Wake Me Up

Once upon a time ago, I started a blog on the relationship between faith and art. I have posted a long overdue post that I hope will be the first of many as I begin to press on this passion that God has given me. Check it out, let me know what you think and look for more both here and on the faith-art blog in the months to come.

Playing again

Business has again settled over our home as our level of activity kicks into overdrive. Amy and I started teaching again at USF and I have four trumpet students, two who I met for the first time yesterday. I enjoy teaching trumpet and hope that my students enjoy the instrument more because of our time together. I am beginning to form the early plans for a possible recital (sometime in the next 18 months) of baroque/classic trumpet works for piccolo trumpet. I'm aiming for a long term goal partly to give me time to find resources that I really enjoy so that I can put together a program that provides some sense of flow and variety and partly to give myself plenty of time to get back into shape.

This style of playing is probably my strongest as a player. I've always considered myself a jack of all trades, master of none when it comes to the trumpet. I was always a good player, but rarely the best in any given area. There were always better players in any particular arena of playing, always better improvisors, better technicians, better soloists... But my strength as a player was my ability to adapt and play capably in any style of music.

It really wasn't until I started digging into baroque trumpet playing that I started feeling like I was a fully competent soloist. It's a style of playing that I feel very much at home in and feel I can hold myself to a standard of excellence that I simply don't expect of myself in other areas.

We'll see what develops out of this, but at least I've gone on the record saying that I want to do it, so I now have less excuse to dismiss it altogether.