Tony Sadlon’s Blog

The Pershing's Own

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:15:54 -0700

It sure seems like it has been a while since a legit Military Band audition was posted. When I saw these trumpet vacancies with the Pershing’s Own Ceremonial Band, I booked my flight that night!

I can say that I gave it my all this time. I had spent the last month and a half married to this repertoire. I have been to many auditions, and have always played well, but I have never felt this prepared for an audition. I tackled tuning head on in the Pines of Rome-offstage solo, Schumann-Symphony No.2 and Summon the Heroes. My attention to detail and precision definitely grew these last few months.

In preparation, I also played the audition list for a wide variety of musicians. Being able to simply ask to play for professors and students at the University of New Mexico has paid for itself. I have never been somewhere where the teachers are so dedicated to students success, especially students that are not their own. Every time I have gone to an audition/competition while at the University of New Mexico, I find myself not really saying, "I want to win this audition for me," but instead saying, "Let's win this for the University of New Mexico." Most of my desires are fueled by unselfish things. You want to know some of the top reasons I want to win a job right now?

1. Take the financial burden off of my parents
2. Make my Mom & Dad proud
3. Put the University of New Mexico on the map. "Who won that audition?" Tony Sadlon. "Where is he from?" The University of New Mexico "Who does he study with?" John Marchiando. "Maybe I should audition there next year!"
4. Prove to my colleagues you don't have to go to Northwestern or Juilliard to become a great musician with a limitless career.
5. Start giving back to those who helped me on my journey. I can say it means a lot to me, A LOT, but that gets old after a while...

I could go on forever in the situation I am in. I bring in just enough money to make life comfortable. I continue to gain knowledge and meet amazing people. But wow, would it be cool to start giving back to those who have and continue to help me on my journey.

Back to the audition. I played the first round at 1:30pm on Monday. The first round consisted of, Pictures at an Exhibition, Mahler 5, Petrushka, Schumann No.2, and British Eighth. I will admit, I felt the nerves a little more than I had wanted. Probably a 6 out of a scale of 10. However, I played a great Pictures, Schumann, and British Eighth. The others went well, just nothing stunning. Turns out they liked it, and for the first time ever I was advanced to the next round along with 15 others out of about 80+ people that showed up that day.

I went home, relaxed, practiced, and did some visualization. I have been reading lots of books on audition success, sports psychology, etc. the common message seems to be picturing yourself in the moment. So this is what I had been doing for the past 2 weeks. I feel like it calms me. When I arrive I already know what to do, I had been visualizing it for weeks! I have listed some of the books below...

-Audition Success (It’s Okay)
By: Don Greene
-Mental Training for Peak Performance (Great!)
By: Steven Ungerleider
-With Winning in Mind
By: Lanny Bassham
-Finding Your Zone
By: Michael Lardon
-Mind Gym (Excellent!)
By: Gary Mack

Day 2 required being at the base by 6:45am. So I woke up at 4am (2am New Mexico time, yikes!). I got ready, ate my cereal and banana, then headed to the basement to warm-up. I got a really good warm-up in, felt great! Got to the base and listened to my tunes till it was my turn. I went in that room feeling great! My nerves were now at about a 3 out of 10. They started the second round with some sight reading. I got the rhythm and articulation, but some of the intervals were tricky. This killed my confidence a bit, I proceeded onto Taps (this is what the job practically is). Played it pretty well, then Jubilant I killed! Followed by Summon the Heroes. I was feeling almost too flexible when it came to Summon the Heroes, I was overshooting a bunch of notes that I had never missed before in the middle register. It was frustrating, and after that I received a, "Thank You!." I knew at that point I was done. I still had about 2 more things to play...

For the list of reasons above, I felt my heart sink. I had come so close and then didn’t advance in the round with some of my most favorite excerpts. Only 2 of 9 people advanced to the final round in my group. It was time to head back home...

I leaned a lot, but it sure isn't easy walking away from a great opportunity in a great city. I just have to keep telling myself that another great opportunity is waiting for me just around the corner. I believe in fate, and I believe that this just wasn't meant to be. I just wish I could figure out where I was meant to be before I get much older... haha

Now I begin my preparation for my Graduate recital on April 13th in Keller Hall at the University of New Mexico. I may also work on an audition for the Air Force in Washington, D.C in the near future also.

You Never Know...

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:38:48 -0600

I have been at the University of New Mexico for over a year now as a graduate assistant. During my assistantship I have had the privilege to teach privately and also instruct some trumpet masterclasses. On top of this teaching, I feel as if I am looked to as a role model for many students at the university (I hope that doesn’t sound too cocky).

One thing that I continue to stress to my peers is, that in the music world the more friends/contacts you have the brighter your future as a musician will appear. Though many of us come from Big Ten schools, or giant music programs where it seems there are billions of capable musicians out there. You are slightly wrong, the music world is a small one, and you will ALWAYS run into someone from an earlier point in your life. Sometimes (this has happened to me MANY times), you will be contacted by one of these friends/contacts with a gig opportunity. This afternoon I was contacted by my friend Jim Keen. We continue to keep in touch to the best of our abilities. Jim knows from our time together at Indiana that I am a dedicated musician, with solid chops and experience. Jim also knows I am easy to get along with and not a very heavy drinker. He called me today to offer me a 5-week tour with The Grinch That Stole Christmas. The pay was going to be around $1,000/week. Though I absolutely LOVE musicals, it was just too short term to leave everyone here in New Mexico on such short notice.

This brings me to some important points for young musicians...  
1. While in school get to know all of your fellow musicians. Don’t be a silent hermit that goes to rehearsal and leaves without saying a word. Ask colleagues out to lunch, tell them you enjoyed their playing, accept their invitation to a night of drinks. You certainly do not have to be their best friend, but you should constantly be showing them and everyone else that you respect them no matter how good/bad, old/young, sexy/ugly they actually are.  
2. On top of that you should be showing your colleagues on a daily basis that you are a very consistent, solid, and musical person. I
-In school we get to used to the idea of “it’s just school.” We show up un-prepared constantly because we have a span of about 100 rehearsals to fix any problems. If this is you... Do you still wonder why you aren’t getting gigs? 
1. Finally, you should be proving to everyone that you are easygoing and fun to be around. You don’t take things personally, and you treat others with respect and kindness ALWAYS!

Now many people may think, isn’t this just how you are supposed to treat fellow humans? You are right this is true. However, some musicians believe they are above everyone else because... “I went to Julliard,” “I was principal in the Alaska All-State Orchestra,” “I am a graduate student,” “I know more than you do.” Maybe some of these things are true, but we are all struggling with something if we are still in school and not out in the field getting paid to perform for a living.

Some may argue, “Phil Smith doesn’t have to be friends with everyone.” This argument may be true, I don’t know him. However, from what I have heard he is a very pleasant man to be around. If you happen to be the best trumpet player in the world, then yes you may be exempt from this ideal.

So the next time you think you should roll your eyes at a colleagues comments, lash out after being told something you do is wrong, throw a temper tantrum because you didn’t get your way, ignore someones advice because they are less qualified or not as seasoned a player as yourself cause you went to “Harvard”... Think before you do anything, because you may be pushing away people who could be the key to your future as a musician.

ITG 2011

Sat, 28 May 2011 17:45:29 -0600

What an inspiring week it has been! I have never been to a trumpet convention/conference and now I see why I should be going. I heard so many phenomenal performers this week, it is insane.

I could not believe the talent and sound of Allen Vizzutti, I am convinced there is absolutely NOTHING that he can’t play. His performance just made me angry. I have no clue how to play with the level of technique that he does. Another amazing performance was by a Russian trumpet player by the name of Vladislav Lavrik. I am a fool for tone quality. Vlad had one of the best sounds I have ever heard come from a trumpet. I am still working on trying to find his recordings online, because THAT is what I want to sound like. One of the final performances that I really enjoyed was from Trombamania a trumpet ensemble from Paris, France. Their playing was so delicate and detailed, I absolutely loved it. On top of that everything they played was memorized and so together as an ensemble. I have already downloaded one of their CD’s and look forward to finding more recordings of them.

As for the solo competition, it was a close battle. Placing first was Ryan Beach from Northwestern University. Ryan played the Tomasi Trumpet Concerto from memory, and he sure played it well. I really admired Ryan’s willingness to take so many risks for the competition. He not only memorized it, but also played it at a faster tempo, transposed the Peeters on C trumpet, and also played the Peeters at a brisk pace.

I placed second, and was extremely content with my performance. I of course had a couple of nerves, but they really did not get in my way at all this time. I think after reading Mind Gym by Gary Mack, and some of Performance Success by Dr. Don Greene. I am finally starting to get this whole performing thing. I had to start with the Peeters which I didn’t really want to play first, but it went great. Then I played the Charles Chaynes Concerto for Trumpet, which I believe started out a little reserved, but by the third movement I was on fire. Next time I need to go out there like Ryan and just lay it down from measure one!

This was an amazing experience for me. I met so many phenomenal trumpet players and can not wait for the next opportunity to attend one of these conventions.

Solo Competitions

Sun, 1 May 2011 17:59:38 -0600

I have really made a lot of progress this year at the University of New Mexico. I was really unsure of what I would get from being in a rather small state very close to the border of Mexico, but I have been pleasantly surprised at the outcome. So far this year I have seen drastic improvements in my endurance, range, piccolo trumpet playing and overall musicianship. I have also been learning that I am not too bad at soloistic trumpet playing.

I was a winner of the UNM Concerto Competition last Fall. I memorized the Arutunian, and gave an absolutely amazing performance. You know the kind of performance that you didn’t even think you were capable of? I should probably try memorizing my literature more often, because I felt amazing that evening.

After that I had my eye on the two big trumpet competitions the National Trumpet Competition, and the International Trumpet Guild’s Solo Competition. I had never been to either of these events, and thought if I decide to go, why not be a performer? For these I decided to use the Charles Chaynes, Concerto for Trumpet. Though I absolutely did not enjoy this crazy French piece for about the first month, I now really enjoy it. It has so many contrasting sections that really can show off a players abilities.

Unfortunately, come December (the NTC deadline) I was not happy with my recording so I passed on sending that tape in. I continued working on the piece and decided to give it another whirl for the ITG conference. I again waited until the last moment to record, spent about 3-4 hours in the music hall running each piece about 3 times. To my surprise I found that I actually made a couple good recordings. So I sent it in, and forgot about it.

About 2-3 months later I got a call saying that I was selected as one of three finalists for the competition. I am truly excited to not only attend the conference, but also have the privilege to play for all these legendary trumpet players.

I will be sure to post another entry as soon as the convention is over.

Summer at the Salon

Tue, 3 Aug 2010 01:36:03 -0600

I was privileged to have found such an amazing job this summer. I made some good money, some amazing connections, and learned a whole lot about the beauty industry.

It was a really strange time for me. This was the longest I had been with a job not having anything to do with music. I found myself conflicted for a while. My trumpet practice was dwindling, however my efforts at the salon were shining. After only a few days of work the president of the company had recognized my efforts and talent. I am always one to give my all no matter what I am doing and I was shocked to see how many people give as little as humanly possible. I don’t understand why people continue to care less and hate more. You would think with such a hard time the world is going through that people would be more sympathetic...

This experience at the salon opened my eyes to the possibility that I can be something great even if I am not a musician. For a long time I assumed that since I was no good at math & science that I would only succeed in music and if I didn’t there would be no hope for me. This summer was very refreshing. I now know that I can do just about anything with my strong work ethic and dedication, but now it is time to throw it all into music these next two years at UNM. I am ready to get this thing on its feet and win a job that I can be proud of and enjoy for the rest of my life.