Erre Maqueos, 12, studies trumpet with Mike Zonshine. A Herbert Zipper Scholar, Erre also studies music theory with Kathy Sawada and plays in the Wind Ensemble directed by Paul Crockett. He is from Los Angeles, CA.
This interview has been edited for style, content, and clarity.
How did you start playing trumpet? I started with percussion, and then I liked the trumpet so I started playing the trumpet. I liked the sound and how it looked.
How did you discover the trumpet? My dad plays trumpet, and my whole family plays music.
What does the rest of your family play? My brother plays trombone, and my sister plays clarinet. My older sister plays clarinet too, and my mom plays sax.
Do you ever play together? We have a band. It’s fun because we can play with each other and play duets and stuff.
Your brother and sister also take lessons here, right? Yeah, we help each other. Sometimes we figure out songs together.
How do you like it at Colburn? I feel good at Colburn because there are a lot of people I can meet and it’s cool.
This is your second year in the Wind Ensemble. What is playing in it like? It’s fun playing with the Wind Ensemble because there are songs that are cool and they were hard but I understood them after.
How do you usually rehearse? I practice at home and from here I go to my dad’s work. He’s a teacher for music and he takes me there and I practice music that I need to.
Does your dad help you a lot with your music? Yeah. Other than helping me to play, he took me here and if there are scholarships, he’ll put me in it, like the Herbert Zipper Scholarship.
Tell me about the piece you played. It’s called The Débutante by Herbert Clarke. My dad actually told me about this. He was on YouTube and then he showed me it and he asked if I wanted to play it, and I said yes, because I liked it, and then he printed it out. I played it and my teacher Mike Zonshine told me that it’s in one of my books, so we started practicing it.
Why do you play music? I play because it’s fun and I like to challenge myself with some songs, like songs I hear on the radio I can just play then.
What’s your dream when you get older? My dream is to be in the LA Phil. In high school, I kind of want to go to LACHSA, but it’s pretty fun here too.
Erre Maqueos Performs Clarke's The Débutante
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