Several times each year, potential students ask, “What can
you tell me about the trombone studio at IU?”
While I am happy that young players have an interest in the
trombone area at the Jacobs School of Music, I am discouraged by their lack of
motivation to find the information, which can easily be found online, through
the JSoM website. Mind you, these are likely the same people who have their
nose buried in their “devices” all day and can find any obscure detail on the
Internet in order to impress their friends. Somehow it doesn’t seem to occur to
them to use that same process to find out about where they might want to
further their study.
Being a successful musician is all about being inquisitive.
One of the most basic first steps is researching where you want to study.
Unfortunately, I find that too many students want success to
be handed to them instead of working harder than the next person to achieve it.
Here is a warning to prospective students: I won’t hand it
to you. I expect you to work for it.
Proverb:
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to
fish and you feed him for a lifetime.