Dr. Jack Burt has served as Professor of Trumpet at the University of Maine School of Performing Arts since 2004. He is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Texas, and has held principal trumpet positions in Mexico and Texas.

Jack is a member of the European Brass Ensemble, based in Austria, comprised of musicians from over 15 countries, which tours Europe regularly. The EBE released two CDs, In Residenceand Diversity, on the German label, GENUIN.

Jack has produced a number of popular instructional trumpet videos for YouTube.

The piccolo trumpet has been an important part of my playing and teaching for over 40 years. I have owned a number of horns over this time, and have played instruments from almost every maker in the world.

The Schagerl ‘Berlin’ Piccolo trumpet is my favorite of all. Like all Schagerl trumpets, it has an easy playability in all registers, and great, even intonation; in A or B flat. The workmanship, as one has grown to expect from Schagerl, is superb. Schagerl valves: smooth as silk.

For me, what sets the ‘Berlin’ apart is the quality of it’s tone. Sadly, many piccolo trumpets can sound like ‘toy trumpets’. Not the ‘Berlin’! It’s tone quality is sweet, warm, and never hard, never brittle, never strident. It glows like warm gold! With it, I can match the sound of an oboe or flute as easily as I can produce the clarion sounds required of the Bach Mass in B minor. I can’t ask for more.

I had the pleasure of working with Schagerl’s resident creative genius, Robert Schagerl, during the design of the ‘1961’ models. Robert is the designer of their rotary lines, as well as the Ganschhorn, KillerQueen, Ravenii, Spider, and the entire James Morrison line of instruments! A true genius…  I spent days playing various combinations. While I did give my own feedback, more importantly, Robert listened with his own ears. He knew what is was he was looking for!

The result is an unqualified success! The 1961s are ‘dead, solid perfect’, ‘straight down the middle’ American style trumpets: Clear, rich, focused, liquid and brilliant. Yet, more – they play with a greater flexibility and response, free-blowing and beautiful with just the right amount of resistance. They are a joy to play.