What a ride it has been since my last entry!
My weekend of auditions was pretty successful. I went with the goal of continuing to find comfort in the spotlight, and to advance to the second round. My first audition in Lexington was a little rusty. It was my first audition in about a year, and technically my second professional orchestra audition. I got way too nervous, and “played it safe” in the audition. Then I went to West Virginia, for the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra in Charleston. What a dump! I drove in and started thinking, why would I want to live here? I think this thought was key to me advancing. I went into that audition thinking, “wow, this place is a dump, I am just going to play and have fun with it.” Surely enough it was one of the best auditions I had and in the end I placed 3rd. It was incredibly frustrating to see that with a little more focus, I could have won it. At least I learned from this experience and now know what to do next time.
After those auditions I drove to Covington, Kentucky for my gig with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. I met some really cool people there, had a great experience and am really hoping to get called back sometime in the future. I still have a bit to learn about playing in orchestras and need all the experience I can get. Not only was it a good experience but I also met some great friends that are in pretty much the same boat as I am.
Lessons are coming along, last week I got 2 students in one day. So now I am up to two students total in the studio. It’s a great start, and I have a feeling as marching band settles down I will start to get more students. It was such a great feeling to start teaching again, I really do enjoy it, unlike some people I have met that just do it for the money.
Beyond that I am doing pretty well. It’s now fall, the leaves are changing and the weather is just right. I made a good sum of money last week, but unfortunately all of it just got spent on new tires and an alignment. Just when I thought I was going to actually make a profit for the week I have to drop it all on tires... sigh. When I took my drive from Arizona to Ohio I guess the Honda dealership forgot to check my alignment and surely enough I noticed about a month ago that I had close to no traction on my front tires. Traction is pretty important up north, especially in the winter season...
Since its October I am dying to go to a haunted house, but in order to do that you have to have a few friends to go with... still working on that.
I almost forgot the reason of this ENTIRE entry! I have a had a bit of time to myself, and since my TV doesn’t really get many channels I usually go online. I have been using Hulu to keep up with my favorite shows. I have always been addicted to House, Fringe, 24, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. Just when I thought FOX could do no better, they came out with another show that has got me completely hooked, Glee. Whoever came up with that show is a genius! It’s incredibly dramatic, but at the same time it is a huge promoter of music in our schools and I am a fan of that.
With addiction to Hulu comes addiction to You Tube. I have been completely inspired by it, especially the group Ahmir. They are an R&B group that does a lot of popular covers on You Tube. You will watch their videos and think, wow, that sounds amazing, then you will notice they are just 4 dudes singing in their basement having a good time. Thats what music needs to be. My goal is to be like that. When I play excerpts I should be expressing something, and if no one likes it, tough! Another goal is to not only make audio recordings but start making videos, so in the next month you should hopefully see some videos on You Tube of me playing trumpet.
Music is so important! One lady at the West Virginia Audition asked me, “With the economy we are in and music programs being cut in schools, do you think the music programs and orchestras will survive?” I can say that with shows like Glee, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, High School Musical, and all the great stuff people create on You Tube, that music has just begun to come back.
I will leave you with a couple of my favorite links on YouTube... Thanks for reading!