Time to nail it to the wall.

The piece we are performing this weekend is a piece that marks what is usually a stressful point in any trombonist's career. Playing the Tuba Mirum solo in Mozart's Requiem is a definite recipe for stress. As odd as it seems, the second trombone is the "trumpet that sounds" at the last days. Why on trombone do you ask? Because Mozart had the Lutheran Bible, and Luther, in his translation of the Bible into the vernacular, felt that the trombone was a more noble and appropriate instrument to sound the last days. He changed it to "Posaune," German for trombone, so thus I have the solo.

I'm not going to say anything about the stress factors involved, because I don't want to put down in words anything that I've been dealing with. Suffice it to say it's been filled with some inner turmoil.

Tonight was the first of two performances. I didn't nail it 100% in any of the three rehearsals, so I was anxious. To combat that, I performed it three times this morning down at the college where I work, once for the tuba prof, once for the trombone prof and about five or six of his students, and once for the rest of the brass faculty. I nailed it every time, and basically made a clean slate of the three rehearsal performances. I HAD to play it perfect in front of people who would make me nervous before tonight's performance.

My parents, Steve, and another priest drove over from Lansing tonight. I had originally planned to have dinner with them, but I chose not to so I could stay focused and get my "game face" on. Steve came over beforehand and prayed over/with me, and I'm very grateful for that. I suppose praying for me doesn't fully describe the encounter. Let's just say it's nice to have a priest in the family. I'm very grateful for him. And it was nice knowing my family, and two priests, were in the audience, saying some prayers.

Maybe after tomorrow night's performance I will more fully describe what it's like to play a solo in an orchestra. But tonight, all I'm going to type is that I nailed it (soli deo gloria) and that I plan to do it again tomorrow.

Some prayers at around 9:00 tomorrow night would be greatly appreciated though!