Hello all,
Some great opportunities have come my way in the last
few months, and the structure and focus of my work life has changed
quite a bit.
I am currently teaching applied trombone at the
University of Rhode Island in the Music Department at the Kingston
campus, and if all goes well I will be staying on for the foreseeable
future. URI is quite a good school for music education, with a symphony
orchestra, wind ensemble, concert band, etc. It's also got quite a good
jazz faculty. I have a healthy private studio of 8 right now, and a
trombone choir that expands to 16 with the inclusion of some non-music
department students and other guests. It's a very supportive
environment in a beautiful part of New England, a small-ish department
within a larger university. You won't be lost in the shuffle here. It's
admissions season, so please check it out! http://www.uri.edu/artsci/mus/
Also, it's nearly a done deal that I will be joining the adjunct faculty at Boston University's College of Fine Arts: http://www.bu.edu/cfa/music/
I will teach bass trombone students specifically, but I do also expect
to be involved in the trombone studio and the brass department. BU is a
fine music school, with an excellent orchestra and many other
performing opportunities. The full-time trombone professor, Don Lucas,
has become an admired and valued friend in the few years he's been in
Boston. He has a very unique background, studying orchestral and solo
literature both in the US and abroad, and he's a fantastic player and
one of the most devoted teachers I've ever seen. The other full-time
brass faculty - Terry Everson, trumpet and Eric Ruske, horn - are also
both amazing musicians, and their students sound great. And Mike
Roylance teaches tuba; his students, to put it simply, are tearing it
up.
Boston is a GREAT place to go to school. There are so many
students here that the social life is amazing, and it is a small-ish
city that offers world-class culture. The Boston Symphony has great
ticket programs for students, touring orchestras come through
regularly, and there is a tremendously rich musical culture outside of
Symphony Hall as well. I saw one study that showed that the Boston
Metro area had more arts organizations per capita than the New York
Metro area - that's saying something. And if you want to go to New york
periodically, there are very inexpensive buses that will get you there
in less than half a day.
Again, it's admissions season right
now! So if you have interest in either of these places, please contact
them for information packets. And please tell them I sent you 
Finally,
this all does mean that my duties at Shires have been reduced quite a
lot. My good friend and colleague Wes Hopper is now the main trombone
salesperson, and we now have a full-time sales manager, a fine trumpet
player named Chris Scanlon. They can both be reached by emailing info@seshires.com
I
am still involved with the company, however. I will likely attend shows
as my schedule allows, and I expect to help out with factory
appointments whenever I can and am needed. And I'm happy to answer
questions here on the forum.