And I'm telling ya, it feels pretty great.
I don't know...maybe I just wasn't cut out for the performance life. I mean, horn players who make into major orchestras or are renown recording artists practice for hours each day. To be honest, I really don't want to do all that practice. As I mentioned before, there's other things inside of music that I prefer to do...and outside of music, too! I like to spend time with my family, play video games, take walks...I mean, how could I fit in the necessary amount of hours each day even if I did want to? We're talking at least 4 hours of individual practice each day...that's the kind of players I'd be going up against if I were to get back into the audition circuit: people who were meant to win those jobs. People who are driven enough to sacrifice free time, relationships and family to get to their goal. Not me, though. I can't kid myself anymore.
So yeah, the pressure's off. Does that mean I'm gonna stop practicing my horn? Hell, no. First of all, I need to stay in shape or else a lot of fundamental things go wrong with me. Plus, I still enjoy the 1-2 hours I get a day. And I have to be at my best for my students at all times. And I have many, many pieces I still want to record, including my own stuff. So I'm still playing. But for different goals.
Oh, and I found out that another student of mine from South Kitsap High School is heading to State Solo & Ensemble. His name is Daniel. So that means I now have 11 kids going: 2 ensembles and 4 soloists. And if things work out in a miraculous way, I could send up to 3 more students as soloists because they were runners-up to with winners. Now, wouldn't that be amazing!?
Take care and value music.