Clarion Clarity

[geminiwench]

I was ever so grateful the Thanksgiving holiday week.

It was one of the most FULFILLING weeks
I've had in a memorably-long time.

Monday/Tuesday before
was Fancy Christmas Concert® series
which I had been arranging for 14 months.

I'm proud despite work being 50/50 about it.
But work is sorta 50/50 about most things
so it goes.

[Want to learn more about the concert?]They were so

Comments

[taz_39]

Very cool, thank you!

Yeah, for whatever reason low brass is very male-dominated. I've actually met nearly an equal number of male and female trumpet players in my life so can't comment on that, except to say that trumpet players tend to be those "alpha" extrovert personalities, whether male or female.

I can count on one hand the number of female trombonists I've met and/or played with. I know at least ten online or so, but have never in my 40 years on earth and 20+ years playing trombone ever performed in an ensemble with another female low brass (in a professional setting; in school there were two)

Oh yeah. I was discouraged away from trombone constantly by everyone. Family, my so-called teachers who were supposed to be mentoring me, fellow trombonists...everyone. It's thanks to the the handful of supporters in my life (my mom, one professor, some peers) that I kept at it. But no one should go through intense discouragement for something as benign as playing a certain instrument just because it's socially unusual. Why people feel the need to control the lives of others like that is baffling.

[geminiwench]

I was impressed by a female conductor and female trombonist in such a small group. Both of those seem so traditionally male-dominated but without much logical reasoning.

It's so weird to me that ANYONE would tell someone else they shouldn't/couldn't do something based on their sex/gender unless it is actually something that is biologically impossible unless you're [X/Y] sex... especially something as straightforward as a musical instrument, but... since sexism isn't logical, I guess it's not SUPPOSED to make sense, it's just supposed to... curb, sanction, and oppress,... so... I guess the system works.

I was raised by a female cowboy (not a cowgirl... she hated that crap) who was tougher and a better rider than just about anyone I've ever met. She wasn't a rodeo-queen style... she's a short, fat, and tough as nails sorta person who is better at horses than she is at people.

Glad you weren't dissuaded and have been someone other female musicians can look up to and remind themselves they CAN do anything, no matter what jerks try to say.

[taz_39]

Well, just like how little boys were punished for playing with dolls, or liking pink. There are things considered "socially acceptable" that we are "supposed" to adhere to; idiotic dance steps to "fit in" to someone's society. It's all meant to control, which was fine for an uneducated population...but now that information is instant an accessible, we can all see what's happening, and those systems are being rejected.

[geminiwench]

That is one thing that the internet has helped break down in the English speaking world at least (which is most of my online experience) where culture is now truly identified for what it is (it only took 100 years for us to learn this... which I guess is pretty fast over all!) and that it is a social construct full of rules/boundaries that are not so much about reality,... but more about the reality that is WANTED.

Young people are now growing up knowing this... and actively creating the reality they want by constructing/applying the idea of culture ACTIVELY in their own lives, which is AWESOME because... they are making it the way they want it rather than feeling bound by the traditional nonsense of the past... even better than their parents or grandparents were able to do!