Josh Cohen: Blowing Winds

My parents met in a music history appreciation class at Brooklyn College. They only really listen to classical music and the Beatles.

I began playing piano at about age 5 and switched to trumpet in the 5th grade. My father and I used to listen to David Munrow’s medieval and Renaissance music history audio documentary when I was very young.  I always wanted to play the instruments that were around at the time the music was actually composed to get as close as possible to what it might have sounded like.

I knew very early on, after I realized I had some talent on trumpet, that music would be a great part of my life.  At Tanglewood, during an Empire Brass seminar, I realized that I really wanted to try to make a living at it.

I have had a few wonderful mentors on both trumpet and baroque trumpet.  My first trumpet teacher Ed Cooper I had from the 5th grade to the 12th grade.  While still studying with him, I also studied with Adel Sanchez (former principal of the National Symphony Orchestra)

When I got to NEC in Boston, I studied baroque trumpet with Fred Holmgren who really got me to accelerate at playing the baroque trumpet.

I actually discovered my instrument (baroque trumpet) on a trip to England where I got a tour of the Bates Collection of Historical Instruments at Oxford.  Jeremy Montague (the curator) let me try some original instruments including one of the original types of keyed trumpets that the Haydn trumpet concerto was written for.

The biggest challenge in the field of early music is the frequent travel.  Having two daughters (aged almost 3 and almost 9) makes it hard to leave them.  They understand why I have to go, but sometimes I wish I could take the whole family to gigs!