I love cheese. (A little too often,) I can sit down and finish an entire block without realizing it. I’ve been thinking a lot about cheese lately. As cheese is to a mouse, what is our cheese as musicians? I had the great pleasure of working with Mireia Farrés over the course of a week…
Two New Trumpet Pieces, and One Surprise
Trumpetverse! I’ve got two exciting bits of news for you. Whitney George Consortium First, I am honored and excited to spearhead a consortium to bring to life a new piece by the amazing Whitney George. We ran a consortium from June through July, and it was a runaway success (thank you to all who participated).…
Summer 2022
I am proud to offer three ways to connect with me this summer that fit a variety of needs, schedules, and budgets. I will offer lessons as usual, a free brass dojo program, and a short summer workshop geared for families with brass students. Please have a look and do not hesitate to contact me…
This Might Get Me Fired…
This is a risky post, but it is a subject that has come up repeatedly over the last couple of months. Let’s imagine that a professor of a student who applied to this person’s studio reached out, a person I do not know, and that I am not associated with in any way (surprisingly, as…
Teaching Listening
One problem I see increasingly prevalent in higher education is a decline in teaching musical literacy. I began to realize this problem back in my time as a graduate student, one day in a cold February, sitting in a wind ensemble dress rehearsal as we hacked through Michael Colgrass’s Winds of Nagual. It’s an amazing…
The Other Work/Life Balance Article
I have seen an increasing number of musician Instagram accounts that espouse a “holistic” approach to musicianship. The party line is related to practices like yoga, meditation, and how work/life balance will benefit a career or are ingredients for some form of musical growth. Today, I would like to break this argument apart a bit…
Dave’s Dojo
Finally ready to go public with this. I am helping administer a wonderful new program with David Bilger, Principal Trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra.. Dave’s Dojo! This will run January through June. Designed to be a minimal investment, to fit a wide variety of time constraints, and to provide committed professional and preprofessional trumpeters a…
Trumpet Wizard
I’ve been thinking a lot about Gandalf. What, exactly, is a wizard? What does it take to become a wizard in Middle Earth? Read Tolkien’s books and get back to me (watch the movies and arrive at a very different interpretation). I have some theories based on what Tolkien wrote about wizards in Middle Earth.…
Under New Management
Fellow musicians! It’s been a while. The world is coming back alive. As such, it feels like everybody is getting back on the highway all at once, and it is making scheduling a special sort of nightmare. I suppose if there is such thing as a good kind of nightmare, it might be this. It…
Brass Connections — IN THE CAN!
After this upcoming Saturday, Brass Connections will be wrapped! It has been an incredible experience, with ups and downs (thankfully, mostly ups). I am sad to see it go, but happy with what we accomplished. The participants have been really, really incredible. I’m not saying that because every administrator has a responsibility to praise their…