The Brass Junkies

Find everything Gail Williams has done with The Brass Junkies: https://brassjunkies.com/gail-williams Get something interesting from the world of brass every week in The Brass Junkies Newsletter: https://www.brassjunkies.com/newsletter

On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• Andrew and guest co-host Nicole Cash are joined by horn legend Gail Williams, retired Associate Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Professor Emerita at Northwestern University
• Why Gail will never write a memoir
• Her post-retirement obsession with photography and the promise she made to her late teacher, John Covert, that has her flying halfway around the world
• Doug Hill's line "don't be a should-er" and how it lands for Andrew in the practice room too
• The lessons she learned from John Covert (her very first teacher) and why they stick with her to this day
• Why she believes handing young players orchestral excerpts too early does real damage
• Growing up on a dairy farm, playing horn for the cows, and the discovery she and her brother made about echo inside a 70-foot silo
• How her mother, a K-12 vocal music teacher, shaped a teaching philosophy Gail still uses today, one Nicole remembers learning from her firsthand
• Her go-to trick for teaching embouchure to students who insist they "can't"
• The interaction that Gail had with Andrew's 11-year-old son at the International Horn Symposium that sums up her kindness and thoughtfulness
• Attending her very first horn workshop at 18, her jaw on the floor meeting legends like Barry Tuckwell, and why she misses the format those workshops used to have
• Why she left the CSO after 20 years: the tension between touring life and raising two teenagers, with her husband still playing Principal Clarinet in the orchestra
• The Phil Farkas line that stuck with her for decades and altered the course of her career
• What she actually misses about orchestral life, and what she very much doesn't
• Playing in the Lyric Opera pit for Pavarotti and Domingo, which she calls her real "post-grad degree"
• Posting her CSO resignation letter the same week she was set to solo with the orchestra, and how unkindly some colleagues responded
• Being the one who leaves the orchestra and not her husband, and the "peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the car" reality of motherhood in a male-dominated field
• Borrowing a concept from photography to teach horn students about balance
• Why "change is healthy" is her guiding phrase, and how it connects to Seth Godin's idea of "tension"
• Her Northwestern send-off: an 80-person horn choir spanning every class she ever taught, and two straight nights of backyard bonfires
• Asking her own former student and successor at Northwestern, Adam Unsworth, what he didn't get from her as a teacher
• Studying with Arnold Jacobs, and how his teaching gradually boiled down to one simple instruction
• Applying to college as a phys ed major to avoid the family business of music, and why she still coaches horn playing like an athletic skill
• A phrase of the late Sam Pilafian's that comes up more than once in this conversation
• Why two different mentors, Covert and Farkas, independently pointed her toward Chicago
• Nicole's second act as a decorated audiobook narrator, and the phone call from an old Dallas Symphony colleague that got her started
• Andrew's take on why AI could never replicate what happens in the moment for musicians
• Gail's blunt take on AI in the classroom, and the picture book about butterflies her granddaughter chose over a graphic novel
• The scales question her old teacher used to ask her, and the twist she still applies to her own practice
• The story of Gail "fixing" an emergency before Mallory Thompson's wedding (when Tim Higgins got COVID), and the surprise Empire Brass connection it turned up for Andrew

The Brass Junkies is back for Season Three.

After 222 episodes and a long pause following the loss of my co-host and dear friend Lance LaDuke, the show returns with a new weekly format. Each week brings conversations with some of the finest brass players in the world, plus short Mini-Conversations you can watch any time.

In this preview I share why the show went quiet, what's changing, and what's coming this season, starting with Gail Williams.

And sign up for The Brass Junkies Newsletter for Five Questions with brass players you know and some you should, plus practicing tips and more: https://www.brassjunkies.com/newsletter

The Brass Junkies is coming back!

Andrew announces Season 3 (launching spring 2026) with a new format, then reads a heartfelt tribute to Lance LaDuke covering his legendary work ethic, courage, teaching philosophy, impact on the brass world, and more.

Also: An exclusive presale offer for the brand new course from Hitz Academy, Practice Room Mastery: The Four M's Method, plus updates on moving on from Patreon and what's next for the show.

Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com Facebook ► / pray4jens Instagram ► / pray4jens

The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media.

Andrew is joined by seven brass players who share thoughts about a musician they were thankful for in 2023. Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com

Guests Giving Thanks:

• Sasha Romero (Principal Trombone of the Metropolitan Opera) is thankful for Claudio Sanchez (8:10)
• Rodney Marsalis (Lead Trumpet + Founder of The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass) is thankful for Terry Everson (19:04)
• Dr. Danielle VanTuinen (Professor of Tuba + Euphonium at The University of Florida) is thankful for Deanna Swoboda (27:51)
• Jeffrey Scott (Professor of Horn at Oberlin Conservatory and Former Horn Player and Founder of Imani Winds) is thankful for Carolyn Clark (36:34)
• Dr. Steph Frye-Clark (Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at East Tennessee State and Tuba Player of Mirari Brass Quintet) is thankful for Sarah Paradis (46:08)
• Ryan Little (Principal Horn of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) is thankful for Gail Williams (52:05)
• Hakeem Bilal (Professor of Trombone at West Virginia University and Bass Trombonist for C Street Brass) is thankful for Omar Lateef (58:13)

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The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media

https://www.brassjunkies.com/

Andrew and guest co-host Dr. Michael W. Nickens are joined by trombonist Myles Blakemore of The United States Navy Band Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com

Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/

The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media

https://www.brassjunkies.com/

Andrew and guest co-host Buddy Deshler are joined by trumpeter, coronetist, and flugelhornist Jen Oliverio Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com

Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/

The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media

https://www.brassjunkies.com/

Andrew is joined by Ryan McGeorge, euphonium player for "The President's Own" Marine Band Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com

Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/

The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media

https://www.brassjunkies.com/

Andrew and guest co-host Michael Nickens are joined by trumpeter and composer Marcus Grant. Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com

Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/

The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media

https://www.brassjunkies.com/

This Listener's Choice is all questions about the late, great Sam Pilafian. Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com

Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/

The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media

https://www.brassjunkies.com/

Andrew is joined by trumpet player Dr. Luke Spence, fresh off playing in a dream team trumpet section for the first ever performances of the International Pride Orchestra.Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com

Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/

The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media

https://www.pedalnotemedia.com/