At the invitation of the music association, Anbima, euphonium star Steven Mead recently returned to northern Italy for the fourth in an annual series of masterclass and recitals for the low brass players of the region to the north of Milan.

Day long course

This year, the day long course was set on the edge of Lago Maggiore, in the town of Ghiffa.

A large and enthusiastic group of students aged between 12 & 75 studied with Steve all day, learning skills such as early breathing exercises, mouthpiece and oral cavity expansion exercises, tone production, sound enhancement, range building exercises and flexibility work, before moving on to daily routines and drills!

It was an amazing evening, with enthusiastic standing ovations greeting the final pieces. It was wonderful for me to hear my Besson Prestige ring around the ancient church to startling effectSteven Mead

Good lunch

With around 30 students taking part and around 20 listeners, there was a terrific atmosphere, enhanced by a spectacularly good lunch.

Feeling refreshed, the studies continued in the afternoon, with 6 of the musicians performing solo works for Steve in front of the assembled group.

To conclude the afternoon session the combined group worked on and then performed 'Dances' by John Stevens.

Outstanding

Ending around 5pm with presentations and speeches, Steve was rushed to rehearse the entire programme for the evening recital with the outstanding local pianist Roberto Olzer.

It was clear to Steve from the outset that the evening recital was going to be something special, even given the rigours of the long day, as Roberto was immaculately prepared, with great technique and musical flexibility.

Beautiful church

With around 200 people in the beautiful old church near Verbania, the recital was one of the best Steve believes he has given.

He told 4BR: "It was an amazing evening, with enthusiastic standing ovations greeting the final pieces. It was wonderful for me to hear my Besson Prestige ring around the ancient church to startling effect."

Remarkable

Speeches and presentations concluded the evening on what had been a quite remarkable day in the north of Italy. All the musicians returned home motivated and enthused with what they had experienced during the day and evening concert.