Fire, Water, and the Sound of Brass
In modern life, the winner is the one who can change while remaining true to themselves. Unfortunately, not everyone is capable of doing this. The most magnetic thing in the world is talent. Every person is potentially talented, but not everyone is able to reveal their talent to the fullest. To one degree or another, each person must endure difficult physical trials. One must pass through fire without burning, through water without drowning, and finally withstand the hardest test of all — the moral one, metaphorically known as “the sound of brass.” My hero today has been dealing with brass pipes for many years, every single day — both literally and figuratively. This is the story of a creative personality, because creative people themselves are charged with a special, high-quality energy, and they pass that energy on to others, helping as many people as possible overcome fire, water, and the sound of brass.
Allow me to introduce a professional musician and teacher with many years of experience, Ottawa resident Iosif Borisovich Margulis. In fact, he became an Ottawan only in 2001; he was born and raised in Soviet Kyiv, where he graduated from music school and the Glière Music College. “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life and joy to everything.” It is impossible to disagree with this concise definition by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
From early childhood, little Iosif loved music, and he carried that love with dignity throughout his life. Here is a curious detail: this sociable boy with perfect pitch was drawn to wind instruments! To this day, he remembers with warmth and in vivid detail the district Pioneer orchestra where he began by playing the bayan. But his final choice fell on wind instruments, because they cannot truly be played alone: they require an ensemble. That is why, in music school, he studied trumpet, while also having to master the piano. The school’s mixed orchestra took part in numerous competitions among district Pioneer Houses and was repeatedly invited to perform at the Supreme Soviet — a great privilege at the time. Studying music came easily and was genuinely interesting. The question of choosing a profession never even arose. At music college, Iosif’s teacher was an opera theatre artist and orchestral soloist, so the young student developed a clear goal: he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his beloved mentor.
After graduating from music college, he served for two years in the army, in the song and dance ensemble of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and Moldova. The young musician dreamed of linking his future with an orchestra. That is why he went to study at the conservatory in the city of Gorky, now Nizhny Novgorod, in the orchestral department. During the war, the Moscow Conservatory had been evacuated to Gorky, and in the postwar years the Gorky Conservatory became a branch of the Moscow one. All the students worked somewhere. Iosif simultaneously worked at the Opera and Ballet Theatre, in the symphony orchestra of the Gorky Philharmonic, and in a cinema, where audiences were traditionally “treated” to live music before film screenings. While still a conservatory student, he won the Russian Interregional Competition for Wind Instrument Performers. After receiving his higher musical education, he returned to his native Kyiv — but no longer alone: he came back with his beautiful wife, Valentina, also a professionally trained musician, who had studied with him at the conservatory.
In Kyiv, Iosif became a soloist of the symphony orchestra of the opera studio at the Kyiv Conservatory, a soloist in the stage orchestra of the National Opera of the Ukrainian SSR, and a member of the Guild of Professional Trumpeters. For five years, he led and conducted the amateur orchestra of the Bolshevik factory. As a volunteer, he taught blind people to play musical instruments at the Society for the Blind. He worked for almost thirty years — thirty! — at the Operetta Theatre. He performed not only in regular theatrical productions, but also often accompanied musicians at various competitions, festivals, and on republican television. He taught trumpet at music schools. May Day and November parades never took place without an orchestra, and I. Margulis was always among its performers. In short, he was a musician to the core.
For many years, the life of the Margulis family has not merely been surrounded and permeated by music — it has celebrated the triumph of music as a means of connection between people, creating a sense of community and bringing people together. Was it accidental that Iosif had been drawn to wind instruments since childhood? Of course not. It is akin to team sports, where one stands for all, and all stand for one. Playing in an orchestra requires certain skills from musicians: the ability to hear the person next to you, both literally and figuratively; to know your place; to fit harmoniously into the group; to feel responsibility for the common cause — and much more. Is this not why school orchestras are so popular in many countries, including Canada?
After arriving in Canada, Iosif Borisovich immersed himself in teaching. Over more than twenty years of work at the music school in Manotick, he has had more than one hundred students. Unlike Soviet music schools, in Canada the same teacher teaches both theory — solfège — and the specialty, meaning the specific musical instrument. Study programs consist of several levels. The seventh level corresponds to music college, while the eighth provides an additional credit when applying to university. However, far from all music school students dream of great orchestras. Playing wind instruments is beneficial at the very least because, among other things, it develops muscle memory and strengthens the respiratory system.
Usually, the basics of musical literacy begin with keyboard instruments, since all the sounds are already prepared there. With wind instruments, one must learn how to produce sound. The trumpet is called the voice of God, and therefore it is no surprise that the trumpet is an important instrument in the Catholic tradition. Canada has many trumpeters. One of the best, I am certain, is my hero today. I do not think many Canadian trumpeters have travelled anything close to such a long, eventful path as a musician faithful to his chosen life’s work.
A copper trumpet is durable because copper is a strong, wear-resistant material that does not corrode. I. B. Margulis is just as resilient — generously passing on emotions and ideas, tirelessly transmitting cultural values to those around him, strengthening the human sense of belonging, and encouraging his listeners and students toward creative self-expression. The main thing is to value art within oneself, not oneself within art.
Author: Marina Kochetova