Essential tremor (ET): a stumbling block or a starting point? Until a person tries an activity s/he will never know the potential that s/he has to succeed. ET can hold a person back from trying new things or doing old things they used to do. Having ET can be the door that opens up a new world of opportunities to try something new, educate others, and raise awareness. For me, I have been a trombonist since I was 8. At the age of 9, I started playing in youth orchestra. From that point on while in middle school, I played in jazz bands and wind ensembles. Outside of playing in middle school ensembles, I played in two youth orchestras. While in high school, I played in orchestra while playing in the jazz band at the community college. Throughout my experience as a musician, ET has progressed, but I have never let ET stop me from playing trombone. While in middle school and high school, I had the opportunity to travel to play in Disney Magic Music Days, The Reno Jazz Festival, The Monteray Jazz Festival twice, and the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival and Competition at Lincoln Center in New York City as well as perform with the CSUN Youth Orchestra at Disney Hall. I had the honor of performing the bass trombone part on the Neilson Flute Concerto with the orchestra and was the youngest musician to play in the Atlantic Brass Quintet summer program. If I had let ET stop me from doing what I love, playing trombone, I would have never had these great opportunities to travel, play in competitions, educate people, and raise awareness. As I see it, ET should not stop you from doing what you love or from trying new things because you will not know what opportunities are otherwise available to you unless you try.
Please listen to the Atlantic Brass Quintet Summer Seminar, November 16 2007: Ewald Quintet:
https://www.facebook.com/JohnManningTuba/videos/546839901439/?autoplay_reason=ugc_default_allowed
Please listen to the Atlantic Brass Quintet Summer Seminar, November 16 2007: Ewald Quintet:
https://www.facebook.com/JohnManningTuba/videos/546839901439/?autoplay_reason=ugc_default_allowed