Watch & Listen – ERIC M. BERLIN

Eric Berlin’s solo recordings, gathered in one place with links to Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon, followed by concert video and live recordings.

Presenters, conductors and colleagues — the concerto recordings are first. Press photographs and biography are on the Photos and Biography pages.
Students and teachers — recital and chamber repertoire is further down; written material is on the Articles page, and lesson information on the Lessons page.
Everyone — the two featured albums play right here on the page.

Featured Recordings

Two concertos written in our own time, both recorded with the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

Christopher Rouse: Heimdall’s Trumpet

on Christopher Rouse: Concertos

Albany Records TROY1979 · 2024

Rouse’s four-movement trumpet concerto, named for the horn that Norse myth says will sound at the end of the world. Eric Berlin is the soloist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra under David Alan Miller; the disc pairs the work with Rouse’s oboe and bassoon concertos, played by Katherine Needleman and Peter Kolkay.

“Trumpeter Eric Berlin gives a great performance. The concerto is fiendishly difficult for soloist and orchestra … the performances are convincing and breathtaking.” — Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide, November/December 2024

“Eric Berlin’s precise and impressive trumpet prowess … colorful, imaginative and memorable.” — Take Effect, June 2025

George Tsontakis: True Colors

on Tsontakis: Anasa · True Colors · Unforgettable

Naxos 8.559826 · 2017

Tsontakis’s concerto for trumpet and orchestra, commissioned for Eric Berlin by the Albany Symphony Orchestra and recorded here with the orchestra under David Alan Miller. He also plays principal trumpet on the rest of the disc — the clarinet concerto Anasa and the double violin concerto Unforgettable. The album was named by NPR Music one of the best classical recordings of 2017.

“… allows soloist Berlin to sing soulfully, play dazzlingly, and show that he is at home in the jazz realm. This is a wonderful reading of a fascinating work.” — Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide, March 2018

“True Colors was written for Eric Berlin … and he plays it vividly here.” — Gramophone

“Soloist Eric Berlin is equally adept at producing a bright gleaming tone.” — Phillip Scott, Fanfare, Jan–Feb 2018

“Eric Berlin plays with fine control and tone.” — Stephen Barber, MusicWeb International

“Trumpetist Eric Berlin enters with surety, dexterity and a full tone.” — Grego Applegate Edwards, Classical-Modern Music Review

“The performances are outstanding, especially the soloists…” — Gary Higginson, MusicWeb International

Solo Albums

Four discs on MSR Classics, most of them first recordings of works written for him.

Along the Continuum

Music for Trumpet, Trombone and Piano

MSR Classics MS1728 · 2020

With Greg Spiridopoulos, trombone, and Ludmila Krasin, piano — the trio repertoire for these three instruments, from Herbert L. Clarke’s Cousins through Eric Ewazen’s Double Concerto and concertinos by Anthony Plog and Jacques Castérède, with Jeffrey Holmes’s Continuum and Joseph Turrin’s Fandango.

“The work runs through a gamut of styles, giving these brass players ample opportunity to show strength and flair … This is an outstanding recording.” — Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide, September/October 2020

Fantastique

Premieres for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble

MSR Classics MS1506 · 2014

Premiere recordings with the UMass Wind Ensemble under James Patrick Miller, including the Grammy-nominated Concerto for Two Trumpets and Band by Stephen Paulus, Evan Hause’s Trumpet Concerto, James Stephenson’s Duo Fantastique and two works by Jeffrey Holmes. Richard Kelley, Charles Schlueter and Greg Spiridopoulos join him.

“All of the readings are excellent.” — Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide, May/June 2015

Stephen Paulus, Concerto for Two Trumpets and Band — Grammy nominee

Calls and Echoes

American Sonatas for Trumpet and Piano

MSR Classics MS1395 · 2013

With Nadine Shank, piano. Four American sonatas: Kent Kennan’s, James Stephenson’s, Stanley Friedman’s, and Robert Suderburg’s Chamber Music VII — Ceremonies, which gives the album its title.

“Berlin maintains warm tone most of the time, plays assertively at peak moments, and engages in meaningful dialog with his outstanding collaborator, pianist Nadine Shank.” — Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide, November/December 2013

End of the Matter

Premieres for Trumpet

MSR Classics MS1199 · 2007

His first solo album: premieres for trumpet with percussion, saxophone, electronics and piano, by James Stephenson, Charles Bestor, Salvatore Macchia, Michael Ellison, Evan Hause and Robert Bradshaw. With Eduardo Leandro, percussion, Lynn Klock, saxophone, and Nadine Shank, piano.

“Eric Berlin has all the elements people expect from a good trumpeter — boldness, big sound, impressive technique — as well as the things that make a complete musician.” — Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide, Jan–Feb 2008

Eric Berlin appears on more than 135 commercially released recordings. The complete solo list, with guest and orchestral appearances, is on the Discography pages.