I think one of the coolest experiences of my life is getting a standing ovation at Carnegie Hall.

That pretty much sums it up.

A month ago today I got that standing ovation.

It all started back in August when my band director for the Ogden City Concert Band asked me if I would like to audition for the Weber State Wind Ensemble and that they were going to Carnegie Hall. I definitely wanted to play Carnegie Hall (I mean come on it's the premiere place to play!), but I hadn't auditioned for anything since my junior year of high school! Not to mention I had a couple of TDYs coming up, so I only had 3 days to practice before I actually had to audition. I must have done alright in the audition because I made the ensemble and then spent the next 7.5 months preparing for this concert.

My parents and 4 of their friends were in New York City for the concert and it was so cool to have my own box seat of people cheering for me. (Yeah, they had box seats...that's how they roll.)

Before the concert our director informed us that there were going to be some pretty important people in the audience including the principle trombonist of the NY Philharmonic and Johann DeMai, who wrote the Lord of the Rings symphony. So yeah, we were all nervous.

That nervousness only lasted about 5 seconds once we got on stage and we played an amazing concert! I think this is definitely one of the best ensembles I have ever played with, and to think it was just a bunch of kids from Utah!

Carnegie Hall was slightly smaller than I thought it would be. But it is every bit as majestic and the sound just echos forever!

Upon arriving in Utah I had the next day off, and I woke up in the morning and I felt empty. I didn't have to rush to rehearsal, I didn't even have to practice...it just felt weird.

Now that I am going to rehearsals for the Ogden Concert Band, it's just not the same. The music is so much easier and how do you top Carnegie Hall? The good news is that I will be moving to the Boston area and there is a symphony orchestra that I may try to audition for. Of course I hate auditioning, but I played Carnegie...so they should take me!

When I graduated from college I wasn't sure if I would ever touch my horn again. I always hoped that I might find an outlet for it, but I never expected it to lead me to Carnegie Hall. Even now I have to look at the pictures to make sure it actually happened!

Now some stories from the trip. So we were in New York for a few days. Since I didn't really know that many of the band members and I'm out of college, I spent most of my time on my own. However, one day for lunch I went to Rupert Jee's deli with my roommates and Rupert Jee took our order (You know the deli guy from the Letterman show) and it was a good ol fashioned New York deli sandwich, which I have missed so much!

One of the nights we went and saw a musical. I was signed up for The Lion King (yes I saw it again) and it was still awesome! As I'm walking through Times Square heading for the hotel I run into some band kids who were staring wide eyed at the whole scene. I stop to chat and find out they are on the hunt for dessert, as am I, so we all set off to find dessert. As we are walking down the street some random hip hop musician stops us and wants to know if we want to listen to his music. I've been to NY a few times so I just push past him and keep walking. The Utah kids however, stop and listen to the music. I roll my eyes and went back to pick them up. Well come to find out this guy was selling CDs for $10. These kids are not stupid and they realize that they should not shell out $10 for what could be a blank CD...however, one of the students (return missionary) sees the opportunity to tell this guy how he can support his family. That's right, through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So he pulls out his little pass-along card and starts trying to convert this guy right in Times Square. I was mortified thinking we were going to get shot or shunned! But also I was slightly intrigued because I was wondering what was more annoying...a missionary or some hip hop hustler. Well the missionary won. As soon as he went into his little spiel the hustler tried to find any excuse he could to get away from this kid as soon as possible. As we were walking away the missionary kid said, "wow I can feel the energy! This place needs saving!" I then informed him that no, NY does not need saving and I personally want to survive the evening, so how about we quell this talk.

It was very interesting traveling with the group I did. Most of them are LDS and extremely naive and sheltered. I think many of them got a good dose of reality and some even want to live in NY. Of course being in Manhattan for 4 days is nothing like living in the Bronx.

Overall though it was an extremely awesome trip!

That is all!