Episode 13 - Dr. Lauren Rudzinskas
Episode 13 features the General Manager of the International Women’s Brass Conference, Lauren Rudzinskas. We talk with Lauren about the International Women’s Brass Conference Mentorship Program, the Virtual Trombone Workshop, and impacts of the pandemic on her life and music as a whole.
To learn more about Lauren and the resources she recommended, check out the links below!
Lauren Rudzinskas - Website
International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC)
IWBC Mentorship Program
The Practice Room Facebook Group
Kathy Henkel’s “Samantha Song”
Full Transcript
Carrie Blosser 0:01
Welcome to Diversify the Stand, the resource centered around listening, learning and promoting diverse musical voices in music, through our podcast, website, commissioning projects, and more. I'm Carrie Blosser.
Ashley Killam 0:15
And I'm Ashley Killam. Join us on our journey as we speak with composers, creators, performers, historians and music educators about the topics important to them, and musics betterment.
We are so excited to have our guest today, Dr. Lauren Rudzinskas is the General Manager of the International Women's Brass Conference, and the Executive Director of the Virtual Trombone Workshop. She was the part-time Professor of Trombone and Euphonium at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania until Fall 2020. She taught at the Eastman Community Music school and has published articles, written two pedagogical books, received grants, and released a CD. So welcome, Lauren, we are so excited to have you.
Lauren Rudzinskas 1:06
Thank you so much. It's my pleasure to be here. And thanks for that kind introduction.
Carrie Blosser 1:10
So we wanted to start off and talk a little bit about your role at the International Women's Brass Conference. And maybe like, what a day in the life of a General Manager is and a little bit about your role with that group.
Lauren Rudzinskas 1:24
Yeah, so I have to say the probably the best thing about my job is that I don't have a day in the life of and I think maybe as musicians, we're all kind of wired to love that sort of like, change in routine, change in schedule. Like we have different students or different lessons that we're teaching or different classes or for performers, we're playing different concerts on different schedules. Like we're just kind of wired, I think to like, that adaptability in our schedule. And for me, it's perfect, because the International Women's Brass Conference while we are a conference in our name, we're so much more than that. So I get to set my own hours, I get to work from home, which in a pandemic was amazing, because I was already quarantining before it was cool. And it's been really, really nice, because I've been able to work on a lot of different projects, and with the Coronavirus affecting everything that we're doing our conference, like many others were postponed. So it meant that I was able to actually work on some projects that maybe would have been on the backburner or things that I would have gotten to at a different point in time. But with a conference being postponed, like all those kind of things, and that's a lot and the conferences are a lot to do, a lot of work. That's a lot of my job. So I definitely don't want to understate that, but it meant that it was pushed off for a little bit more time and I could work on some of the other things and even start some new initiatives that I'm really excited about.
Carrie Blosser 2:43
Excellent. I think the general manager is just like a term for like, kind of the the Jill of all trades or the
Lauren Rudzinskas 2:50
Yeah, I take I think the term general very seriously in my job.
Carrie Blosser 2:55
Very macro. Yeah. Yeah.
Ashley Killam 2:58
And so for IWBC, you started the first ever mentorship program? Would you talk a little bit more about how that got started? And what the goals of the IWBC mentorship program are?
Lauren Rudzinskas 3:11
You know, it's a good question. And I was trying to think back to like, when did I actually come up with the idea, and I'm not sure if this is it, but I remember when I first got the call, and you know, aside from just the, the, me as a musician being like, fangirling out about the fact that like, I was talking to Susan Slaughter, and Joanna Hersey and all these amazing people, like, I sat down and I thought, like, Okay, what do I want to do? Because one of the things I think that I bring to this role that special is that I am not just an administrator, I am first and foremost, a trombinist, musician, and educator. So coming into this role I bring me as a person and not, you know, not just my ability to type in spreadsheets, which I think has worked great. And so I was really fortunate to work with incredible and I still am with incredible people through IWBC. And they've always kind of embraced my craziness of these ideas that I have and these things I want to do.
And so at some point, I made just this big, long proposal of things that I wanted to do things that I thought maybe we should change to move forward or like, maybe some tweaks on the website, which is just an ongoing process. If you have a website, you're always tweaking it. And that's one of my larger goals there too. And so the mentorship program was something that I just remember feeling like, I'm really lucky, I can just call up Ginger Turner and be like, Hey, can you listen to this solo I recorded? Or Natalie Mannix, do you have any advice about applying for jobs? Like I went from someone who was still in school, and like, you know, I have my teacher and I had my friends but then all of a sudden I was in this network of incredible talented people who had been through the music world in a way that not a lot of people in my circle had because I went to Eastman School of Music and Eastman definitely has a bit of a reputation for not being incredibly diverse in their studios. And so most of my time in Eastman, I was one or one of the few female students, and your experience is just gonna be different. That's just the way it is. And sometimes it's easy to misinterpret things that are happening in situations you're in. And when there's no one else who has been through the same kind of thing. So all of a sudden, I had this community of people who, like had been there, done that understood that. And to be totally honest, I didn't even know like how wide the talented community of women was in the brassfield. Just my, my horizons hadn't been expanded yet. So I felt like this is so cool, right? And, and I am getting so much out of this. And it's something that I mean, like I'm applying for the mentorship program myself, like Lauren the general manager aside, I think it's really cool. And I want someone to help me with my performance and my teaching career. And so I thought, like, I think this is a way that really, I can make a difference and give back to people because all these amazing, talented, accomplished women are so giving and so thoughtful and generous. And I think would really enjoy helping out the younger generation It's a way to kind of bridge that gap too, because IWBC is it's been around. I mean, it's great for me to remember when they started because it's exactly as old as I am. So it's been around for a little while now, and bringing them into this age of technology where we can connect anywhere. I mean, I think more than anything, this pandemic has shown us that, like you're only a zoom call away from anywhere in the world, which is really cool. So we're able to connect in ways that we never could before. And with the mentorship program, it was a way to bring kind of like a new generation of musicians into contact with this infrastructure and these amazing conferences. And I don't know anyone who's gone to a conference and not loved it, and just felt this like really special connection to this event. And so I wanted to find a way to start bringing that sense, because you get that sense of mentorship at these conferences, you get that connection with people. And I think that's what makes it special is not all going there. And you know, this is a trombone thing. So I apologize, non-trombonists, but like, we're all playing Bolero is high and as loud as we can, you know, it's like it's not, it's not about that at this conference, it's more about lifting each other up. And that's what makes it special. And so this was a way to do it, for everyone. For people who can't afford to go to conferences, who can't fly, who can't take time off from what they're doing, who aren't in a place, maybe they're busy, maybe they're not, they're just not in a place to go. They want to be involved. And for people who want something in the in between two, so I'm really excited about it. And I think I really hope it's gonna help a lot of people and just make it more accessible.
And I'm rambling cuz I'm excited about this. And I'm excited about just like, making things more accessible to everyone. Like they're, I think in our world, there are so many things that just come down to who you know and if you were at a place at the right time, like you can be the most prepared amazing person, if no one has heard you play in the right circles, like you might never get some opportunities that other people would. And so just finding ways that like no matter your background, your income, your level, like what school you went to doesn't matter, you're going to have this opportunity to grow your career. And it's free, which is a whole nother thing of like, yeah, people, there are some people that can afford to pay a ton of money, like to go to there's some great summer programs, right. And summer programs are amazing, but some of them are very expensive. And I know that for me, it was never an option because I paid my way through school and I had to work in the summer and that's how I was able to get my degrees. And so like everyone, and I know that I'm very fortunate, and I'm blessed. And I'm like, very privileged to be in the position that I am. And there are people that are in very challenging situations. And I'm, you know, even more fortunate above that with my financial situation, being able to work so I definitely wanted to make it more accessible to everyone and do what I could to just kind of like bridge that that gap.
Carrie Blosser 8:54
Yeah, definitely. And we will add the like the links to like the forums and IWBC and stuff in the podcast description. And like on our website, I think it's already like we've already got a lot of links on the website, too. But yeah, yeah, I was watching something the other day and it was like a panel and they were talking about how they're trying to provide some accessible lessons and think it was the I think it's this the Sphinx Foundation, talking about like virtual lessons and, and things online and trying to help pace pay people like one of the initiatives is like help pay people to be able to go take time off to go take even an audition. Because that's another like what do you think about the costs of being a musician, like not only do you have to go go show up to most likely not get, win a job, you have to pay to go there and you have to take the time off of work. So if you felt like, you know, weekend students, you have to lose the income and pay money.
Lauren Rudzinskas 9:52
It's a real decision. I mean, I knew people when I was getting my master's degree who bankrupted themselves to take these auditions. And I mean, one guy knows a phenomenal, tremendous, he's amazing. He eventually got a job it worked out. But I was just looking at these auditions he was taking. And I was working on the same excerpts as him. And I was, you know, thinking to myself, like, I should be doing this for my career, but then like, how am I going to also pay for this book I need for this class to finish this degree, you know what I mean? So it's like, everyone has to make those choices for themselves. And, like, for me, I didn't take many auditions, I took any audition I could drive to and that wasn't very many. You know, I split a hotel room four ways, in my, you know, in a couple of which, which did not help me sleep, that's for sure. I did not. I learned very, very strongly what it's like to play an exhausted audition and I could literally feel my lack of energy in the music. So I think everyone's in a different place. And I don't feel like our industry does a good job of supporting people who are in different places, I think there's actually a lot of just kind of systematic judgment built in assuming that, like, if you're not doing these things, you're doing it wrong. And assuming that everyone should be able to do these things. And that's, I just don't think that's true. And I don't, I don't think it should be true. And I think there are things we can do to change it. Granted, am I saying like the New York Philharmonic should not have a live audition, no, like, but there can be things that we can do, I think maybe to help bridge the gap and make things more accessible for people.
Carrie Blosser 11:25
Yeah, absolutely. Speaking about making things accessible during a time, like, like that we're into now. So you started, we'd love for you to talk a little bit about founding and running your virtual trombone workshop.
Lauren Rudzinskas 11:42
Yeah. So this was fun. And it's actually the timing of me chatting with you both is so cool, because I just finished the second one. So it started this summer, when and that was kind of like, when everything sort of started and things shut down. And we were all going to quarantine and I feel like there was just sort of confusion of like, what is this? What's it going to be like? You know, we're scared, but like, it's, it's not gonna be that long, right? It's gonna be a couple of weeks, we'll figure it out, like, Flash forward. And how silly do I feel for thinking like, Oh, you know, it'll be fine. Everyone will stay inside for two weeks, and it'll be good. No. Okay. So I was at this point, when I had, I had all these students teaching at Mansfield, in ECMS and through assistantships. And I had all these colleagues, and even myself, like I had a tour scheduled in Japan. I was so excited, I was gonna be giving master classes and recitals and presenting at the International Trombone Festival, like it was gonna be a great summer, right. And all these master classes around New York and Ohio, and like, just plans. Life was good. And, and for myself, and for my colleagues, and for my students, like, all of those things went away, all of a sudden, and I think we have gotten better at connecting. Over time, we've learned how to do it, and we're better at it. It's still not perfect, but we're better. But at that time, I think everyone just felt this deep sense of isolation and fear, because we weren't like doing our regular zoom calls. And maybe our teachers and our colleagues weren't quite as good at connecting over digital means as they are now. And so all of a sudden, like, everyone just felt the world kind of stop. Students lost their chances to perform with each other. Like it was just, I just felt this kind of void.
And so I just like, had this idea because I was thinking to myself, zoom is a thing, right? And like, I've been teaching all these lessons online, and I give a masterclass to my students and like, it's going pretty well. And I've been I have some other people and like, wait, what if we added presentations and like, taught some lessons and really made this accessible? And so I actually caled up my friend, I was like, I have this idea. And I want you to tell me if, if I'm just not understanding how hard it's going to be because I feel like it's doable. And he was like, it's gonna be work, but like, yeah, and so from that point, it was just full steam ahead. You know, I have, I'm really fortunate that I know a lot of really, really wonderful human beings. And, and so I called people up and I said, I'd like to do this, I'd like to create this workshop as a sense of community to give back to people and as a fundraiser for musicians relief fund and everyone donated their time. And we had like, almost 600 registrants and it was just a really, really special time to come together. And we put a real focus on like, not just like the very top orchestral performers talking about excerpts and like playing but we put more of a focus, I think on like, diversifying what you're doing. So entrepreneurial things and like doubling and pedagogical approaches and like there's music theory and like just all these kinds of different things to sort of round out people's approach to the instrument and a lot of opportunities for people to engage with each other and connect and just to play, and we had, I think capped it at people who could we played in masterclasses for this thing, so it was just this chance like for people to like, say hello from their living room and get to play for people again and get feedback. And it was really, really fun. And so since it went really well, we heard from Eastman School of Music, which obviously, I'm an alumni. And so one of the people are actually I spoke to the Eastman trombone professors to help me out with this event. And they both were generous and did semester classes for me for that, and they were really happy with how it went. And long story short, Eastman asked to partner with us. And so we're able to bring the event back in a very sustainable way. starting in January 2021.
So we're already planning 2022, I can say now that the other one has been over for two days. So So yeah, it was it was really important to me to create, again, like I talked about this a lot, but just create opportunities for everyone, make it accessible. And the first one was free for everyone to attend, I felt very important that it was, I felt that it was very important to bring people together at that time and moment. Moving forward, I want to make sure that we're supporting the artists. So we did charge but we kept the fee really low. And we had two points of entry so that it was much more accessible to people. And then my, I keep talking, I talk about like my deal breakers with it. And my deal breaker moving forward, like for 2022 is like we have to have scholarships, because it's so important to me that money does not preclude you from getting an experience, it's going to help your career. We just ran out of time, it takes a long time to partner with a huge institution, there's a lot of wheels and balls rolling and a lot of things to do. So it just didn't happen. But it's something that is important to me, and I really hope will happen in the future.
Ashley Killam 16:37
That's so exciting.
Carrie Blosser 16:40
That's really awesome.
Ashley Killam 16:41
I think, like, I think to me, I'm like, oh, putting on a conference. Like that's totally doable. And it's just like the impact you can have, especially in the year like this.
Lauren Rudzinskas 16:51
For me, like I have experienced I put on a real conference. And that was a lot harder. And, and I'm very comfortable with technology. And I'm good at communication and, and marketing. And I can do my own graphics, I can do web design. So all those things that take time and money, I did myself. And so it made those things easier. And and you know, it's just a way to give back. And I think it's important that we do that.
Ashley Killam 17:16
And so with you've got IWBC, you've got virtual trombone workshop, you're setting up this mentorship stuff, you've got all these things. What other current projects do you have going on? Like the books, the etude book for orchestral excerpts, the warm up book that I know we, the three of us have talked about before. So what else is happening in the life of Lauren?
Lauren Rudzinskas 17:41
Yeah, so I have this really like intricate analogy that I'm going to say, and I might regret it. So I recently got my doctorate, I finished it. And I, it happened during the pandemic, like I'm a 2020 graduate and proud because that was not fun. But, but, I like pretty recently entered this point in my career where it for the first time, like, there were not a whole lot of things that I had to do. And unlike I think, the way I thought my life was gonna go, like the world is shut down. There are almost no job openings, like there are no gigs, the, the way I imagined my postgraduate self to be building my career is just not true. And I think that's the case for most of us. No matter what stage we're in our career. So for me, I really, I feel like I walked through a door, and there's a set of doors in front of me. And I'm trying to build a key that's going to open the right door. So like not only do I have to build this key, choosing pieces of things that I think are going to help my career, but also I'm trying to figure out what door to go through that will also be the right choice. So right now I have felt like there are just like, there's a lot of decisions. And I, the first couple of weeks after I finished my degree I like was just looking through music. And I just kept like learning something for like, five minutes, and be like, yeah, I'm going to record this or practice this or whatever. And then I move on to the next thing and I just like couldn't get myself to focus because there's just a world of options now in the way that before it was like well, I have to do something like this for a recital or I need a piece about this long I need something with this feature. You know, I want to spotlight this type of thing. So there was some sort of structure even and things where I could choose and so I long story short, I had some projects that I basically have like that the etude book that I wrote for orchestral excerpts I'm really excited about that because the great thing with it is that it's almost done. And by almost done I mean like it's ready to go like, it's, it's there. Everything's written it's, you know, I even made the graphic design. It's laid out professionally, like, I shouldn't be good. It's just, I need I need to like get through that step of final proofreading and feeling comfortable with putting my stuff out there. And I think that's the place where I'm I'm at now is trying to decide what I want to put out there to share with the world to further my career and how I want to devote my time.
For example, we talked about a warm up book a couple of weeks ago, and I was so excited, I was gonna do this warm up, that like, you warm up along with a major orchestral like movement of a symphony or something and actually did it. I did it for the fourth movement of Brahms Symphony one, and I finished with it and I'm like, this is not that exciting to me. I don't like it that much. And so I scrapped it. And in a couple days, I wrote a different warm up for the virtual trombone workshop. And now I'm really excited about that. And like, that's going to be my project. And I think part of why I'm like telling this whole story, like right now, I think it's about me finding myself and what I can give back to people, but also not trying to just do what I think I should be doing, but find things that are meaningful to me, because I think right now, like we all need to prioritize our self care and mental well being. And for me, like, right now, that is not writing that book, but it was coming up with this other idea that had like all these crazy backing tracks and was like all about turning your routine upside down. And like doing really, like I do this, this weird thing that I don't, I've never heard a trombonist do it, but I love it. So instead of doing your art, like your interval studies with your lip slurs, all in one slide position, I alternate, and so like you're forced to adapt more quickly to the intonation. And it makes really funky cool sounding things. And I love it. And so that's like something I did and put into this warmup. And I want to keep doing stuff like that that's creative, and engaging, because then it's something that's sustainable, and something that I want to keep doing so.
So that's something I am actually continuously doing and releasing and one of my larger goals is like updating my website. So they all that's on there as a really great resource. But I do I do plan on releasing that etude books soon, because I think it's cool. And I've also been doing a lot of duets that are from diverse composers to really raise awareness of just the talent that we have in our field. And they're all more historical based composers and they're for school aged kids, because I think it's hard to find music like that. And I had this idea for a presentation that I gave with one of my colleagues at the New York State School Music Association online conference this past summer, and I had the student who's phenomenal, he's euphonium player, and he was in quarantine, like the rest of us. And he couldn't play with anyone except his little sister who was learning flute. And there are no flute euphonium duets that are, I think there's like a couple, but they're really hard, especially the flute part. And, you know, his sister's great, but she's just starting, it's gonna be many years before she thinks about getting to something like that. And I thought like, well, this could be really cool to do for people so that because there have to be other people in the same kind of circumstance right here. Maybe you have a neighbor that you're co quarantining with, you know, I've seen a lot of families who like, are very selective about who they choose, but like they do, their kids have someone to interact with still or other siblings. And so I think it's a great way to still create music. And when it's a duet, it's so much easier to find just one other person. And even you know, recording with yourself with a duet is much easier than saying like trying to do a whole Wind Ensemble piece or something like that. So I made the I made a bunch of series of duets that the instrumentation is adaptable. So the parts are interchangeable, and you can play them with different instruments. And I'd like to continue doing that and actually sort of transition that into some Etudes as well. Just to raise again, just like raise awareness of the diverse history of music that we have.
And honestly, part of it comes from me studying for my comprehensive exams. Because I was so excited when I came across a name I didn't know. And, and there are a lot of them. And I was like, Well, you know, this, this shouldn't be this way. I feel like there really should be some more awareness of these people and what they did. And I think it's great that we talk about the people we do. But when it comes to specific instruments, I think we could do better, maybe showcasing the variety. I mean, when I I started as a jazz trombonist, in my, my first degree was in Jazz Studies. And like, we talked about JJ Johnson, we talked talked about Frank Rosolino, you know, maybe we talked about some modern trombonists like Andy Martin, or, you know, like, it was a very small group of people that you heard about, but then, once you dig a little deeper, you're like, oh, Melba Liston was a phenomenal bonus. And like, what there's even this adorable kids book about her, Mel and her Big Trombone, or something. There's this whole history that we just aren't exposed to. And I felt that way with the International Women's Brass conference, the first time I went, I was just like sitting in a hallway by myself next to Abby Conant. And I was just like, what an insane experience this is that here I am. And we talked for like, 30 minutes waiting for it was this like, Cool body mapping, like, tension type thing. And we were waiting, because we had appointments and, and like, I got to know her on this like, and she's just like, this really chill amazing person who was happy to talk with me like a, I was a graduate student, she knew nothing about me, like, no, and that's, that's like, an even Abby, like, I knew about her story. And I, but honestly, like, I hadn't heard that many videos of her playing or hadn't like, I hadn't actually checked out her website personally, and, and that was all on me, I should have.
And so I try to fix my mistakes of the past for my students by like, encouraging their exposure to those kinds of things and raising their awareness earlier, because I wish it had been done for me because just I think a lot of things I just didn't think about or know about. And that came later with maturity and understanding, but also, like, they're just some things that like, you kind of have to be in the know. And I don't like that that's a pet peeve of mine that like you have to know someone or you have to be in the right place. I don't know I just think that education should be more accessible and open everyone. And I like to know things, I like to have, be in the know. So I'd like to share as much as I can with other people and keep them in the light.
Carrie Blosser 26:30
Yep, I agree with everything you just said. All that. Perfect. Thanks. Definitely.
Ashley Killam 26:36
Yeah. Yeah. And then the final question, which we are asking everyone is what's on your music stand this week? And how are you diversifying your stand?
Lauren Rudzinskas 26:48
I love it. So, how I'm diversifying my stand is I'm really trying to commission more works. So I've been trying to support my like a lot of my younger composer friends. And especially while I had the Mansfield job, so like at the beginning, the pandemic, I was like planning for faculty recital and things and I was like, this is great, because here like I'm a faculty member doing a recital, like that is a good way to premiere a piece. So I was doing a lot of that then, but still now I'm trying to do what I can to find music that is new. And like a total polar opposite, I'm also trying to find music that's really old. So and record that stuff. So that's one of my what's on my stand now is is some are like, basically arrangements of public domain pieces by diverse composers, then I'm trying to some of them I'm turning into to warm ups, some of them I'm turning into etudes, and some of them I'm turning into snippets to record. I talked earlier about how much I hate videotaping myself. But I I'm trying to make it a priority to like get more recordings of myself out there and be less critical of like, what I'm okay with sharing with the world. And so, so that's something.
And then I also have, I have some, I just want to share this piece because it's a phenomenal piece that like I don't know if anyone but me has played. Probably someone else has, but it's not a published piece. It's by a living composer name's Kathy Henkel. And it's a beautiful piece of music. It's called Samantha song, it's unaccompanied. It's not that long, it's mid range. And it's just like a beautiful piece. I played it on actually every audition I've taken for college jobs, just because it's it's just like this great little middle piece. And I think it's really cool to come up with something that's unaccompanied that's not like Mickey or Malcolm Arnold or one of those really standard trim pieces. So I'm actually I've got her piece back out. And I'm gonna, I did a recording of it that I like a lot. It was for the centennial celebration of Susan B. Anthony, when I was in Rochester, because, you know, obviously she's huge there. And so that was really cool to play that piece for that event. And that piece saved me because there's a funny story behind that event, I was actually supposed to play with a trio. This piece that we commissioned, and like very last minute, it didn't work out. And so I think I had, I had like less than 48 hours to like, pull a piece together and perform it in front of this huge like this huge thing. It was the centennial celebration, it was huge. And so I did this piece and honestly, like it went pretty well. I still use that recording, I like it a lot. And it you know is in the Eastman theater, which is a really like, beautiful place to play and has a very storied history. So it was cool, but I think it's time for me to bring a fresh kind of perspective to that piece of of just like I've been through a lot. We've all been through a lot recently and I think I want to re record it. So that's been on my stand of something that I'm I'm looking into.
Carrie Blosser 30:03
Be sure to check out the podcast description and also our website for more information about Lauren and the resources she shared.
Ashley Killam 30:15
Thank you so much for listening to Diversify the Stand. I am Ashley.
Carrie Blosser 30:19
And I'm Carrie. If you'd like to support us and our projects, check out our Patreon www.patreon.com/diversify_the_stand. Also, the link is in our podcast description.
Ashley Killam 30:35
And a huge thank you to Trevor Weston and Whitney George, for allowing us to use their compositions in our podcast. The musical introduction is Trevor's trumpet duet Fanfare for Changes, and the ending music is Whitney's Incantations for trumpet and piano. Both composers websites are also listed in the description.
Carrie Blosser 30:53
Until next time, what's on your stand?