Edward Carroll

Edward Carrolls career has taken so many abrupt twists and turns since he summoned forth his first radiantly unsophisticated blast on the cornet at age 6 that we might as well view it as an M. C. Escher drawing. He was greatly honored to play his trumpet at the funeral of the great Dutch/American abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning, wh... o once attended one of Eds concerts in New York City and remarked to his companion when I die, thats who I want to send me off. In addition to his life as a trumpeter, Ed has enjoyed an active musical life as a conductor, teacher, student, iconoclast, improviser, director, new music enthusiast, symphony musician, soloist, chamber musician, programmer, writer, reader, deep listener, father and husband. He intended differently but was easily distracted by new challenges. He now feels that hes finally settled into a second half of a career, focusing on teaching and occasionally conducting, that fits him like a well-worn pair of shoes and he doubts that there will be a third half. Ed is well known in the world for getting dangerously overexcited about every musical challenge that is put in front of him. Sometimes he really succeeds (you can read about it here) and sometimes he fails (rare moments best kept private), but each musical moment that Ed has involved himself in has reflected his total commitment and zeal. He likes to build things from the ground up and has learned, over time, to play well with others. Ed crosses musical generations, with one foot planted in the traditions of the past while the other is carefully searching for something new to explore. Once a devotee of Adolph Herseth and Maurice André, he now finds equal satisfaction in the work of Markus Stockhausen, Reinhold Friedrich, Gabriele Cassone, and Hkan Hardenberger. His best friends in music remain colleagues John Wallace, Mark Gould, Tom Stevens, Steve Burns, Tom Dambly, and Bob Brookmeyer. His listening is currently trending towards the compositions of Mark-Anthony Turnage, Tomas Ads, and the ...Read More