The Beautiful Fredericksburg Brass Community

This time last year, I had so much respect for the organization, quality, and genuine class that Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler put into the 2nd annual high-quality, low-cost summer workshop they held - known as the Fredericksburg Brass Institute - that I felt the need to sum it up in its very own blog post. Now that we're on the other side of the 3rd annual FredBrass week, I've seen a year's worth of growth in the activity as well as in its faculty and can attest from a genuine place that these directors really seem to get it; they know what's important in today's music world.

The Alpha Quintet performing for Marty Hackleman at #FredBrass15

Many non-musicians seem to think that it's almost impossible to be successful as a musician for a living. We as musicians - both young and old - seem to think that if we work hard enough at mastering our instrument, we will be successful. I do not believe that either of these statements hold true on their own. In music, there's something more.... Community. Comradery. Fellowship. A genuine desire to help others and want to see others do well. Music brings about a loving, caring, uplifting, and supportive community, and any musician in the 21st century that goes against this community or doesn't become involved with it will have a hard time being successful, no matter how talented or hard-working that musician may be. On the other hand, if you are involved such a community with such genuine desires, you might actually find that not only can you be successful, but it will actually be pretty hard to fail because the music community will be so supportive in your endeavors.

 Why was #FredBrass15 so successful, and why do I see Fredericksburg Brass sticking around for a VERY long time? Simple - Austin and Buddy didn't stop at being hard workers and talented musicians; they immersed themselves in the supportive community and culture that exists in the music world, and within such a community, they were able to find incredible young professionals to join them as resident faculty in the venture AND gain the respect and support highly established professionals in the business to invest their time into the project. Not only this, but they recruit from the same perspective, as if to invite young and developing musicians and human beings on a personal and name-by-name basis to join the community and see what makes music such a great part of our lives today. The friendship and mutual respect in the bond between the faculty members and participants will translate to longevity for FredBrass, and the longer the institute exists, the stronger the chemistry between its members will grow, thus the more successful the institute will be.

The Penn State Graduate Quintet performing for #FredBrass15 participants

Three years in the making, FredBrass has begun to naturally develop its own sub-community that functions on its own as a loving and supportive family. Returning members of the family strengthen the bond with one another every year, and new members are welcomed with open arms into the community. I personally believe this accounts for the quality of the music making that existed at the institute, including with the 2015 Faculty-Student Side-By-Side ensemble, which could have almost been mistaken for a professional brass ensemble with years of experience. These participants have unknowingly become a part of the very type of community that makes incredible musicians like its directors so successful, and whether they choose to pursue music or not, they already have a tremendous head start in their success because of the experiences that they have shared with one another in Fredericksburg.

The existence of the Fredericksburg Brass Institute contributes in epic proportions to my philosophy for quality music education and how it can make the world a better place, and because of this, I will devote my life to supporting the institute and its founders.

Marcus Grant
Teacher, Composer, Trumpeter
http://www.msgrantmusic.org
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