A trumpet in violin's clothing

Juneau's Rick Trostel is the principal trumpet player in the Juneau Symphony, a music teacher at Harborview Montessori and an instructor for almost 70 students at his Thrush Hill music studio.

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Still, he feels conspicuous when he picks up his instrument of 33 years.

"In a way, as a musician, I feel like an impostor," said Trostel, 43, a former math and science teacher with a degree in biology. "It's been important to me all of my life, and yet I've had many people tell me many times that I wasn't good enough or I couldn't do this or you had to meet a certain standard or you'd never be able to be a musician."

Trostel's "good enough" that he's been the symphony's top trumpet player since he moved to Juneau 12 years ago. He's arranged his "Impostor Recital," his second recital of the year, for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 9161 Cinema Drive. Tickets are available at Hearthside Books and at the door.

Trostel will play on the trumpet two Romantic-period works originally composed for violin and a contemporary piece written for voice. Trostel will be accompanied by Sharon Cooper, the church pianist at Aldersgate.

"It's an impostor recital because the trumpet is playing violin and vocal music," Trostel said. "It's kind of like when you learn a different language, you learn so much more about your own language. I've lived in different countries and I've had the feeling of trying to be somebody else, of trying on a different disguise."

Trostel began playing with Cooper after his January recital - a program of standards at Aldersgate. As part of his fee, he offered to play at the church. Cooper asked to play in his next show.

"She's been a joy to work with," Trostel said. "She's committed to music, she has a wonderful touch and she's a hardworking person who really wants to see the music done right."

Saturday's performance will begin with Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's (1841-1904) four-movement "Sonatina." Dvorak wrote the piece in 1893 while he was working on "From the New World," his famous ninth symphony in E minor. "Sonatina" shares the melodies and the pentatonic structure of "From the New World."

Trostel first heard the work as an oboe and flute arrangement, then learned it was originally a violin piece. He plays it on piccolo trumpet - a four-valved instrument with the highest pitch of all trumpets.

"Dvorak is someone I enjoy as a symphonic composer, but it's great to play a violin piece," Trostel said. "It's really simple, but it's not innocent in its simplicity. The pentatonic scale gives it its simplicity, and it's a deep, lovely piece."

The show will continue with a B-flat trumpet interpretation of Spanish composer Pablo de Sarasate's (1844-1908) "Die Zigeunerweisen," a violin virtuoso standard.

"The piece itself is fluffy," Trostel said. "It's not nearly as deep as Dvorak, but it's fireworks and cannons and sheer excitement. The transcription is close to verbatim, but a trumpeter needs breaks that the violinist doesn't, so there are some considerations."

The night concludes with Manuel de Falla's (1876-1946) "Siete Canciones Populares," or "Seven Folk Songs," seven Spanish folk songs originally arranged in 1915 for piano and soprano voice. Trostel will play in C trumpet, a key to match the vocal part.

"The trumpet more than any instrument I know is a singing instrument," Trostel said. "The vocal chords are just moved from your throat to your lips and instead of a mouth changing the pitches or the diction, it's the instrument itself.

"With de Falla, I'm just playing the vocal part as written," he said. "These are the deepest, most beautiful of all the pieces. It's incredibly sublime, totally transcending beauty."