The Operatic Trumpet

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – It is the sound of kings and heroes, of triumph and dire warnings. It’s the call to arms and to eternal rest. The noble procession, the sound of climactic moments of joy, passion and despair… From Jericho to judgement day, from animal horn and the hollow thighbone of an enemy to hammered brass, valves, and pistons, the iconic sound of the trumpet echoes through our common human experience. 

Join conductor and educator Oliver Prezant and master trumpeter Peter Bond for an interactive exploration of the evolving role of the trumpet in opera. During the presentation, Peter will play excerpts from Baroque, Classical and Romantic operas, and Oliver will share insights on the music, the composers, and the librettists. In addition, we’ll hear Peter play a famous aria for us as we look at the extraordinary influence of 19^th century Romantic “bel canto” singing on the art and craft of trumpet playing.   

The program takes place on Friday, September 6, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the recital hall at Robertson & Sons Violin Shop, 3201 Carlisle Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110.  

“The trumpet is an iconic instrument, and Peter is a great, great trumpet player,” said Prezant. “We’ve been having a really good time talking about the relationship of great singing and great trumpet playing, which really became a thing when valves were introduced in the early 1800s. So we said, let’s get a bunch of different trumpets and give people an insider’s view of how trumpet playing changed over time, and how the writing for the trumpet became more ‘operatic’ when valves were introduced in the early 1800s.” 

“In addition to playing all kinds of music, from marching band to the circus to big band jazz to the classic symphonic repertoire, Peter spent almost 30 years in the orchestra at the Metropolitan Opera in New York,” said Prezant, “so he knows a thing or two about opera. I’ve been lecturing here in Santa Fe for most of that time, so we have opera in common. We both played in the New Mexico Symphony back in the day, when I was a violist, so we have common roots there, too. And yes, you’re going to hear the famous Ride of the Valkyries during the presentation, we promise, and lots of other famous music, too!” 

Click on “Buy Tickets” above to purchase.

Thanks to our generous donors, Alice and Bill Fienning, in honor of Peter Bond, and Martha Ritchie.

Program and artists subject to change. 

This program is a presentation of Opus OP Arts and Education Projects.

Artist bios below.

Please support us with an additional donation at checkout! Your charitable donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. 

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Photo captions and credits:

Conductor and arts educator Oliver Prezant: Ruthanne Greeley

Peter Bond, trumpet: Oliver Prezant

Artist Biographies:

Peter Bond has a somewhat unusual background for an orchestral (or operatic)  trumpet player. Growing up in Rockford, Illinois, his musical passions were competition drum and bugle corps, and big band jazz; no prestigious music festivals or famous teachers for him! Sleeping on buses and blowing his head off while marching around on football fields was the life! This behavior continued through undergraduate days at Western Illinois University. Hey, it kept him out of prison. After college, reluctant to face conventional employment, Mr Bond "ran away with the circus," spending a year on the road with a small motor show as a musician and roustabout. The next chapter involved graduate work at Georgia State University in Atlanta, where he got serious and began earnest study of orchestral playing under John Head, Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony. Head became a mentor and helped Mr. Bond establish a successful freelance career. In 1987, after seven years of playing every kind of musical engagement, he took his first professional orchestra audition and was appointed Principal Trumpet of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra in Albuquerque. During his NMSO years, Mr. Bond continued his studies on an "outpatient basis" with members of he Chicago Symphony's famous brass section. Five years and ten auditions later, he entered the world of opera with a successful audition for a position with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where he remained for 28 years, retiring in 2020. Retirement called for a change of scenery, and fond memories of New Mexico brought Mr. Bond and his 29-year-old wife of 42 years, Carla Reilly Bond (an Early Music singer and scholar) back to the Land of Enchantment (and green chiles). Since "retiring" Mr. Bond has been rather busy, playing as needed with the Santa Fe Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Opera Southwest, Santa Fe Pro Musica, and the New Mexico Performing Arts Society, among other area groups. Mr. Bond also remains active as a teacher and clinician, and his method book "The Singing Trumpet" has been a best seller (of the genre) for Carl Fischer Music.

Conductor and arts educator Oliver Prezant is the executive and artistic director of Opus OP Arts and Education Projects, which provides unique programs for listeners, musicians, and teachers in northern New Mexico. A popular lecturer for The Santa Fe Opera for many years, he has also presented lectures and education programs for arts organizations including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Performance Santa Fe, the Tanglewood Association of Volunteers, Road Scholar, the Guilds of the Santa Fe and San Francisco Opera companies. In addition, he has presented programs on the relationship of art and music for the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, the Albuquerque Museum of Art, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art. As the music director and conductor of the Santa Fe Community Orchestra for twenty years, he worked with community musicians and choristers, professional soloists, public school music students, composers, creative artists, and community partners from Santa Fe and northern New Mexico to present a wide variety of innovative performances, unique education programs, and community collaborations. His notable compositions include The Butterfly (La Mariposa)for storyteller and orchestra, songs in a variety of genres, and educational pieces for student ensembles. Oliver was one of the founding teaching artists in Partners in Education’s ArtWorks Program, a Lincoln Center-inspired arts education program which provides workshops for Santa Fe Public Schools students and teachers in the areas of music, poetry, visual art, theater, and dance. As the artistic advisor to the program, he trained teaching artists and classroom teachers, and coordinated with area poets, museums, and other arts organizations. He studied at the Mannes College of Music in New York City and the Pierre Monteux School for conductors in Hancock, Maine, and was an Assistant Professor in the Contemporary Music Program at the College of Santa Fe and an instructor at Santa Fe University of Art and Design.