A long Overdue

Hello again, thanks for tuning in. I know it has been quite awhile since I've written and I apologize. It is the holidays and is causing chaos as expected.

First of all, the big stresser is out of the way, with the Holiday Brass Quintet gig at the library being over with. We were well received, and the quintet sounded strong. Some issues surfaced in my arrangements, such as Carol of the Bells being a nightmare to count. We had about 70 show up, and this made me really happy. The research I did so I could talk between the pieces was extremely well received as well. I sense that the library will definitely be willing to hire us again.

This weekend is the Baltimore Tubachristmas, to which I'm looking forward to. On the 1st, I played the first Bel Air Tubachristmas, which was fun. It was cool being in a group of only 27, instead of the 250 that show up to the Baltimore one. The conductor of the Bel Air one was a bit of a jerk. He conducted us like we were the "Philadelphia Symphony" playing "Mahler's 5th". He said this but he never made any actual musical statements or used musical terms. It was very frustrating. Not to mention constant insults of expecting bad players to show up, and not thinking we could handle certain arrangements. Combine that with the 2 hour rehearsal, we got a little punchy and luckily found an Irish pub to drink and eat during the hour break. The concert did result in fun. Though a horrible thing happened, a trombone...A TROMBONE, as in non valved, cylindrical bore instrument showed up and was allowed to play. This made me sick to my stomach. I may be a trumpet player, but I make sure to bring a member of the tuba family to this. A trombone is not a member of the tuba family, and should not have been allowed. I had no say though and thus they were permitted. I don't think I could do the Bel Air one again after that.

I leave you tonight with a crappy video of the quintet playing at the library. I will probably not have another entry before Christmas, so have a merry one!