Making things real, one step at a time

So, I'm reading this book at my work (my current summer job doesn't give me a whole lot to do for the time that I'm there) about how to be successful in the classical music industry, though interestingly enough, the book doesn't talk about the concepts of talent (which I don't believe in anyways) or hard work in the sense of practicing and developing your skills at an instrument.  It assumes that most musicians at least know that they need to practice, and instead talks about how to market oneself, how to create performance opportunities, how to get recognized and build a network, and so on.  Anyways, the first thing that this book talks about is setting goals.  Here's an interesting quote in regards to a study at Harvard:

"The study monitored graduates of an MBA program from 1979 to 1989.  Researchers found that after graduation the three percent who had written goals were making 10 times as much money as the other 97 percent combined."

While the author goes on to explain that the money part of that won't apply to musicians, it is true that having a plan makes that plan much more likely to happen.  And so, I felt like I'd write down some concrete career ideas of things I want to do in the next little while.  And, to make sure I'm accountable, and because I thought it might be an interesting post, I decided to put it up here.



SHORT-TERM GOALS

+ When I make it to Vermillion City, I'm going to give people a fantastic first impression, so that they realize I mean business.

+ I will make sure that I keep up the progress I've been making on my consistency, so that I don't crash nearly as often as I have been known to.

+ I will LIGHTEN UP.

+ I will make sure that my range will gradually shift to a larger (if not exclusive) focus on air speed and a smaller focus on embouchure muscles and other silly physical things.

+ I will be a member of a small brass ensemble at the University, and we will actively seek performances outside of school

+ I will actively seek out as many opportunities as I can to participate in ensembles/duos/trios of various instrumentation

+ I will have two kick-ass recitals in my Masters, which I will graduate with excellent marks.



LONG-TERM GOALS

+ I WILL secure an orchestra job

+ I will, at some point in my life, play lead on either Mahler 1 or 5.  Either one's fine.  Both would be nice.

+ I will be a member of a brass quintet that performs on a fairly regular basis

+ I will release a CD of the four Ewald quintets with said group

+ I will release a recording of the Saint-Saens septet with a locally established string quartet

+ I will return to Pallet Town at some point to put on a concert of brass music, solo and chamber

+ I will collaborate with a pianist to release a CD of trumpet chamber music.

+ I will play the Arutunian with a real orchestra.  And I'll write my own cadenza (gasp! blasphemy!).  It will be an epic of epic epicness.

Of course, there's a lot of other things I want to do, but those are just the trumpet-specific ones.  I might come back and add more later, once I think of them (I'm probably forgetting something really obvious, I blame it on the hour of night).  For now, I have a plan, and YOU GUYS can hold me to it!