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Out of my league
When my college classes started I realized that I was out of my league. I had the desire to be a great band director and I knew how to play trumpet and euphonium, but I knew absolutely nothing about the theory or history of music. This was going to be a big problem. What’s a…
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My college experience
I began my college experience in the fall of 1983. I had made it into James Madison University (JMU) by the skin of my teeth and now I was going to pursue my dream of becoming a band director. Leaving home Many kids have parents who send them off to camp for a week in…
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Bruce Weissert
My memories of Bruce “Bud” Weissert. I introduced Bruce Weissert in last week’s post. Bruce passed away in 2019 at the age of 59. This week I’ll expand on my experience as Bruce’s student. Meeting Bud I had taken private lessons on trumpet since fifth grade. My parents saw the value in getting me extra…
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Going to College
Today I’m going to talk about the events that led me to go to college at James Madison University. I’ve explained in a previous post that I gravitated toward marching band in junior high school and then went all-in with my high school program. But, how could I take this passion and turn it into…
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Love of marching band
This is part two in my love of marching band series. Last week I talked about my early years of involvement in the activity. This post will pick up with my college experience. JMU I mentioned in the previous post that I did not have good grades. I also said that my trumpet playing was…
