pretty much the last week as a student in the UK

I have been in the UK since September 11 of last year, and the end is coming soon. I am about 5 days away from my recital, and things are going great. First of all I thought I would say a big "Welcome to the UK" to the Fountain City Brass Band. My teacher, Scott Watson, and the entire FCBB are over in the UK for a 10-day tour, which started with their performance at the Master's Championship. They performed extremely well, exciting the UK audience with their US-taylor-made-sound, and created a window for future bands to come over and compete in "their" competition.

I am very excited that my family is coming over for my recital. My parents are getting here on Thursday - big trip for my Mom, it's her first time outside of North America - at least there isn't a language barrier on this trip. Nothing like being inside of a Slovenian deli trying to mime, "please cut the bread" so I can have a sandwich. That was fun...

My recital at the RNCM is this Friday at 2:20p for anyone who wants to come. I know I pool a generally US-based audience with this blog, so I am sure that you will be with me in spirit. Anyway, my program for this recital is:

Arrows of Time, mvt. i - Richard Peaslee
Arioso & Allegro - Fiocco/arr. Childs
Euphonium Concerto - Martin Ellerby
Relentless Grooves II, Armenia - Sam Pilafian

I think it is one of my most ambitious recitals, given that I can not take an intermission. For those that have played this stuff - it is a lot of physical material, so we'll hope for the best.

Aaron Tindall and I said goodbye to the Besses o' Th' Barn brass band last week. We had a great time playing with them over the course of the school year, and it was awesome that they threw us a party to send us back to the US.

This week will be filled with practice, practice, and more practice. I have a few "trouble-spots" that I would like to iron-out the wrinkles in before Friday. I will leave you with a few "action shots" from last weekend's excitement at Blackpool.