But alas, the competitive edge in me feels like we lost, because nobody's going to State! The Penn Cove Brass went last year, so it's even harder to take! I need to keep working hard and encourage my students to work hard on preparing for competitions. I love the competitive aspect of all this, especially as a teacher. It's so great seeing kids getting serious about music and upping their game to sound great. I am so inspired to keep getting these kids better to the point of outstanding, especially since this community isn't so driven to artistic greatness. I want to be a trend-setter.
My middle school students also played well as the Junior Solo & Ensemble Festival. It's not a competition for them, but more just practice for the high school level competition. So it works the same way. I had some really great student solo performances, and the Harbor Brass Choir played quite well. I'm excited to more forward with them, too.
So yeah. I leave these two weekends excited. I've gotta find ways to get my students to work harder & practice more to achieve a high level of excellence. It's so fun to sound good, not only for the players and their teachers, but for their audience. I want to get the people of this town accustomed to high-quality musical performances from kids.
Take care and value music.