The fall semester of 2021 marks the beginning of my 21st year at Arizona State, my 25th year of full-time teaching, and my 30th year as a full-time professional hornist.

Working my way through all the numbers, I started at ASU in the fall of 2001, after having taught three years full time at the Crane School of Music (SUNY Potsdam) and a year full time in Taiwan at Tunghai University. That year was in the middle where I began my career, as third horn in The Nashville Symphony, where I performed for five seasons. (They granted me a leave to teach in Taiwan.) The photo below is from my first semester at ASU, back when I had hair, with my big Paxman 25AND, still a favorite among my horns.

I can look back on many things, but the big dividing line in the end is that audition I won in Nashville. Which really does not seem so long ago, but of course it is. They had (maybe still have) an unusual system in Nashville, for a section position all rounds were behind a screen, so I feel absolutely that I did win it on my playing alone. It was my 25th professional audition for a full-time position. I held the job by doing my best to play well and be a good colleague. Between holding that job and having finished my Doctorate I had quite a resume and was able to move forward to where I am now.

Of course, I had other part time positions along the way, in particular as the horn instructor at Western Kentucky University and as fourth horn in the Evansville Philharmonic. Over time experiences built up, but I did have to stick with trying to achieve some goals over a long period of time.

Right now, we are coming out of a challenging year. If I was to share one thought with a student now it is to stick with it. Some windows close, but other doors open, try to keep around optimistic people and keep things going forward. There will be retirements in the horn world, and yet others will have to step aside due to playing problems brought on by the lack of practice and performance the past year. This is a great year to reset and look for opportunities, and I look forward to what the coming years will bring.