Jon Talks Trumpet

05/20/2026

Berlioz: Harold in Italy
Bernstein: Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety

Two very interesting and fulfilling works that I had never had the pleasure of playing before. Inspirational playing as always from the - the Berlioz was exquisite and refreshing, contrasted with the very unique Bernstein, which had some very groovy “math rock” sections in addition to its uniquely haunting and glorious melodies.

Pictured mouthpiece - 640 5/8 No. 26

05/08/2026

Another week, another great program - this time with featuring “On the Bridge of the Eternal” by Christopher Theofanidis and Bernstein Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah”. Full of gratitude for such an invigorating program and for getting to work with this vibrant and extremely inspiring orchestra.

mouthpiece of the day - the 640 5/8 No. 26, which is a 1.5 diameter piece with our thoughtfully designed hybrid BC cup on our efficient and supportive No. 26 bore. I love using our system to dial in exactly the level of embouchure support, color, and resistance for specific musical situations.😎🎺

05/03/2026

Had a lot of fun last week with the on an epic program - always a pleasure to return to Phoenix and play with this awesome orchestra. As an alum I have had a connection to this place and it’s nearly perfect weather for over a decade (let’s not talk about the summer ☀️☠️). Inspiring to play with their new principal trumpet and my long time teacher/mentor Benny Nguyen. Full of gratitude for a great week!

04/22/2026

Phoenix, AZ trumpet players - KAPLAN BREHM is holding a trumpet mouthpiece pop-up showing at the Professional Musicians of Arizona building on Friday, April 24th from 2pm-4pm 🤝🎺

04/09/2026

G trumpet by .official

Today I’m featuring this gorgeous and FULL FEATURED 4 valve G trumpet made by Thein Brass. It’s an exquisite package - quite free blowing and thoughtfully constructed to feel like a big horn (especially with that larger radius tuning slide!), while still having the efficiency upgrade of a higher key instrument. It also has two tuning triggers - one for the 1st valve, and the other is a combo 3rd and 4th valve (which offers a large number of possibilities for alternate fingerings as well as *actually in tune* lower 4th valve fingerings). The 1st valve is also vented for convenience, letting you preset the first valve trigger whether or not the first valve is depressed.

When compared to my .bandandorchestra 9710 G trumpet, the Thein is quite a bit denser in mass and sound, has a larger bell flare, and has a noble and teutonic character - a great choice for playing big horn parts on first trumpet in quintet.

03/02/2026

Mouthpiece showing!!!

trumpeters in the ATLANTA area...

We are so excited and very proud to be able to showcase our thoughtful line of trumpet mouthpieces at the Atlanta Federation of Musicians from 11am-2pm on Friday, March 13th.

I'll be there with our full product line and will be ready to help any and all of you thoroughly explore our mouthpiece ecosystem, which we thoughtfully engineered for seamless collaboration. Come say hello!

02/21/2026

Always ready to roll with my pieces and trumpets!

This morning I’m utilizing the 640 4/8 No. 26 on my Elkhart C trumpet and the 640 7/8 No. 26 on my Mt. Vernon D. 1-1/2 diameter and No. 26 bore on both, but 4/8 (1C) cup on C trumpet and 7/8 (hybrid B/No Letter) on D trumpet to warm the sound up a bit. 😎🎺

Always a joy to play at 😄

02/16/2026

Giving one of my favorite pieces a spin this morning - the 630 3/8 No. 26. Imagine an efficient 3 diameter rim (that is as comfortable as your favorite 1 or 1-1/2C) on our compact and sparkly 3/8 cup (styled after a Mt. Vernon 10.5C cup) and our supportive but always colorful No. 26 bore. I love the burn I can get in the sound on this piece, while still being able to color the sound the way I like.

02/03/2026

“Jon Snow” needs to work on his pedal C 😎☃️🎺

He’s using a 650 5/8 No. 26, which gives him the wider inner rim diameter of a Bach 1-1/4 and a hybrid B/C cup to let his lips FLAP for that pedal…. Still needs work though.

01/29/2026

So excited to be teaching trumpet at alongside my great friend for the semester while is out on leave! So grateful and excited for the opportunity to work with these thoughtful, curious, and conscientious students!!!

(Pictured - 640 5/8 No. 26 mouthpiece in my Bach NY 37/7)