DiMartino shines at GABBF

By BRENDA S. EDWARDS
Staff Writer

Vince DiMartino keeps his trumpet shined and ready to blow.
In the weeks before getting ready for the Great American Brass Band Festival, DiMartino saw his son, Gabriel, graduate from high school, participated in recitals in Baltimore and Frankfort, played with the Cincinnati Pops, made a recording with the group Manhattan Transfer, played with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra in Northern Kentucky, and performed in jazz festivals in Dayton with the University of Cincinnati Jazz Band. 
Then he and Gabriel played with a brass band in Frederick, Md. After that, DiMartino spent a week getting ready for the Brass Band Festival hosted each year in Danville. Festival-goers will get an opportunity to see DiMartino perform on home ground during the festival that draws music lovers from all over the country and several foreign countries.
DiMartino not only performs with The Advocate Brass Band. He is also a part of the New Columbian Brass Band, which will set aside time during the festival to make a new recording of music by Jullien, a French-man credited with originating the promenade concerts in London. He also is a member of the Millennium Brass, which has "the finest brass players in America."
The band includes Scott Hartman on the trombone, Marty Erickson on the tuba, Lisa Bontrager on the horn, and Rich Ellman and DiMartino on trumpet.
After the Brass Band Festival here, the Millennium Brass will travel to Greece for 10 days of performances.
DiMartino, a graduate of The Eastman School of Music and professor at Centre College, also is active in the music industry. He is president of the 7,000-member International Trumpet Guild that meets in England in July. He has been featured soloist in conferences in the United States and London, England, and most recently at conferences in Sweden and Lexington.,He also has appeared with the Boston Pops and military jazz bands and is the first civilian to perform with the U.S. Marine Band. 
He has done several recordings as lead trumpet, including one with Mel Torme.
At the Brass Band Festival, DiMartino will take part in the special concert Saturday featuring music by Jullien, whose London concerts were held in the 1840s. 
DiMartino is looking forward to the brass band festival this year but knows it requires a lot of energy. "It's a lot of fun and a lot of work, too," he said. "I enjoy playing and entertaining friends at the activities."
"It's the people, Centre College, local businesses and volunteers that make the band festival special," he said. "That's what the band festival is all about. It's a place to go with the whole family. It doesn't cost anything. I hope it stays like that always."
DiMartino said the festival has something for everyone. In two or three hours, people can see seven or eight bands in different spots in town. "You can be as anonymous or as common as you want to be. You can dance or sing along with the bands because they will play tunes that people know."
He thinks the greatness of the band festival is the power of people in the same place and the music. 
"You have to have masses of people to get an emotional high. That's the essence of the band festival." 
The Advocate Brass Band will be doing a patriotic tribute and feature Daniel Rodriguez, New York police officer involved in Sept. 11, in the grand finale Sunday night.
The Advocate Brass Band also will perform at the History Conference on Friday of the festival.
DiMartino thinks the Advocate band has brought back a tradition that is so important to a community. It gives former high school and college students a chance to play in a traditional sense. 
And when DiMartino is not teaching trumpet, brass and jazz ensembles and jazz history at Centre College, he's out recruiting bands to perform at the Brass Band Festival. He saw the Munich Trumpet Ensemble during a visit in Germany last year and decided to invite the musicians to the festival. The band accepted the invitation.
Directed by Wolfgang Guggenburger, professor of trumpet at the Munich Conservatory, the band is made up of college graduates and undergraduates. One of the students came to Centre to study with DiMartino and played with the Centre Trumpets.
DiMartino loves what he does as a performer and as a teacher. 
"I love to play and love to have people hear and enjoy my playing," he said. "When an audience jumps up at the end of a piece, it shows the people are excited. You have changed the way they felt before they came. Music alters a person's feelings and it's fun, too."
While DiMartino loves to play the trumpet, his mission is to be a good teacher. "Performances take a back seat for me. The students come to Centre to study under me."
Since his classes are small, he has time to spend with each student. "That's important from a teacher's aspect."
When DiMartino is not off tooting his horn in front of strangers, he enjoys living in Danville where he tries to keep life simple.
"I try to keep performing and still have a private aspect to it," said DiMartino. "In Danville, most people don't know I travel all over the world. I can shop and have an ordinary life. It's great to be just another person," he said. 
However, he finds it difficult sometimes to take part in most social activities. "My schedule is the opposite of most people. I work at night; they work during the day." He makes time for family life by attending functions with his wife, Patti Powell, a Mazda automobile dealer in Danville, and also plays a trumpet in the Advocate band. 
"When I go with her to auto shows, it's neat, I have no responsibility. I act like a tourist."
DiMartino thinks it is important to have a normalcy to life, no matter what you do.
"You need to enjoy the simple things, like making breakfast or watching my daughters perform or listening to them play."