Name: Birgit Kovacs
City, State of Residence: Danbury, CT
Occupation: Rheumatologist – Risk Management Physician in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Favorite Instrument to Play: Bass Trombone
Birgit has a passion for music as well as science. She is a physician, scientist, and executive in the pharmaceutical industry where she has served in a number of leadership roles over the past 15 years. An expert in Rheumatology / Immunology by day, Birgit is a dedicated musician by day and night. She is actively involved in multiple ensembles – playing cello, trombones, cimbasso, and tuba – and serves as a member of the development committee of the World Doctors Orchestra USA and a board member of the Future Symphony Institute. As a cellist and trombonist in the World Doctors Orchestra, Birgit has performed benefit concerts in countries throughout the world, including Armenia, South Africa, Romania, Germany, Austria, and the U.S.
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Village Virtuoso: When did you first realize you wanted to play a brass instrument? What drew you to trombone?
Birgit Kovacs: As a cellist I participated in music camps during school holidays in Germany. During one of these, when I was 16, I heard the trombone group play a piece by [Giovanni] Gabrieli. It was a glorious sound that I immediately fell in love with. I even bought a trombone from the money I earned from my first job in high school! But it would take many more years for me to start playing the trombone seriously.
VV: What inspired you to get serious in your trombone playing?
BK: In 2008 my husband founded a trombone choir. They started rehearsing very loudly in our living room on Sunday evenings. There it was again – that wonderful sound that I had fallen in love with so long ago. At that point I had two choices: to flee the loudness or to join them. I picked the latter, bought a tenor trombone and started rehearsing with the group in October of 2008. It made me very happy – and also ambitious to get better quickly so that I could play more challenging music.
VV: You also play cello. What was the inspiration behind that?
BK: I played piano for a number of years but was very unhappy with it. My piano teacher also taught string instruments – and he was the conductor of the local symphony orchestra. When I voiced the wish to switch to a string instrument he gently steered me towards cello since there were not many cellists in the orchestra at the time.
VV: How long have you been playing each instrument?
BK: I have been playing the cello for 39 years (since age 13) and the trombone for 10 years (since age 42) now.
VV: When you started, how did your friends/family/teachers react?
BK: My old friends from Germany were all delighted! They remembered me in orchestra looking longingly at the trombone section from the cello section, and here in the U.S. it was no different. My podiatrist husband has a performance degree in trombone and has been very excited that I took up his favorite instrument. He is happy that, fairly quickly, I was able to play in ensembles. I try to go to a trombone course every year and have always gotten awesome support from the teachers.
VV: What’s your favorite genre to play?
BK: I mostly play classical music – and that is my favorite genre. My most amazing musical experience was playing bass trombone in [Anton] Bruckner’s 7th symphony in the Philharmonie in Berlin.
VV: Do you get surprise/negativity from anyone now?
BK: Not really. I can play quite loud so I dispel that rumor (that women cannot play loud) from the get go. I always try to be very prepared so that there is no reason for negativity or the assumption that a mistake is due to me being a woman.
VV: Any other projects on the horizon?
BK: I hope to attend the Summer Trombone Workshop in East Tennessee this year, and in September I get to play another Bruckner Symphony! I am also considering playing a recital in August, where I would play all of my instruments (cello, tenor trombone, bass trombone, contrabass trombone and tuba). But I don’t know if planning that is realistic. I do have a day job!