Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2005 10:35:11 -0400
From: "Rick and Eva" <rick.rangno@sympatico.ca>
Subject: [TPIN] My
visit with Jeanne Pocius
Hi everyone!
This week I spent two absolutely wonderful days with our own Jeanne
Pocius. I can't begin to tell you what a fantastic experience it was
musically and in terms of getting to know her on a personal level. To
those who have never met Jeanne, all I can say is that she is one of
the most beautifully passionate and inspiring people I have ever met.
Your life will definitely be enriched by spending some time with her.
Anyway, I'll give you all a short rundown of my visit. A colleague from
the Air Force, Marthe Jobidon, and I drove down from Ottawa, Canada to
Jeanne's home in Salem, MA through Vermont and New Hampshire through
some of the most beautiful countryside I've seen in a long time. (This
is worth another trip in the fall once the leaves have turned.) The
next morning at 9:00 we showed up at Jeanne's door and were greeted
warmly and shown into her studio. Jeanne apologized for the disarray as
she was still getting settled into the new place, but I felt at home
since it looked pretty much like my own practice area at home. There we
met fellow TPINer Robert Novickas from Chicago who was down for a few
days as well. (On a side note, Bob is one of the nicest people I've met
in a long, long time. He is the embodiment of what a "gentle man" is. I
wish you all my best, Bob)
Jeanne then listened to us each warm up and just observed what we were
doing. Once we were done we got a short critique of what she observed.
Then we began work on Jeanne's
standard warm ups. (Everyone go to Ole's site now and check them
out)
The main thrust of Jeanne's methodology seems to be to find what works
best for each INDIVIDUAL in order to make playing as easy as possible.
She has a wonderful way of explaining concepts to make them easily
understood. At one point I was carrying far too much tension in my face
and body which was interfering with attaining a relaxed sound. Jeanne
very calmly placed both hands around my neck, started to squeeze and
then instructed me to "SING!!!" I got the point......
We carried on this group lesson all day and ended, with meal breaks,
late in the evening, after which we spent some time at a local brew pub
with a number of other local trumpet players who are also TPIN members
but whose names I have unfortunately forgotten. My apologies guys :-(
The next morning we began again and once again went for three sessions
late into the night. Jeanne had to kick us out at one point in order to
go teach her summer children's band. We needed the break but Jeanne
just kept motoring along. We got together at the end for a beer and
snacks and broke it up around 1:00 AM. The next morning I had to stop
by Jeanne's house to pick up some music I had forgotten and here she
was in the driveway getting ready to leave to drive up to New Hampshire
in order to write some grant proposals. "Does she ever sleep?" I
wondered.
One thing I MUST bring up is Jeanne's playing. Boys and girls, she is
the REAL THING!! She is the loudest player I have ever heard, AND the
quietest I have ever heard. Orchestral excerpts? No problem. Cornet
solos? Mastered. Classical solos? Her Arutunian made me want to cry it
was so beautiful. Lead trumpet? Her double C will tear your head off!!
She plays jazz as well and can imitate the sound of all the great
players. Her Harry James was a knockout - felt like the old man was
there in person. Her Bill Chase had me begging for mercy :-)
Jeanne is a consummate player, teacher, pedagogue, historian.....well
the list goes on.....and she is passionate in everything she does. I
don't think I have ever met such an inspiring person, and I feel truly
privileged to have spent this short amount of time with her. I
guarantee it won't be the last time.
For those of you who may have toyed with the idea of going to study
with Jeanne I urge you to go. You will be ever so glad you did. You'll
not only learn a lot about trumpet playing but you'll also learn a lot
about how to become the best person you can be.
Thanks for all of that Jeanne - I love you more than you know :-)
One more thing, and I ask all of you that can get involved to help
contribute to this. Jeanne is working on a project to build an
instrument lending library to supply kids whose families can't afford
it with instruments to learn on. So, if you've got an old trumpet,
clarinet, tuba or whatever sitting in the basement not doing anything,
get in touch with Jeanne and contribute to the library. The only way to
keep music alive is to get instruments into the kids' hands as soon as
possible in their lives and awaken that love of music and keep it alive
for their lifetime. C'mon all you wonderful musicians - be generous!!
I think I've taken up enough of your time on this rather lengthy post
so I'll sign off now and go practice my "squawks". Want to know what
those are? Go see Jeanne!!
Rick Rangno
