especially for its noble and stupendously powerful brass sound." A Smithsonian profile of Herseth, published September 1, 1994, offered this description: "The Chicago has long been recognized as one of the world's great orchestras, and Adolph Sylvester Herseth has had a major role in the evolution of its distinctive sound." As described in the Chicago Sun-Times, July 22, 2001, "For decades Herseth's rich, golden tone and powerful yet expressive playing were a cornerstone of the fabled 'Chicago Sound.'" That brass sound drew worldwide attention to the CSO, and propelled the great American orchestra's reputation around the globe." According to an entry on the Chicago History Museum's online history of the city, the CSO's "unmistakable sound and high standard of performance helped define the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a world class institution. It also made Chicago an international center for the study of brass instrument performance." Regular concert-goers knew him not only by his golden sound, but also by sight; as long-time Chicago Tribune critic John von Rhein wrote in his farewell piece, "He was the man whose face would turn radish-red when he was scaling the trumpet stratosphere or tossing off a rapid scale passage. Where he found the huge volume of air needed to make a notoriously recalcitrant brass instrument soar like that, Herseth wasn't saying. That was part of the Bud Mystique." Herseth retired in 2001. The position he occupied is now named after him - The Adolph Herseth Principal Trumpet Chair. He died at his home in Oak Park on April 13, 2013, at the age of 91. References External links Trumpet Profiles by Louis Davidson Adolph "Bud" Herseth obituary on From the Archives Adolph "Bud" Herseth's golden practise advice 1921 births 2013 deaths American trumpeters American male trumpeters Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music American people of Norwegian descent Luther College (Iowa) alumni United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II People from Lake Park, Minnesota Military personnel from Iowa Military personnel from Minnesota