Published: April 10, 2009 12:52 pm      

Head of the brass

Trumpeter in lead seat with symphony

As principal trumpeter for Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, Kevin Eisensmith doesn’t toot his own horn.

Eisensmith has been with the symphony since 1998, when he first came to teach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

“Many other faculty members played with the symphony, and they suggested I contact Maestro (Istvan) Jaray,” Eisensmith said. “I told him I was new to the faculty and available to play, and I was made substitute trumpeter my first year.

“Some pieces use additional trumpet players, and my idea was to be available if they needed a fourth or fifth trumpet.

“That way I could get to know the orchestra, and they could get to know me for future reference.”

Eisensmith was offered the position of principal trumpeter in 1999.

In the lead position, his job is to coordinate the trumpet section, making sure all players agree on how loud or soft to play and which notes will be accented.

“We work as a group, playing the same thing at the same time,” Eisensmith said.

Sitting beside the principal horn player and in front of the principal trombonist, Eisensmith can communicate with them and make decisions comparable to the other sections.

“Within the brass area, we can play as one big instrument,” he said.

Eisensmith said the Johnstown Symphony has three trumpeters, but some music was written for only two.

“A classical symphony usually has two parts, but most orchestras have three and contract for three,” he said. “When four to six or more are called for, they have an on-call list for those parts.”

As a trumpet professor at IUP, Eisensmith wants his students to be prepared for whatever opportunities would come along.

“Different doors will open for each student,” he said. “I want them to be better players and musicians.

“I have high standards and expectations and know better what they are capable of playing than they do themselves,” he said.

Some of Eisensmith’s students go into the teaching profession, while others audition for military bands to hone their skills or continue their educations in master’s programs.

Because Eisensmith has had experience in all three, he can refer students or encourage them to get in contact with people he knows.

He teaches freshmen and sophomores at IUP as well as graduate students. In the evenings, he offers private lessons to junior high and senior high students.

“I enjoy what I do,” Eisensmith said. “I’ve been told you don’t choose music as a career, it chooses you. You have to be committed to what I believe is a calling.”

Before coming to IUP and Johnstown Symphony, Eisensmith taught at Eastern Kentucky University for eight years and was principal trumpeter for Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra.

He also performed as principal trumpeter with many regional orchestras in the Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas and also frequently served as an extra trumpeter with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Eisensmith began his musical journey when he took up the trumpet while in the fourth grade in the York city schools.

“My parents liked Herb Alpert recordings, and I liked the sound of the trumpet, so that was my choice,” he said.

He performed with Mannheim Steamroller when the group performed at IUP last year. He also performed with Olivia Newton-John and LeAnn Rimes during their appearances at the university.

“An artist will come to town looking for a local contractor to put together a band,” Eisensmith said. “I also did it when I lived in Philadelphia and Atlanta.”

Mannheim Steamroller needed strings, a horn, trumpet and percussion, so Eisensmith cast himself as the trumpeter and enlisted fellow symphony members for the other parts.

He also put together a 50-piece orchestra for Newton-John using students, IUP faculty, symphony members and union musicians.

He was the solo trumpeter with the U.S. Armed Forces Command Band in Atlanta from 1979 to 1984 and directs and plays with the IUP Jazz Ensemble.

When he isn’t involved in music, Eisensmith enjoys gardening and taking walks with his wife, Kathy.

“We like to go to national parks on vacation,” he said.

“We like the outdoors.”