EWE Guest Conductor Brad Hogarth ’10E Reconnects with the Eastman Community

This Wednesday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m. Brad Hogarth ‘10E returns as a guest conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. For the concert he’ll lead Kenneth Amis’ Driven! and an arrangement of William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony. (See below for more details about this concert.)

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Brad is the Associate Professor of Conducting at San Francisco State University as well as the music director and conductor of the Art Haus Collective. Brad was recently named Artistic Advisor to the Monterey Symphony, is the music director and conductor of the Contra Costa Wind Symphony and is on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he conducts the Conservatory Wind Ensemble and Pre-College Contemporary Music Ensemble. This season he will make conducting debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Bay Brass, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.

Brad earned a Bachelors in Trumpet Performance and Music Education from the Eastman School of Music, spent a semester in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, and holds a master’s degree in Trumpet Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His principal trumpet teachers have been James Thompson and Mark Inouye.

Mason St. Pierre recently interviewed Brad about his thriving career and about the pieces he’ll conduct on Wednesday night.

 

Could you tell us about your time here at Eastman as an undergraduate? What were some of the highlights and some of the challenges?

My time as an undergraduate was extremely busy. I was a double degree student, studied abroad for a semester, and rarely said no to performing opportunities. Days and nights were packed with rehearsals and classes, and I loved it. The highlights were two-fold and connected, with lots of great music and community. There are countless musical performance highlights, like Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony with Philharmonia, playing in one of Frederick Fennell’s final rehearsals in Wind Orchestra, performing Frank Zappa’s music with Brad Lubman and Musica Nova, singing with St. Michael’s Chamber Singers, playing with Gamelan Lila Muni, endless chamber music with friends, lessons with Professor [James] Thompson, and many more.

The highlights that are coming back to me this week though while returning to conduct are the hundreds of memories and moments with my friends, colleagues, and teachers here. Eastman can be a difficult place: the schedule is grueling, the standards are high, and the winter is long, but my community is what helped carry me through the tough times.

 

How has Eastman prepared you for the professional world? What advice would you give to our current students?

I started my studies here in Trumpet Performance. After my first semester, with the enthusiastic support of Professor Thompson, I added the Music Education major. I had always loved teaching and was thrilled to study both. In my particular case, this turned out to be the most important decision I made here. I always appreciated that Eastman allowed me to pursue both paths fully, and that paved the way for my career today.

My advice to students is to seek out the information and experiences you want and pursue the interests you have. Attend different kinds of concerts/lectures/rehearsals/classes and be open to as many perspectives as you can. Find the musicians, both students and teachers that have the information or expertise you are interested in and learn from them!

 

Tell us about the upcoming performance on October 19 with The EWE. Are there any pieces in particular you are looking forward to performing? What does this ensemble mean to you?

I love both the pieces I will be conducting. Kenneth Amis is a phenomenal composer, and I have also been inspired by his tuba playing with Empire Brass for years. Driven! is fast, intense, and a ton of fun. William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony is an absolute masterpiece, truly one of the great American symphonies. It is such an honest and wonderful piece, full of life, emotion, jazz, and blues, and is one of my favorite pieces to share with musicians and audiences.

I owe a lot of my ensemble playing skills to the EWE. It’s the ensemble that gave me my sound concept, inspired me to improve, and gave me the opportunity to grow as a musician. It has been a true honor to work with the students, and I can’t wait to share the stage with them and Dr. Scatterday. Ivan Trevino and I went here together as well, so this concert feels extra special to be a part of!