This question pertains to my son playing trumpet and not me playing horn, but I suspect the answer is the same so I will ask.
Last year he played 2nd trumpet in the high school orchestra in his Saturday Prep Division program. The first trumpet was a paid ringer, a college student. This year, there are three trumpeters, again the first/principal being a paid ringer college student. The new kid on the block is "assistant principal," and my son still playing second. He wants to know exactly what that means, and I told him it could mean a lot of things - please correct anything I said you think might be wrong. I told him it meant, in general terms, that the music would likely still be chosen with two trumpets in mind and that the principal and ass't principal would share, somehow, the first part while my son would play second. I also told him that this could mean the ass't principal could end up playing a lot, very little, or anywhere in between, but that my son's job would probably be more or less the same as it was last year. I speculated that ass't principal could, at least in this orchestra, be a place to stick someone you didn't necessarily want to play a lot but that I had no real way of knowing. Last but not least, I said that all this is highly variable and depends on what the principal, the conductor, and whoever else makes these decisions thinks is best for the overall results. I get the feeling the "high variable" part may be the most correct thing I said. :) Thanks in advance for any feedback on this one. -S- _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
