April 20, 2015
Judges Comments, Rouse Trombone Concerto, 2015 Woolsey Concerto Competition:
Judge 1
"Wow! Rhythmically stunning. Very impressive performance and fantastic player."
Judge 2
"What a tour de force! Great playing and worth while effort to bring this piece to such a high level."
Judge 3
"Great trombonist. Incredibly impressive performance. Especially liked the softer end of the dynamics. Sound always stayed clean and clear. Would love to hear the piece in its full orchestration. Also very impressed by the piano reduction. Not an easy task to take on and it was very well done."
April 2, 2015
"Curtis played a very impressive recital! It was extremely demanding and he performed with great precision and displayed no signs of fatigue during the recital.
"His most challenging piece was the Christopher Rouse Concerto which he will perform again several weeks from now as a finalist for the YSM Concerto Competition. Curtis made a piano reduction of the orchestra part since the existing part isn't particularly idiomatic for the piano. This was a major undertaking and the result was very effective. This piece is extreme in range and rhythmic difficulty. Curtis has prepared extremely well and everything was rock solid.
"Intonation, rhythm and balance with his collaborating musicians was impeccable all evening. Curtis has much improved in every aspect of his playing during his time at Yale. I am very pleased with his work and this recital demonstrates his immense accomplishments. Congratulations Curtis!!"
-Scott Hartman, Yale University
