Today was the last day of my Suzuki Trumpet Unit Two course taught by Ann-Marie Sundberg, the teacher-trainer from Sweden, and organized by Natalie DeJong, teacher at Mt. Royal University Conservatory in Calgary, Canada. It was fantastic in many ways, but I am also glad to be able to focus on some upcoming projects that have been on the back burner, like preparing for a 4th of July concert and a recording session in two weeks.
My biggest takeaways from this course are that that I still have a lot of growing that I can do as a trumpeter and teacher. For instance, I got some great feedback from Ann-Marie that I can really use to help my own articulation (fundamentals, once again!). And hopefully I can pass this refinement on to my students.
Screenshot of my wonderful fellow students at the Suzuki Unit 2 course
Also, I realized how important it is to tap into the power and wisdom of a group of dedicated people like there were in this class. My fellow students were professional and incredibly knowledgeable, each one. But together we were even more amazing, and we were able to offer each other so much excellent advice and support. So my advice to my readers is to:
- Seek help and take advice from people you respect.
- Network and maintain supportive relationships that can help you find solutions in the future.