Ithaca College

Frank Gabriel Campos, professor of trumpet, and Nicholas Walker, associate professor of string bass, are appearing twice this week on Performance Today, a nationally syndicated radio and internet show on American Public Media that reaches 1.5 million listeners worldwide.

Concertizing since 2007, the versatile duo is known for their creative reinterpretations of music from classical, jazz, rock, pop, other genres. This performance was originally recorded in Ithaca College's Hockett Family Recital Hall and features the duo quoting Baroque composer J.S. Bach in their creative cover of the popular song.

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, Walker and Campos' arrangement of one of George Geshwin's Preludes, known as the "Blue Lullaby," will be broadcast live. It is a direct transcription from the original piano score, but for trumpet and string bass.

"We call them haiku covers", says Campos. "With just two voices, we take these works and transform them into something new. Since we cannot play all of the notes Gershwin wrote with only two of us, we must carefully choose what we play. The result captures Gershwin's emotion and intent, but differs from the original piece in many ways. This creative re-imagining is great fun and our audiences love it."

The two professors also gave a live performance of Paul McCartney's "Here, There, Everywhere" this past Monday on the program. Campos and Walker's arrangement of the popular Beatles tune, one of McCartney's favorites among all of his hits, features only trumpet and bass. 

Performance Today airs throughout the country at different times depending on local listings. Both recordings will be available on the internet at the APM Performance Today website for one week.