Finals start next week.  I am so excited -- next semester I'm taking a sabbatical to write a book on trumpet playing and trumpet teaching.  I can't wait!

Not much has been happening on this website -- for a very good reason.  Our music department has been undergoing an intensive self-study for reaccreditation by the National Association of Schools of Music.  The amount of information and accuracy required has taken a great deal of time.  When you add that to my other responsibilities as department chair and the need to maintain a high level of playing, there has been almost no time for this site.

Fortunately, the visiting team will be here in about 6 weeks.  Hopefully, things will slow down -- I really want to finish the transfer from the old web site to this one, especially the alumni.

I have applied for a sabbitical for spring, 2013, to compile what I have learned about trumpet playing and teaching over the last 50 years into written format.  I'm excited to get started!

Last weekend I was at the North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) Championships where I serve as Controller for the contest.  The playing was great!  I played E-flat soprano cornet for eight years with the Smoky Mountain British Brass Band and the Mississippi River Brass Band in the early days of NABBA.  The amount of progress in the last 20 years is absolutely astounding!

Paige Hartley will present her senior recital on Friday, April 1st.  She is playing trumpet AND piano!

Brittany Kennedy played her senior recital on Monday, March 14th.

Craig Ingram and Mary Kate McNally will present their senior recitals in the fall.

The old Henderson Trumpet Page at Henderson State has been moved to a new server, which does not support FrontPage extensions.  That means that it is no longer possible to search the online recital database.  That was a useful feature -- for example, someone once asked me what pieces were good for junior recital.  I told them to go to the search page and search for Junior.  Instantly, a complete list of every piece anyone ever played on a junior recital at Henderson. You could search by performer, recital type, composer, etc.

The new server that Henderson is using will probably support the Access database, if I can find the correct scripts.  When things slow up at school (translated as "no time soon"), I will start researching a way to use the search engine.

Such is the price of "progress."