Meet Us
MICHAEL S MILNARIK, tuba
Michael S. Milnarik is a musician of great versatility. He has performed with most of the orchestras in northern New England, the Albany Symphony, the Key West Symphony, as well as with ensembles ranging from new music to jazz, and also as a soloist. He is a member of the Innovata Brass & Percussion, Brass Sect, Keys & Brass, Dr. Fidgety Dixieland Jazz Band, Brass Planet, Toobis Groovis and the Cosmopolitan Tuba Quartet. He is also in demand as a session tuba player - having recorded with brass quintets; orchestras; tuba quartets; contemporary music ensembles; jazz and Dixieland groups; on novelty recordings; children's albums; and on pop albums.
Milnarik has a passion for providing direction to young musicians so that they can achieve their own personal goals and dreams. Young tuba and euphonium players that study with him learn the techniques involved to improve their performance level and the skills necessary to survive in today's highly competitive performance and educational environments. Milnarik is the tuba and euphonium instructor at Tufts University, Brandeis University, and Salem State University and has recently been appointed (as a substitute for the fall 2012 semester) as the low brass instructor at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. Formerly, he taught tuba and euphonium at the University of Southern Maine (8 years), the University of Massachusetts Lowell (5 years), and the Lexington (MA) Public Schools (11 years).
Outside of these institutions Milnarik has a select private teaching studio and is the founder/director of both the MMI - Tuba Euphonium Academy and MMI - Brass Splash! The MMI - TEA focuses on enhancing the individual playing of tuba and euphonium players of all ages and abilities. The MMI - BS focuses on fundamentals of brass performance - both from the nuts and bolts of performing in a small brass ensemble and also how to present to a 21st audience.
Milnarik is the owner and manager of TubaStudio.com, a web store that carries sheet music, compact discs, instruments and accessories. TubaStudio.com was opened to help other tuba and euphonium players by offering free resources, making commonly used educational materials and supplies readily available, and providing quality pre-owned instruments.
In addition, he has arranged numerous works for brass quintet, has served on the board of the New England Philharmonic as both a board member and as president of the orchestra, has been a consultant for non-profit organizations and in 2014 will complete his 9th year of involvement with the Boston Tuba Christmas - his first two years as guest conductor and the last six years as the coordinator/conductor of the event.
Michael S. Milnarik has recorded on the Stillwater Digital and Albany Records labels.
BRIAN L. DIEHL, trombone
After graduating from the Interlochen Arts Academy (where he received the Fine Arts Award for Brass) trombonist Brian L. Diehl, a Maine native, received his B.M. from Northwestern University and his M.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music (becoming the first brass player at NEC to receive the Rabb Presidential Scholarship; as well as the Theodore Presser Award). Diehl was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center for two seasons and worked under Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, Jeffrey Tate, and Marek Janowski. He also was selected to a three-year Fellowship with the New World Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, with whom he toured and recorded extensively.
Diehl is the newly appointed Principal Trombonist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, under Carolyn Kuan's Direction. He also holds the Principal Trombone position in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, under Kevin Rhodes Direction, which also includes performing at the Berkshire Choral Festival. He has performed with many regional orchestras and ensembles throughout New England, including: Rhode Island Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, and Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestral Project, for which he has recorded several albums of new music, as well as with the Portland Symphony.
Former Principal trombone of the Florida West Coast Symphony (now the Sarasota Orchestra, FL), Diehl has also performed with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Boston Pops Esplanade, as well as performances with The Florida Orchestra (Tampa), and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he made a recording in 1989 of the music of Verdi's Opera Highlights with Sir Georg Solti. He has also performed under such notable conductors as Luciano Berio, Leonard Bernstein, Eduarto Mata, Gunther Schuller, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Stephan Sanderling, Bernard Haitink, Jahja Ling, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Leonard Slatkin. He was chosen as Principal Trombone of the American-Soviet Youth Orchestra, performing under Zubin Mehta and Dmitri Kitayenko in major cities in both countries. Additionally, Diehl was selected as Principal Trombone to represent Maine in the McDonald's All-American Band, marching in the Macy's Thanksgiving and Pasadena Rose Bowl Parades as “front left".
Diehl is an avid soloist and proponent of the trombone. He has commissioned and arranged several works for the trombone, most recently from composer Sanae Kanda: A Folk Tune. Other past commissions include Anthony DiLorenzo’s concerto Little Buckaroo, and Lauren Bernofsky’s solo Devil’s Dermish, and have received rave reviews throughout the world. His book “Low Brass Essentials” has been a text for numerous brass students, and has been used by students at Northwestern University. He has performed as a Solo Guest Artist with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, soloist with New World Symphony, Florida West Coast Symphony, and as a concerto competition winner with the New England Conservatory Orchestra. Mr. Diehl was chosen as Finalist in the Houston Symphony’s “Ima Hogg” Concerto Competition 1994, and has done solo work with Trombone Seminars of Christian Lindberg and Joseph Alessi. Past teachers have included: Mr. Frank Crisafulli, Mr. Jay Friedman, Mr. Joseph Alessi, Mr. John Swallow, Mr. Norman Bolter, and Mr. Douglas Yeo. Diehl has tailored solo trombone music for regular performances in area church services.
One of Diehl’s passions is performing in Chamber Music settings, and has been active throughout his performing career, from Brass Quintets to performing as a soloist within an unlike ensemble, such as Roger Goeb’s Quartet for String Quartet and Trombone at Musicorda String Festival. Past performances include member of New World Brass, made up of principal players from the New World Symphony, with whom he toured and recorded Ingolf Dahl’s Music from Brass on Argo label, as well as performances at the US Embassy in Paris, in Monaco, and in the Cayman Islands.
Diehl maintains a rigorous teaching schedule in addition to his many performance activities. He is Low Brass Teacher and Chamber Music Coach at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Division, and serves as Artist Faculty at University of Southern Maine in Gorham. Additionally he teaches numerous high school-aged musicians at Walnut Hill School of Fine Arts in Natick, MA, as well as in his private Andover studio. He has also served as Faculty Teacher and Coach for Foundation for Chinese Music in Boston. Past teaching posts have included University of South Florida in Tampa; Manatee Community College in Bradenton, FL; Miami-Dade Community College; as well as Florida International University in Miami.