Instru-Mental Trivia Quiz

Answer: Yo-Yo Ma

There are rare times when a specific person becomes associated with a word, e.g., when you say 'showman', P.T. Barnum comes to mind and, on the dark side, when you say 'genocide', Hitler's name has become synonymous; so it is with the cello and the great Yo-Yo Ma! Of Chinese ancestry, born in Paris, France and schooled in New York City, this musician is a man of the world.

He had a musical upbringing, was a child prodigy and settled on the cello when he was 4 years old (in 1960). He graduated from Julliard and Harvard and has received over a dozen Grammys.

He has played just about every kind of music and even collaborated with Bobby McFerrin and also with the Dixie Chicks in 2005.

Answer: guitar

Andres Segovia (1893-1987), aka Andres Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobrena, is one of the most famous classical guitarists of all time. Segovia was born in Spain and first performed publicly in Granada at the age of 16. With his style and technique, Segovia established the guitar as a classical concert instrument. Unlike other artists of the time, he plucked the strings with both the fingertips and the fingernails, enabling him to produce a sharper sound with a wider range of timbres.

In June of 1981, Segovia was 'ennobled' by King Carlos I of Spain with the hereditary title of "Marques de Salobrena".

Answer: Van Cliburn

While all of the choices include renowned pianists, it was a 28 year old Van Cliburn (1934-2013) who won the International Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958 at the height of the Cold War between the United States and Russia. To show you the tenor of the times (a little musical pun), it was like winning the 1980 Olympic hockey game against the Soviet Union in Lake Placid or, for the feminists among us, like Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs in the exhibition match known as 'The Battle of the Sexes' in 1973 at the Houston Astrodome.

Some wins are of greater historical significance than others. Van Cliburn has played for every US president from Truman to Obama.

Answer: clarinet

The clarinet is in the woodwind family of instruments which have a single reed mouthpiece; nicknamed 'The Licorice Stick', it became one of the essential sounds of jazz. On January 16, 1938, Goodman and his band gave a concert at the usually classical Carnegie Hall in New York City which one critic called "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history", giving jazz the respect it deserved. Goodman (1909-1986) led an integrated group of musicians, despite the segregation of the time.

He was one of the catalysts for the 'swing era' of the mid-1930s. Other famous clarinetists include: Woody Allen, Acker Bilk, Artie Shaw and Pete Fountain.

Answer: James Galway

How many flautists can you name? Did you even know that a flute player was called a flautist? Of the choices above, there is only one flautist (ok, that's the last time I am going to use that word!), and that is the world famous Irish flute player Sir James Galway, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". Aside from Jean-Pierre Rampal, he was one of the first (er...) flute guys to establish a career as a soloist (sort of like Zamfir and the pan flute or Slim Whitman and yodeling).

His career spans more than 50 years, including 1990's Berlin concert with Pink Floyd, and as one of the recording artists on the soundtrack of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Answer: Glenn Miller

Alton Glenn Miller (1904-1944) was a bandleader, an arranger, a composer and a trombone player. From 1939 to 1943, he was the best selling recording artist and the leader of one of the best known bands. Many of his songs are still played and recognized, nearly a century later: "In the Mood", "Moonlight Serenade", "A String of Pearls" and "Little Brown Jug" are among his many hits. During World War II, he was flying to France to entertain the U.S. troops stationed there when his plane disappeared over the English Channel. Three of his hits were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame which honors recordings over 25 years old and "of qualitative or historical significance."

Answer: saxophone

Homer Louis 'Boots' Randolph III (1927-2007) was an American musician and a big part of the "Nashville Sound". He could play pop, jazz, rock and country music and is best known for his 1963 hit "Yakety Sax" which Benny Hill used as the sign off song on his show.

His career spanned more than 40 years and included recording sessions with Elvis Presley and on the soundtracks for some of Elvis' movies. He also performed with other major stars like Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brenda Lee, Chet Atkins and on "Java" with Al Hirt.

His last solo album, "A Whole New Ballgame", was released in 2007. Other famous saxophone players include John Coltrane, Stan Getz and Charlie 'Bird' Parker.

Answer: Anton Bruckner

Drummers are percussionists who generally perform with drum sets which include a base drum with pedal, tom toms, a snare drum and cymbals. The function of the drummer in pop music is to "keep time" and tempo, but in other musical styles (like jazz), the drummer can become a soloist. Gene Krupa was a big band drummer, mostly in the 1950s and 1960s and one of his pupils was Peter Criss from KISS. Buddy Rich began playing drums in Vaudeville when he was 18 months old and was later billed as "the world's greatest drummer". Tommy Lee was a founding member of Motley Crue. On the other hand, Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer in the 1800s known for his symphonies and masses.

Answer: Kid Ory

Edouard 'Kid' Ory (1886-1973) was a jazz trombonist and bandleader born in Louisiana. In 1925 Ory moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked and recorded with such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. He also taught both Benny Goodman and, later, Charles Mingus, and helped revive New Orleans jazz in the 1940s through radio broadcasts.

As far as the incorrect choices go: Steve Martin plays the banjo; Loreena McKennitt is a harpist, accordionist and pianist; B.B. King was a famous blues musician known for playing his guitar named 'Lucille'.

Answer: violin

If you were to make a list of legendary violinists of the 20th Century, along with Heifetz, Menuhin, Perlman and Zuckerman, you would have to include Isaac Stern (1920-2001). Unlike many of his colleagues, Stern was not a child prodigy but he became well-known in the mid-1940s with his moving interpretive style.

He supported young musical talent and among his discoveries were: Yo-Yo Ma, Jian Wang, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zuckerman. In 1960, when Carnegie Hall was slated for demolition to make way for an office tower, he was instrumental (pun intended) in starting a drive to save the hall and he played a central role in its restoration in 1986.