Welcome! You’re at the website of trumpeter Sam Eurich based in eastern Connecticut.

I started playing trumpet in 5th grade. I got hooked on it after hearing Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, particularly “Tijuana Taxi” from the “Going Places” album. Frank Coppola, a trumpet player and music teacher in the West Haven school system, got me started. I played my first paid gig the next year at age 11 at the home and birthday party of the man who first introduced me to the Tijuana Brass. It was through him that I also got to know the music of Sinatra and company, like the then newly released “Sinatra at the Sands” featuring Count Basie and Orchestra, and albums like “Persuasive Percussion” with top shelf players like Doc Severinsen.

Growing up near New Haven, Connecticut, I next studied trumpet with Richard Neal Spignesi, who in the earlier years had a studio on Chapel St. in New Haven. I have the parents of my forever friend and drummer extraordinaire Monte Rolli to thank for connecting me with Richard, as Monte studied with Russell Spang who had a percussion studio in the building. The Rollis brought me along, made the introductions, and got me set up with trumpet lessons in the “big city”, often providing transportation as well during those early years. It was in Richard’s studio I first heard recordings of both Maurice Andre and Maynard Ferguson, and others, all of whom made lasting impressions.

In high school, I played with a reading big band, the “Stardusters”, run by trombonist Sal Midola. As one of the younger members, I got schooled on the finer points of playing music from the Swing Era.

From my late teens and for the next dozen or so years, I played trumpet with the Richard Neal Orchestra, a pick-up big band run by my trumpet teacher that played various venues in the greater New Haven area. What great fun that was! The band had some terrific musicians pass through. I always felt very lucky to be included. Among them was the fine lead trumpeter Roland Chirico who was friends with Richard. Forty years later, Roland walked into a Charter Oak Brass Band rehearsal looking for a different type of playing than he’d done in the past. As luck had it, he ended up on repiano cornet which sits next to my seat on soprano cornet. I had the greatest time sitting next to Roland and reconnecting after all those years. Isn’t life amazing!

I attended multiple colleges pursuing various majors, but managed to graduate from the University of Connecticut with a degree in Music Education. I’ll be forever thankful to Alan Gillespie for giving me a shot. I’m sure I both frustrated and amused my trumpet teachers! First was Bill Wich, a terrific player who among other things played with the Eastern Brass Quintet, a superb touring group that was also a resident ensemble at UCONN. My last teacher at UCONN was Dan Patrylak, a great teacher and player. He focused on the fundamentals of playing with me, instilling concepts and mindset that I use to this day. While I didn’t end up in teaching, I remain ever so grateful for the musical experience at UCONN. I’ve met and worked with so many wonderful people as a result of my trumpet training.

After getting married out of college to Virginia, a horn player I met at UCONN, we settled in eastern Connecticut, and I began a career as an IT professional in the corporate world. I had the extreme good fortune to become a member of multiple area ensembles. The Thread City Brass Quintet was founded some years earlier by a trio of college professors, Bob Lemons - trumpet, Gus Mazzocca - horn, and Dave Yutzey - trombone. During my tenure, Bill Cournoyer played tuba for a number of years, with Craig Knox in there as well before embarking on his stellar career. Along the way, Virginia joined as horn player. Don Siler, Joanna Hersey, and Peter Lillpopp played tuba after Bill retired. The group now features Gary Kirsch on trombone, Dan Green on tuba, and Danielle Horan on trumpet, along with Virginia and me. It would be impossible to overstate how meaningful being in this group has been, both musically and in the cherished friendships made.

For thirty-some years, I played in the Willimantic Orchestra, sitting next to Bob Lemons. I also played in (and continue to play in) the Eastern Connecticut State University Band, founded by Bob in the early 1970s and directed by him for decades thereafter. I had a pretty good start on trumpet through college, but it’s the many years I’ve been fortunate to sit across from, or next to Bob that have most influenced much of what I might do well on the trumpet today. Imagine sitting with a player on your instrument for 40-something years who is unfailingly in tune, has a great sound, and superb musicality. Want to know how something should sound? It was simple, just listen.

In the later 1990s, I started playing trumpet in Classic Brass. At the time it was a hybrid British-style brass band in that trumpets and French horns were in the instrumentation. I played both Bb and Eb trumpet at that time, switching back and forth as the music dictated. As more trumpet players joined, I was soon able to switch permanently to Eb soprano. The band matured through the years thanks to visionary and determined management and music directors. French horns and trumpets were replaced by tenor horns and cornets making the group a true British-style brass band. The group is now named the Charter Oak Brass Band. I continue on soprano cornet, a part I have been delighted to play all these years.

As is often the case with classically oriented trumpeters, I’ve played many weddings and church services over the years, many as a result of long collaborations with organists and choir directors Gordon Adams and Mike Fazio, both at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown, CT, where I’ve played since 1978. Somewhere around 1999, I was very fortunate to be invited to play first trumpet in the show/pit orchestra for the annual Christmas show sponsored by Trinity Covenant Church in Manchester CT, with the brilliant Steve Nielsen as music director. That show had been happening for a number of years before I arrived and it turned into a more than fifteen year annual series of performances for me. Each yearly run would treat 4000-5000+ people to an absolutely marvelous Christmas event. In the late 1990s, I also began an association with the New England Chamber Choir and Orchestra under the fine direction of Richard William Donohue. This group has afforded me the opportunity to play a number of the great choral works, including such trumpet heavyweights as the Bach b minor Mass.

Throw in a bunch of Handel Messiahs, Rutter Glorias, occasional shows, and other classical gigs, and I’ve managed to keep myself plenty busy on the trumpet these many years. With corporate life now behind me, and trumpet well in hand, I look forward to continuing the musical journey!