Winter, 1999 Education: A Restoration of Faith I have spoken often of my disappointment in our education system; the preservation of the status quo by the bureaucracy and a further lack of concern over the welfare of the students. I am told by quite a few educators that students many times are looked upon by the powers-that-be mostly as a source of funds, a "tuition, so to speak. They prefer to "get 'em in, and get 'em out" in many of our educational institutions. This attitude by administrators filters down to the classroom where the instructors and professors feel the pressure to do just that. Combined with semester-end student evaluations that may jeopardize their bid for tenure or a possible promotion and/or raise, they are under great pressure to "go with the flow". Where disciplining or failing a student because he/she will not comply with a teacher's standard of excellence is looked down upon by the administration, the teacher has little choice but to comply. If they do not, they may be penalized by their higher-ups because they might feel that it  reflects badly on them. Sad, eh? But true, nevertheless. But while on tour in November, I had  two wonderful experiences that keep my faith in those that do follow their standards and have expectations and demands on those who proclaim to be true students of the art of music. First, I had the opportunity to do a five-day residency at the Eastman School of Music  followed by two days at the University of Wisconsin/Parkside in Kenosha, WI. My residency at Eastman began by performing on the premiere concert of a new brass group, The Brass Guild, led by John "Doc" Marcellus, the noted trombonist who is also head of the brass, woodwind and percussion department at the Eastman School. These formidable young musicians are also under the tutelage of James Thompson, former principal trumpet of the Montreal and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras and one of the most noted players in that area of music.  Both Jim and Doc are as dedicated to their students as they are to their own performance careers, two extremely inspiring teachers and players whose deep concern and involvement with their students pays great dividends exemplified by the musical response and tremendous enthusiasm of their students. This is music and performance education at its best! Sunday evening's rehearsal was followed with a Monday afternoon dress and evening concert. My portion of the program consisted of performing the Horovitz "Concertino Classico" for two trumpets and brass ensemble with Jim Thompson, J. J. Johnson's "Poem For Brass" and "Stardust", transcribed for this brass group from the recording, "Clifford Brown and Strings". I loved the whole program, and though Jim and I have performed the Horovitz together several times, working with him is always a great musical experience for me. The music for the entire performance was quite difficult, and these young people worked extremely hard to achieve a high degree of musicality. My experience with these young people was all the more rewarding for because of the musical excitement they exhibited and the knowledge that they all intend to pursue a performing and/or teaching career.  My next three days at Eastman were centered around the Jazz Studies Department. As well as doing a master class for all the trumpet and other brass players, I also gave a concert/forum with the Jazz faculty which consisted of pianist Harold Danko and bassist Jeff Ballard and a student drummer who  also was excellent. I also taught five of the Jazz trumpet majors on a private basis and worked with one of the improv groups. My final project was rehearsing and performing in concert with the Jazz Lab on my last evening at the school. I greatly enjoyed my residency at Eastman and must praise the faculty for persisting in their demands for the best effort from their students.  I followed my Eastman residency with two days at the University of Wisconsin/Parkside. The first day was spent in listening and offering suggestions to the three groups who came to work with me. These were  big bands from Park High School and Horlick High School, Racine, WI, led by Tom Shoening  and John Dorsey respectively, and the quintet from Milwaukee High School of the Arts led by Clifford Gribble. Both big bands played quite well;  they were enthusiastic and well trained in the basics of ensemble playing as well as knowing their individual parts. I could only offer helpful suggestions to build upon the training they were already acquiring from John and Tom; this was a real a treat, and started the day off beautifully! But it was to get better! The quintet from Milwaukee High School of the Arts led by Cliff Gribble was the last group, and they knocked me out! Five young musicians who were really getting into the heart and spirit of this music! Though a modest person, Cliff Gribble's involvement and care for these young people was immediately evident as was the students' feelings for him. What a great thing to experience. We talked about the music, and I made some suggestions for furthering their journey on the road to Jazz careers. Cliff asked if later I would spend some time with Tobias Kaemmerer, the group's trumpeter. I agreed to do so and spent an hour or so getting to know him and talking about his future. This is a fine young man whom I would "bet on" both musically and personally, I look forward anxiously to hearing more from him in the future. All together, a very rewarding day! My second day at UW was spent in both rehearsal and concert with the Jazz ensemble directed of Tim Bell, also an alumnus of North Texas and a great clarinetist and saxophonist. Though having only about three and one-half weeks to rehearse my music, they did a superb and enthusiastic job on it. This was a fun concert with great playing by the band as a whole and by the individual soloists in this really nice group! Tim is an excellent educator/performer as are the other faculty members I met and played with there. This also provided an excellent conclusion to a tour that included my visits to these two excellent programs. It also restored my faith in an education system that has more often than not seemed to fail both its purpose and those whom it is supposed to serve.

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