Building it Better: An Interview with Carol Jantsch

We are thrilled to have had the chance to interview Carol Jantsch, tuba! Carol is an incredible musician and, as her interview responses make clear, she is also a thoughtful, engaging person (with an astonishing number of projects going on)! Thanks to Carol for making the time to respond to these questions.

Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as having “a sound as clear and sure as it [is] luxurious,” Carol Jantsch has been principal tuba of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 2006. She won the position during her senior year at the University of Michigan, becoming the first female tuba player in a major symphony orchestra. In addition to her duties in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ms. Jantsch is a renowned tuba soloist. She also teaches masterclasses internationally and is on the faculty at the Yale University School of Music and Temple University’s Boyer College of Music. See the end of this post for her full-length bio.

Interview

Brass Chicks: From ultimate frisbee to tuba throwing, marathon running to yoga, you have tried a broad variety of forms of exercise over the course of your professional tuba career. How have different kinds of athletic activity influenced or related to the way you play?

Carol Jantsch: Listing them all like that makes me seem a bit like a crazy person, which may in fact be the case—although I go rock climbing more often than tuba throwing these days! Playing any instrument is a physical endeavor, so staying generally active and healthy helps with ease of playing and longevity. Yoga has probably been the most applicable to brass playing for me, in that it teaches a higher level of bodily awareness and more specific muscle control.  Continue reading

The Brass Herald continues “Ladies of Brass” Series

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The Brass Herald‘s new February, 2017 issue continues a series started in December, 2015. Titled “Ladies of Brass,” the February publication features the trombone section of the Monarch brass on its cover. The 92-page magazine also includes a five-page interview with virtuoso tubist Joanna Ross Hersey and content written by the Monarch Brass, the IWBC, the Seraph Brass, and Amy Schumaker Bliss, and Mary Galime (of the Alliance Brass).  Continue reading

Hanae Yoshida, Trombone and Cristina Cutts Dougherty, Tuba Perform at YoungArts 2017

A highlight of this year’s National YoungArts Week (January 8-15) was Hanae Yoshida and Cristina Cutts Dougherty’s dynamic performance of John Stevens’ Dialogues for Tuba and Trombone (1983):

These young women’s beautiful playing is evidence that the future of brass music is surely female!  Congratulations for Hanae and Cristina on your lovely performance.