Elisa's Trumpets

Sunday we had the great pleasure to attend a lecture/recital on "Trumpets Through Time" by our new friend, Dr. Elisa Catherine Koehler, the new Chair of the Music Department here at Winthrop U. The event was hosted by the Rock Hill Music Club at First Presbyterian Church on Main Street.We were privy to some of Elisa's trumpet collection when we went to her home for dinner recently, but I hadn't seen her entire collection - it's impressive!I wish I could have gotten a better photo, but they went straight into their meeting from the lecture, so we needed to leave. But gads, these instruments were gorgeous! They included 'natural trumpets' and more modern-day trumpets, a.k.a. cornets with all their valves and buttons, and a flugelhorn. She showed us the difference between trumpet fittings that were used to change the musical key.And she played each instrument to let us hear the differences. Here she is playing a cornetto. Stan used to play the french horn and was blown away at how easily Elisa switched from instrument to instrument without blinking. Elisa is very, very good at what she does. Here's a snippet of her playing her antique cornet (from the 1800s) - click to listen on Youtube.I love having friends who are so passionate about a topic they light up like spark plugs when they talk about it. That's Elisa. I'm lucky to have her in my world!