Mario Guarneri

Session: A Tribute to Tom Stevens

Mario Guarneri is a musician who has “done it all,” from playing Dixieland jazz with Louis Armstrong at the age of thirteen, to fifteen seasons with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the batons of Zubin Mehta and Carlo Maria Giulini. He has toured Europe with the Los Angeles Brass Quintet and performed with the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, Radio City Music Hall, and the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Mr. Guarneri has recorded solo albums on the Crystal and Nonesuch labels, one of which was nominated for the Prix de Rome. For a decade, Mario was the principal trumpet with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and has played on over 400 TV and motion picture soundtracks, including solo performances on Lonesome Dove and Godfather III.

He has taught trumpet for over 50 years and is currently a trumpet instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Guarneri also performs regularly with his jazz quartet in the San Francisco area and has recorded four jazz CDs. In 1986 he developed the Buzz Extension and Resistance Piece (B.E.R.P.) for all brass instruments, a dynamic advancement in brass pedagogy. Since then, he has lectured extensively on the BERP concept. In recent years, he has presented lectures at the International Trumpet Guild, the New York Brass Conference, and numerous state and regional music conventions across the country. Guarneri has taught master classes in Asia and Europe and has established a worldwide reputation as a creative musician of the highest level. His most recent project, Jazz in the Neighborhood, www.jazzintheneighborhood.org, is a non-profit bringing together emerging young performers and local jazz artists in alternative neighborhood venues.