LUMBER CITY – Curwensville Area High School junior tuba player, Michael Fleming, is a national champion.
On Oct. 26-30, Fleming traveled to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN to perform in the National Association of Music Educators Honors Ensemble Concert Band and won first chair tuba for his efforts.
During the 2012-13 school year, he earned the right to compete for one of the 10 available chairs when he placed first chair at the District and Regional concert band festivals and then placed second chair in the Wind Ensemble at the state festival in Erie.
“It was a great privilege to perform with many of the United States best musicians. You had to earn a chair at your State concert to even get an invite, and then audition for Nationals. It was a very involved process,” Fleming recalls.
In order to travel to Nashville, Fleming needed to submit a two-and-a-half minute audition performance by video in May and then wait for the results. By August, he learned that he had qualified for one of the 10 positions.
“My family and friends were excited by the news. I felt like all my hard work was paying off,” he said.
Fleming started his musical career playing euphonium in fourth grade. His first musical instructors, Robin Bruck and James Sopic, saw his potential for playing a larger instrument.
“I guess they thought I had big lungs,” he said. During his eighth grade year, Cindy Penvose, current band director at Curwensville High School determined that she would need a tuba player in the future and asked Fleming to make the switch.
“I am very happy I agreed to change instruments. I love playing tuba. It is a powerful instrument and has really sparked my passion for music.”
In mid-September, Fleming received his music for the national concert. He had 10 days to learn the music and submit another recording of his playing, and this time competitively for one of the coveted top chairs. With the help of Mark Sopic and his private recording studio, Fleming gave his best effort.
“I believed, at the time, that it was a good recording under the circumstances. I told everyone I thought it was probably good enough to be in the top half, but we were talking the best musicians in the nation. I have no experience with national competition, yet, so I didn’t know what to expect from the others. Secretly, I thought it might be good enough for a top three spot,” said Fleming.
Good enough, it was. On the first day of the festival, nationally renowned guest conductor, Peter Booneshaft, personally handed out slips of paper and then asked his musicians to look at them. On the slip would be their position.
“Mine said, ‘1/1,’ and I was a bit confused at first. I asked the tuba player beside me and he said, ‘Congratulations. You’re first chair, first part. You won.’” Word spread to the Curwensville community via Facebook later that evening once the first rehearsal ended. Curwensville had a national champion,” recalled Fleming.
“My family, community, instructors, friends, and mentors expressed their happiness for me. I owe a lot of people a great debt of thanks. My private instructors, Jay Buhler of Curwensville and Professor Zach Collins of IUP helped me prepare. Former state champion and Curwensville alum Shawn Whitaker has taught me a lot. And of course, my parents, Tina and Jim Fleming, and my grandparents and family are very supportive of all my efforts. They put up with a lot of late night practicing.”
Tina Fleming, his mother, said, “We can’t go to bed at our house without a tuba serenade from the basement every night. I don’t know how [younger siblings] Jorja and Davis fall asleep. Michael deserves this spot though. He earns it every day with hours of hard work.”
Winning nationals has already opened educational doors for Fleming after high school. “I recently had informal lessons from Craig Knox, head of tuba at Duquesne and Carnegie Melon, and Don Harry, head of tuba at Rochester (N.Y.) University’s Eastman School of Music. As well as emails from other schools including Julliard in New York City,” he said.
With a lot more work and dedication, Fleming hopes to turn his early successes in tuba into a performance and college level teaching career.
“The school’s concert competition season starts over soon. I have to earn my way back to nationals this year. I have big plans. I want to perform for a major orchestra after college. My attitude is that someone gets those spots. It should be me.”
Winning his first national championship was a rewarding and challenging process for Fleming. Working for a second may show that there is no limit to where his future could go.