Mark David, Artistic Director and Head of Brass has enjoyed a distinguished career as a performer in some of the most prestigious ensembles in the world. He held the position of Principal Trumpet in the Philharmonia Orchestra for over twenty years, and is currently the Principal Trumpet of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and a member of the Nash Ensemble.
He performed as a soloist with the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall in the Haydn Concerto and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. He has also recently appeared as a soloist with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in London and Europe.
His discography as a symphonic trumpeter is extensive and wide-ranging.
He combines his performing activities with a busy schedule as a teacher and clinician and his former students populate prominent positions around the world.
Personal philosophy of teaching
‘Guided self-discovery’ is probably the best way of describing my philosophy of helping students to develop their technical and musical personalities. This is necessarily a completely bespoke process because every student has individual qualities and needs One of the most important elements of this self-discovery is the refinement and concentration of the critical senses when listening to oneself. Often the differences between ease and struggle are minute changes in sensation or sound which, once recognised, can be revelationary.
Demonstration plays a large part in imparting these changes but I also draw on a wide range of other disciplines, in particular sports such as skiing, swimming and golf to construct drills that encourage the appropriate physical responses.
Alongside the building and honing of the widest range of technical tools, brass players need to listen to the greatest artists on other instruments to inspire them to expand the boundaries of what is expected. The Academy is the ideal environment to do this as hardly a day goes by without a major artist visiting the building. Murray Periah on piano, Maxim Vengerov on violin and baritone Thomas Allen to name just three. One day, if we all keep practising, we might get close to the perfection of Periah’s staccato, the rich resonance of Vengerov’s strad or the lyricism of Allen’s lieder when playing our brass instruments.
YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hcGpOaepk4
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