Well it’s been a while (I feel like a lot of musician blog posts start out like that).
A year ago, I graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Master of Music degree in Trombone Performance. And what have I done musically since then??
…tried (and still trying) to get better as a musician.
I’ll be honest when I finished a year ago, I didn’t know where I was going to end up (other than Central Ohio). I’ve been fortunate to play with a local symphony orchestra, and that has helped keep me on my toes. The trombone was not top priority level for a few months, but thankfully there are always people who randomly show up asking that wonderful question, “Have you been practicing?” One day it was my father (a music educator/bass trombonist), one day it was my music history professor. Either way, these two instances got me back on track to music (not necessarily just trombone). My dad told me it is during this time in your life when you find out how much you love music.
I’ve gotten back into heavy practicing for the sake of working on fundamentals, and just honing the skills that I’ve been taught the past 15+ years. Auditions are coming along the way. Freelancing is starting up. Being a musician is coming back to forefront. And now the journey picks back up. I leave you for now with this link to a letter from a trombonist to a student about freelancing. It is a great reminder of why people who are passionate about music pursue this as their career.
Back to Practicing!
Jer