Interview – Amy Larsen

Name: Amy Larsen

City, State of Residence: Olney, MD

Occupation: Science and Engineering Teacher

Favorite Instrument to Play: Tuba

Amy is currently the Bass Section Leader in the Rockville Brass Band (RBB) out of Rockville, MD and plays B^b (B-flat) Bass with the Benfield Brass Band out of Annapolis, MD. She has been a tuba player since she was in the 4^th grade in 1990 when she knew she wanted to play the “biggest one.” Amy has played previously with several bands in Maryland including the Maryland Band Director’s Band for several years, the Montgomery College Wind Ensemble, and the Rockville Concert Band. After graduating from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), she attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and trained under Wesley Jacobs for a short time. Professionally, Amy is a Science Teacher and Department Chair in an MCPS middle school. She has taught at three different middle schools and one high school within MCPS, covering Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Environmental Science, and Engineering. Music is Amy’s passion outside of work and considers her bandsmen, especially the basses/tuba section as family. She is a proud mother of two, a proficient soccer goalie, and married to a high brass player who consistently supports their shared brass life.

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Village Virtuoso: When did you first realize you wanted to play a brass instrument? What drew you to tuba?

Amy Larsen: In 4^th grade, during the instrument viewing/trying day, I went right to the brass and pointed to the biggest one (baritone) and knew immediately I wanted THAT one. I tried all of the brass, none of the woodwinds (that I recall), and none of the strings. I suppose I would have been intrigued by percussion, but I didn’t have that opportunity that day. It’s hard to explain, but I KNEW that I was meant to play low brass.

VV: How long have you been playing?

AL: Since that first 4^th grade year! The only gap was for four years, starting in the spring of my freshman year of college. A TubaChristmas in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center brought me back to playing in 2004.

VV: When you started, how did your friends/family/teachers react?

AL: My parents have always been on board. They rented a baritone for me my first year and then I borrowed the school’s tuba from 5^th grade until 8^th grade when they bought me a tuba from Dillon Brass in Woodbridge, NJ. It was a special trip that Mom and I took together. We bought a gig bag a year later and I’ve been using the same tuba and bag ever since!

Later I got a C tuba when I went to Oberlin Conservatory in 1999 and now have a house full of brass, thanks to being married to a high brass player. We now own two tubas, two baritones (our daughter began on baritone this school year), two E^b alto horns, one flugelhorn, two B^b cornets, four trumpets, and an E^b soprano cornet. We also have a piano and several woodwinds, but it’s the brass that we specialize in.

VV: What’s your favorite genre to play?

AL: I love brass band music, particularly sweet melodies with big emotional swells that tug at the heartstrings (think “Danny Boy” or “Resurgam”) as well as bright fanfares that make you stop everything and listen ([Aaron] Copland quickly comes to mind).  It’s a ton of fun to play marches and music scores as well, but my favorite is definitely the music that whisks you away.

VV: Most folks know “Danny Boy,” but what is “Resurgam”?

AL: “Resurgam” is the piece we played at North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) Championships in 2017. It’s an Eric Ball piece that is a bit tortured, honestly, but stunning. The title means “Rise again.”

VV: Do you get surprise/negativity from anyone now?

AL: Just about everyone I meet is surprised yet supportive of my playing tuba. Being a woman tuba player is very unusual, let alone playing in multiple groups and with decent skill, so I am accustomed to surprise at hearing this. At all brass band events, I’m often one of two or three women at most who play tuba during the entire event. I never get any negativity now. When I was in high school, I got some unwanted attention from boys for playing a big instrument and blowing hard (you can read between the lines), but those were never kids from the band. Band kids were always awesome. Playing tuba is a major point of pride. It means more to me than teaching! I have made so many friends for life and consider my bandsmen my family. It is at the core of who I am.

VV: As you referenced above, tubas are made in different keys (like many other instruments), the largest and lowest of which is the B^b. You’ve been known to call yourself a “bottom feeder,” so does this mean your Dillion Music tuba is a B^b? Did you ever try the smaller tubas? If so, how did you decide on the big one?

AL: “Bottom Feeder” to be sure. 🙂 Students in this country learn on B^b, just as they do on trumpet, so E^b, C, and F tubas are very rare for middle school students to be playing. I only went for the B^b option when I bought that first horn. When I was admitted to Oberlin in my senior year of high school, I knew I’d need to play C tuba for the orchestral program.  That’s when we went to Baltimore Brass and I bought a “Piggy” C tuba (a smaller, squat shape gives it its name) from Dave Fedderly. I brought only the C with me to Oberlin but went back to the B^b after college, for comfort and for the wind/concert/brass band opportunities I was taking in. Had I continued in an orchestral setting, I may have stuck with the C.

VV: Any other projects on the horizon?

AL: I would like to play a solo at NABBA in 2020. I also recently founded a small group called the Rockville Ladies Low Brass made up of four women from the RBB (two euphoniums, one trombone/euphonium, and me on tuba). We have performed at several of the recent RBB concerts and will again in June. We played for adjudication at the Mid-Atlantic Brass Band Festival at Rowan University in NJ this past spring. We are trying out new pieces and continue to grow and develop.