Stephen
Dumaine is proof positive that persistence pays. Each major orchestra employs
just one tuba player full-time, making the openings few and far between.
Persevering against those who told him he couldn't make a living as a tuba
player, a year in which he had no professional musical employment (practicing
on his own throughout that time), and 21 auditions, he has become the principal
tuba of the National Symphony Orchestra.
He grew
up in Burrillville, Rhode Island, and during his high school years he was a
member of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony, winning a concerto competition to
appear as soloist with them when he was eighteen. He earned his Bachelor of
Music degree from The Juilliard School, and was principal tuba in Spain's
Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia during the 1995-96 season. Mr. Dumaine then
returned to the United States, where his orchestral experience includes
positions with the New World Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, and the
Alabama Symphony, and substitute work with the New York City Ballet Orchestra
and the New York Philharmonic. National and international festival experience
includes Tanglewood, Aspen, National Repertory Orchestra, SHIRA Festival (Israel),
and Pacific Music Festival (Japan).
Mr.
Dumaine will appear with the Tri-County Symphonic Band on February 1,
2009 as he performs the "Concerto for Tuba" by Edward Gregson.