Strong Women

It's been FAR too long since I've posted here--more about that another time.  Today is Mother's Day, and I'd like to focus a bit on that......

"Strong Women"

I have the pleasure of being raised by and surrounded most of my life by strong women. Not the settler-build-a-house type of strong, (although my mom could easily get in and kill a chicken or help out with a hog-killin', and did, when needed) but strong of thought, action and deed. I grew up knowing both of my grandmothers and a great, great aunt. Aunt Florence, even though she died when I was an early teen, had a great influence on me in knowing what a strong woman was all about. My mother and her sister Martha, were obviously guided and heavily influenced by her as well. Both of these women, even though I didn't see Martha all that often over the years, have shaped me in many ways that I didn't always recognize. I've always said my mother is just about the smartest person I can ever imagine knowing, and she continues in that role. Probably, though, the most important thing mom ever did for me was to allow me to go. There as needed, but never overtly limiting or requiring me to be other than I was.

As I became involved with my wife, and learned her family, I recognized a similarity of strength, in her grandmothers as well as her mother and her aunt Martha (which we all chuckled that it must be fate, since we both had aunt Martha's....) The strength there was different, still strong, just carried out in a different way. Although my mother-in-law passed away five years ago, the strength of her life and way of living still comes out in much that we do. Both of my brothers-in-law married strong women who are shaping the lives of their children similarly to the way my life was shaped.

So what is "strong"? My descriptors can best be realized in my wife, Kim. We've been through so much together (you know, the for better/worse, sickness/health, richer/poorer) that I could point to almost any month of our nearly 26 year marriage and give significant definitions of "strong". Here's a snapshot/overview of how I see strong in her: in the early years of our relationship, she finished the entirety of a music education degree in 3 years, having switched from being a journalism major (many stretch to 5....but not her); immediately upon graduation, we were married, and moved to Penn State---what did she do with that hard earned music ed degree? became a bank teller.....; then off to Michigan, where some teaching commenced, but not really what she trained for; the back GA where we had our first daughter, Taylor, the finally to NC, where we've been and raised our family. And, she finally got to teach music, but realized that in order to support our family best, being a music teacher was not the right path, and she changed to best fit the needs of us. Our first five years together she showed strength I still am in awe of---and her abilities as Mother have only caused me to stand back and watch with amazement.

All of these described things, this strength, come down to one fundamental element:
Love. All of these women I describe were/are full of love, and know how to share it, use it, and demonstrate it in all they do. They love through romance, through tenderness, through discipline, through leading and guiding, and by just being.

thank you to all of them, and all other strong women who fill our lives.

tireless intensity

I received an interesting compliment earlier this week--at least I think it was a compliment.....

After a concert with the quintet, a friend came up, shook my hand, and said:
"Dennis, you have an amazingly tireless intensity about you."

He went on to talk about how many things I'm involved with that have influence on others. That thought has stuck with me through the week. Yes, I do a lot of things, but never think about breadth of duties, only about being helpful. Our time here is only truly validated by our ability to serve others. Surely, we do have to take care of ourselves, our families, etc. But the true mission in life is to serve. If we lose sight of that and it becomes too much about us, then life loses purpose and we move about aimlessly.  (this is not idle observation--I've wandered around in circles many times in my life!) But I digress, and don't want to be preachy--

It is oh-so-easy to wear down, get exhausted, become negative, etc. when we go full bore all the time--obviously we need some respite, some "something" that allows us us to recharge.  This December, I've had a pleasant traveling companion as I've driven to and fro to quintet concerts--I asked one of my students, Brock, to put together a compilation cd of his favorite holiday music.  (now mind you, this guy loves Christmas music--he has something like 500 hours of it on his itunes) (or something like that--I do know he has a minimum of 90 min. of just "Silent Night")  The cd he gave me is an amazing grouping of new and old, indie and pop, traditional and fringe.  This, for me, has been a wonderful respite during my travel time. Two settings, in particular, I keep going back to.  (the tunes themselves were always favorites of mine)

In the Bleak Midwinter has such a wonderful feel to it as a carol, and this setting great, with a bit of an updated twist, but doesn't lose the nature of the tune....



Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming is just a gorgeous hymn.  Again, this one just charms and challenges me.



Playing as many concerts, taking part in so many services, it's been far too easy for me to become jaded with the "same old, same old" in regards to many things over the years.  I'm reminded that we must find ways to renew ourselves and avoid the same old, same old in order to be able to function at our highest levels.

Thank you all for being a part of my life--I hope you all will be able to rest, relax, and enter 2011 with a new sense of tireless intensity!

dwa

Just. Breathe.

recently I had a friend say to me "you never blog anymore".    my response was something like "life is too busy" or "don't have time" or something to that effect.  while that may be, it boils down to me not making the time to do it.   maybe it's because I didn't have anything to say.  (if you know me, you should laugh now, as I always have something to say.......)  at any rate, onward..........  

Topic:  Just.    Breathe

Being a "brasswind musician" I, of course, must be concerned with the concept of correct breathing.  We could go on, and on with suggested exercises, books/videos/inspiring audio on the hows, whys and heretofores of breathin' right.  This topic isn't about that......

Today's society has us going so damn fast in whatever we do that it's terribly easy to be caught in a maelstrom that we call our "life".  I'm not going to lecture on slowing down, changing what you do, etc.  there are tons of blogs and other writings on that--hell, I subscribe to several to seek tips in organization, paring down, and so on.
Nope, this is about saving what little sanity you may have left in your crazy, over-scheduled life.    Bottom line:

 Just.  Breathe.

If we can find a way to take 30 seconds, close our eyes and breathe, often that will allow just enough of a break to regain focus, and feel better about the next activity.  If one can take as much as 5 minutes to do this (and not fall asleep!!!) then a good amount of time (likely as much as several hours) that follows can be easier to take, easier to get through, etc.
I'm not going to go into the physical nor spiritual reasoning behind all this, nor suggest you do anything but breathe.  It's requisite for living, so why not take 30 sec. to enjoy it?

Yes, this is aimed at you, the college student who put off the projects/papers and are now scrambling; yes, you, the band director whose band just isn't jelling this week; yes, you the adjunct running around trying to make sure everyone is happy, while living on .00003 cents per day; yes, you the high school student trying to keep it together long enough to get into college, and ultimately, me.  We ALL need to take a moment and breathe.

Just.          Breathe.

end of summer....

Well, the summer started off busy, with the ITEC in AZ, and never really significantly slowed down!

Demondrae Thurman and I presented the Miraphone Academy here at UNCG in late June, we had our annual UNCG Summer Music Camp in July, and now it's time to crank back up for school.  I must admit, though, I feel like more time was spent NOT thinking about the busy-ness but more on family things, friend visits, trips to visit family and friends some of whom I hadn't seen in a long time--this is important, more important than I tend to make time for, normally.  As a result, I got less "work" done, I think, but feel much better about life, less stressed out, etc. and I still have plenty of time to get done what needs to be done for school.  hmmmm--maybe this needs to become more common in my summers!

We also added the extra activity of following drum corps much more closely, since Alex is marching with Spirit this year.  He seems to have had a wonderful experience, overall, thus far.  We only got to see two shows, but will be heading to championships next week in IN, and bringing him home with us.  I'll have much more to talk about regarding that as time goes on, as I want to better collect my thoughts on his/our experience and DCI as a whole.

anyhow--off to practice, well, since, I have a recital in a month and all............

the future -or- the now..........

this is a rough time for some parts of the music industry.  some would say for all of the music industry.  others might say only for the parts that don't want to "modernize".

well, maybe it's true for all of the above.  I have a good friend who has decided to take a break from playing his horn.  a long break.  he hasn't played since Easter and doesn't plan to try to play until late next spring.  why?  because he needs to figure out his place, with his performing, in the current world.  the recording industry served him well for a goodly number of years, and along the way he hustled and built a good life for himself, and has a good number of other ventures in music that are not performance oriented (at least for him).  he's spent a good amount of his own money over the years promoting himself, trying new things, forming new groups, attempting to "modernize", etc.  his income from performing for the recording industry was less than 5 grand last year.  he's taking some time off. 

what does this say about the future of real, live musicians playing their "axes" for recordings?  probably not a good thing, honestly. 

that said, this is the time for a couple of things:

1. we must, must, must not cease to actively musically educate our youth, nor cease to actively advocate regarding the importance of music. 

2. we have to not just "modernize" but spend significant amounts of time conceptualizing/dreaming/what-if-ing
about how the next level of what we do is to take place. 

point 1 has had many much more erudite writers and speakers than I make wonderful points about how these things should take place--MENC, MTNA, etc. have many a good article on these kinds of ideas.  Seek them out.

point 2 is much more problematic, I think.  as the past four centuries of "western art music" have developed, changed, modernized, etc. the pace of technological evolution has been slow enough that the musical world has been able to adjust at a safe rate and not been terribly left behind.  nowadays, this is far from truth. technology moves forward at such a rate that, while it begs the world to keep up with it, economically the reality is that it can't.  at least much of it can't.    where does that leave us in the musical world? 
if we keep our heads in the sand and only "do what we do" we will be more irrelevant than an alto flute being used in a marching band.  (not bashing on the alto flute, but it just doesn't have a place in a marching band!)

somehow, someway, we have to energize some folks to conceptualize new realities that include what we do, but maybe in different frameworks.  I'm a big fan of TED (not the educational theory courses, but the stuff found at ted.com)   a recent presentation revolved around UI--you know the blow-your-mind computer stuff that was used in the movie Minority Report (which you should see, or see again). 
here's the presentation:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6YTQJVzwlI
it is 15 min long, but WELL worth your time.  there's some cool stuff there--and at the end, the statement is made that in 5 years this technology will be standard.  who knows if that is the case, but it certainly made me think, a lot, about having music delivery systems be more dimensional, and allow more of a sound fabric to be brought to us during the listening experience. 

are these thoughts heretical to what I was just pontificating about?  maybe.  I'm not smart enough to be able to dream through the process--I think that the interface of experience can be re-designed, albeit maybe not in this model, but it can, and likely must, be different--so that we (live musicians) can stay relevant to future generations (or even the next one).

before I get jumped all over on this and am told that "nothing can replace the feeling of playing" or "the
sensation of a live concert"  I agree with you--but if all we do is the same old, same old (which, honestly folks, has only been in something resembling out current "way" for less than 200 years) then we will be shelved, and perhaps rightly so.

sermon/rant over.

on being real

often, I think, we live our lives as we feel others expect us to.  this in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but we run the risk of missing out on sharing our inner selves.  i'm not suggesting in any way that we should run around and wear our hearts on our sleeves--that drives everyone crazy--but that we shouldn't fear being honest about how we do what we do and shouldn't necessarily worry about being judged.

i love the idea of teaching tuba/euphonium at the college level--i feel i can help players get better, but even more importantly as i work with future educators, i also have the privilege and opportunity to help them figure out why they want to teach, why that's important, etc.  i won't say that i succeed with every student, but i certainly give it a good go.  when asked to state my philosophy of teaching, my primary statement regards helping students learn to teach themselves. that's what my teachers did for me and therefore what needs to be passed on.  that's about as open as i can be about what i do.

recently, I've been struck by other open & honest situations. I mentioned in a blog last week during the ITEC how much Jim Self's performance meant to me--just laying it out there, with no worries of how it would be judged.  that's just badass, in my opinion. i don't have video or audio, but wish i did, so i could share.

two other examples for sharing, just performances that lay it out there, with no real concern about acceptance

Dennis Hopper (RIP) on the Johnny Cash show, reciting Kipling's "If"


Johnny Cash (also RIP) with his version of NIN's "Hurt". 


certainly, we do need to be concerned with how what we do effects others, but overall, we need to be as true to ourselves as we can.

ITEC 2010 redux......

well, the trip home wasn't nearly as interesting as getting there, at least flight-wise.  Why?  Because I slept almost the entirety of both flights--which shouldn't be surprising since I didn't go to bed on Saturday night!  I know, I know, but since my flight was at 5:45 am, and the shuttle picked me up at 3:30.........just made sense.  I never thought I would be happy to have the sensation of feeling humidity, but it really did make my body feel better once I was in the humid Atlanta air.  (Unfortunately, I missed the Spirit drumcorps picnic on Sunday afternoon, but my wife, daughter, father-in-law and others from that side of our family were able to go and hear my son in, what by all accounts, was some very good early season playing.  Can't wait to see their first performance on June 20 in Rock Hill, SC.)

In looking back on this conference, I believe we have hit levels of consistency that we just never hit before, in terms of the overall production.  With the efficiency of ITEC 2006 in Denver, 2008 in Cincy, and now 2010 in Tucson, we have laid the groundwork for new standards in international conferences.  This time was the first time that ITEA actually owned the conference financially.  I know that may sound odd, but until this conference, the host was responsible for the financial bottom line. Regrettably, we've had several former hosts go into significant financial debt, even with a good amount of organizational $$ to help out.  (amazingly, this change was still met with some resistance, and had been discussed over the years and voted down, until now!)   Kelly Thomas and Mark Nelson put together a very strong, but conservative, budget and stuck with it--as a result, moving forward with this blueprint will be quite easy, I feel.

Our Board of Directors meetings held throughout the week were amazingly fruitful. Everyone involved with those meetings feels energized and empowered to move the organization  forward--the next few years are going to be fun, I think!

Artistically, the conference was top notch--the new method of having every performance be submitted via proposal allowed the hosts to program interesting, entertaining, insightful, and educational performances, presentations, discussions and lectures. The after hours hangs were just as invigorating--lots of tours, guest recitals, etc. were negotiated, as well as times of just plain, good ol' camaraderie.  Just a time to be remembered. 

While this one is gone and over, there will be significant reviews coming later in the summer in the ITEA Journal and on the ITEA website, to give more than this overview I've been rambling through.

all the best to you as you continue through what the next months bring you!

day 7?

and thus, it ends.

a journey around the sun, seeing and hearing celestial beings of all sizes, make up and trajectory.
So we, in the tuba and euphonium world, have just joined our lives together for about 5 days.  Many would say, "so"?  
And in some ways they could be right. 
That said, regardless of what microcosm you live and/or work in, your arena has it's stars, leaders, controllers, purveyors and merchants.(none are dismissable and all are requisite)  In our little reality, we just spent a week with all of them.  It was important. no question, no debate.
There are those who play our instrument and would argue that what we just did had no value, neither intrinsically not economically.  That's just incorrect.  Furthering an art form, regardless of the medium, is essential to our existence.
Saturday at the conference was equal to all the other.  Different lectures and soloists, but the same, nonetheless.   Quality was never a question.  We should all be proud.

I'll have more after the trip home.

dwa

and.......day 6

Last night a "new" event for these conferences took place.  An awards banquet.  Ok, I know that sounds thrilling, but it really is a cool thing that we're now doing.  Back in the earlier days of ITEC's banquets happened, but from what I can ascertain they were not much more than everyone eating a meal together.  (and certainly in far fewer numbers than attend the conferences now)

ITEA now gives quite a number of awards on a biennial basis and this banquet was a perfect vehicle for such things.  In addition to formal recognition of those who won the performance competitions that completed on Tuesday, we present three "named" awards and a series of lifetime achievement awards.  The named awards are the Roger Bobo Award for excellence in recording (several categories there) the Harvey Phillips Award for excellence in composition (again, several categories) and a new one this year, the Clifford Bevan Award for excellence in low brass related research.  It is amazing the efforts put forth by the performers, composers and researchers to further our specific art form.  I was fortunate enough to be asked by Oystein Baadsvik to (nominated for best tuba recording) to accept on his behalf, if he were to win, as he had other obligations this week and couldn't be here in person (like, premiering Christian Lindberg's Tuba Concerto, with the composer conducting.....)  He DID win, so that was fun, taking his award hostage(!) 

The Lifetime Achievement Award is our highest honor, and we awarded 4 of those last night.  We awarded Art Lehman (frmr prin. Euphonium , USMC Band) posthumously, but the others are still alive and kicking.  Cliff Bevan couldn't be with us due to a current nerve injury, but the award will be sent to him--he's the writer of the Tuba Family book and really led the way with original research in our arena (hence, the award named after him, too)  Chitate Kagawa from Sapporo, Japan (a teacher and performer who has been very instrumental in shaping literally generations of tuba and euphonium performers in Japan) was on hand to receive his award, as was Ron Bishop (frmr prin. tuba, Cleveland Symphony, and teacher at CIM and Oberlin)   It was a great ceremony of recognition of those at the top of what we do and aspire to be!

My recital is later today, and then I'll be heading home in the early hours of the a.m. with a 5:45 flight.  As a result the recap of today's events may not happen until far later than even this one, but I'll try!

it has been a great week the whole way around.......

Day 5

If you EVER have the chance to hear the Boston Brass, do it.  period.  These guys are just absolutely a-maz-ing performers.  The show they put on for us last night was amongst the best I've heard.  Honestly.

Jim Self was in town yesterday, giving several presentations, all of which were inspiring--he is such a wonderful person.  He shared a recital in the late afternoon with Tom McCaslin (my in-state colleague over at ECU--who, by the way played his @$$ off--he perpetually inspires me to be a better player) and the portion of the recital which was Jim's was plain and simply, the embodiment of the word sublime.  It was jazz stuff, nothing really fancy, but it was all acoustic (piano, bass, drums + Jim) no mic's at all and just sent me to a different realm of seeing honesty in performance.  There was nothing for Jim to hide behind--just him playing.  whew.

As we continue through the conference the rest of the performances are continuing to be well received, all the normal kinds of accolades there--let's face it--no one here sucks.........

Attendees seem excited, inspired, etc., but we're all getting a bit fatigued as the week goes on.  The late night stuff at Gentle Ben's www.gentlebens.com are, well, badass.  Last night featured our conference host, Kelly, with his dixieland group www.wildcatjass.com and guest tuba pickers Tom Holtz (USMC) and Gil Corella (USAF).  
While we can't officially announce the site for ITEC 2012 just yet, as some details are being worked out, the likely place will not be in the US, and will be in a country we've never had a conference in before (intrigued?  stay tuned!)  it everything works out, it will be absolutely amazing.
I have had one rehearsal for my performance tomorrow and another today--working with pianist Susan Wass (TTU tuba/euph prof Kevin Wass' wife) on presenting a recital of music by James Grant.  Predominantly in the style of the 1940's-50's torch songs, the works I'm doing are a bit different from the standard fare and even different from the non-standard fare we're hearing this week.  Jazz influenced, but art-song in orient, these are wonderful melodic displays.  Just hopin' I can do them justice live!
more to follow......

Day 4

As the week goes on, I'm adjusting to the 3 hour time difference, which means I'm sleeping later and writing these even later!
Yesterday was just chock full o' great playing.  College ensembles from Texas Tech, Iowa, Mesa Comm. College and CCM all gave wonderful performances, as did Sotto Voce at the picnic!
I was able to spend some more time in the displays yesterday--some very good horns on the market these days.  I haven't played all of them (and likely won't) but did play some newer additions (Miraphone 1293 and a proto 6/4, Adams, and Kanstul)  saw some new gadgets and looked at some new tunes.  Talked with a LOT of people (I know, big surprise). 
Today should be more of the same, I expect.........

One of the cool things on the trip was the discovery of a breakfast joint called the cereal boxx.  Absolutely a great way to start the day!  Owners are nice, remember your name, etc. and provide some unusual, but very tasty, breakfast grub. 

The Board of Directors is working hard this week, making some quite good progress in areas of the organization that needed attention.  This Board is a truly great group of folks, and I'm fortunate to be able to learn from them every meeting!
more to follow!

Day 3

g'day.    Things are going amazingly smoothly out here it seems--Kelly Thomas, Mark Nelson and their crew are doing a spectacular job keeping things running.  As always, when you give a performer 45 min, they will take an hour, and then the schedule spirals downhill, quickly, but they've built in decent enough lunch and dinner breaks that there can be a soft "reset" at those times.
Word has it there are currently 550-ish registered attendees for this week, which is fantastic!
The competitions are all over--spectacular playing at every level.  The one I was in charge of, Young Artist Tuba, had a maximum age of 18, so those performers really were performing outside their normal comfort zones--we had 10 in the semifinals and advanced 4 to the finals.  In looking back, I'm convinced that when I was that age, there was NO way I could've played like that.  Performance levels are going up--I wish we could take that kind of result on the road as inspiration to many others to show them what can be done (and should be expected!)
The performances in concert yesterday that I heard were all, well, good, as you might expect.  The Salt River Brass, under the direction of Pat Sheridan, played a great concert last night, although occasionally there were balance problems with a couple of the soloists in the "big, loud" spots.  The "advertised" soloists, Les Neish, David Childs and Steven Mead played as we would expect!  Then, there were "unadvertised" extras--Lance LaDuke (tbn/euph w Boston Brass) played/sang for us, and US Army trombonist extraordinaire Harry Watters played a couple of jazz tunes with the group.  And throughout the concert we all were "schooled" in ensemble playing by the great tuba section that included Sam Pilafian.  geez.

today should prove to be another great day of it.
(and I wound up being able  to sleep until 5:30 am today!!)
more to come........
dwa

Day 2

This whole 3 hour time difference is getting old, really fast!  I don't know how all those jet setter types deal with this on a regular basis!
The competitions are in very full swing--I honestly haven't paid a ton of attention to who moved on to the finals today, (except of course in Young Artist Tuba, which I am in charge of)  I hear a ton of North Texas euphoniumists have moved on to the finals, and that the UGA quartet moved on, but other than that........I've just not paid attention ( I guess that makes me a bad attendee)  I'll give a more full reporting of the one I'm in charge of later, after the finals are done, but I can say we heard some wonderful performances yesterday.
We had an initial ITEA Board of Directors meeting yesterday, with at least one meeting per day planned during the conference--many things to talk about and make plans for.  I feel, very honestly, we're on the cusp of finishing up many transitional things and are about to be in a period of customer service previously unattained. 
It's been great to see so many friends, thus far, and I know many more are arriving today.  Judging with James Gourlay and Les Neish today in the finals, which will be a wonderful experience I'm sure.  I'll also be helping out with the Miraphone booth along and along through the week, so if you're around the conference you might find me there.  It seems things are going very well thus far (not without snags, (none of these do that.....) but the ones that I've heard about have been resolved very quickly and efficiently.)
We officially open the conference at 12 today, and then we'll be on a 6 day non-stop run.
more to follow........

ITEC 2010

Hi gang--it's been a LONG while since I've done this--thought about it many times, but just never made myself do it.  Gonna try again........

Every other year, the International Tuba Euphonium Association holds an international conference, or ITEC.  This year, we're in Tucson, AZ.  The competitions start up today, and I'm chairing the Young Artist Tuba Competition this year--we have 9 semifinalists to listen to this morning, and will whittle that down to 3-4 for tomorrow (probably 3, I expect).  I have the privilege of judging with John Cradler (USMC Band) and JAy Hunsberger (prof at USF and tubist of Sarasota Orchestra) this morning, and two friends from Great Britain tomorrow--Les Neish and James Gourlay. 

Getting out here yesterday saw me leaving the house @ 4 am ish.  Plane trips can be quite interesting if you allow them to be--with all the cost cutting the airlines are doing, I won't say it's at all pleasurable (even when privileged to go business or 1st class)  but it can be interesting.  On the first leg, I sat in front of a family from somewhere in central NC.  Mom, Dad, daughter.  Daughter was likely about 11-12 years old.  The mom caused all conversation between the three of them, and referred to the dad as Daddy all the time--she would ask him a question, and start with " Daddy, would you..." or something like that.  Every time she spoke to the girl, she started the sentence with "Daughter, isn't this.." or something similar.  No names of any of them ever used.  quite interesting to listen to, but not see.    Second flight, wound up sitting next to a husband/wife (I was in window seat) and their child was directly behind me.  I offered to switch, but they declined.  I had seen a young woman come on to the plane with quite a few body piercings and full-arm tattoos (she was wearing a tank top) but didn't pay attention to where she sat down--we'll come back to this.  As the flight began, the couple was bickering a bit over bottles of water, candy, etc. handing back & forth to the child behind us--the way the conversation went and the huskiness of the voice of the child led me to believe it was a somewhat surly 14-15 year old male. (lots of 'yeah' whatever' 'sure'  responses)  we arrive in Tucson, and turns out the child was this 20-ish young woman with all the tattoos.  at the very least it kept me entertained between catnaps.

Upon arriving I talked with our conference host, got some lunch, napped a bit, and then wandered back over to the School of Music for a judges meeting--ran into Richard Murrow, the teacher at TCU, and he asked me to come listen to the quartet from TCU in the competition--I did, for about 45 min, and then we along with Roger Lewis went out to find some hot dog joint that Matt Walter's from Dillon Music had told Roger about. 
Good, but not great...........actually was a Mexican joint (surprised to find one of those in Tucson, not!)

soo, off to the races today........

Here's to leaving 2009!

well, I think pretty much everyone I know is pretty happy 2009 is in the books.  I know of some who were married and had their first holiday season together, others who had a child in 2009, but even for all of them (and the rest of us, it appears) many are quite pleased to be heading out of this year.

For us, the loss of my mother-in-law Donna Applebee was a focused and intense blow for our entire family.  This holiday season has been rough on everyone as the cycle of "the first......" without her has been realized.
There have been a number of  financial problems, of one sort or another within our extended family as well, and the future holds hope that those will be tempered and hopefully resolved.  Little annoyances, like having a mysterious GFCI outlet problems in our kitchen, and then the hot water heater die on Christmas Eve are indicative of our year, and of many that we know. I think the loss of Donna has effected quite a number of things that we do and how we handle even the smallest of things.

All that said, we've had some truly wonderful events and experiences--our oldest daughter, Taylor, graduated high school in June, went off to college, and by all accounts (her overall demeanor being chief indicator, but including first semester GPA, success in becoming a Kappa Delta, etc, etc, etc)  she is doing very, very well.
Alex has tried out for and likely will be spending the summer marching with Kim's old corps, Spirit.  (well, for us it will always be Spirit of Atlanta), just got his first level black belt in taekwondo, made all county orchestra, and finally got his braces off!   Jessi is, as ever, our artist.  Lots of painting going on, project after project!  She made all-county chorus and was able to march in the high school band as an 8th grader this year--and loved it!  

Kim's dad, Chuck, is doing really pretty well overall, I think-revelling in all of his 8 grandkids this Christmas, and so on.  My dad, Albert, is doing quite well, too, as he continues to work through the onset of alzheimer's/dementia.  My mom, Sally, just had knee replacement surgery in November, and Dad has been the consummate nurse-maid for her.   Their friends Judy, Lou, Corny, Nancy and others have often been found helping/bringing/driving, etc., which has been great comfort for me, too.

So, overall, some losses--one very significant one, but many, many successes and great times.  We are blessed in many ways--

As you begin your new year of 2010, I hope you find hope, renewed energy and conviction to carry on with all that you do and love those you are with with renewed passion and vigor.

dwa

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

To all of my friends and family worldwide, I wish you the best as one calendar year winds down and another approaches.  I consider myself very fortunate to have ALL of you as friends--my life is enriched by knowing all of you.   May we all grow in friendship through the next year!    

Dennis

Personalities

I have been incredibly fortunate over the years to have had some truly wonderful students to work with.  I value the time I've had with each one of them--all of them taught me something, without fail.  The variety of personalities is always startling.  If you go by Myers-Briggs, there are 16 types--but I'm not convinced.  Sometimes, it seems there are two--those that work and those that don't.  Other times it feels like a minimum of 50.    Probably, that 16 is closer to it, but it's still fascinating to think about the versions I interact with on a daily basis.  As I work with a studio of 25+, it's easy to think there should be duplicates of types, that there would be significant similarities in many areas--and to some degree that is absolutely true.  Music majors often share some traits, and tuba or euphonium players often exhibit those, along with others.  Add on the idea of being a music education major, and you through in other commonalities.  But,  even within that relatively close spectrum, distinct roles will appear--with all of them being vital to the success of the program. 

Over the past few years, I've been incredibly fortunate to be able to work with two gentlemen that have gone through the music ed program and are now set to student teach in January.  These two came in together, albeit from very different backgrounds, and from the time they walked in filled very distinct and important roles in our studio.  Both work very hard at what they do.  I mean, it's incredible to see what they do.  (and I am in awe at times) 
One is "that guy"--you know, the one who is always there, always asking "what can I do" and always does whatever it is at an incredibly high rate of success.  He just takes on responsibility with aplomb, and is amazingly trustworthy, serious when needed, light hearted when needed, etc.  He developed into a very good performer over the years--took seriously the idea that he had pitch issues and spent a summer just plugging away and fixed the problems-- this young man filled an important role in this group.  
The other one is similarly motivated, but fills a different spot in the studio--quirky sense of humor; crazy good work ethic; great composer and arranger. He took playing in a different direction and competed well at conferences over the years. He will be there when needed, in a very absolute way.  Other students have marveled to me regarding his depth of knowledge about tuba/music/theory/whatever they have questions about.  He's a good guy, all around.
Now, this is not to say that there are not other persons in the studio that share traits, even closely with these two, nor is it to say that I haven't had other people like them in the studio in the past---not at all, but it's the idea that these two came in together, and in their own ways were had significant impact upon many of those they worked with, and are now leaving to go student teach that has me thinking about it.   I guess we all have our roles to play in making things work, but these two walked in already living their roles and were influential from the get-go.  They took part in all of it--Phi Mu Alpha, pep band, went to conferences, took on leadership roles, you name it.  And, as a result, we're all a bit better after being involved with them.

Dan & Mike:   Thank you.  You'll be missed.

opportunities......

Too often, I think, it's just too easy to sit back and be selfish. I sure am guilty of that--the old "I don't wanna" comes into play, and most often it has nothing to do with anything but just being selfish/lazy. In the spirit of my last post, as best I can, I'm trying to take those opportunities a bit more actively. While I didn't do much in the way of helping decorate yesterday (never fear, my time doing the outside is drawing nigh.......) I did take the opportunity to do something I haven't done in years. I played at a high school football game. In the stands. Freezing my butt off. (actually, feet!)

The football team at my son's h.s. has now gone undefeated in the regular season two straight seasons. They got to this point, state quarter-finals, last year on this same weekend, and were beaten. Typically, in NC, as far as I can tell, by the time the playoffs are around, pretty much no one marches a show at halftime, but just sits in the stands and honks forth mightily. Last year, there was discussion regarding the issues of folks missing/out-of-town, etc. from the band at that game, so I knew there would likely be similar issues this year. I know his band director pretty well, so I called and asked if he needed me and then could I play. Good thing I did, as there was only one other tubist there--luckily for me a strong player who could easily teach me the tunes as we went along. (by this time in the year, sheet music was long gone....) So, I had a great time, playing very near my son (a mellophonist extraordinaire) in the somewhat reduced Ragsdale band. He seemed genuinely pleased I was there, and the other students didn't seem to mind having a really old guy in their midst. We played. Loud. And had a good time. The team lost to the same team as last year at this point, but we cheered them on as best we could.

I learned several things in this adventure:

• Despite the cold, it's good not to be selfish and sit at home......
• I still can be taught a tune by rote and pretty much get it in 30-ish seconds........
• I really do, in fact, need a wider diameter mouthpiece--I tried a "beater" when I showed up to the school (one of mine, thank you very much) and just couldn't make it work like it needed to....luckily I had one of my better ones in the car.
• I really don't like Yamaha convertible tubas (or probably any convertible, actually) They are awkward and just too easy to have issues with. I'm not convinced against the newer products being used by the corps, necessarily, but while I've been not a fan of the older convertible versions---give me a sousaphone any day of the week, please!

We should all be so lucky to be able to jump in with our kids' activities like that--I should've been doing more over the years (not just this type thing, mind you) and will try to keep my eyes open for more opportunities with all three of my children.

trying to get going, again.

I'm going to try my best to be a more regular blogger....we'll see how this goes!
I'm currently having a great time just being with my family. Often we get too wrapped up in all that goes on, and just forget to enjoy who we're with. This being the day after Thanksgiving, I've seen quite a few "what I'm thankful for" kinds of things of late, and have been known to publish such things myself.
Since my oldest daughter is off at college (home now, but only briefly) I have come to understand the concepts of not wasting time being disgruntled as much around friends and family and making sure that I don't lose as many opportunities. Don't get me wrong here, my daughter and I have a great relationship (at least I think so!) and we didn't bicker much as she was growing up--I just want to be sure to make the most I can with the rest of my immediate family. And yes, I do realize that there will be times of unrest, etc. That just is a part of it. I just am trying not to bring as much baggage home as I feel I once did.

busy-ness

for those who know me, even in passing, you know that, well, I do a lot. I'm just a busy person--always have been. My wife likes to say that I always have to be the one that "turns the lights out", too. She's right. Ultimately, what this all means is that I am perpetually looking around the next corner, so as not to be caught by surprise too often.
right now, I'm in Charleston, SC for the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament, with the UNCG Basketball Band, which I conduct. It's a fun group, they sound great, and we always tend to have a good time. (which is largely why I am involved with it) An old friend met me last night, who I haven't seen in probably 6-7 years. As we talked over dinner, and were telling each other about our current lives, etc., I began listing all the things I have on my plate--the response was "don't you ever learn?" I guess, in some ways, no, I don't. There is nothing I do that I don't enjoy, really, and I feel I can contribute positively to each one of them.
so where is all this going?--to talk about the fact that everyone has a level of busy-ness to which they attain. For some, it's a cosmopolitan life, full of high profile kinds of things, others will have more mundane things to keep up with--whatever your style, profile, etc. one still has to be able to cope and deal with their level of busy-ness. for many, having a plan, or system, is the way it all comes together. I've read many a self improvement book over the years, but the one I keep coming back to is Stephen Covey's, "7 Habits". I won't say that I live his writings to the letter, not by a long shot, but I have embraced the ideas of keeping everything in perspective and assigning parts of my life into the quadrants he suggests. It really does help me get to everything in a decently good manner.
People talk about talent. X player is "naturally talented", and so forth. I've heard that said about me, much to my surprise. That said, my talents are not in tuba playing, although that's my career. I honestly believe my talents are in organizing, scheduling, etc. My mind can see solutions like that--which allows me to be able to find the time to practice, etc. Still, obviously, I've need help over the years, and books like Covey's do offer practical solutions.
so, with all this rambling, the bottom line is: we all need to examine what we do and why we do it, in order to make sure the "how" of doing it is accomplished in as good a way as possible.
happy scheduling!