Farewell to New Orleans...

 It's been a long year of hardships for everyone around the world, including orchestras. We have suffered just like many other arts organizations.  I consider myself extremely lucky to have been a part of a musician run organization during such a difficult time so that we were able to make our own decisions to go forward with an altered season.  Of course there were pay cuts, but we were paid and had our other benefits still intact as well.  It is with a heavy heart that I've decided to leave the LPO at this season's close.  It's difficult to leave a full time symphony job, as it is an amazing thing that many musicians never get to experience in full and I've grown very attached to my wonderful section here in New Orleans.  We've grown especially close this season, playing lots of quintet and quartet shows on porches, outside bars, and even inside a record shop!  We've gotten a truly unique experience of learning to play and work together, just the 5 of us week after week.  It wasn't what any of us signed up for in this job, but we all jumped into it with the same amount of passion and excitement as we would have for a normal week with the whole orchestra.  We understand each other better after working out the kinks of playing in such an intimate setting together and I really think we've come out stronger because of it.  I will miss being around such a hardworking and joyful section of wonderful people.  New Orleans will always have a very special place in my heart.  

So, what's next for me?  I'm heading back to the Houston ballet.  Why?  Because I really miss playing 40 nutcrackers in less than a month, of course!  Seriously, I do miss the nutcracker and the amazing production of the Houston Ballet, but it is also a really perfect city for musicians to thrive in.  There are endless teaching opportunities (which I have been missing in Nola), plenty of gigs, and the ballet offers a more flexible schedule than a full time orchestra like LPO so I can freelance elsewhere and be more financially stable and musically fulfilled.  

In the meantime, I've been invited to attend Fort Worth Symphony's Principal Horn audition coming up in 5 weeks and decided I'd like to log my progress in the build up to that audition.  I was invited to a one year audition for the same opening 2 years ago and I got good feedback from that audition, so I thought I'd take a stab at the only audition that's been open in the past year (thanks to Covid).  I've never taken a tenure track principal horn audition (resident 2nd horn player here, as you all know!), so it will be quite the undertaking for me and I only have 5 weeks to prepare!  So, I'm going to use this platform to follow my progress and see how long it really takes me to redevelop my high chops.  

Let's be honest, things have been pretty relaxed for the past year and I took quite a large chunk of time off for a nose surgery in September, so I will have plenty to rebuild and work on.  My range is all there, but my endurance is shot in the upper register, so the primary goal is face time above the staff.  

If you're not interested in following me in this journey, feel free to unsubscribe as this is quite a departure from my usual posts and I anticipate posting a lot more frequently.  In July, the email subscription will cancel automatically, but this audition is June 7-8 so you'll be stuck with me until then. :)


Happy Practicing!

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