“A virtuoso player. Plog is a composer as well, represented by a brief ‘Fanfare for Two Trumpets’ and ‘Animal Ditties’ a witty mini-suite for narrator (Hal Smith), trumpet and piano on poens by Ogden Nash....piano played impeccably by Sharon Davis...Enescu’s and Bozza’s works allow one to gauge Plog’s undeniable muscianship but it is the sheer diversity that is the winning feature of the disc.” Gramophone, June 2018, Guy Richards
” The playing is first-rate, sound quality excellent,” American Record Guide, May/June 2018, Kilpatrick
”All in all, this is a great celebration of trumpet playing.” Fanfare July/August 2018, Colin Clarke
“Verne Reynold's three-movement’ Music for Five Trumpet’s has an all star lineup of players from the Los Angeles Philharmonic: Anthony Plog, Mario Guarneri,Robert DiVall, Irving Bush, and Thomas Stevens. These people make consistently full-toned sounds and their intonation is impeccable. The finale is very fast and exciting. Plog's ‘Animal Ditties’ became an instant hit when this recording was made. The very cute setting of Ogden Nash poems has trumpeter Plog and Pianist Sharon Davis interacting with the excellent narrator, Hal Smith.” (American Record Guide, Kilpatrick)
ANTHONY PLOG has performed with numerous orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Basel Symphony, and the San Antonio Symphony (all as principal trumpet), the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Buenos Aires Symphony (as co-principal trumpet on tour), the Utah Symphony (as associate principal trumpet), and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed and recorded extensively as a chamber musician with groups such as the Fine Arts Brass Quintet, the Summit Brass (as a founding member of both), the St. Louis Brass Quintet, and as a substitute with the iconic New York Brass Quintet. He has also toured throughout the world and recorded as a soloist. His other solo CD on Crystal Records is CD663.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Trumpet Section (Robert DiVall, Thomas Stevens, Irving Bush, and Mario Guarneri) which played on this recording was an extremely versatile and recognized group of players. The individual players performed in such diverse musical settings as jazz, commercial recordings for major Hollywood studios, avant-garde chamber music, and solo appearances.
SHARON DAVIS’ musical training was in her native Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, then at the Juilliard School in New York and in Paris, France, on a Fulbright Scholarship. Her performances have been as piano soloist, collaborative pianist, and chamber player on tours and in live broadcasts in North America and Europe, plus work as a recording artist. As composer she won the Colorado Art Commission’s Creative Fellowship Award in Classical Composition, and she is active as editor, composer, and arranger for Western International Music, Inc.
