"What excites me the most about teaching is coming in contact with talented, young players who are eager to learn and keep me sharp as a player. I play with all my private trumpet students; I play in my ensembles. It's always exciting to see that new crop of young kids coming in every September."
"I hope students come away from my courses with a love of music. Whether they become professional musicians or semi-professional musicians—or they go into some completely unrelated field in order to make a living—I hope that they have a love for music, support live music, and are educated fans. I read an interview with author Gore Vidal and he was asked, 'How come there aren't more talented writers in America?' He said, 'There are plenty of talented artists in America, but there aren't many talented audiences.' That applies to music, too. If I can create somebody who is going to be a fan, a real fan of music, that's important."
"I made my living as a player for a number of years before I started teaching, and I've maintained a full-time, professional client schedule. I try to give students a realistic view of music and the music business. I try to be honest with them and tell them what skills they're going to need to develop in order to have someone be willing to pay them money to play."
"I tell my students to try to play as many different styles of music as they can. Further down the line, they might want to be exclusive and say, 'No, I just want to play this kind of music. I don't want to play anything else.' The more different kinds of music they can play, the more they're going to work."
