Hello all! I'd like to apologize for the ridiculously long hiatus from posting on here. Time flies and all that. Anyway there have been some happenings in the past couple months of my absence. My first two articles for Halftime Magazine have been published, online and in print! This is my first real in print publishing (not counting my research) for my work, so I am super excited about it!
My first article is the magazine's feature article for our September/October issue. You can view it online by clicking here. The article is profiles of the first and second place finishers for DCI Finals in World and Open classes. It was really exciting to get to interview such major names in DCI and discuss their shows and seasons with them. I got to learn some pretty awesome things about what happened behind the scenes during their summers. It was especially fun to interview the members who were still riding the high of their placings in finals. There was so much excitement and energy in their words that it made my job of capturing the passion of finals quite easy. I got a five page spread (eight if you want to include ad pages) and pictures; not too shabby for my first article.
My second article is a feature for the November/December issue, which just came out a couple weeks ago. The article is Auditioning for Drum Corps; which gives an overview of the general audition camp experience, what to expect, and how to prepare. There is also a sidebar with tips on how to conquer your nerves (something I've struggled with since I first picked up the trumpet). This article proved to be a little more of a challenge for me than the previous one. I was given more creativity with the focus and format of the article. When I was given my word count I had no idea what I was going to say to fill up all that space. In the end I had nearly twice as much as I needed and spent a great deal of time chopping out anything unnecessary to the article. Entire sections were hacked; I don't think I've ever had so much information and so little room. After I finally finished it, the last person I was waiting to respond got back to me, giving me even more information that had to be included. Another word slashing party comenced. However, I'd rather have that issue over not having enough content (I'm always positive I won't when I start writing). I had to do a couple rewrites to get the format my editor wanted, but by the end I was pleased with the result. I got a four page spread with pictures (six with ads). This one isn't out online yet, but will be next month, so check the Halftime Mag website later.
Finally, the Midwest Clinic Band and Orchestra Conference is here in Chicago next week. I emailed my editor inquiring if we cover the clinic or if it's even in the scope of the magazine. She asked what I had in mind, and I pitched a couple ideas. She responded that both my ideas would make good features, and she'd like me to do a short Noteworthy section as well. So I will go to a couple clinics, send her my notes, and we'll go from there. I'm excited!
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