WELCOME
from
Dave Saltzman, co-host
Brendan Ige, co-host
On behalf of ITEA it is a distinct honor and privilege to welcome all of you to the beautiful campus of Bowling Green State University and the 2024 MidWest Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference!! Dr. Ige and I are excited to host this event and it is our desire to make this conference as inclusive, exciting, musically rewarding, and fun as we can.
From the time of Bill Bell and his informal conversations about the tuba at McSorley’s Old Ale House, to Harvey Phillips and all who were present at the first international Tuba Symposium in 1973, to Deanna Swoboda’s incredible ITEC conference last summer in Arizona, these annual meetings have a huge impact on how we and our shared communities see, hear, and write music for our instruments. Through shared learning and group gatherings like these events we nurture, grow, and evolve as musicians, students, and people. I can still remember traveling to my first conferences as a student and hope that you leave here as excited and energized about the future of the tuba and euphonium as I did back in 1992.
Spend some time listening to music and artists you both know and have never heard of; try out new instruments, mouthpieces and other toys at our vendor locations; attend the masterclasses and lectures and find pointers for your summer practice; and most importantly connect with colleagues and make new friends as you spend time here on campus this weekend.
We are so thrilled that each, and every one of you is here! Be safe, enjoy, eat good food, and have a wonderful time here at MWRTEC 2024!!!
Most sincerely,
Dave Saltzman
MWRTEC 2024 Co-host
Associate Teaching Professor of Tuba and Euphonium, BGSU
Visiting Professor of Tuba, Oberlin Conservatory
Principal Tuba Toledo Symphony Orchestra
Principal Tuba Glimmerglass Opera Festival
On behalf of the International Tuba Euphonium Association (ITEA), I am overjoyed to welcome you to my alma mater, Bowling Green State University (BGSU), for the 2024 MidWest Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference (MWRTEC). Professor David Saltzman and I have been looking forward to these next four days for almost an entire year. We are humbled to have been given the opportunity to organize this event and have endeavored to make it a safe and artistically fulfilling event. Music is first and foremost about community and coming together. These events provide us with an opportunity to gather and celebrate a common interest.
My first tuba conference that I attended was while I was a student at BGSU. At that conference I was happy to be a spectator and perform with the ensemble. As years went on, I’ve been lucky enough to be a competitor, a judge, a competition coordinator, a featured performer, an author for the ITEA journal, a featured virtual performer, a warm-up clinician, and finally today a co-host. The skills I have gained participating in all those things have been paramount to my professional success. The friendships and relationships that I have forged have been invaluable, not just to my career, but more importantly my personal life and well-being.
I hope that everyone gets as much out of ITEA as I have and am full of gratitude for the opportunity to co-host a conference and give back to this community. Thank you all for being here, from the artists volunteering their time, the collaborative pianists, the competitors and most of all, the participants. This conference is for us, as collective musicians and low brass instrumentalists. Let’s make the most of these next few days!
Finally, I really hope to meet you all– please stop me and introduce yourself if you see me.
With warmth,
Brendan Ige
Instructor of Tuba and Euphonium, Eastern Michigan University
President, Tuba-Euphonium Social Justice Initiative
Updated: 05/15/2024 11:09AM