Trumpet Virtuoso, 71, Makes His West Coast Debut Tonight

After a long career performing music almost exclusively in the Soviet Union, 71-year-old trumpet virtuoso Timofei Dokshizer makes his West Coast debut tonight at Cal State Northridge.

“He has incredible technical virtuosity on the instrument,” said Amil Davidson, a filmmaker and writer who is sponsoring Dokshizer’s visit. “More important is his artistry, his music interpretation.”

Brass World magazine has praised “the technical brilliance of his performance . . . (and) the highly intellectual penetration into the music and the cultivated manner of handling the instrument, for which there is only one term--the height of mastery.”

The Ukrainian-born musician will appear in a master class/performance in the CSUN Campus Theater, where he is likely to sample pieces from a favored musical catalogue that includes works by Abinoni, Biber, Vivaldi, Haydn and others. During his career, Dokshizer has served as first trumpet at the Bolshoi Theater of Opera in Moscow, touring parts of North America and Europe with that ensemble and with the Leningrad Symphony, while on loan to it.

“If he were just going to give a recital, it would be a singular opportunity to hear a great artist,” said Davidson, whose father, retired trumpet master Louis Davidson, helped introduce Dokshizer to Western audiences in the late 1960s. The two musicians first met during the elder Davidson’s 23 years as principal trumpeter for the Cleveland Symphony.

“But he will be performing and demonstrating throughout this three-hour period. Of course, all the trumpet players in town are in seventh heaven to hear him. There are people coming from other cities to see him.”

Trumpet virtuoso Timofei Dokshizer leads a master class/concert at 8 tonight at the CSUN Campus Theater, 18111 Nordhoff St., in Northridge. General admission is $15, and $10 for students. Call: (818) 885-3093.

BAND BATTLE: Local pop acts seeking a high-profile introduction to the music industry will gather July 29 at the Palace in Hollywood, where this year’s Soundcheck Music Showcase will present six competitors to a panel of judges culled from major record labels. Co-sponsored by Ticketmaster and Yamaha, the event is just one of 30 around the country that will send finalists to regional and national contests later this year.

Local winners will receive an award of $1,000. Perhaps more important to the bands, though, is the opportunity to be seen by a variety of label representatives. Though no superstars have yet emerged from the competitions, several acts have won recording contracts after their Soundcheck successes. Musician Kevin Gilbert won the 1988 U.S. final and was later signed to Warner Bros. with the pop act Toy Matinee. Other bands have been signed in subsequent years to Epic and Chrysalis.

“I think we tapped in to something,” said Doug Buttleman, executive director of the showcases. “We’re getting tremendous support and endorsements from the various major labels.” Among those labels, he said, are Columbia, Giant, MCA, Virgin and Warner Bros.

“What was important for us was that the people who hear and see these bands are truly the ones who can sign,” he added. “This is not a hairdresser to the stars judging the tapes.”

The winners of 30 showcases around the country move on to one of five regional competitions.

The West Coast regional contest will be at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles on Aug. 21. Finalists there move on to the national Soundcheck in Dallas in September, when a winner will be awarded $25,000 and sent as the U.S. representative to the international Music Quest competition in Japan.

“Rock ‘n’ roll is an American product, at least at its inception,” Buttleman said. “And when you see its interpretation by so many countries, from Mongolia to Hong Kong, Australia to Scandinavia, it’s almost like an Olympics of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a great experience for all the bands.” Both Ticketmaster and Yamaha, Buttleman said, sought to “reinvest, to give something back to the market.”

“They see it in a big-picture way: If they can offer encouragement through opportunity, and keep everyone involved in music, it creates a better market for everyone--to buy more CDs, buy instruments or so forth.”

There were more than 25,000 entries worldwide in last year’s competitions, Buttleman said. In the United States alone, annual entries range from 2,500 to 5,000.

“Soundcheck’s significance is driven by the fact that it’s a grass-roots approach to finding out what’s happening now in music,” said John Ruscin, executive vice-president of Ticketmaster. “I think it will become a staple in terms of finding new bands and having a lot of fun.”

A former professional musician himself, Buttleman added he sometimes cringes at the description of the competition as a “battle of the bands,” which seems to rob the musical event of any artistic purity. “It’s too bad art has to be competitive,” he said.

“But getting signed is a battle of the bands,” he added. “Getting a publishing deal is a battle of the bands. And getting a good opening gig on a big tour is a battle of the bands. Getting your music played on the radio is a battle of the bands; and once you’ve made it, retaining your position is a battle of the bands. I don’t think it ever really stops.”

Bands interested in competing can pick up official entry forms at local Music Plus and Tower Records stores. Deadline for entries is July 12. For more information, call 1-800-451-ROCK.*

The Soundcheck Music Showcase is presented 8 p.m. July 29 at the Palace, 1735 Vine St., in Hollywood. Tickets are $5 through Ticketmaster. Call: (213) 480-3232.