After nearly a lifetime of fine-tuning his skills, one Cal State Long Beach alumnus will spend the next year playing trumpet with the Baltimore Symphony.
Ryan Darke, who graduated from CSULB in 2008, started his one-year contract with the symphony in July.
Darke said he felt a new sense of responsibility after accepting the position.
“My playing is not just a personal pursuit of excellence anymore, it will effect the trumpet section, brass section and the entire Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on a daily basis,” Darke said in an email. “I am taking this responsibility seriously and have incorporated new ideas and exercises into my routine to help me adapt to this new section and job to the best of my ability.”
The best of our brass
According to Robert Frear, the director of brass studies and an associate professor at CSULB, the Baltimore Symphony’s job offer is more significant now when jobs for professional musicians are scarce.
“There were probably 10 auditions this year [in the whole country] for trumpet players in symphonies and thousands of people who want those jobs,” Frear said.
Even so, Frear said he knew Darke would get it.
“[The Baltimore Symphony] made a good choice,” Frear said. “Ryan Darke is the most talented trumpet player and probably the most talented brass student we’ve ever had at Cal State Long Beach.”
A slightly bumpy start
Frear and Darke’s relationship goes back to before Darke even thought about attending CSULB. Darke took trumpet lessons from Frear’s wife, Marty Frear, while he was in elementary school.
But Robert Frear said Darke didn’t always have the same passion for the trumpet that he does now.
“The lessons actually stopped “The lessons actually stopped because he wasn’t practicing,” Robert Frear said.
Marty Frear even remembers Darke bursting into tears in the middle of a lesson — a moment Darke said he will always remember.
Darke started taking lessons with Robert Frear when he was going to high school in Cerritos.
“Since then, his improvement has been exponential,” said Robert Frear, who recruited Darke to study at CSULB during his junior year.
The effects of music
Music’s ability to express emotion without words is one of the things that drew Darke to the trumpet, and kept him there.
“I feel one of the attractions to music was that it allowed me to explore emotional possibilities that might not successfully be labeled by a grouping of letters, which represent some pre-determined definition,” Darke said.
“I always have hated to talk about emotions and I think that everyone should explore how music makes them feel,” he continued.
Darke, who has been playing the trumpet for 15 years, wouldn’t say that he has talent, but rather skill that he’s worked at to achieve.
“I always say my only true talent is my ability to stay focused and maintain my love for the instrument and musical art form during my daily pursuit of excellence,” Darke said.
Since graduating from CSULB, Darke has received his master’s in music from Rice University in Houston, Texas and a degree in Professional Studies at The Colburn School in Los Angeles.
This summer, for the second time, he played with the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra, which is based in Germany. The orchestra has taken Darke to Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Turkey, Spain and Germany.
“This festival has provided an amazing way to meet people from all over the world and discuss politics, life, education, health care and, of course, music,” Darke said.
“I think this kind of interaction between people is invaluable, and I would not trade the friends I made there for anything,” he continued.
Looking ahead
After Darke’s contract with the Baltimore Symphony is up, he’ll continue to audition for symphonies all across the country.
He would also like to give back to the musical community.
This past year, Darke volunteered his time to teach students from the Youth Orchestras of Los Angeles through a musical-instruction class at The Colburn School.
“I feel it is likely that, no matter how accomplished I become on the trumpet, I will be able to affect far more lives as a teacher and mentor, compared to exclusively being an artist,” Darke said.
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