It's really hard to choose an ensemble name, as the members of the My Friend brass quintet can attest.
When their instructor Lauren Hunt first assigned chamber groups, she gave each one a different color as its name, so this group was initially called Yellow.
Up until the beginning of this recording session with IPR, these five Interlochen Arts Academy student musicians were still trying to choose from several options. (Sorry, Dr. Hunt, but "Yellow" wasn't in the running.)
They settled on "My Friend," but they also refer to themselves as "Five Peas in a Pod" or just "Friends."
They have also tried different configurations of the first letters of their first names, hoping to get a reasonable approximation of the word "jams," but the "H" in "Henry" kept thwarting them.
As of this session, they are now called My Friend - but stay tuned to see if they change it again.
The five musicians of My Friend performed the first movement of Eric Ewazen's "Frost Fire" during the recording session with IPR.
They're going on tour later this month with other Interlochen Arts Academy students. The tour includes side-by-side performances with students from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (LaGuardia) as well as chamber music performances at the Kaufman Music Center.
The members of My Friend spend a lot of time together here in northern Michigan, too. In fact, two of the quintet's members, trombonist Henry Price and tubist Jonathan Miller, are roommates.
At the beginning of the school year, the two thought it would be funny if they ended up in the same chamber group at some point. In fact, they've been playing together in chamber groups for the entire year.
"We keep each other accountable and make sure we're on time for rehearsals," Miller said.
"We always have a lot to talk about, both music and non-music stuff," Price added.
Musicians
Mauricio García de Jesús, trumpet, San Felipe Otlaltepec, Mexico
Annie Walton, trumpet, East Lansing, Mich.
Sophie Choy, horn, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Henry Price, trombone, Arlington, Va.
Jonathan Miller, tuba, St. Petersburg, Fla.
The My Friend quintet is coached by Lauren Hunt at Interlochen Arts Academy.
Kelley DiPasquale engineered this edition of Studio A.
