Brass Band Sample

Playing the trumpet has been the most significant part of my high school career. The wide number of musical ensembles that I have participated in since I first started in the fourth grade have given way to new experiences that have not only been impactful on me as a musician, but on my character as a student and as a person. In Jazz Band, I learned to play solos, pieces of music of my own creation, bursting forth in a flurry of improvisation. Originally difficult for me in middle school, I struggled to find the confidence to play solos written out for me. As I progressed into high school, my perception changed. Solos were no longer just a source of insecurity – they were an opportunity for me to express myself and demonstrate my ability as a musician. By the end of the 2015-16 Jazz Band season, I was improvising my own solos with ease, even across fast and difficult chord changes, with hardly a care in the world as to how other would interpret

my music. It was mine, and I had the confidence to own it. This confidence that I had built up from years of soloing and jazz band had also seeped into my academics – my poise, my self-assurance, and the strength with which I delivered presentations improved. But Jazz band would only be the start.
My time in the high school marching unit would prove to be equally fruitful. Participating in the marching unit would yield obvious benefits, such as respect, discipline, and good posture. However, to me my time in the marching unit would become a symbol of inclusion and teamwork. As a group that strived for extreme unity in performance, the ensemble was only as strong as the weakest link – we could leave no one person behind, nor could we rest the entirety of the show on the shoulders of a select few. This became especially apparent in our 2015 season show. The previous season and my first season, the band was small, majorly inexperienced, and performed rather poorly all year. This set the foundation for redoubled effort in the following year. It paid off –we won the Bronze Finalist at State Championships, as well as the award for Most Improved. The teamwork that had been so important to us those first wto years would, like the confidence from my jazz solos, find its way into my life elsewhere – working with others in situations from school projects to soup kitchen shifts became easier. I was accustomed to it.
As I look to the future, my sights set on yet another musical ensemble.

I joined the Brass Quintet only last year, but as its Student director this year, I find that it is pushing the boundaries of my musical expertise to their limits. As important as accountability for each member is because the Brass Quintet is such a small chamber group, I have found that my duties as the student director have proven to be much more important. As part of my responsibilities as student director, I am expected to select new repertoire music for the group – I have taken it upon myself to create a personal, unique arrangement of my high school Alma Mater for the chamber group myself as part of this. This pushes my capabilities as a musician, but also serves as a reminder of how much of an impact music, and specifically playing the trumpet, has had on my life. It is a symbol of how I will continue to push myself musically, and in whatever course of life I choose, and how I will remember and maintain my trumpet playing for the rest of my

life.