Curtain Call: Trumpeter Bruce Dresser likes pushing himself, on stage or off

trumpeter Bruce Dresser
Trumpeter Bruce Dresser will be playing in upcoming concerts with the Rogue Valley Symphony April 21-23 and Jefferson Baroque Orchestra May 7. Christopher Briscoe photo
April 19, 2023

Musician has upcoming performances with Rogue Valley Symphony and Jefferson Baroque

By Jim Flint for Ashland.news

Bruce Dresser likes to challenge himself.

He loves riding a bike and is especially exhilarated when pushing himself up a steep hill with the wind in his face, drinking in the views of his surroundings.

He’s a longtime blood platelets donor, so motivated by being able to help cancer patients and others in need that he has donated more than 200 units to the American Red Cross.

And…

A trumpet player with the Rogue Valley Symphony for the past 25 years, he also collaborates with other musicians, performs in several ensembles, teaches, and currently is tackling a very challenging brass quintet piece that has a passage he found virtually impossible to play at first.

He’s working on it.

Dresser, who lives in Phoenix, will be on stage Friday through Sunday, April 21-23, when RVS performs its season finale concert, “Masterworks 6: Celestial Pathways.”

Performances are scheduled at Medford’s Craterian Theater April 21-22 at 7:30 p.m., and at the Grants Pass Performing Arts Center April 23 at 3 p.m.

Bruce Dresser, right, pictured with trumpet colleague Charles Ryan after a January Rogue Valley Symphony concert, plays with many Rogue Valley orchestras, bands and ensembles.

Two pieces are on the program: “In the Tatras” by Vítězslav Novák and “The Planets” by Gustav Holst.
Dresser is particularly looking forward to playing “The Planets.”

“My favorite movements are ‘Mars, the Bringer of War,’ with its fierce, menacing ostinato; and ‘Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity,’ which is so full of joy,” he said.

Originally scored for four hands on two pianos, except for the last movement, it was later scored for orchestra with the help of colleagues. The suite includes seven movements, each named after a planet and its corresponding astrological character.

“’In the Tatras’ is also a great piece,” Dresser said. “Martin (Majkut) introduced it to us during his first year as music director. It’s very beautiful and evocative of the mountains of Martin’s Slovak homeland.”

Born in Oakland, California, Dresser spent most of his youth in Redwood City, earned a Bachelor of Music degree from San Francisco State University, and worked in the Bay Area before moving to southern Oregon in 1997.

“My wife and I were looking for a lower-stressed and slower-paced area to raise our 2-year-old daughter,” he said. “That summer, I was asked to play a wedding in Medford with a brass quintet. We all drove up for the gig, and after the wedding we went out looking for a place to live. We ended up putting an offer on a home in Ashland.”

He started learning how to play the trumpet when he was 10, inspired by the playing of Louis Armstrong and Rafael Mendez

“My first trumpet was an old used Olds Ambassador,” he said. “It was pretty banged up and a lot of the lacquer was missing, but it was mine and I was grateful to have it.”

By the time he was in high school, he was tackling the difficult and virtuosic Haydn Trumpet Concerto.

“Playing it with the school orchestra was my introduction to this concerto,” he said. Until the first rehearsal, it hadn’t dawned on him that it was a solo showcase. “I started to play my part and realized, wow, this is a big piece for trumpet!”

After he moved to Oregon, he went back to school and earned a Master of Arts in teaching from Southern Oregon University.

Although performing has been the focus of his life, he’s had a number of day jobs along the way, including 20 years as a technical writer in the Bay Area.

And after receiving his master’s from SOU, he taught part-time at Ashland Middle School for over 10 years. Since then, he’s considered himself semiretired, but continues to teach and coach at AMS as well as teaching band, orchestra and some nonmusical subjects in several Rogue Valley school districts.

All the while, his instrument has been front and center. If you’re going to play trumpet professionally, the how-to-get-to-Carnegie-Hall advice still applies: practice, practice, practice.

“Playing the trumpet is very physical and unrelenting,” he said. “I have to play every day to keep in shape sufficient to play at a high level.”

His practice sessions usually start with a warmup routine. Then he plays advanced and technical studies, and finishes practicing whatever orchestra, band or brass quintet music he has coming up.

“I consider myself to be a lifelong learner,” he said, “and frequently try out different methods of warming up.”

Playing any instrument involves achieving a balance between the technical demands and emotional expression required.

“I’m always trying to go for a beautiful sound when I play,” Dresser said. “I try to interpret the music so that I’m telling a story. The trumpet is technically challenging, but feeing the connection to the music itself helps to deal with the challenges.”

Classical is his favorite, but he also enjoys playing jazz and other styles.

Dresser, seen here in the pit at Oregon Cabaret Theater for the musical “In the Heights,” is a 25-year veteran of the Rogue Valley Symphony.

“I’m not good at improvising, but I attempt it,” he said. “Several years ago, I played with Leslie Kendall and the Jump Daddies. We played at the Medford Jazz Festival several times. Earlier, in the Bay Area, I played with the Pacific Ragtime Orchestra, another style of music I enjoy playing.”

A couple of years ago, he played a celebration of life event at the Jackson County Fairgrounds with pianist Andrea Brock and soprano Jennifer Matsuura. “They are such great musicians,” he said. “It was a beautiful and memorable experience.”

More recently, Dresser played for “In the Heights” at Oregon Cabaret Theatre. The musical had a lot of Latin-style charts.

“I found it challenging, especially rhythmically, but ultimately I got it,” he said. “It was exciting to get in the groove and let it rip!”

Dresser is a member of the Rogue Valley Symphonic Band, the Ashland City Band and the Jefferson State Brass. He also has played in orchestras for the Siskiyou Singers, the Rogue Valley Chorale and the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers. He has an upcoming concert May 7 with the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra, playing on natural trumpet.

His favorite orchestral piece to play is Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” arranged by Maurice Ravel.

“There are great trumpet parts throughout,” he said, “including the iconic opening ‘Promenade’ movement. I also love Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, again with an iconic opening trumpet part.”

Playing in an orchestra is not all about “dazzling” or “sublime.” Sometimes “unnerving” or “embarrassing” can sneak into the equation.

Like the time he was playing an RVS concert many years ago at the old South Medford High School auditorium. “We were playing ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’ at the end of ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ when the lights went out. We miraculously kept playing until the lights came back on, and we were able to finish the piece.”

Or like the time about 10 years ago on a rainy evening when RVS was playing a concert at The Craterian.

“Unbeknownst to me, my music for the Kodaly Concerto for Orchestra had slipped out of my folder when I was getting out of the car,” he said.

“On stage, when I opened my folder to start the concerto, I was shocked to see the music wasn’t there. I ended up more or less faking it to the end of the piece, playing what I remembered and looking at the second trumpet part for cues.

“When I went back to my car after the concert, I found the music lying underneath my car, not even getting wet in the rain.”

He’s gratified to have been a part of the RVS for more than 25 years, playing wonderful music and seeing the orchestra improve over time. But one of his most memorable moments involved playing with his daughter, Alison.

“She plays horn in the Indianapolis Symphony,” he said. “She’s forged a career for herself through innate talent, practice and great teachers.”

One of his proudest times was when she was still in high school. The two of them were hired to play in the orchestra for Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Pirates of Penzance.”

“It was a wonderful summer of playing delightful music with her and with great friends and colleagues.”

If you are interested in catching Dresser playing delightful music with friends, you can purchase tickets to one of the performances of RVS’s season finale concert April 21-23. For Craterian tickets, go to craterian.org or call the box office at (541) 779-3000. For the Grants Pass concert, go to rvsymphony.org or call (541) 708-6400.

For more information and to purchase tickets to the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra concert at 3 p.m. May 7 at Ashland’s First United Methodist Church, go to jeffersonbaroque.org.

Reach writer Jim Flint at [email protected].

Picture of Jim

Jim

Related Posts...

Our Sponsors

Klamath Bird Observatory Experience the wonders of Souteast Brazil Ashland Oregon
Conscious Design Build Ashland Oregon
Pronto Printing Ashland Medford Southern Oregon

Latest posts

Our Sponsors

City of Ashland Public Notice Ashland Oregon
Ashland Parks and Recreation Ashland Oregon
Ashland.news House Ad

Explore More...

A majority of some 380 striking nurses at Providence Medford Medical Center have rejected the health care system's latest contract offer, joining thousands of other nurses around the state who remain on strike going into their fifth week. It is the largest healthcare worker strike in Oregon history.
Anima Mundi Productions presented internationally acclaimed Israeli cellist Amit Peled and leading Spanish concert pianist, Daniel Del Pino, in a memorable concert celebrating Jewish musical tradition presented through the Oregon Center for the Arts in the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall on Sunday.
Internationally acclaimed Israeli-American cellist Amit Peled, in town to perform a sold-out concert at Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall on Sunday, Feb. 2, gave a lively, entertaining and highly instructive master class at Ashland High School on Friday, Jan. 31.
The Friends of Hannon Library will host a panel discussion on "Information, Misinformation, and Disinformation" from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13. More and more, researchers, students, and citizens face a landscape of incomplete, incorrect and untrustworthy information.
Reader Photo: Diane Toth took this photo of finches on a line providing a collorful contrast to a gray snowy day while awaiting their turn at a snow-capped bird feeder.
ashland.news logo

Subscribe to the newsletter and get local news sent directly to your inbox.

(It’s free)

Don't Miss Our Top Stories

Get our newsletter delivered to your inbox three times a week.
It’s FREE and you can cancel anytime.