several selections on the album include organ or piano accompaniment performed by Grove City College piano teacher Paula Kubik.
“Expeditions” is currently available in physical CD format and will be digitally released and available on iTunes, Amazon Music, and many other digital streaming services in the coming weeks. Anyone wishing to purchase a CD prior to the digital release of date can do so from the Northwest Passage Trumpet Trio Facebook page.
The trio will be sending the album to the International Trumpet Guild as well as the American Guild of Organists for peer review. “Recording an album like this is sort of like a performing musician’s version of writing a book or publishing a paper,” Erb said. “Like those academic activities, we feel it is important to have our work peer reviewed.”
Northwest Passage Trumpet Trio was selected to perform “Nuvens de Junho” in the New Works Recital at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Miami, Florida, in July 2019. “That performance was such a fantastic experience. Having the opportunity to play for an international audience and share the stage with the likes of Terry Everson and other internationally recognized players was quite humbling,” Erb said.
Grove City College Professor of Music Dr. Joe Hasper also composed a piece for the trio titled "Trumpet Concertutti." Although this work does not appear on the album, the trio premiered Hasper’s piece with the Grove City College Wind Ensemble in their 2019 spring concert and performed it again in a concert with the Hollidaysburg Community Concert Band the following summer.