It has happened. Over and over.
It first happened in 1992.
Then, again in 2004 and every year since.
When I was a student, the thing I wanted most was to do what
my teacher was doing…play in an orchestra. The thing I REALLY wanted most was
to do exactly what he was doing…by sitting in his chair. This feeling began
when I was 18 and studying with Warren Baker in Oregon. “Bake” was the
principal trombone in the Oregon Symphony and there was nothing I wanted more
than to do what he did.
10 years later, I was. When Bake took time off for a hip
replacement, I got to play his job for many weeks…time has erased just how
many. I was thrilled to do it and thought I had “arrived.”
The next time this feeling hit me was in 2004 when I started
working with the Chicago Symphony. When I sat in Frank Crisafulli’s chair, I
saw what he saw for over 50 years. It is an awesome experience…and I never use
that word lightly.
During my weeks with the New York Philharmonic, I only play
principal trombone and again I am sitting in my hero’s chair…an awesome
responsibility.
When I played the Tomasi Concerto as a student at Indiana,
little did I know that I would return to the same stage to play the Rouse
Concerto 15 years later, as a faculty member.
The room in which I teach at Northwestern is not Mr.
Crisafulli’s old studio. Barbara Butler teaches in his studio. I have taught in
her studio one or twice and the first time I just sat there for several minutes
in silence to listen to what the walls had to say. The same room that was
pivotal in my career. The walls had a lot to say.
It has been an amazing journey and I look forward to what
comes next.