Post Recital Decompression

Warning, this post has little if nothing to do with brass ensembles or beer. Apologies. We will get back to those later.

          This post is about a recital that I gave three days ago at the University of Iowa as part of my degree program. The last time I had presented a solo recital was as a student at Roosevelt University in 2012. I remember after I had performed at Roosevelt that I should write down some things to remember for "next time" to help make the process easier. That thought came and went and those thoughts were never written down. This morning I was watching recital video,  and I thought what the hell, this could be a good post. (Some of these are more specific for trombone players and people who tend to sweat when nervous.)

Here are 10 thoughts you might consider as you plan a recital

1. The date and time of your recital should be picked with great consideration to your schedule, and how busy you will be the week(s) leading into it. The less distractions leading into your recital the better.

2. Think about your body movements on stage and how it is perceived by the audience. I am so use to sitting in the back row and counting rests on my fingers, that I actually did this at my recital... MULTIPLE TIMES!!! I also moved my horn around like I was shadow conducting my accompanist.

3. Find out if there will be stage hands at the venue, or if you need to ask your friends a favor. The University of Iowa does not provide stage help.

4. Liberal use of vibrato does not a musical phrase make.

5. Try to get the best accompanist you can, this is not the time or place to be cheap.

6. When switching instruments,  remember to play a few notes on the new instrument backstage before walking out.

7. Consider putting the alto trombone piece right before intermission so that you have the most amount of time to reacquaint yourself with the tenor/euph. Going from alto to tenor takes more time than you think.

8.Bring a towel onstage or wear a sweat band.

9. Wear contacts or tighter fitting glasses.

10. Looking at this list, they can almost all be boiled down into the phrase: plan out every last detail with more thought and effort, you will appreciate it in the moment.


My beer of choice after my recital was ............



What can I say.... I love this stuff. For all those judging me now,

I offer the contents of my recent trip to Davenport, where an amazing place called Endless Brews is showing the world of beer service how it is done.