In a message dated 5/24/2004 2:37:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: What I had in mind was to perform on horn as my career, my main goal.
Mike, You just opened a topic we can discuss for the whole summer. You asked a lot of good questions, and there are some people on the list who really know the answers. I hope they respond. I just have some general advice, and I give this to every student who asks me these questions: You have chosen a career path that requires you to be among the very best. Orchestral jobs are few and far between - animals hunted almost to extinction. In any such career, in any field, you need four essential things. 1. Talent - you must have this. In sports, they say you can't coach speed. This is pretty much true in music, too. If you haven't got the chops, you may attain a certain level of proficiency, and that's fine, but you won't get to the top. 2. A mentor who can develop your talent - Take a look at where and with whom the top professionals studied. These teachers know how to make you into an orchestral player. Try to study with one of them. 3. Hard work - I have never met a top professional who hadn't worked hard to get where he or she was. Never. Not one. Work hard if you want to get there. 4. Good luck - Some people have the bad luck to have bad things happen, and it ruins their careers. Some people have good luck, or at least nothing bad happens to them. Sometimes chance controls our fates. You can only control #3, and to a lesser extent #2. Work hard and find an excellent teacher. Everything else will sort itself out. Dave Weiner Brass Arts Unlimited, Inc. _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
