ASU musician slides way to award

 by Adam Chaikin
 published on Tuesday, February 26, 2008

John Battaglia / THE STATE PRESS

BRASS TECH: Samuel Price, Hillel Joan Frazer Memorial Award winner, will perform on March 19 at the Katzin Concert Hall.

Music junior and classical trombonist Samuel Price is the recipient of the Hillel Joan Frazer Memorial Award in the Arts.

But even with this award and numerous others under his belt, Price made the startling confession: "I actually wanted to start playing drums, but you needed a teacher's permission and I couldn't get it because they said I wasn't talented enough in music."

But Price isn't one to let his head get big with his achievements. He found his true calling and put himself into it, always striving to get better, he said.

"Right around the 8th grade, when I was 14 or 15, it became something I wanted to do as a career, I guess it was a form of expression," Price said. "It was something I could relate to and put my passion into."

Price routinely practices his trombone four hours a day—but the focus that he puts into his art is rooted from his youth.

Price graduated from high school and was awarded a full scholarship to ASU. He was a finalist in the Tucson Symphony and Arapahoe Philharmonic concerto competitions and has received three citations for musical arts from the governor of Oklahoma, where Price grew up.

In addition, Price has three commendations for musical arts from the state of Oklahoma, and two honorable mentions with the International Trombone Association Competition.

And most recently, Price was chosen as a finalist for the Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, D.C., and was awarded the Hillel Joan Frazer Memorial Award in the Arts, an award which will fund his upcoming recital.

"It's going to be a large crowd, and it's really neat for trombone to get so much exposure," Price said about the recital. "And I think, on a more serious note, that exposure creates interest. Classical music is having problems getting people into it."

Getting people to listen to one trombone piece and develop an interest in it is a positive thing, Price said.

Price's recital, which is scheduled for March 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Katzin Concert Hall, will not only show his trombone prowess, but his interest in spreading knowledge and spurring interest in classical music again.

The two-piece recital will correlate to the similarities between trombone and the shofar, a Jewish instrument made of an animal's horn.

Also, Price will talk about the unique sound of the shofar and how it is tied in with classical trombone.

Reach the reporter at: adam.chaikin@asu.edu.