Written by Mark Gould and illustrated by Jeffrey Curnow, Orchestra Confidential is the hilarious behind the scenes look at the lives of orchestral musicians that everybody needs right now.

Life in an orchestra is all about geography. Like many jobs, your enjoyment and satisfaction in this job is directly proportional to where you sit and who sits near you. But thanks to Orchestra Confidential, musicians and those who love them will be forewarned and forearmed by the insights and humor inside this survival guide for professional musicians and students alike. Mark Gould is on the faculty at the Julliard School and was the co-principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 30 years. He founded the performance art group, Pink Baby Monster, 20 years ago which still roams the countryside stirring up trouble. Jeffrey Curnow is a poor, starving illustrator and associate principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra. His cartoons are published weekly on the NPR Classical Facebook page.

A book about trumpet playing and teaching that transcends the genre and should be read by people of all walks of life.

“Ostensibly a book about playing and teaching trumpet, this book soon extends into areas of general musicianship, with perspectives and insights that compel us to think long after the book is put down. Ultimately these explorations by Mark Gould expand further, meditations on artistic creativity that exceed anything in my own reading experience. His thoughts on teaching are universal, truly sui generis – I could easily imagine them useful whether we are trying to teach physics, history, or coach a basketball team.” Chris Gekker

This 220-page tome is aptly subtitled Playing, Studying, Teaching, and Preparing for the Future.

“At this time, all of us are wondering how to reshape and resurrect ourselves once the pandemic of 2020-21 starts to recede into the history books. Fortunately, we have Mark and his wide-ranging ideas challenging us to reach way beyond our usual “comfort zones”. He’s not just advising us, he’s pushing us to try new methodologies, cultural influences and musical styles to refocus our creativity. This book is his prescription for beginning our post-pandemic musical lives fearlessly by being more eclectic and open-minded at every turn. Who better to inspire each of us to find our authentic “voice” than Mark Gould?” Joe Alessi

This book is not only fun to read, but it is also perfectly positioned to be of profound value to trumpeters, instrumentalists of all types, performers, teachers, students, and anyone else who trains to achieve at an elite level. Mark brings his lifetime of experience as principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera and trumpet instructor at the Juilliard School to the table and regales you with stories from behind the curtain while urging you to think deeply about how and why you began a lifelong journey of music-making in the first place.