Confidence is Key

About three weeks ago I went to a masterclass at Northwestern University given by two of the best trumpet teachers probably in the world. Barbara Butler and Charlie Geyer, who are actually married (I think she wants to keep her identity and not change her name because she's so successful), have taught many of the country's finest and most successful trumpet players. 3 out of the 4 trumpet players in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1 or 2 in the New York Philharmonic, the woman who just one the job at the Charleston Symphony and the gentleman who just one the job in the President's Own Marine Band are all their students. They told us this during the first day or two so they're not shy about their teaching success either ;)



First off, my friend Nicole, who I actually met my first year in TX, has since moved to Evanston to teach. So I called Nicole a few months ago and asked if I could possibly stay with her to save some money. Being the sweet girl she is she welcomed me in with open arms and told me that she actually lived within walking distance of the university and so I didn't need to rent a car or anything! I flew in on Saturday, June 14 to spend some time with her prior to the class that started on Monday. She picked me up in her Mustang convertible from Midway airport and we drove to her apartment in Evanston to drop off my ridiculously large amount of luggage. Not only did she let me crash at her apartment but I got my own room and everything! I'm so blessed! She got a call from her friend who invited us to a BBQ.
After the BBQ in the suburbs we headed to downtown to attend a party where we met up with Nicole's roommate Anna. We stayed for a little while and Nicole asked if I'd like to go out in downtown :) So we headed to Nicole's favorite piano bar called "Howl at the Moon." So much fun! It's definitely the season for bachelorette parties and this place was definitely a hot spot for them! We were walking back through what appeared to be a pretty desolate area of Chicago at 2am when we happened upon a 24 hour Rock 'n Roll McDonald's! How cool is that? So after getting a picture of me in front of the neon yellow arches we did what anyone would do...walked in and ate some french fries in the lounge upstairs :) When we finally got home around 3am or so, we headed to bed so that we could be rested for Sunday's adventures.

Sunday morning I tried to get my butt out of bed around 10 but I think it was actually closer to 11. Nicole suggested that we go to this awesome little place for brunch called Ann-Sathers. We of course got way too much food and stuffed ourselves silly with homemade cinnamon rolls, omelettes, biscuits and sausage gravy and hashbrowns I think? We then headed on down to Michigan Ave. including a stop at this cool poster store by the Symphony Center and peering sadly into the windows of the Symphony Store. We even walked into the Symphony Center to see if we could somehow get in but of course the answer was no. I went totally tourist taking pictures of the honorary "George Solti Place" sign and getting pictures in front of the Art Institute of Chicago. We headed in there next so that Nicole could take me on what I believe was my first visit to an art museum. I definitely love Monet and wanted to buy some prints in the store!

We next made the trek to Nicole's church which was being housed in the Athletic complex of the Moody Bible Institute. The service was nice but a little hard to hear because we were in such a boomy gym. We headed back up to Evanston after church and stopped at a great little Thai place called "Cozy Noodle and Rice" which was very cute and cozy for sure. We spent the rest of the night just hanging out and getting ready for the morning.

Well I'd be lying if I didn't admit how nervous I was getting up the first day and also feeling a little foolish because I was only auditing the class. I just couldn't get the audition tape together to send by May 1 and so I decided that I'd be better off just watching them teach the participants than not going at all. I am thankful beyond words that I decided to go because I learned so much by just watching and listening to their expertise. Nicole decided to drive me the first morning so I wouldn't get lost or be late. The entire first day was the participants playing solo rep with piano and Barbara or Charlie basically critiquing everything thing they did. I remember initially think that they were awfully critical and harsh. The truth is that they're just focused and they get the job done. They give credit where credit is due but they don't give lots of fluffy compliments to make you feel good. There isn't time for that and so they give their students what they really need which is good information and ways to get things done well.

By far some of the best stuff that I gained from the class were simple quotable statements that are just good life lessons.

~ When you can do something make it maintenance; work on what's hard for you.

~Everyone has two personalities: Doer and teacher. You need to know who to let into the room when you're practicing and who to let in when you're performing.

~Who do you play for? The audience! Playing for yourself is selfish!

~It's not your teacher's job to teach you everything. It's up to you.

~Play for the Grama in the audience.

~If you're judging yourself while you perform than you won't make it.

~NOBODY IS PERFECT

~You have to be comfortable with who you are.

~Think of adrenaline as extra strength; not a hindrance.

~You have to practice performing and NOT STOP

~Assume you can be better! Aim for exceptional.

~If you can't do something than your goal is too big. Make it smaller.

~Yes there is natural talent but you have to work. It doesn't matter who gets it the fastest. You're equal if you both get it.

~Your attitude cannot be angry when you're practicing.

~If you want to improve something than listen to someone else do it very well.

~No method is perfect for everybody. Figure out what you need and do it.

~We are defined by when we quit. YOU CAN NEVER QUIT

~ Step out and take risks.

~In performance there is no time to worry about what happened before. You have to keep pushing forward.

I won't go day by day what I learned and what I did cause that would be tedious to write and read! But I will definitely say that I learned so much about myself that week in Evanston. It reaffirmed that playing is something that I dearly love and brings me unexplainable joy. I was told by Charlie Geyer that I had a beautiful sound which had me pretty excited for quite a while. It made me realize that I can't stop trying; that I can't stop reaching. I would rather never play my instrument really well than to give up the fight to be great. I learned that confidence and persistence are the key to doing anything really well. And most of all I think I learned that you can't let people dictate your success or whether you can achieve your goals. You really do have to just plow on through brushing off comments that people say to pull you down. God is teaching me so much and I realize that I just have to open my ears and my heart to hear what He's saying to me.