Gene Young

I met Gene in 1967 when I joined the Cleveland Orchestra. He of course was already on the faculty of Oberlin. I had known of Gene for many years because of a mutual friend, Bob Weber, with whom I had played a tour with American Ballet Theatre and who had been a colleague of Gene's when they were both students at Oberlin. This was the beginning of a friendship that lasted over a half century. Gene was more than a best friend-he was the brother I never had. We had so many things in common: not only being trumpet players, but both having studied with Bill Vacchiano, when he was principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic- I while attending the Juilliard School, Gene privately while he was at West Point. We shared and exchanged many stories of what that was like. Gene and I had many other mutual friends and/or colleagues from our orchestral backgrounds. We shared many mutual likes and dislikes, i.e. orchestral repertoire, composers, conductors, orchestras, interpretations, many of the same trumpet player idols, similar senses of humor, similar experiences in the trenches in orchestras and with administrators and many years of similar alcoholic favorites. We also provided each other with support, advice, counseling (i.e. specifically when relating to "drinking issues".) But Gene was way beyond comparison, when it came to his talents as a conductor; his knowledge of repertoire was astounding, not only of standard orchestral literature, but particularly 20th and 21st century composers. His understanding and ability to convey the essence of those works not only to his trumpet students at Oberlin, but to all the young musicians he conducted in ensembles at the Hartt School, University of Connecticut, and Peabody was beyond measure. Have no doubt that much of the repertoire he conducted was the only exposure those students who performed in his ensembles ever had. He had many passions that I could appreciate and admire but not begin to understand; here are three that stand out: 1) flea markets (I have many treasures from his "searches"); 2) his baton collection that is unique in every way; 3) his awareness of literature and how it related to music. Gene was a modern Renaissance man-he connected all of the dots! Gene produced my first CD "BRAVURA TRUMPET". I only had the opportunity to play with Gene as conductor on two occasions: once when he was at the Hartt School when I played the Haydn Trumpet Concerto and the other at the New England Conservatory when he conducted the Wind Ensemble on Greg McLean's "The Twain Have Met". Marvin Stamm has already commented on this experience, but what he didn't mention was that the three of us were all around 75 years old when we did that concert. But as always, with Gene, his energy level made us all the age of the students in the ensemble. The year after I retired from the Boston Symphony Orchestra (2006) I taught the trumpet students at UConn on Mondays and Tuesdays. I always stayed over Monday nights at Gene and Linda's house in Coventry, which was only about 15 minutes from the school in Storrs. Linda always had dinner made for when I got to their house and Gene and I would watch TV while I ate-whatever was on--many times a Celtics game. Those evenings made it possible to get through that year with my sanity intact! I could go on and on, but it's difficult to keep my eyes dry. I visited Gene just a few days before he passed. Although he was already fading, I would like to think he knew I was there. Less than a month later, our friend Tom Stevens passed away. I had planned to call him and reminisce about Gene but that was not meant to be. So long Gene, you will always be a part of me. RIP. Charlie Schlueter Retired Principal Trumpet Boston Symphony Orchestra (25 years) Retired faculty New England Conservatory (31 years) Photo: (Charlie Schlueter, Gene, Bill Vacchiano, c.1988)