As soon as the final note of the Whidbey Island Brass Camp ended this year, I thought, "man, this was an awesome week." The brass camp was a complete success. It was pretty much perfect, in terms of the music preparation & performance, the kids' attitudes and hard work, the coaches and their amazing help, and the overall flow of the camp itself. And the really wonderful performances by the students on the last two days is a perfect testament to how the week went. We were a majority high school students this time, so the ability level was high. But it wasn't only that...these guys really wanted to sound great. They took to heart everything we instructed and everything they had been taught before. Many of my own private students were there, and they all made me very proud. Several of my students had never done a music camp before, but they all kept up really well. And my veterans...well, let's just say they played like veterans of the game. They were the leaders. They are the ones that made this so great.
And, of course, I got input from them. Although I didn't really get any direct comments from them about the camp, like "nice job" or "you're my hero", I did get lots of comments on the repertoire and structure of the camp. And I'm most happy when they are getting the experience and challenge they want.
I rarely get a pat on the back or a nice comment about how I'm doing, which is something I've always craved in the past. But you know what? That's okay. Now, seeing the kids succeed and feel good about it is what I'm most happy with. And I saw so much of that this week. (Don't worry, I still welcome compliments!)
Oh, and yes, I will post some of the best performances on this site soon. It's a long processes chopping up the single video file I took of each days' performance and syncing it with the audio from my Zoom H4n. But it will get to you soon! And those of you who were at the camp, I'll make all of the performance media available to you guys soon, too.
So now that the excitement of the brass camp and the hours upon hours of preparation has paid off, what now do I look forward to? It's quite simple:
Beethoven 7.
Ugh...not this again. I think in an earlier blog I state some more colorful words about Beethoven 7. Here's the deal: Beethoven 7 is one of the most amazing pieces of music in the history of music and I love to hear it every time. But it is a very difficult 1st horn part to play. At least, it is for me. The 1st horn part demands a solid extreme high range and iron endurance, which have always been my two biggest weaknesses. There are players who thrive in this stuff, but not me.
And I didn't prepare as well as I had hoped for this coming performance of it this weekend. And, I'm kinda worried about it. I'm supposed to be a professional, and an orchestra's principal horn player is supposed to be one of the best musicians in the orchestra, I think I'm going to embarrass myself.
I'm really trying not to complain here. I'm really just stating what I believe will happen. I want to find a solution to this in my mind, something that can give me more optimism...hmm...I haven't thought of it yet.
I guess I just need to remember my own teaching to my students. "If you struggle with high notes in a piece, just treat them like nothing and nail down everything else. It's no use getting all caught up in such a small percentage of the notes on a piece."
Right. That's what I can do. But, I'm supposed to be a professional...
Well, we'll see how it goes. I promise to go in with an open mind and try my best.
Take care and value music.