The Penn Stater Magazine

Velvet Brown’s Euphonic Inspiration

July 31, 2009 at 2:52 pm Ryan Jones Leave a comment

Alumni Association members should’ve seen our profile of Velvet Brown, the University’s world-renowned tuba player and instructor, in the magazine’s July/August issue. In a nice coincidence, the Sunbury (Penn.) Daily Item yesterday ran a profile of Penn State undergrad and award-winning euphonium player Gretchen Renshaw. Her biggest inspiration? Let’s just say we weren’t surprised.

[Renshaw] credits Velvet Brown, professor of tuba and euphonium at Penn State, as being her most influential teacher. “She has really pushed me a lot. From where I started she’s kept pushing me farther and farther so that I can reach as much of my potential as possible in these four years. She is constantly making sure that I’m not satisfied with were I am right now.” To reach that next level, she tries to put in four to five hours a day practicing on euphonium and tuba.

And if, like me, you weren’t quite clear on what exactly a euphonium is, here you go.

Ryan Jones, senior editor

Entry filed under: College of Arts and Architecture, The Penn Stater magazine. Tags: euphonium, Gretchen Renshaw, Sunbury Daily Item, tuba, Velvet Brown.