DIVERSIFY THE STAND

A idea that began with two trumpet players questioning classical music repertoire, turned into an international crowdfunding initiative for the first (of many to come) commissioning projects!

If you are not aware of DtS, it is a non-profit I began with Dr. Carrie Blosser as a way to not only create accessible repertoire for younger musicians, but to collaborate with incredible musicians, composers and performers. To be honest, I was pretty frustrated that there was such little rep out there for young players and I was pretty sick of always handing out Petite Piece Concertante as a first solo. All it took was a few meetings and our idea formed for the project we wanted to start - DtS started out and will always be a passion project for the both of us. And being the type-A personalities we are, we thought, let’s not just commission one composer - let’s have our first project be to commission TWELVE! (SO. MANY. LOGISTICS.). This culminated in a commissioning effort with over 100 people coming together, donating their time and energy, to create Winds of Change: 12 Progressive Solos for Trumpet and Piano. This is the first progressive solo book for trumpet that has commissioned all marginalized composers - and I promise, these composers are not only incredible composers, but human beings! Since we began in December 2020, we have launched this trumpet solo book, worked with the composers to reimagine the solos for trombone, and are in the process of a few additional book projects!

DtS is just one of the many initiatives working to combat the deep-rooted systemic problems within classical music. Since we launched, we have worked hard to highlight resources, groups, and inidividuals working hard to create a more equitable music community. There is no one be-all-end-all organization that can fix all the problems (nor should there be), and we are so grateful to the organizations and people who have supported us along the way

You can learn more about DtS, what we do, and the extensive list of reccommended resources all on our website! If you’re a trumpet or trombone player, you can also pick yourself up a copy of Winds of Change! And for anyone NOT trumpet or trombone - I promise, more music will be coming!! (we’re a fully volunteer-run non-profit and the scale of the projects we want to do just take time and $$)