Brad Gassner said he’s been annoying people with his whistling his whole life. Now in his first year of competitive whistling he has won the Classical World Champ title at the 2019 Masters of Musical Whistling International Festival and Competition in Pasadena in August.
He said 100 competitors auditioned and 62 competed, representing 12 countries from around the globe. Gassner won the title of Classical Division World Champion with his performance of Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 (3rd movement).
Gassner said it’s been fun elevating whistling to an art form. “I love that the instrument travels with me wherever I go, and the surprise on people’s faces when I tell them I’m a whistler. It’s the dichotomy of the accessibility (everyone’s got a whistle!) and the uncommon skill of whistling at a competitive level,” he said.
He said the competition was stiff but everyone was supportive and friendly, and it’s a lot of fun.
Gassner’s winning whistle:
I absolutely love whistling. Thank you for posting this.
I whistle quite a bit and some folks have even recognized what I am whistling. But nothing like this guy. Neat to read here because I have to wonder if this kind of thing makes it on the major news shows. Congrats!
Amazing! Congratulations to Mr. Gassner. He and Pee Wee Russell are the only two Maplewoodians (so far) who have taken their musical gifts to the ultimate height – Number One in the World!
https://40southnews.com/maplewood-history-the-most-famous-maplewoodian-of-all-time-pee-wee-russell/