What's in Store for February

Hello All,
Whelp been out of touch via blog for at least two months. With good, musical reason though. Almost literally for the months of December and January, I was traveling with Tim Zimmerman and the King's Brass to both sides of the country. For December we were in Nashville, the Midwest for two nights then flew to California (where it was sunny for the last two days we were there). We played our Christmas program and it was quite fun. For the first time, I played the John Rutter Gloria, a fantastic piece for brass and chorus. It was fun to play loud and then louder. It was quite an enjoyable tour, playing in large churches, small churches, staying in a mansion located on a 28-acre avocado ranch, etc.

The group had about 2-3 weeks off before we got together in Florida to continue our "summer" program. We traveled anywhere and everywhere between Orlando and Miami. We were able to meet many people (including Kylee's great aunt), and make new friends (like John and Esther Fitzstevens who are retired missionaries to Vietnam and work closely now with Franklin Graham). When tour was over I had to quickly fly from Ft. Myers to Columbus via "red-eye" flight then wake up at 4:45 in the morning to drive to Pittsburgh for my 9:00 class.

It is good to be back in good 'ole Pittsburgh since being for over a month. It's nice to get back to learning about music. I haven't really been able to practice much since we have been on the road a lot, and it was sure nice to really sit down and start back digging into excerpts and solos. It is amazing how fast time goes, and I've realized that with graduate school and must really soak in all that I came here for. And never regret taking stuff too lightly or half-heartedly. It needs to be "All in!"

As for February, musically, I'll get to reunite with the Grace College Pep Band February 12th and play with them as well as meet up with my former teacher, Jim Kraft for some duets and/or excerpts. February 10th is the CMU Wind Ensemble concert which I get to be a part of. We will be playing pieces by Holst, Mussorgsky, Mackey, and variations piece for Bagpipe and Band. Then February 25th I'll be reunited with my friends from King's Brass down in Florida to perform for a weekend.

It's gonna be a good month, and hopefully I'll do a better job at blogging than the last few months (or the lack thereof)

From
Jer (Hebrews 13:21)

Two Lessons on Failure

Hello All,
Here are two writings that have really helped me in the past week with failure and how to keep everything in perspective. The first is from a wonderful pastor in Charlotte, NC. Pastor Steven Furtick is the lead pastor at Elevation Church and is seeing rapid growth in the church as well as in the city.

It Wasn't a Failure

This second writing is from Coach Jim Tressel, the head football coach at The Ohio State University. He has become a man I highly admire not only as a great coach (Go Bucks!) but also a great human being. This excerpt is from his book The Winner's Manual, a book that he gives all of his football players during spring practice, and is very insightful for all walks of life.

"Each year, I get a lot of cards and letters from people who write me long, heartfelt messages: 'Coach, I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about the loss..You must be devastated".....I read those letters, and I appreciate the sentiment. I know the people who wrote them care.....but I have to say that I have never had a loss as a head coach that devastated me....Flip [that] around. When we win a big game, I get letters and emails and notes about being at the pinnacle of the sport and about how my career has great meaning and blah, blah, blah. Yes, winning the big one is great. It's a wonderful feeling to see the confetti coming down.....But honestly, I don't feel any different about myself during the presentation of the trophy than I did before the game.
"It can be difficult to keep that perspective, however, because the sportswriters and interviewers focus simply on whether you won or lost. You're either a good guy or a bad guy. To me, that's what persistence is about. Persistence takes the focus away from the performance and puts it on the process.....The bad things that happened didn't make you a failure. Those were simply EVENTS, not reflections on you as a person.
"After a loss or a disappointing performance, go back to the problem, analyze it, ask what you can learn from it, figure out how to do it right and how you are going to visualize doing it right the next time. Remember, the fact that you didn't achieve the desired outcome doesn't mean YOU are a failure. It simply means that the plan you had in place didn't work, so you have to get better. If you don't improve, you may no longer be employed--but that doesn't make you a failure either. Everything that happens--good and bad--should motivate you to be PERSISTENT. When things don't go your way, back up and start over. Learn what you can do to improve, and get back in the game."

Thanks for reading!

From J-man
(Hebrews 13:21)

First Month of Grad School ( a little long)

Hello All,
Well my first month of grad school is in the books, and I'd like to highlight a few things that have happened.
--Classes
A great start to the week is my 8:00 am Brass Pedagogy with George Vosburgh, Principal Trumpet of the Pittsburgh Symphony (PSO). Then, after that, I have Brass Studio Class with Mr. Vosburgh again, playing some great symphonic literature. Then on Tuesdays, I have a theory class;Trombone Studio Class; and a Mahler Class. First, the trombone studio class is led by Peter Sullivan, Principal Trombone of the PSO. It is a great time as we dive into certain aspects of playing as well repertoire that the PSO is playing this season. It is a lot of fun. Then, if needed, I have rehearsal; and my day ends with a 3-hour class on the symphonies of Mahler (yes three hours!) It is an excellent class, and what makes it better is the professor is a Mahler enthusiast. What better way to learn about Mahler than from a guy who loves Mahler!
--Trombone Lessons
This is one of the biggest highlights of the week. My personal lesson with Mr. Sullivan. The lessons are great, and he plays a lot in the lesson, which is very helpful in playing excerpts and solos. I honestly look forward to Fridays and my time with him (It is the reason why I am at Carnegie Mellon).
--Pittsburgh Symphony Concerts
I really think the PSO is one of the most underrated orchestras in the world. They are good! Incredible! Maestro Manfred Honeck is such a wonderful conductor and really pulls every little musical thing out of the music and the players. The brass section is one of the best I've heard as well.
--Orchestra Manager/CMU Philharmonic
I get the great privilege of being the Manager of the Carnegie Mellon Orchestras. At first, it was a little stressful learning the new ropes of how to do things, but since then it is going much more smoothly. Our first concert was Mahler's 6th symphony (it was amazong!) and we even got to perform in the same venue that Mahler conducted the NY Philharmonic back in 1910. Other things looking forward to with the Orchestra is playing Pictures at an Exhibition as well as a concert at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., (home of the National Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra of my mentor and former teacher at Grace College).
--Church
I have been able to find a wonderful church here in Pittsburgh. I first heard of the church from a family I stayed with this summer while traveling with King's Brass. The church is Allegheny Center Alliance Church (ACAC). It is such a great church..Very culturally diverse, but it is so awesome to see all walks of life worshiping as one together. The preaching is excellent, and I am looking to join a Bible Study (they are called Growth Groups...ironic, Gracies), as well as join their orchestra.
--Kylee
The cool thing of being is Pittsburgh is it is not far away from Kylee. I have been able to see her twice. She came to visit me for Labor Day weekend in which we went to two Pirates games and also went to my first Country music concert. I also go to visit her a few weekends ago. The three-hour drive is very bearable for a weekend to see her or her to come see me. (Still praying she can find a job in Pittsburgh though)
--Pittsburgh itself
Wow what a great city! I love it a lot. The city is big, yet small and quaint. People are friendly here! The nice thing too is CMU students get to ride the bus for free, making it very easy to commute to certain places. The people of Pittsburgh love Pittsburgh as well which is a plus. And how many places in the country can you pay the same price to see Major League Baseball and a world-class orchestra ($12 or less for each ticket!).
--Auditions (big news)
And some big news, I "won" my first audition. The Canton Symphony Orchestra in Ohio had substitute/extra auditions for trombone, and I went to take the audition. It went very well (probably the best I have played Tuba Mirum), and I received a letter in the mail the next week saying they would like to place me on their extra list, which was the purpose of my audition. So now we shall see when I may be called :)

All in all, my time here is fantastic! I'm loving it here. It is stretching me spiritually and causing me to be really active in pursuing Christ and my relationship with Him. And it's also causing me to practice a lot (and enjoy practicing). I have much free time, therefore I must practice and use that time wisely. I like the area, have a good place to live, (and am eating well thanks to Kylee), and I do believe that this is where God has me to be right now.....it is so evident :)

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the length.
J-man
(Hebrews 13:21)

Summary of King's Brass Summer Tour

Hello All,
Well now that 2010 King's Brass Summer Tour and has come to an end (and I'm settled into Pittsburgh) I would like to report a little bit of what happened over tour (don't worry it will not be a loooooong post). There were so many wonderful things about traveling with these musicians. One of the coolest things about traveling in a music ensemble is getting to visit places that you would otherwise not be able to visit. Places such as West Point where Greg Alley, a former trumpet player in the West Point Band gives us a special tour. Also there or own pianist/organist got the EXTREMELY RARE opportunity to play the Cadet Chapel organ, the world's largest organ in a church. Other places we visited included a complete day at Ocean City, NJ, (yes, it was needed);the opportunity to play at the church of Phil Smith, principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic (unfortunately, he wasn't there). We also got to play on the Upper Peninsula in which we take about a half a day and visited Mackinac Island, one of my favorite places to visit.

The list goes on and on of unique places we played at. But the best place by far was the great opportunity to play at Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, PA. This church has great historical significance for two reasons. First, in that very sanctuary was where Bach's B-minor Mass was first performed in the United States back in 1900. Second, it is at this church that the Bethlehem Moravian Trombone Choir was formed and it still exists as America's oldest instrumental ensemble after 250 years. Inside the church, the huge organ is in the back of the sanctuary. We gave our concert on Saturday night and then had the privilege of playing in the back for a special music service they had on Sunday. This organ is rather huge in that our brass group sat in between the organs and its pipes. Talk about a cool experience. It was some of the loudest playing we did that day. There was one moment I specifically remember I would remember for a long time. During our playing of "Holy, Holy, Holy," the organist, Rebecca Kleintop Owens, began to play an interlude into the final verse. Literally the floor was vibrating and it was full force with the sound. When we entered with our brass instruments it was literally at that time that I felt I was receiving a glimpse of what Heaven was going to sound like. The beautiful sounds were definitely loud but so glorious. Only one other time has that kind of thing happened. It was a special day for me :)

All in all, It was an excellent tour. Great music and great travelings, and Wonderful people. I was honored to be a part of such great Christians, musicians, and people.....it was a great summer "family."

Now on to graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University School of Music. (more to come later!)

From
J-man (Isaiah 40:31)

Play as if it were their Last Concert

Hello All,
Wow what a summer so far. I've had a blast playing with King's Brass. The first time I played with them I remember thinking, "Wow now that was Loud!!!" I've never been able to play that loud in an ensemble. It's so exhilarating to be able to do that on a regular basis and not get the left hand telling me to back off. Being on the road has been a lot of fun too. We meet great people at churches and other venues. Which brings me to something shocking that happened indirectly to our group.

Our second Sunday on tour, we were at Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, VA just outside of DC. We drove there the night before from Pennsylvania, and literally got 2-3 hours of sleep Sunday morning before we had to be at the church to setup and rehearse. We played in three services and for each service there was a church orchestra. It was kind of funny because some of us were in front of the string section. Naturally, they didn't like the loud noises so they either were covering their ears or invested in some earplugs. We played a few songs for each service, went back to the hotel for a little bit to rest, and then back to the church that night for a full concert. It was a busy and somewhat tiring day, but fortunately we had a day off on Monday and got to relax before heading out again.

As we headed out to our next location on Tuesday, Tim had told us that he received an email. We found out that early Monday morning a 15-year old girl who played violin in the church orchestra was murdered along with her mother by her father. And I will be honest, it hit me hard! I sat there in the Suburban thinking the performances we gave on Sunday was the last music that she ever heard in this life. Whew, it got me to thinking what kind of impact was the music on her. I remember specifically seeing her sit there and cover her ears; and being the typical brass player, it encouraged me to play louder.

All of this changed my thinking on how I perform. I remember someone in the group telling us at the beginning of the summer that they play every concert as if it were his last. It got me to think that I should play every concert as if it were the LISTENER'S last concert. Wow that kind of thing sure does change your focus on how you play. Every concert isn't going to be perfect, but it puts a different meaning on how you play. It causes you to really focus and really worship the Father with your music. It causes you to communicate the music in a different So I've decided for the rest of the summer, that I'm going to play every concert as if it were the listener's last concert. It gives me motivation for each concert to do my best. It is amazing how God can use one incident to indirectly change a life in a way that you would at least expect it.

If you think of it, please pray for the people at Immanuel Bible as they go through this very very difficult time in their church. Ironically, the 15-year old girl's name was Joy. Please pray for her father and the rest of her family as well.

From
J-man (Isaiah 40:28-31)

Cleveland Opera Audition

Hello All,
This past Monday I attended an audition for the Principal Trombone position of the Cleveland Opera Orchestra. This was the first time that I had prepared excerpts for an opera orchestra. It was unique in that they were different excerpts to prepare (big crashing melodies/phrases right after a tenor belts out a solo). A few "regulars" were also on the list.
As I was gearing up for the audition, I was also practicing/memorizing twenty-two songs for this upcoming summer tour with Tim Zimmerman and the King's Brass. This gospel brass group plays a wide variety of tunes from big band to hymns to patriotic to praise and worship songs. So it's been a wild few weeks working on all that.
Fortunately, I was able to work on Cleveland audition a lot prior to getting music for King's Brass. As Monday came, I arrived at the audition site in downtown. There were literally only 14 candidates auditioning for the position. According to union rules we had to draw lots for who would go first. I was number 7. As I waited I was able to really focus and center my thoughts on the task at hand. And I prayed a lot, something I haven't done a lot just prior to an audition.
As the time came, I got the list for the first round choices: a Bach Cello Suite solo, Tuba Mirum from Mozart Requiem, and two excerpts from Verdi's Othello. As I played, there were a few missed notes. As I left I felt that my confidence in playing was at a high, and I was calm and not nervous. Unfortunately I didn't advance, but looking back, there were many things pointing to not being able to prepare as much as I would have liked. But that's what happens when you are working two things at once.

It was a good experience for me. On a positive side, I was not nervous during the audition and was calmness even when there were mistakes. Also I am....once again....thankful for my girlfriend for the encouragement and support she consistently gives me. When I was waiting in my warm-up room, she sent me a text saying to remember the Holy Spirit is working in me so I already have an advantage. (this goes to show how wonderful she really is). Afterwards she was very understanding about how I felt but made sure that I would not get down on myself and move on from it. (because like many musicians, it's easy to dwell on failing). She encouraged me by saying that traveling with King's Brass will give me so much experience and help with performing in front of people (yes, this is from a non-musician). This is why I love her dearly for the constant encouragement she gives...and motivation to move on and play well :)

All in all, a good experience. I'll keep practicing and working towards the next audition. But for now it's time for King's Brass rehearsing and performing. I'm very excited about this wonderful opportunity to play with such an incredible group. More details about them and my time with them (maybe journal-like) as time goes along :)

From
J-man (Isaiah 40:28-31)

Email and Blog updates

Hello All,
I have changed my blog address. It's a bit more professional. It is jeremyesmith41.blogspot.com. Also, I have a new email address. It is jeremyesmith41@gmail.com

Thanks!

From
J-man (Is. 40:31)