I have 3 trumpet students going:
Isadora, a junior here in Oak Harbor that has been sort of a rising star in the last couple years. I've been most impressed with how she's grown as a player and developed confidence with her growth. She's acquired quite a high range and technical ability, and have really worked recently to refine her sound. I've been teaching her for about 4 years, and she's the only student I have that's been taking 2 lessons a week from me for that long.
Hannah, also a junior in Oak Harbor but formerly from Coupeville. She comes from a musical family so was immersed in music early on. She's always has an amazing musical sense and can play anything she needs to with the appropriate work. She also has an amazing high range, and has developed a very resonant sound. The real challenge for her has been to develop her mental approach and get her confident, but lately she's really been shining with that. I've taught her for 5 years.
Paige, a senior in Oak Harbor that has been an off-and-on lesson student for the past 6 years, but has been a part of my brass ensemble program for pretty much that whole time, so I consider her a student. She's been an aggressive player and a great leader, both in band and in my groups. I didn't help her with the audition music at all, so it goes to show how musically intelligent she is.
I have 1 horn student going:
Leah, a senior down at South Whidbey High School. I've only worked with her for about a year, mostly doing virtual lessons on FaceTime. But I did get to work with her this summer in person. She always had this amazing sound on horn, which is her biggest strength. She's not the most confident player, but she has a lot of technical ability, and when she really works on something, she shines. I'm very proud of the progress this one has made in the last year.
And I have 4 trombone students going:
Eddy, a freshmen from Coupeville High School (that's right, a freakin' freshmen). He's been sort of a stand-out in a small band program, showing a lot of technical ability. We have been working a lot to improve his sound, which is a long journey we are still on, but he's another player that has grown a lot and has been thrown in a lot of challenging situations. I've taught him for 4 years.
Lola, a sophomore from Oak Harbor, who an extremely talented player that a lot of my other students marvel at. Everyone expected her to make it into All-State, so that goes to show the impact she makes. She's such a talented player across the board, but she's also a very humble person and is very easy to teach. It's been quite a fun challenge keeping up with her ability and teaching her the right stuff, but it's gone very well. I've taught her for 5 years.
Josiah, a sophomore in Oak Harbor, is another musically talented player. He's really into jazz and is fantastic at it, and has an awesome understanding of music theory. That, of course, makes his a very musically-aware player, and really can handle anything that he has to play. It's been a journey working on improving his sound and accuracy, which we are still on, but he's come a long way. I've taught him for about 3 years.
Skooter, a junior in Oak Harbor, is an interesting student. I started him in 5th grade, so I've had him for 6 years, and he had all this natural talent from the start. Because of that, he got comfortable and didn't work as hard. When his music started to get a lot harder, it was a tough adjustment he had to make to really start practicing. But he did it, and he's grown as he should. He struggles a lot with being confident, but he still plays better than he thinks. He just has this amazing natural ability that has helped him immensely.
I have another trombone student who auditioned but didn't make it in, Cooper, but I want to recognize him anyways. He is definitely talented enough to go, as he was only 1 of 3 students to make it in last year. He's a senior at Oak Harbor, and has shown the most growth out of all of my students. He was a very shy player at first, but still played technically very well, and has really grown into a musical leader and can easily play anything given to him. He's the only student I have that has been to every brass camp I've had and has played in every brass ensemble concert. I've taught him for 6 years.
Y'know, I could write even more about each of these guys. As you can see, I have had each of these students for a long time, so I've developed quite a bond with them. This is the part of lesson teaching I really love. It's so cool to really get to know the students and form a bond with them, while at the same time teach them music in my own way with my philosophies that I believe in and have used effectively in my career. They are all such a joy...I'm so excited to go to work each day.
Take care and value music.