My brass camp every year is always so great. We play so much great music, in several different sizes of ensembles. We do an outdoor activity together and perform for our families at the end of the week. And yes, there are a ton of laughs and smiles and amazing memories from it. If you are teenage brass player or know a teenage brass player that is close to the town of Oak Harbor, WA, then I would highly recommend my brass camp.
On other note, my next brass ensemble concert is tomorrow, which I'm very excited for. My middle school group, the Harbor Brass, is playing 5 tunes:
Fanfare and March by Percy Hall
3 Hungarian Folk Songs by Bela Bartok
Vesper Moods by Fred O. Harris
Alleluja by W.A. Mozart
Scherzando by Johann Friederich Reichardt
I've done most of these pieces in the past with Harbor Brass, back when some of my now-older players were in middle school, so it's nice that I can recycle them. Most of the tunes for their program came from this collection of music I bought from this retired brass teacher in the Midwest, which included a lot of this out-of-print stuff meant for a younger brass ensemble. So it's really great to have. And for 3 of these tunes, I'm playing trombone with this small, 4-member group, so they are getting great practice without a conductor.
The Penn Cove Brass, which is my high school group, is also playing an exciting program:
Overture for Brass by Fred L. Frank
Waltz No. 2 from Suite for Variety Orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich
I Vow to Thee, My Country from "Jupiter" by Gustav Holst
Entry of the Gladiators by Julius Fucik
What an awesome set of tunes! And the Penn Cove Brass, this mighty group of 11 fabulous students is getting better and better each week. The Overture for Brass is the piece they played at the regional Solo & Ensemble competition, and what they will also play at the State competition on April 29. Since they don't need me to conduct them, I'm going to sit in with them and perform tomorrow...it's always a treat to play with these guys.
And after these tunes, the Harbor Brass and Penn Cove Brass will come together to play music from How to Train Your Dragon.
I'm so excited for this concert, and excited to share with you some of their concert videos.
Last week I had a student use me and my life as a musician and family man in a writing assignment, aimed at essentially profiling someone. I was very flattered to be interviewed and written about for the 2nd time (I had a former student from the Tri-Cities interview me about 3 years ago). This student shared their paper with me, and it was very nice to read. She did a good job writing it, first of all, but it was really cool how she sort of connected the dots on how successful I've been at taking care of a family and a house while being a busy lesson teacher. I guess I didn't realize how challenging that has been and what an accomplishment it's been. Y'know, I've know many musicians who put all of their musical activities on hold to raise a family. I could never do that. I love music way too much, and I want my kids to bee in a house full of music.
This student also when offer hers (and my other students') perspective a bit, saying how grateful she is for me and what I've done for them. I think a lot of teachers can relate to this: I like to think I'm doing a good job with my students, but at the end of the day, I'm still critical of myself and learning on the job. I wonder at times if I'm even making a difference at all, and always trying to think of ways to do better for them. So, when students offer their positive testimony like this, it is the most refreshing thing in the world. It makes me wish that I was a better student to my teachers, because I'm sure they would've appreciated that. I'm digressing a bit, but I just have to say with kind of a chuckle (but seriously) that I was a really lousy student at times...plus I didn't show my teachers how grateful I was. Oh, teachers, if only you knew how grateful I was...
But alas, that's a topic for another blog post...definitely.
But yes, thank you, students, for your kind words and support. Of course, from my perspective, it's all about you. But it is refreshing to hear how positive of an experience it's been. Because it's always positive for me...no matter what.
Take care and value music.