Hello again, finally :)
Hello, all,
Many apologies for the last few months. If you know me personally and would like to receive updates via e-mail, please click the “contact” link on the sidebar and let me know that you would like to be added. As those on my e-mail list can testify, I have actually been faithful in sending regular updates.
But now I would like to make good on my promise to update the website. The last few months have been very hectic. They have held some great things (my graduation from ASU being at the top of the list) and also some very challenging things. In early February, the left side of my jaw locked shut due to complications with temporomandibular joint disorder. It stayed locked for about two weeks, which was a problem because I had been preparing for the William C. Byrd Young Artists’ Competition in Flint, Michigan. As it happened, I was able to go to the competition, but the time lost in practicing cost me pretty seriously, and I did not give the performance I would have hoped. I also spent the next month or two in recovery, essentially retraining some of my muscles to play the trumpet, so that was the end of my plans for spring recitals.
Looking back, this was a very valuable experience for me. In the first place, it addressed the increased popping of my left jaw joint, which no longer pops and which has not re-locked since that occasion. I have many ridiculous-looking stretches that I have to do several times a day to prevent further complications, so if you’ve been driving around Phoenix and seen some freak who looks like she’s performing a yoga move with her mouth, that’s probably me, because I tend to do stretches at stoplights. But more importantly, the three months I spent dealing with jaw problems forced me to address some important issues in my playing, especially with piccolo trumpet and sound production, and this has made me a much better trumpet player overall. I don’t think I would trade the experience, but I certainly hope it doesn’t happen again!
Today, I’m pleased to report that I have completed my masters degree, am practicing for the Budapest competition in September, and am preparing several summer recitals, three of which I’ve uploaded to the calendar. (The others will be added soon; I need to finalize the date for those before I post them. Those of you in Chattanooga can expect to see me the last weekend of August.) For those who are waiting for pictures of the January recital, you might have to wait a little longer, because WordPress doesn’t really like my attempts to upload photos, and I’ll need to find a time when I don’t have an impending recital to figure out how to post them online. But don’t worry; I’ll be adding a new media page within the next month, where you can view pictures of my performances and also of the visual art that accompanies them.
One final note to anyone leaving comments on the website: please be advised that I receive about five spam e-mails every day from Traveling With Trumpets comments. So if your comment doesn’t include some indication that you are a real person who has actually read the copy on this site, I will delete it. So please bear this in mind.
Check back soon for another update after Thursday night’s concert, and thanks to everyone for reading!
All the best,
-Brittany :)
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