ABOUT THE ARTIST Brian Popolo, trumpet Brian Popolo is a fourth-year Music Education major at West Chester University. An Easton native, Brian began playing the trumpet in the fourth grade and never looked back. In his time at West Chester Brian has had the opportunity to participate in countless ensembles, including Wind Ensemble, the Criterions Jazz Ensemble, the INCOMPARABLE Golden Rams Marching Band, Brass Ensemble, Trumpet Ensemble and many more. Some of Brian’s favorite memories at West Chester are traveling and competing in the National Trumpet Competition, traveling and performing at the 2026 PMEA All State Conference, and performing with the Ram Band in the 135th Rose Parade in 2024. In his free time, Brian enjoys watching football (Go Giants!), playing basketball, and spending time with his friends and family. After graduation, Brian plans to pursue a career as a music educator.
PROGRAM NOTES CONCERTO IN E-FLAT MAJOR (1796) Haydn’s concerto marked an important stage in the development of the trumpet. For several decades the use of the instrument had declined from its position of greatness during the baroque “golden age of brass.” The baroque trumpet was limited by its lack of valves to the natural harmonics of the upper register, and it remained for Anton Weidinger, a trumpeter in the Viennese court, to invent a trumpet with keys which could play a chromatic scale. Haydn wrote the concerto for Weidinger in 1796, and the trumpeter-inventor is credited with the first performance by a program that may be seen in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
CENTENNIAL HORIZON (2011) McKee’s Centennial Horizon was commissioned by Albany trumpeter Catherine Sheridan. With two contrasting movements (Aspen Grove" and "Roaring Gunnison) connected by an interlude. When writing this piece, McKee tried to capture the beauty and vibrancy of the state of Colorado because of the sentiment of his grandmother. I will be performing the second movement, Roaring Gunnison, on C trumpet.
SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME (1926) Someone to Watch Over Me is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical Oh, Kay! (1926), where it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence. Gershwin originally approached the song as an up-tempo jazz tune, but his brother Ira suggested that it might work much better as a ballad, and George ultimately agreed. It has been performed by numerous artists since its debut and is a jazz standard as well as a key work in the Great American Songbook. The arrangement by Turrin was made famous by late great Ryan Anthony, who has been an inspiration for me for as long as I can remember.
RHAPSODY IN BLUE (1924) In 1924, George Gershwin forgot a commitment he had made to bandleader Paul Whiteman and was compelled to compose Rhapsody in Blue in just three weeks. He premiered the jazz-flavored concerto with Whiteman’s Jazz Band, rather than the more familiar symphony orchestra arrangement. Gershwin played the piano part himself, as he said, “from the music in my mind,” since he hadn’t yet fully scored the music. Brandon and Rich Ridenour arranged the Gershwin classic for Solo Trumpet and Piano. After performing Rhapsody in Blue for in my High School’s Symphony Orchestra, I fell in love with both the piece and Gershwin’s writing.
I REMEMBER CLIFFORD (1956, ARR. 1991) I took inspiration for my arrangement of this piece from Sammy Nestico’s arrangement for big band, which I had the pleasure of performing with the Statesmen Jazz Ensemble as a featured soloist. One of my favorite standards of all time, being able to arrange and write this piece means a lot to me. This piece was written after the death of Clifford Brown, one of the great young trumpeters of all time. Brown tragically passed away in a car accident at the young age of twenty-five.
FULL MUNDI (2017) An original composition by Dr. William Stowman for a trumpet ensemble in which he participates, Tromba Mundi, Full Mundi serves as the theme song for their hit podcast “The Open Bell.” The main motif of this piece is derived from the old Twitter notification sound, which would be heard often times from Dr. Bryan Appleby-Wineberg’s phone during rehearsals and recording sessions. This trumpet ensemble, made up of all fourth-year music majors, have been playing in various trumpet ensembles together throughout our time at West Chester University. For more awesome music from this group, plan to attend the recitals of all of these musical men!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Brian would like to express his deepest gratitude to his family, friends, mentors, and everyone else who has helped and supported him on his journey to become the person he is today. Thank you to the Trumpet Studio for giving Brian a community to be proud to be a part of, and to the brothers of Phi Mu Alpha for their endless support of his endeavors. Thank you to Professor Skoniczin and Dr. Dobrzelewski for all you both have taught me.