{"id":2447600,"date":"2019-08-15T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=311286"},"modified":"2019-08-15T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T22:00:00","slug":"trombonist-and-conductor-per-brevig-looks-back-on-50-summers-at-the-aspen-music-festival-and-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/trombonist-and-conductor-per-brevig-looks-back-on-50-summers-at-the-aspen-music-festival-and-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Trombonist and conductor Per Brevig looks back on 50 summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Per Brevig with a student at the Aspen Music Festival and School in 2012<\/strong>
Alex Irvin\/Courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

As the Aspen Music Festival and School closes its 70th anniversary season this weekend, Per Brevig concludes his 50th summer on its faculty.<\/p>\n

The trombonist, conductor and teacher originally came to Aspen in 1970 at the invitation of Gordon Hardy, the future festival president who was then dean of the Juilliard School and Aspen\u2019s program. (Brevig noted the building where we held our interview was named for the transformative festival leader).<\/p>\n

During the past half-century, Brevig spent 26 years as the principal trombonist for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, traveled the globe as a soloist and conductor, and has also taught at Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music and New York University.<\/p>\n

Through it all, summer in Aspen was a constant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here all these 50 years, and I\u2019ve enjoyed every one of them,\u201d Brevig, 80, said Wednesday on the Castle Creek Valley campus.<\/p>\n

The epitome of the Aspen Music Festival, he\u2019s concluded, is on the concert hall stages where students play alongside some of the leading concert musicians in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what Aspen is all about,\u201d Brevig said. \u201cThis experience, for the student, is nothing they have had, sitting in an orchestra with professional players \u2013 one on each side \u2013 in an orchestra of the highest caliber. There is nothing like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brevig began his professional career at age 16 in his native Norway, with the Bergen Philharmonic, and came to the U.S. to study at Juiliard, where he would eventually earn a doctorate.<\/p>\n

He broke new ground for his instrument in the late 1960s, as one of the few trombonists playing full solo recitals, earning the instrument a newfound respect. A New York Times review of his Carnegie Hall recital in October 1969 noted \u201c\u2018It is not easy to give a trombone recital without giving the listener the impression that the circus is coming to town, but Per Brevig did so last night at Carnegie Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with playing the repertoire and performing with the Met, Brevig championed contemporary music for trombone.<\/p>\n

The famed Mexican composer Carlos Ch\u00e1vez wrote a trombone concerto for Brevig, which he premiered at the Kennedy Center in 1978. He\u2019s continued to champion and inspire new music \u2013 composer and Aspen Music Festival president Alan Fletcher just last year dedicated his new Fanfare and Variations on \u201cSlane\u201d to Brevig.<\/p>\n

\u201cContemporary music is extremely important and it has always been so,\u201d Brevig said. \u201cNot only is it pleasurable but you have an obligation to work with composers and further their music.\u201d<\/p>\n

He traveled frequently as a soloist in the 1970s \u2013 \u201cIt was an interesting, busy life,\u201d he said of that period \u2013 while playing with the Met Opera Orchestra from 1968 until 1994. In retirement, he embarked on a full-time conducting career that brought him to posts in Brazil and with the East Texas Symphony.<\/p>\n

But teaching, and his relationship with his students, has been Brevig\u2019s creative lifeblood.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou walk the halls and you see those bright eyes \u2013 they\u2019re soaking it up,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes life worthwhile. \u2026 The students are extraordinary these days. The talent is unreal. They catch on so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 50 summers and after teaching generations of trombonists in Aspen, Brevig is still inspired by his students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learn something from every lesson I teach, and I\u2019ve taught a few lessons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Brevig published the book \u201cReflections on the Art of Trombone,\u201d which he said has simplified his instruction. He can use it to get the basics out of the way and get to more personalized coaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I\u2019d written it sooner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And while the instrument and the elements of music have gone unchanged over his half-century in Aspen, Brevig has seen Aspen transform mightily, including the modernization of the music tent and the Castle Creek campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook around, it\u2019s unreal what you see here,\u201d he said, noting the Bucksbaum Campus\u2019s three orchestra-sized rehearsal halls, studios and pastoral Castle Creek setting. He also applauded the addition of Kay and Matthew Bucksbaum\u2019s New Horizons Fellowship, which provides financial aid to talented students who couldn\u2019t have afforded to study here 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are great talents that come here because of Kay Bucksbaum\u2019s vision and the New Horizons fellowship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Along with his work on stage with colleagues from around the world and his time with students in the studio, Aspen has been about family for Brevig and his wife, Berit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have four children and they grew up in Aspen,\u201d he said. \u201cThey know Aspen better an I do because they had time to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

His children, and now 10 grandchildren, have all maintained close relationships with Aspen. His son-in-law, Darrett Adkins, is on the cello faculty in Aspen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come to the festival, but it\u2019s not only that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the festival\u2019s closing weekend, Brevig will conduct Saturday\u2019s Aspen Contemporary Ensemble performance of a Paul Hindemith piece of chamber music for piano, two harps and a brass section.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s rather unusual,\u201d Brevig said of the German composer\u2019s composition, billed as part of Aspen\u2019s Bauhuaus 100 celebration. \u201cBut the piece is just wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the final note on Saturday, Brevig will start looking ahead to next summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m scaling down, doing less, but I\u2019m doing what I want to do,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat better life can you have?\u201d<\/p>\n

atravers@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Per Brevig with a student at the Aspen Music Festival and School in 2012Alex Irvin\/Courtesy photo As the Aspen Music Festival and School closes its 70th anniversary season this weekend, Per Brevig concludes his 50th summer on its faculty. The trombonist, conductor and teacher originally came to Aspen in 1970 at the invitation of Gordon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2447600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 02:59:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447600\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}