The classical works of Vivaldi, Debussy and Bach matched perfectly with more contemporary works of Horowitz and Turrin during the final concert of Dr. P. Bradley Ulrich which was worthy of the name “Final Trumpet Extravaganza.”
The matching tones of Paul Merkelo and Ulrich’s trumpets reverberating throughout Coulter’s Recital Hall were coordinated with the expertise of two musicians that lived to make music. Adding the lush piano accompaniment skillfully played by Kevin Seal completed the brilliant trio of virtuosity as they glided through the Allegro from Vivaldi’s Concerto for two trumpets on March 28.
Ulrich displayed the versatility of a true artist, painting musical landscapes with Arthur Zanin on trumpet and Leonidas Lagrimas on piano performing Con-Brio composition from Joseph Horowitz.
Comedy was inserted throughout the concert as Ulrich and the other musicians shared their stories and experiences as friends and professionals to an audience of friends and colleagues from years gone by mixed with a few band members and music majors. The house went up in laughter as the preparation for the finale included a realization that both Merkelo and Ulrich were viewing the same part as they began the piece perfectly together with the same notes and identical rhythms.
After securing the correct parts, the musicians’ movements, bright tones, triple tonguing techniques, soaring high C notes and the occasional smirk from serious Merkelo showed the sheer joy in each musician sharing the stage in the swan song performance of Ulrich.
In an interview after the concert Ulrich described some of his experiences as a professor at WCU, his travels and his life passions. He explained how when he took the position at WCU at the age of 27, it was a much smaller music school, and he had seven different jobs.
He held three performance degrees in trumpet and had little experience with marching band. He started out as assistant director of the marching band and community orchestra conductor while also conducting the brass band and trumpet ensemble. He also taught music appreciation, brass methods and trumpet lessons.
“When I moved here, this school was 40 or 50 majors, and we’re now about 250 majors. There were five trumpet students, and some of them graduated, and then eventually I had like three or two or three,” Ulrich said. “Now at one point we had 27.”
He said that as the school of music grew, he was given more choices for what he wanted to drop from his schedule and what he wanted to focus on. As the longest serving member of the music faculty, he has seen many changes to the department over the years. The courses have changed and they are hiring younger professors now that bring a new energy to the school of music.
He said the unusual thing about working in a music school the size of Western’s is that all he has been teaching for the past several years is trumpet and trumpet masterclasses. He said because of the Pride of the Mountains marching band, WCU has become a “hotbed for trumpet players”. Bob Buckner, who built the Pride of the Mountains, was hired after Ulrich had been on the faculty for three years. Ulrich was there to reap the benefits of the trendsetting marching band.
“People like to brag, oh, our band’s the best, and this and that. But everybody knows this is where a lot of things were happening and still are happening. I mean, they’re trendsetters,” Ulrich said about the Pride of the Mountains. “The brass people want to come here. I don’t say it’s because of me. It’s because they hear our band. They do a lot of stuff, sometimes too much, but they’re out there. And if you’re a trumpet player, you hear that, it’s like you want to play.”
Ulrich smiled as he talked about his domestic and international trips he took with students throughout his career. One of his favorite trips was to a sister school in China and evidence of the trip is still on display in his office in Coulter. Traveling and taking students to Italy, Greece, Russia and South Africa over his career was one of his special memories.
“I was thinking the other day that I’ve done between 45 and 50 international trips. And one of the greatest ones, I started taking the quintet over. Each year we do an international trip,” Ulrich explained.
In retirement, Ulrich plans to travel more, repair used band instruments and donate them to schools, continue to play trumpet and learn more about World War I by walking through the ancient trenches, putting more videos on his World War I website that show him playing his trumpet to the cemeteries in Europe to “send the soldiers to their eternal homes.”
As he is packing his office and getting ready to say goodbye to this year graduating cohort of music students, he gave this advice for all in regard to life, work and retirement.
“Find a place that you’re happy with. That’s what I’ve done. And it’s really turned into a gold mine, my love is trumpet and that’s what I do. And people say, it’s not about the money. It’s finding something you love. It sounds so superficial, but I did that,” Ulrich said.
