You have to be beyond your instrument and hear, really hear what comes out the other end. If you’re just practicing for the sake of practicing, for getting better, that’s part of it, but also you have to hear what you’re practicing. You have to be a completely active listener while you practice.
~Ethan Bensdorf, from the interview
NY Philharmonic trumpeter Ethan Bensdorf is a superb classical trumpet player. We talked over the phone and he told me the story of how he landed the gig with the New York Philharmonic, playing with principal trumpet legend Mr. Phillip Smith, including a week Ethan spent getting his chops together on the rotary valve trumpet before heading back to New York for another round of final auditions. Ethan also shared his thoughts about practice and had a lot of great things to say. Hope you enjoy.
Ethan Bensdorf on practice (mp3)
People, Music and Other Things from the Interview
- Phillip Smith, principal trumpet, NY Philharmonic
- Mike Tiscione, trumpet, San Francisco Symphony, formerly w/ Atlanta Symphony
- Oliver’s Birthday, Bruce Broughtan
- Phillip Myers, Joe Alessi, Lorin Maazel
- Shastakovich IV
- Mendelssohn
- Blue Danube, waltz
- Glazunov violin concerto (Hahn)
- Ives’s Variations on America
- Shostakovich I
- Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead
- Schoenberg’s Erwartung (here’s the program and audio excerpts!)
- Adolph “Bud” Herseth
- Vince Cichowicz Flow Studies
- Chris Gekker etudes
- Pictures at an Exhibition (excerpt book)
- Maazel’s arrangement of Wagner’s Ring Cycle highlights (GREAT album) (excerpt book)
- Bruckner Symphony No. 8 (excerpt book)
- Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (excerpt book)
- Tchaikovsky’s Symphony IV (excerpt book)
- The Miraculous Mandarin
- Mahler 5 (sheet music +CD of many excerpts including Mahler5)
- Stravinsky’s Petrouchka (sheet music excerpt w/ recording)
- Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G (excerpt book w/ this piece)
- Tomasi Trumpet Concerto (sheet music; recording)
- The Musician’s Way by Gerald Klickstein (print; Kindle; my review)
- The Talent Code by Dan Coyle (my review of the book)
- Avishai Cohen, trumpeter extrordinaire
Related articles
- Interview: Chad McCullough (thepracticeofpractice.wordpress.com)
- Where was the first trumpet actually made (wiki.answers.com)
- A Break for the Philharmonic’s Summer Concerts (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)
The Practice of Practice 
What a great interview! These interviews are always so insightful, keep ’em coming!
Since we’re on the topic of phenomenal trumpet players (really looking forward to Avishai Cohen!), and you seem to have no problem getting prestigious guests on the show, any possibility of swinging an interview with Ambrose Akinmusire?
One topic I would be very interested in seeing covered is how to practice for playing more experimental, “out-there” jazz that relies less on bebop patterns. I would love to see an AACM member or another avant-garder share their secrets too.
Thanks again for all you do,
Mark
Thanks, Mark! I’m also interested in how more “out” players approach practice. I haven’t heard of Ambrose, so thanks for that. I’ll go check it out soon. Nicole Mitchell is on my list, but she’s not as out as some. Maybe Corey Wilkes will talk to me. I’ll keep you in mind when I’m looking. Thanks for the comment. Sometimes I think I’m “playing” to an empty house, so it’s good to know somebody out there is listening. Cheers!
Jon
Oh man, I am SUPER excited about the upcoming Avishai Cohen interview!!!! Any ETA on that? I love what you guys are doing on this site, thank you again!
Thanks for the kick in the pants about the Avishai Cohen interview, Craig. I’ll finish the editing and have it up within a week.
Wonderful! Thanks Jonathan.