Tom Verrier and Fergus McWilliam in Costa Rica
March 2014.
Dr. Thomas Verrier, Director of Wind Studies at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, appeared for the first time with the National Bands of Costa Rica in a very special concert featuring Fergus McWilliam, second horn of the Berlin Philharmonic, as soloist. The invitation came from the National Bands of Costa Rica through the initiative of long-time collaborator Rafael Antonio Rodriguez.
Tom and Fergus know each other well from their years of work together at Vanderbilt's summer music academy in Aix-en-Provence. When told of his invitation to conduct the premiere professional band in Central America, Tom knew that he wanted to make this debut special, so he asked Fergus if he would join him. Besides working with the San Jose band for the week, Tom and Fergus also conducted master classes with conductors and musicians, and visited a local "sistema" school to work with the students.