Fanfare for Three Trumpets

On a night back in 1994, I was on the phone with Paul Merkelo, having a friendly chat, when he asked if I would compose a short fanfare for three trumpets to replace a local classical radio station’s existing fanfare. He was principal trumpet of the Rochester Philharmonic at the time (only a year later he moved to the same post in the Montreal Symphony), and told me that the radio station was sick of their current fanfare, played by Maurice Andre!

It was a daunting task, considering I had barely started my career as a composer, and now I was asked to replace music performed by one of my childhood icons. But then again, I figured that they only needed about 30 seconds, so if it was terrible, it would be over quickly! I got off the phone with Paul around midnight, went out to the piano in the garage of my rented house in Naples, Florida, and wrote the Fanfare for Three Trumpets. I sent it to him the next day, and he recorded all three parts for the radio station.

Jim Stephenson