Discovering the song in the heart after living in a culture of fear
Imagine existing in a professional music environment where fear is the dominating factor in everything you do.
You miss a note and immediately get the stink eye from the maestro, fearful that one more misstep and you’ll be out on the street, without a job and no hope of ever getting one again.
The maestro even goes so far as to describe a performance by the great Phil Smith of the NY Phil as “terrible” because Phil (gasp!!!) missed a note during a performance.
One would think that a job performing music in such an environment wouldn’t be much fun at all.
And one would be correct in thinking so.
That was the reality that Sławomir Cichor faced on a daily basis. But then he visited a trumpet seminar hosted by Grand Valley State University circa 2012 and for the first time saw trumpeters performing for the pure love of performing.
Music without the jackboot on the throat was suddenly enjoyable, and Sławomir has taken that joy he discovered at that seminar to his home country of Poland and shared it with those following in his footsteps.
Listen in to Sławomir’s riveting story.
James Newcomb