South Tubist Gets Grammy Consideration
Posted on February 1, 2024
Dr. 克莱顿·马多克斯在佛罗里达州南湾长大，这是一个甘蔗带的小城市 在奥基乔比湖附近，足球是国王，艺术是次要的.
“Classical music was not a thing,” he said, laughing.
然而，他的母亲是一名教师助理，她希望自己唯一的孩子有机会 在他成长的艰苦的农业社区之外. Joann Maddox paid for his piano lessons in nearby Clewiston. And in the fourth grade, he discovered 将他引向古典大号的职业道路，以及他担任助理教授的职位 of music at the University of South Alabama.
He’ll never forget the day everything changed. When a visiting band performed near 南湾，乐队指挥问观众中是否有小学生 were musicians. Nobody moved. Finally, Maddox raised his hand, was called on stage, and played Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.”
Well.
“我老师脸上的表情完全震惊了，”马多克斯说，又笑了起来. “Her attitude toward me completely changed. She would brag about me to the other teachers. 那时我就想，如果我能演奏音乐，人们就会喜欢我. From that moment, I never thought about doing anything else.”
在贫民区中心高中，他拿起了大号，再也没有回头. At Florida A&在M大学，他演奏古典音乐，并帮助领导了著名的游行100. 然而，他不得不离开大学，去照顾他垂死的母亲.
他卖掉了大号来支付她的葬礼费用，但仍然继续用借来的乐器演奏.
“Music always gave me peace,” he said. “It always inspired me.”
马多克斯回到学校，获得了佛罗里达州立大学的奖学金 并获得了阿拉巴马大学和该大学的学位 of Memphis. 他还曾在阿肯色理工大学和亨德森州立大学任教.
三年前，马多克斯获得了奖学金，并获得了音乐艺术博士学位 from Louisiana State University.
现在他在十大玩彩信誉平台任教，担任乐队副总监，并领导一个国际乐队 ensemble called the Backburner Tuba and Euphonium Collective. (A euphonium is slightly smaller than a tuba and sounds almost like a trombone.) He’s recorded a solo album ——暂定名为“被遗忘的声音”——非裔美国作曲家的音乐.
现年43岁的马多克斯还在Alias Brass Company的五重奏乐队中演出 consideration for this year’s Grammy Awards.
“That was exciting,” he said. “We found out after we released the album Prism by Big Round Records. 我们从没想过我们会赢，我们也没能进入小型比赛的决赛 chamber groups, but it was good to be recognized.”
World-Class Tuba Player
Last year, Dr. 南方学院乐队总监威尔·彼得森(Will Petersen)领导了遴选委员会 that recommended Maddox for a position as artist and teacher. Petersen has been a 大号手兼教练，所以他一听就知道有天赋.
“我们正在寻找一位世界级的大号演奏家，以及世界级的大号和中低音管 teacher, and with Clay we got that,” Petersen said. “He came on campus and we immediately hit it off. We had a great time and ended up playing some duets. Watching him teach 我教的学生，作为他面试过程的一部分，这是很明显的 he was going to be the choice.
“He’s been fantastic for the students. You can tell he has an incredible level of musicianship, and he’s incredibly sensitive. He’s a fine teacher and he’s been doing 乐队的工作做得很好，所以这是一个大满贯.”
马多克斯一直活跃于国际低音管协会. One of his 目标是招募更多的妇女和少数民族来演奏这些乐器.
Dr. 俄克拉荷马州立大学(Oklahoma State University)的大号教授瑞安·罗宾逊(Ryan Robinson)认识马多克斯 for more than two decades.
“Clay and I go pretty far back,” he said. “We first met as college students at the 我们都来自佛罗里达. It was a pretty competitive 环境，但我想我们都记得对方是好人.”
Over the years, they saw each other at music conferences. Then Maddox founded the Backburner Collective.
“我认为这是一个非常酷的想法，我想成为其中的一部分，”罗宾逊说. “如果不是一个好的环境，人们就不会在这个群体中踢球. Clay walks that line between leader and colleague really well.
“我们录制了一首四重奏，这真的很有挑战性. We would talk it out, you know. Should we do it like this? Why don’t you try it like that? For some 朋友们，这会很尴尬，或者不舒服，但克莱不会. He just wants it to be good.”
Maddox, for his part, describes himself as a perfectionist. He wants everything to 就这样，这几乎是不可能的，而且通常令人沮丧.
“I’m very hard on myself with recordings,” he said. “I’ve never released a recording that I personally liked. My solo album is at the record company now so they can do all the things I want to do with it, because I’m crazy.”
Tuba Family, Too
马多克斯身高6英尺，身体结实，这就是为什么家乡的朋友想让他打球的原因 football. 这些天来，他的头发编成了辫子，胡子上有一点灰白. 有些日子，他穿着深蓝色牛仔裤和浅蓝色运动鞋.
他是一个体育迷，在橄榄球比赛中支持巴尔的摩乌鸦队和洛杉矶队 Lakers in basketball. 他的爱好之一是用遥控车在一个小的 track in Mobile.
Other than that, his life is music and the tuba.
Maddox met his wife at a tuba conference. Kimiko Yamada Maddox, who had been a classmate 他带领着一个来自日本的女子乐团.
“她很棒，她理解我，我们是研究生，”他说 said. “我记得，她对我说，‘我觉得我应该在你身边，’等等 was so touching. 她一直是我的靠山，她还帮我成立了Backburner Collective.”
Kimiko仍然在演奏低音管，但她的日常工作是书店的助理经理 at South.
One of his African American tuba idols is Dr. Velvet Brown, a distinguished professor 他是宾夕法尼亚州立大学的音乐系教授，曾录制过几张个人和团体唱片.
他说:“她太棒了，我从19、20岁就开始听她的歌了。 said. “当我在会议上见到她时，我会坐下来向她讨教. She’s been an inspiration.”
在南方，马多克斯喜欢他在莱德劳表演艺术中心的办公室. The room 大到可以容纳学生上课，并且有一扇窗户可以俯瞰大学 Boulevard. 他仍然专注于自己的演奏，几乎每天都练习.
“Two hours, minimum, but most times more,” he said. “That’s enough time for me to 做我的常规动作和基础动作，然后再弹一遍我要弹的音乐. I have to 我要去参加太浩湖艺术节了，赶紧把它踢开.”
马多克斯曾与塔拉哈西交响乐团、塔斯卡卢萨交响乐团合作演出 and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He’s done recitals in Sapporo, Japan, and played with the Orquesta Sinfonica in Monterrey, Mexico.
一月份，马多克斯参加了佛罗里达州坦帕市的一个会议，所以他顺便去了趟 over to South Bay. His hometown hasn’t changed much. He was surprised that so many people remembered him.
“It’s still a special place,” he said. “I still remember that smell, that sugarcane smell. 我为我成长的地方感到骄傲，那里的人们也为我感到骄傲. Everybody pulls for me.”