Summer Trumpet Institute

Welcome to the Capital Region Summer Trumpet Institute

Monday-Thursday, June 30-July 3, 2025, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Trumpet students in the band room during Trumpet Camp 2024.

Our second annual trumpet institute is now accepting registrations. This summer institute is a four-day intensive seminar at the SUNY School of Music in Schenectady, NY, for middle school and high school students ages 11-18. It is dedicated to the study of the trumpet, although other brass players are also welcome. Students will participate in rehearsals, masterclasses, jam sessions, musicianship classes, and concerts! The institute is led by Dr. Allyson Keyser, trumpet professor and Band Director at the College and features some of the top freelance musicians and educators in the area. The Summer Trumpet Institute will provide students with an educational laboratory to learn, play, and listen. Teachers who would like to audit the session are also welcome.

Sample Schedule

Please Note: The following is subject to change. Please keep an eye out on your email for any updates.

If students would like to arrive early to warm-up, practice rooms are available starting at 8:30 a.m.

Monday

9:00 a.m.: Check-in/individual warm-up - front desk of School of Music/practice rooms
9:15 a.m.: Camp meeting and introductions (Room 215); Icebreaker- How you got your start on trumpet/Favorite piece you ever played?
9:30 a.m.: Group Warm-up Sessions and Small Ensemble Rehearsals
Group Level 3 - Room 215 with Mr. John Fatuzzo
Group Level 2A - Room 120 with Dr. Nikola Tomic
Group Level 2B - On Stage with Dr. Keyser
Group Level 1 - Studio with Mr. Jake DiMirra
11:00 a.m.: Intro to Jazz Improv - Session #1 Rhythmic Variations and how to listen and play off your group (if jazz rhythm section available) - with Nikola Tomic (On Stage)
12:00 pm: Lunch and Time to Relax/Socialize/Play Outside/Practice (Room 215)
1:00 p.m.: Faculty Informal Rehearsal/Recital Preparation Observation (Room 215)
Wrath by Jen Fox Oliverio (brand new work with no recording)
Bugler’s Holiday by Leroy Anderson (standard work)
1:45 p.m.: Large Trumpet Ensemble Rehearsal - Piece TBA, (Room 215) Led by John Fatuzzo
2:30 p.m.: Clinic on Building a Practice Session, John Fatuzzo (On Stage, Room 215)
3:15 p.m.: Large Brass Ensemble Rehearsal (with Trombone Institute) (On Stage)
4:00 p.m.: Sign out/Parents Pickup in School of Music Lobby OR practice time/private lessons

Tuesday - Guest Artist Day- Landon Gray (trumpet) and Mark Kellogg (trombone)

9:00 a.m.: Check-in/Socialize/Warm-Up - front desk of School of Music/practice rooms

9:15 a.m.: Warmups with Landon Gray (Room 215)

10:00 a.m.: Small Trumpet Ensembles Rehearsal (Landon Gray visits each rehearsal for 20 mins)

Group Level 3 - On Stage with Dr. Keyser

Group Level 2A - Room 215 with John Fatuzzo

Group Level 2B - Studio with Mr. Jake DiMirra

Group Level 1 - Room 120 with Dr. Nikola Tomic

11:00 a.m.: Guest Artist Option 1 - The Orchestral Audition Processes:
Preparation for Auditions with Landon Gray (Room 215)

How to Recover from Loss and Trying Again
Winning the Gig

Guest Artist Option 2- Jazz Improvisation Masterclass with Mark Kellogg (Room 139)

12:00 p.m.: Lunch and Time to Relax/Socialize/Play Outside/Practice (Room 215)

1:00 p.m.: How to analyze and find your sound: Led by John Fatuzzo with Panel Discussion (Room 215)

2:00 p.m.: Large Trumpet Choir Rehearsal (Room 215)

2:30 p.m.: Masterclass with Landon Gray, principal trumpet of Schenectady-Saratoga Symphony, (On Stage)

3:15 p.m.: Large Brass Ensemble Rehearsal (with Trombone Institute) (On Stage)

4:00 p.m.: Sign out/Parents Pickup in School of Music Lobby OR practice time/private lessons

Wednesday - John Keal Music Day

9:00 a.m.: Check-in/Socialize/Individual Warm-up - front desk of School of Music/practice rooms

9:30 a.m.: Warm-up Sessions and Small Ensemble Rehearsals

Group Level 3 - Studio with Dr. Nikola Tomic

Group Level 2A - Room 120 with Mr. Jake DiMirra

Group Level 2B - Room 215 with Mr. John Fatuzzo

Group Level 1 - On Stage with Dr. Keyser

11:00 a.m.: Intro to Jazz Improv- Session #2 Melodic Ideas and Building a Story with Dr. Nikola Tomic (On Stage)

12:00 p.m.: Lunch and Time to Relax/Socialize/Play Outside/Practice

1:00 p.m.: John Keal Presentation by Declan Lynch - Instrument brands, mutes, mouthpieces (Room 215)

2:00 p.m.: Trumpet Choir Rehearsal (On Stage)

2:30 p.m.: Masterclass with Dr. Allyson Keyser (On Stage)

3:30 p.m.: Large Brass Ensemble Rehearsal (with trombone institute) (On Stage)

4:00 p.m.: Sign out/Parents Pickup/Private Lessons - School of Music Lobby

Thursday

9:00 a.m.: Check-in/Socialize/Individual Warm-up - front desk of School of Music/practice rooms

9:15 a.m.: Warm-up Sessions and Small Ensemble Rehearsals

Group Level 3 - Studio with Dr. Keyser

Group Level 2A - Room 139 with Dr. Nikola Tomic

Group Level 2B - Room 215 with Eric Achzet

Group Level 1 - On Stage with Mr. Jake DiMirra

11:00 a.m.: Intro to Jazz Improv- Session #3 Understanding Harmony (Room 215)

12:00 p.m.: Lunch and Time to Relax/Socialize/Play Outside/Practice (Room 215)

1:00 p.m.: Trumpet Choir/Small Ensembles Dress Rehearsal (On Stage)

2:00 p.m.: Panel Discussion: How to stay engaged with music opportunities throughout the rest of the school year? Q&A (Room 215)

3:00 p.m.: Final concert featuring Mass Trumpet Choir, Small Trumpet Ensembles, Trombone Quartets, Mass Trombone Ensemble, and Mass Brass Ensemble - free and open to the public (On Stage)

4:00 p.m.: QR Code Evaluations/Sign out/Parents Pickup - School of Music Lobby

How to Sign Up and Cost

Cost: $250 per student
Individual lessons are available starting at 4 p.m. for an additional fee of $30 for 30-minutes or $60 for 60-minutes

Payment is due at time of registration

Registration deadline: June 15, 2025
If you have any questions, please contact keyserab@sunysccc.edu.

Faculty

Dr. Allyson Keyser

Allyson Keyser is a tenured Professor of Music at SUNY Schenectady County Community College where she instructs the trumpet studio, coaches brass ensembles, teaches core music classes, directs the Wind Ensemble, and is the Winds and Strings Department Chair. Dr. Keyser received her bachelor's degree in music education from Virginia Commonwealth University and her M.M. and D.M.A. in trumpet performance with a cognate in instrumental conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was the trumpet teaching assistant.

In 2017, Dr. Keyser won the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Prior to her appointment at SUNY Schenectady, Dr. Keyser taught trumpet, theory, aural skills, and coached brass ensembles at Virginia Commonwealth University as a sabbatical replacement for her former professor, Rex Richardson. Dr. Keyser currently performs as principal trumpet and assistant conductor of the Capital Region Wind Ensemble. She leads the SUNY Schenectady Concert Brass Quintet, plays principal trumpet with Albany Pro Musica, is a member of the Schenectady-Saratoga Symphony, and often performs with the Albany Symphony, Glens Falls Symphony, and Saratoga Voices among many other fine ensembles in the area. She recently performed and recorded a new work with the American Modern Ensemble on Albany Records.

Dr. Keyser often presents trumpet clinics and conducting workshops at K-12 schools, universities, and music conferences across NY state. Additionally, she presents topics to area music programs on audition preparation, performance anxiety, programming, and alternative careers in music. She performs as an active freelance musician and maintains a trumpet studio of all ages and levels in the Capital Region of New York. Her specialty is working with students who have technical or physical challenges on their instruments, helping them learn to play with ease, and removing roadblocks so that they can fully enjoy the process of making beautiful music with confidence.

Jake DiMirra

Jake DiMirra is currently the 4th and 5th Grade Band Director at Stillwater Elementary School. Previously, Jake served as an Elementary Band and Orchestra Director in West Hartford Public Schools. During the 2023-2024 school year, Jake was selected as a conductor for West Hartford’s Inter-Elementary Honors Band.

Mr. DiMirra is a graduate of University of Saint Joseph, where he earned an M.A. in Education with a concentration in the Multiple Intelligences Theory. He graduated from University of Hartford’s The Hartt School in May 2020 with a degree in Music Education. During his time in Connecticut, he studied trumpet with Phil Snedecor and was the conductor of the Chancel Choir at First Church of Christ Simsbury. Before attending The Hartt School Mr. DiMirra earned an A.A. degree in Trumpet Performance with Dr. Allyson Keyser at SUNY Schenectady County Community College in Schenectady, New York. While attending SUNY Schenectady he was a regular guest musician with Empire State Youth Orchestra in addition to performing with Capital Region Wind Ensemble and Albany Pro Musica.

John Fatuzzo

John Fatuzzo is a music educator and professional trumpeter from New York’s Capital Region. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with James Thompson, former Principal Trumpet of the Montreal and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Mr. Fatuzzo is currently on the music faculty at Guilderland Central High School, where he directs the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble. The 2023 recipient of the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Early Career Achievement Award, Mr. Fatuzzo’s ensembles have exclusively received Gold and Gold with Distinction ratings at NYSSMA Major Organization Festivals. He has made guest conducting appearances with the Schenectady and Greene County High School All-County Bands as well as the Guilderland Town Band. Mr. Fatuzzo regularly coaches symphonic brass and orchestral winds sectionals for the Empire State Youth Orchestras in addition to annually serving on their trumpet audition panel. Mr. Fatuzzo is a Brass Adjudicator for NYSSMA Solo and Ensemble festivals and maintains a private trumpet teaching studio out of his home in Albany.

Outside of teaching, Mr. Fatuzzo has an active performing schedule as a freelance trumpet player. He has performed with the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, Schenectady-Saratoga Symphony Orchestra, Capital Region Wind Ensemble, Albany Pro Musica, Octavo Singers, and the Saratoga Voices (formerly Burnt Hills Oratorio Society) among other local professional ensembles. In 2016, he was a semifinalist in the Graduate Solo Division of the National Trumpet Competition. Fatuzzo has performed with and for several highly acclaimed artists including Bela Fleck, Doc Severinsen, and Livingston Taylor, as well as current and retired musicians from some of the world’s most famed symphony orchestras including Phil Smith, Mark Gould, David Bilger, Jim Wilt, Thomas Stevens, and Ethan Bensdorf.

Dr. Nikola Tomić

Nikola Tomić is a versatile trumpet performer and educator with over twenty years of professional experience. Based in New York’s Capital Region, Nikola previously lived and worked in the New York City area, performing at venues including The Jazz Gallery, Swing 46, the Drawing Room, the Cutting Room, the West End Theatre, New World Stages, Silvana, St. Peter's Church, the Slope Lounge, Williamsburg Music Center, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Miller Theatre at Columbia University. He has appeared at festivals including the Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia, Italy), the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Tri-C JazzFest (Cleveland, Ohio), and the International Cervantino Festival (Guanajuato, Mexico).

Nikola is a teaching artist and brass coach for the Empire State Youth Orchestra’s CHIME program and teaches the trumpet in the Jazz & Contemporary Music program at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA. He taught previously at Cornell University, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, and the Ithaca College School of Music. Nikola taught from 2010 to 2013 for the Eastman Community Music School, providing instruction in trumpet and music theory and working with the New Horizons Band Program, and was on faculty at the Ithaca College Summer Music Academy from 2013 to 2019. Nikola maintains a private teaching studio at his home in Voorheesville.

Nikola’s pedagogical articles “Upward Spiral” (March 2020) and “Alternative Approaches to Warming Up” (June 2019) were published in the International Trumpet Guild Journal, to which he has also contributed two dozen CD reviews.

Nikola holds D.M.A. and M.M. degrees in Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music and a B.M. in trumpet performance from Ithaca College. In addition to long-term trumpet study with Clay Jenkins and Frank Gabriel Campos, Nikola has benefitted from private lessons with Brian Pareschi, Douglas Prosser, Marvin Stamm, Byron Stripling, Vincent DiMartino, Gary McCheyne, and Donald Byrd.

Landon Gray, Artist-in-Residence

Landon Gray is a clinician, performer, and educator. As a Clinician at Musician’s Wellness of North America Landon has assisted musicians at every level recover from learned movement disorders, injuries, imbalances, and find healthy performance practices. As a performer Landon currently serves as principal trumpet of the Schnectady-Saratoga Symphony Orchestra. He’s also performed and recorded with other prestigious groups such as the Buffalo Philharmonic Ochestra, Syracuse Orchestra, Canton Symphony, and the Erie Ballet Orchestra as well as having performed throughout Canada and South America. Landon currently serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at SUNY Fredonia. He holds a M.M. in Trumpet performance from SUNY Fredonia and a B.M. in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas.

FAQ

Final Concert

The concert on Thursday at 3pm is open to the public. Parents/family/friends are encouraged to attend. It will be in the auditorium. The concert will include small ensembles, large ensembles, and a combined brass ensemble with the Trombone Institute.

Part Assignments

The group and part assignments as well as PDFs of music will be sent the week before the Insitute starts. Please keep an eye on your email for that so you can practice your parts prior to the first day of camp (since we are so limited on rehearsal times). Printed parts will be provided for you.

Signing In/Out

Students will receive a name tag and printout of the schedule upon arrival, so you know where to be and when at all times. Students should sign-in at the School of Music Security desk upon arrival and sign out at the end of the day to help us keep track of everyone who's coming and going.

Lunch and Free Play

Please remember to pack a lunch daily, we have a small refrigerator and a microwave if needed, but it's ideal if it's something that does not need to be heated as there's only one. Feel free to bring a ball/games/frisbee, or something fun for outside play during lunch hour if you like as we get a full hour to eat and play. If you have any life-threatening allergies, please let us know ASAP.

Masterclass History

The term masterclass became popular in the mid-1800s thanks to Franz Liszt, a famous virtuoso pianist, piano teacher, and composer from the Romantic period. He was so famous that historians describe his effect on his fans as Lisztomania. While he may not have invented the masterclass, he was the one who popularized it due to his fame.

What is a Masterclass?

It's a class where a music student has an opportunity to perform in front of their peers and a master teacher and receive feedback on how they can improve their playing. In some settings the student performs, the other students observe and give constructive feedback, and then the teacher fills in anything else that was not mentioned by the students. The teacher then works on a few of these ideas with the student in front of the others to help make some immediate changes in their playing.

The benefits of masterclasses are the following:

- The student gets an opportunity to perform in front of an audience (each time you perform, it gets easier as we learn to address our nerves and focus on the music)
- The observing students learn how to form their thoughts into words that are constructive and positive
- The performing student gets an opportunity to have a lesson with a master teacher and work on skills they may not have otherwise learned
- The performing student can add this to a resume, especially if working with some well-known in the field
- The performing student may be able to address some habits that they didn't realize were happening before
- The observing students may realize they have similar habits and can learn some ideas to try on their own in the practice room
- The teacher may find a new way to describe how to fix something that they hadn't thought of before by working with a new student

What to prepare for a masterclass?

A solo piece you perfected or performed recently
An etude you've been working on
An orchestral or band excerpt that challenges you
An upcoming audition piece or concert piece
Note: a piece of music that makes you sound your best will give you the most confidence when performing