My Musical BackgroundMusic has always been a huge part of my life. I grew up in Gardner, Kansas where I was given opportunities for music throughout my childhood. My fifth grade year I joined band starting out on the trumpet. In seventh grade started playing the euphonium, I also picked up the guitar. When I started high school, I played the euphonium in the concert and marching bands, and the guitar in the jazz band. Sophomore year, our sousaphone section was one member short and I was asked to step up and play. It was hard for me at first as I had been playing treble clef euphonium, so it took a while to adjust. I kept at it and remained on the sousaphone line throughout the rest of my high school career. Sousaphone playing is in my blood as my grandfather had played the tuba when he was in high school and is something special that has brought us closer together.
Like most treble clef euphonium players, I was forced to learn bass clef when I began college. Under the direction of Dr. Steven Maxwell, I was able to quickly move up the ranks in the university bands at Kansas State University. I stared out my second semester as the last chair euphonium player in the Concert Band. The following Fall, I was appointed principle chair in the Concert Band and remained that position during the Spring semester. My junior year I started applying my skills to leadership positions; I was appointed principle chair euphonium in the Wind Ensemble, sousaphone head section leader in the marching band, elected chapter historian of the Tau chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and president of the International Tuba-Euphonium Association chapter. Senior year, I remained as the principle euphonium in Wind Ensemble as well as head section leader in marching band. To accompany leadership in those top ensembles, I was elected president to the Tau chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. In the last two years of my life, I have been an elementary music teacher at Lincoln and Milford Elementary in Junction City, Kansas. It has taught me so much about how child learn and adapt to music. I helped my students at each grade level prepare for an evening musical performance, showcasing the hard work they put into their music class. Along with my required duties, I directed a volunteer choir and percussion ensemble before school each morning. It also helped me fuel my interests in audio engineering, by receiving a grant I wrote for my main school to add a new digital sound system. Now I’m in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, looking forward to the next adventure in my teaching career. |
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