It's been a great first year at UWM. I've learned a lot about horn playing, music, and just life in general from my experiences here. The life lessons have been especially helpful, such as how to treat people you have to work with, and how you act around those people. An example of this is that I can't control everything that happens in an ensemble I'm leading, or a section I'm principal of, so I just have to let things go sometimes. I've also learned that I need to be a lot more supportive of other musicians. I didn't attend very many recitals or concerts this whole year, mainly because of family obligations at home, and I could've at least said to the people performing in those ensembles that I wish I could've made it but can't, and wish them well. I get so much great support from my friends and other colleagues, and have received lots of compliments, but I've been bad at returning that support. So, it is my goal next year to attend more performances, and give people compliments and support.
I've also played a lot of great pieces this year. With the UWM Orchestra, I got to play Dvorak 8, Mozart 35, Haydn 99, Carmina Burana, Finlandia, Beethoven 7 & Tchaikovsky 5, among others. I also played Borodin 2 and Pictures at an Exhibition with the Festival City Symphony here in Milwaukee. I also got a play some great repertoire with the UWM Wind Ensemble, as well as with the graduate brass quintet here. I've added all that to my list of pieces I've played, and I tell ya, that list is getting pretty large. I'm nearly up to 300 different pieces with many different ensembles, the majority of which were with orchestras. If you ever want to see that list, let me know and I'll send it to you.
Now that the summer has started, I have time to catch up on composition! Check in for updates!