Thomas Stevens

A New Carnival of Venice

New Carnival of Venice was written in 1985 for an American Independence Day (July 4th) concert traditionally performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl (17,400 seats). Two weeks before the event, Ernest Fleischmann, the famous impresario and administrator of the orchestra, told me that the scheduled soloist had canceled his appearance and asked me if I could fill in with a solo trumpet work suitable for a 'Pops' concert such as the Carnival of Venice. I suggested a trumpet ensemble version, but couldn't find a published version, so I offered to write one for him. He accepted. The piece was written and orchestrated in about 3 days and the manuscript was given to our trumpeter colleague Martha Fento-Frear, who produced the score and parts professionally and in record time. The piece was a great success and has been performed repeatedly by many well-known orchestras around the world, including in 1988 by the Boston 'Pops' Orchestra, conducted by film music star John Williams, in an international television broadcast on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. Thomas Stevens, Spring 2010, Los Angeles, USA