Advice for new Horn Professors

At the recent [2008] Southeast Horn Workshop I saw several former students, two being of particular interest to me as they now have tenure track jobs teaching at universities in the south (congratulations!) who presented sessions at the event. Dr. Heidi Lucas (University of Southern Mississippi) studied with me the final three years of her undergrad degree when I was at Crane and Dr. James Boldin (University of Louisiana at Monroe) was a student for several summers at Brevard. Three thoughts for them but also directed to all who are out there starting out careers in our field.

1. Keep buying new and old publications. There is a lot to learn and different writers will give you different insights that can be applied to your playing and teaching. Even when I think a new publication could be bad I will buy it, as it still is helpful to me as it helps clarify my own thoughts. Reading other publications is a part of what has motivated me toward trying to create better resources for my students.

2. Don’t commit any “deadly sins.” By this I am referring to the deadly sins that can ruin your career, a topic that I have seen BYU horn professor by Larry Lowe present on several times recent workshop presentations. The job you do now is the basis of all that will come for you later in your career, make the most of it, do your best.

3. Keep building up the vitae. The tenure process is brutal. People have told you this already but you don’t really know until you are in the heat of it just how much work it is to put together everything for a successful tenure case. Recruit, be productive, be a disciplined, steady worker, and have some type of research or creative activity you are doing that stands out above just playing a lot of concerts.