For Katie LaForgia '97, music is not just a hobby, it's a passion. This dedicated and accomplished trumpet player takes advantage of every opportunity in the hope of one day reaching her long-term goal -- to play in a professional orchestra.
At Dartmouth, LaForgia is the principal trumpet player in the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra. She founded the Dartmouth College Trumpet Ensemble, as well as the College's Brass Quintet, known as Absolut Brass. "Absolut Brass is fun because it's relaxed; there's no coach and we practice on our own accord," she offered.
LaForgia also plays in the Dartmouth College Wind Symphony, and was a featured soloist in the recent February concert, playing the Oskar Bohme Trumpet Concerto. Currently, she is preparing for her senior recital on April 27, which is "an exploration of the works of various contemporary artists."
A New Jersey native, LaForgia plans to prepare for a Master's Degree in music performance, and possibly to pursue a Ph.D. in music history. After traveling around the country to find different teachers with the most compatible styles for her, LaForgia plans to "enter the audition world."
In striving toward her aim, LaForgia knows that she has many challenges ahead of her. For example, she said that "it is hard to find a gig in an orchestra, because the talent keeps increasing." In addition, playing professionally takes tremendous dedication and practice. "Getting a position in one of the "big five" orchestras is the same type of commitment it takes to be a major league baseball player," she said.
Another challenge is facing the financial difficulties which may come. "I have to be prepared for rough years ahead, because salaries are low even for good orchestras," she said. Nevertheless, despite the fact that "musicians even in the best-known orchestras sometimes make only $20,000 a year," LaForgia said. "I can't really think of doing anything else, because I love it so much."
Although her parents "would have preferred a more lucrative and stable career," they are supportive of her endeavors. It is they, in fact, who began LaForgia on the piano at the age of four. "My parents didn't have the opportunity to take lessons when they were young, so they wanted us to be able to have that opportunity," she said. These lessons were "the beginning of my music career," she added.
Her overall interest in music, however, LaForgia admitted with a laugh, began when she "started watching the Smurfs." She explains that she took notice of the background music, and became very curious. "I noticed that they were excerpts from symphonies. I took my dad's Time-Life Collection of records, and listened until I found where they were from."
Then, in fifth grade, LaForgia started playing the trumpet, despite the fact that her mom wanted her to play the flute like her sister. "My mom didn't think the trumpet was feminine, but I was stubborn because I loved it."
LaForgia began taking trumpet lessons and was first chair in regional band. While attending a public high school for ninth grade , she spent weekends at the Julliard pre-college program. "It was the first time I played real symphonies rather than high school arrangements. I also took private lessons and played in a brass quartet, among other things, so I was really exposed to all different aspects of music," she said.
At Julliard, LaForgia began to love playing the trumpet so much that she decided she didn't even want to go to college, she "just wanted to play at nightclubs." However, "my parents wanted more from me." Realizing that pursuing a career in music would not be easy, LaForgia spent the next three years of high school at Philips Exeter, pursuing a liberal arts education while continuing trumpet and playing in the orchestra.
LaForgia says that her first experience "completely immersed in a musical setting" was when she began to spend her summers at music festivals.
Since female trumpet players are rare, she felt that at these festivals, she did "have some proving to do." For example, at Aspen, LaForgia was one of only two female trumpet players in twenty. In particular, at Tanglewood, where she was the only female trumpet player, she says she "did feel a bit of discrimination." Nicknamed "Queen Victoria," she said they expected her sound to be "lady-like, not strong and powerful."
Despite such obstacles, LaForgia has clearly made a mark for herself. She is the recipient of numerous awards, such as the Eugene Roitman Memorial Award, and first place in the Culley Concerto Competition, Brass Division.
At Dartmouth, LaForgia says that she has received a lot of musical guidance from Max Culpepper, Conductor of the Wind Symphony, as well as from her professor and advisor, Bill Summers. "I can't fathom having the courage to pursue the trumpet after college without them," she said.
Nevertheless, since music is "not a sure field," LaForgia is a double major in Music and English. She said that she is waiting until graduate school to focus solely on music. "It seemed almost limiting not to have a wide range of things to choose from," LaForgia said. It is for this reason that she says she is glad to have a liberal arts background, and in particular to have chosen to attend Dartmouth.
Looking over at her computer, LaForgia jokes about how she even joined an on-line chat group on Gustav Mahler, her favorite composer. "People from all over the world-- the Ukraine, Sweden, etc., chat, just to express an opinion on a particular recording, for example," she explained.
LaForgia says that her dedication, perseverance and desire to continually learn and improve are a result of her deep, heartfelt love for music. Sitting in her room surrounded by posters of music festivals (and, of course, her stuffed animal Mahler), LaForgia plays her CD of Schumann's Fourth Symphony. He is a composer to whose music she said she recently became better introduced. "Music is such a powerful force," she said with awe as she listened. "You can never have learned all you want to know."
