Saturday, March 18th

The National Trumpet Competition, Fairfax, Virginia

Not so much pressure today so we tried to just enjoy the conference.  We started with the exhibits.   You have to experience a trumpet convention to understand what the word cacophony really means.  There's a large room full of vendors and trumpet players flock there to 1) play all the trumpets and 2) "inadvertently" impress their colleagues.  It really is a nice way to try horns you might like to buy without spending thousands of dollars on a reputation alone.  Bryce found a Blackburn piccolo trumpet he liked but we'll see. 

Then we attended a master class followed by an encore concert by the Boston Brass.  What amazing musicians.  After that Bryce won a CD and some music!  Then it was off to the Concert Hall for the Airmen of Note with special guest, Bobby Shew.  If you don't know much about Bobby you can read him here.  Needless to say, he's an outstanding jazz trumpeter.  He's also very quick-witted and a delight to listen to.

Then, it was on to two more master classes, both exceptional.  Then, FINALLY, the highlight of the day -- the announcements of the finalists.  We were very pleased to hear that Bryce is one of the 4 finalist in the High School Division!  That's really an accomplishment in and of itself. 

He competes tomorrow and he's the very first performer.  But that means the pressure will be off right away and we can really enjoy the rest of the competition.   Interestingly, the guy we thought was Bryce's closest competition failed to make the finals (boggle!).   The judges scoring sheets from the semi-finals were very, very complimentary so we think if Bryce can just relax and do his thing, he's got a great chance at winning. 

Only tomorrow will tell....