ITF2008 : May 28-31 : Salt Lake City

Hello, it's a pleasure to be here and play here this week. I have had a fantastic time so far and I am very much looking forward to the concert with Utah Premier Brass. I am very impressed wih the festival line-up and the excellent facilities here in Salt Lake City. Well done once again, Steven Greenall and Ben, for his fabulous engineering talent...

Hello, it's great fun and a tremendous honour to conduct both the students trombone choir and the Cramer choir this year. What a joy to be among so many talented players with such a great attitude. Well done to all who are working outside the limelight. Bravo.

Jonathan Allen here. I am honored to be one of the student-staff workers for the festival. This unique placement gives us staffers the opportunity to not only view the concerts, but to interact with the artists as we shuttle them to and from the airport, music school, and the hotel. Highlights from today include Marshall Gilkes' trio (with Yasushi Nakamura and Eric Noob), James Markey, Dick Nash, Brett Baker, Viento Sur Trombone Quartet, Trombones de Costa Rica, and The Capitol Bones. Well done, all!

Hey! This is Sally Bohls. I work in the ITF office during the festival. This morning has been a bit of a crazy place. The competitions started and the first round of results were announced at the 1:30 meeting. The exhibitors set up shop and opened at noon. We are now into the afternoon schedule. We just ate GREAT pizza from The Pie for lunch. I hear trombones playing throughout the building. Lots of fun stuff!!!! My husband, Jon Bohls, is the exhibits coordinator. He has been running around like a crazy person since 7:30 this morning. Hopefully, sanity will return soon. Or maybe not..... Steven is on his way back to the office so we can get the programs ready for tomorrow's recitals. Great recitals are on the schedule. Check back soon for more updates. We just smile, nod, and act like we know what we're doing.......

A great start to ITF08 today. Some amazing performances in the competitions and some of the performing artists have blown us all away. The talent on show just seems to get better everytime I do an ITF. I had the pleasure of venue managing Buddy Baker's gig last night and I'm sure those that were there or those that have seen this guy before will agree that it's amazing to see such a player in such an intimate venue. Those that missed the late night venue should hit the caffeine and get down there for 'Capital Bones' (Feat. our very own Donn Schaefer).......

Looking forward to the first day of the festival starting tomorrow - the las details have been taken care of and the mood of everybody is great. Let's get it started!

Today, we've been putting the final touches to the venues getting everything ready to welcome the delegates tomorrow. I've had the pleasure of doing sound for some of the rehearsals for the coming week and the talent on show is just amazing. The mood in the production office is great and the team is gelling together brilliantly. It really is a pleasure to work with such dedicated and hard working people. Let's get the show on the road.

This has been a fast-paced day as we put the finishing touches on the building and exhibits. Already we have had some great rehearsals and everybody is excited to get things under way. The student workers are amazing. William Pagan is the MacGyver of the trombone world. Looking forward to seeing everybody.

We're now beginning to make the final preparations to the festival venues, installing PA systems, stage lighting and making sure that each team member knows where they need to be at what time. Rehearsals have already begun to take place and the Student Workers have been treated to a masterclass with Niels Ole Bo Johansen. Below are some photographs of what's been going on so far.