Fresno Philharmonic heralds a new season with acclaimed trumpeter Jens Lindemann
By A. N. Patterson
When Jens Lindemann was 12, he chose to play the drums for his first band experience.
But another instrument quickly made its bugle call.
“The trumpet picked me,” Lindemann said. “I didn’t pick the trumpet.”
When the test for trumpet players came, he ranked last out of 20, but by the end of the next year, Lindemann was on a path to a decorated career that has included many awards and honors.
In 2014, Lindemann became the first classical brass soloist to ever be named to the Order of Canada for outstanding skill.
Lindemann now teaches as a distinguished professor in UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music.
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The Grammy-nominated musician is the featured soloist in the opening concerts of the Fresno Philharmonic’s 72nd season this weekend (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, Shaghoian Concert Hall). The highlighted masterwork is Wynton Marsalis’ Trumpet Concerto, but the program also features works by Marquez and Stravinsky.
The 35-minute Trumpet Concerto is divided into six movements that will feature Lindemann playing seven different trumpets in several distinct styles. It will be the fourth time he has performed the piece.
In a phone conversation, Lindemann detailed his journey as a trumpet player and why the concerto is particularly special. Performing the piece requires being a well-rounded brass musician.
He recalled the process of becoming a more seasoned musician through the years.
“Growing up, I was very lucky to be in a band system where we had very committed band directors that wanted to show us as many styles as possible,” said Lindemann. “That’s something I really try to promote as a soloist and educator now, so this concerto is very important to me.”
Trained professionally at Juilliard School in New York and McGill University in Montreal, Lindemann has performed in many styles.
To Lindemann, what makes the concerto so profound is that it covers the styles that trumpet players need to demonstrate proficiency in. The language of the movements are best respectively paraphrased as fanfare, ballad, Latin, blues, French salon, and an homage to Stravinsky, he said.
Fresno Philharmonic Music Director Rei Hotoda had similar praise for the piece, calling it a journey through trumpet playing.
Hotoda compared the piece to a call-and-response, saying the orchestra will play part of the melody, with Lindemann masterfully responding for all 35 minutes.
The piece is particularly challenging because, according to Hotoda, practically every bar is in a different time meter. Hotoda explained that part of the genius of the piece is that it sounds very whimsical and improvisational, but it includes very dense compositional techniques.
“Each movement has a totally different feeling, so the audience will have something very unique to listen for,” Hotoda said.
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Hotoda spoke to Lindemann’s abilities, saying that having a concerto written by a trumpet player as incredible as Marsalis and having a trumpet player as masterful as Lindemann is a win-win for everyone.
The concerto is of great personal significance to Lindemann because of Marsalis’ stylistic versatility and genius.
“This is the concerto I have been waiting my entire career for,” said Lindemann. “It is the most complete picture of what the trumpet is capable of that has never been written in this genre.”
A. N. Patterson is a philosophy major at Fresno State studying aesthetics and psychoanalysis. He is an intern for The Munro Review, a position paid for by a grant received by the university from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
