The Ten Year Trumpet Player! by Katherine

The Ten Year Trumpet Player! by Katherine - March 2025 Scholarship Essay

Where I will be in ten years is difficult to predict but I do have a plan! I am going to major in music performance playing the trumpet. It likely will take five full years to finish my undergraduate degree since I also intend to minor or double major in business. I will then move on to graduate school to obtain my master’s degree in music performance as this is essentially a requirement to play an instrument professionally at a high level. More on that in a moment! I plan on two years of graduate schooling. While I am doing the seven years of schooling, I will earn as many internships and or smaller professional opportunities as I can, honing my musical skills. This might mean giving private or small group music lessons, playing various gigs, etc. Once I complete school, I hope the combination of skill, schooling and the various opportunities I participated in during school will establish enough experience for me to audition for and earn a spot in a high-level symphony orchestra. My music performance education will play a key role in preparing me for my career, not just in improving how I play, but also in teaching me the proper mindset and professional etiquette to be successful. Without a college level education, none of this would be remotely possible as I would not be able to compete with better trained musicians. Ideally, at the ten-year mark I would audition for and be a part of an organization like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. (I currently play in the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra.) While I would be very happy playing for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at the ten-year point, I plan on using that as a springboard to bigger and better things in a bigger name symphony orchestra farther in the future. Playing the trumpet professionally at that level is incredibly competitive and difficult, but my dream is to do just that!