Dr. Jonathan Sayre Allen – Trombonist and Teacher

For the past two weeks I have been teaching at the University of Iowa Arts Share Camp. Arts Share is a summer day camp for K-5. It has been crazy and fun! The kids favorite part though? When Herky stopped by:

Last night was a fun pops concert with the QCSO. We played a set with a Led Zeppelin cover band. It was a sold-out show. The band and the audience were very high energy – it was a lot of fun!

A picture from my view in the trombone section during rehearsal.

Banner outside Adler Theatre

Rocking out to Led Zeppelin (well, the music of...)

When I was picking Kate up from work we heard a loud crash, I looked around and I saw people flying off a motorcycle. A car had hit a motorcycle with two people on it! Luckily, they were wearing helmets, although the gentleman on the bike had a pretty mangled leg. One of the people just a few cars back was a medical professional of some kind and had a kit in her car. She quickly started treating them for shock and giving them oxygen as she had a kit in her car. Kate called the ambulance and the police, EMT, and fire fighters arrived in just two to three minutes. It was amazingly fast response. Here are some pictures from the frightful event:

The wreckage from the accident.

Plenty of help.

The summer time is great for relaxed practice time. I may or may not practice more than during the school year, but the stress-free environment, for me, produces great results in practicing. I can take the time to mentally refocus on areas of my playing that I have not had the time to focus on due to other projects. This summer I am trying to re-introduce a more relaxed approach to all ranges of the trombone. I feel that I have become more effort-based (if that makes sense). I have found myself moving and shifting too much and blowing and articulating more than is necessary.

Goals for summer 2009 practicing:

Relaxed approach to all ranges of the horn
Consistent articulations
Softer softs
More refined orchestral excerpts (Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Cedar Rapids Orchestra auditions in August)
Prepare a recital to be performed in the first couple weeks of Fall ’09 Semester

I have had some old-man issues with my back lately. I herniated (mild) the disks between both the L3-L4 and L4-L5. The doctor has me on prescription strength Aleve (Naproxen), Vicodin (Hydrococodone), and Flexerol (Cyclobenzaprine). Since two of the three can cause drowsiness, I have been sleeping through the night for the first time in years = amazing! The down side is that I am equally tired much of the day. The pain in the back is much less than it was even a week ago. Most of the discomfort I am experiencing is pain down the right leg due to the herniation pinching the sciatic nerve. One of these days I will figure out how to live a normal life without constantly injuring myself (side note: The herniation happened while sitting on a bench at the Cheesecake Factory).