Rolf Thorstein Smedvig was an American classical trumpeter.
Background
Rolf Smedvig was born in Seattle, Washington. His father Egil Steinar Smedvig (1922-2012) was a composer and music teacher who had immigrated from Stavanger, Norway. His mother Kristin (Jonsson) Smedvig (1921-2004) was member of the Seattle Symphony"s violin section who had immigrated from Iceland.
Education
Leonard Bernstein chose him to be the trumpet soloist for the 1971 world premiere of his composition Mass which was composed for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Career
Smedvig joined the Seattle Symphony at age 13. In 1971, he participated in the summer music program at Tanglewood Music Center. Smedvig studied music under the tutelage of Maurice André at Boston University, where Smedvig later served as an instructor.Smedvig joined the Boston Symphony as an assistant principal trumpeter the next year, aged 19.
At the time, Smedvig was the youngest orchestra member.
He was promoted to principal trumpeter in 1979, and left in 1981 to focus on a solo career, conducting, and chamber music Smedvig started the Empire Brass Quintet in the early 1970s.
The Empire Brass served as Faculty Quintet-in-Residence at Boston University for a number of years. The group has released twenty-some albums.