I hope it is ok to bump this thread with a long-winded story. My amateur musical "career?" has proceeded in fits and starts. But, it has been loads of fun. My time away from music was never 20 years straight, but nearly added up to it.
I started elementary school band in 4th grade at the age of 8 (1973). I started out playing my older brothers Bundy cornet (still have it, plays great). At that time, our small town had only one band teacher who went from to elementary, middle and high schools every day and was the band teacher for all 3. It made for good continuity, but must have been a heck of a schedule for Mr. Bragg. In fifth grade, I was persuaded to switch to baritone. I say persuaded since the band director offered me a new horn he was ordering in return for switching. (ah, the good old days of school band funding...) If I recall correctly, it was a Conn, bell-front which was very common then. I enjoyed playing through middle and high school. Our bands consistently won awards and high marks. Then, in my senior year, a new principal decided I needed a year of gym class to graduate. At the time, I was playing 2 sports and in the marching band, so I was not in need of the exercise!
Since I needed everything else though, I had to drop out of band and take gym. At that point, I thought my musical days were over. I went to college majoring in Aerospace Engineering and was told flat out by my advisor that I did not have time for band, so do not bother asking. In my junior year, however, I saw a fellow engineering student carrying a tub case and asked him what was up. He said he was going to practice since he wanted to audition for the symphonic band. I immediately wanted to join, but, I had always played a school horn and did not even know where to look for a baritone or euphonium. This was pre-internet of course. I put the word out to friends and family to be on the lookout for one. When I went home for Thanksgiving or Christmas (cannot remember), my parents said a math teacher from the middle school had located a horn for me. He is a brass player of considerable talent and heard I was looking. He directed me to an older couple who owned the jewelry store in town. I went to their home and the gentleman showed me a King upright baritone that had belonged to his late older brother. He sold it to me for $75 (probably the original price when new!) and the promise not to sell it unless it was to someone who would cherish it and PLAY it. (I still have it). That horn served me well through undergrad days. But, grad school, again in aerospace engineering, made me put aside my horn for studies.
I somehow heard about the Baltimore TubaChristmas and contacted one of the hosts, Ed Goldstein (who some of you probably know). He said it would be good if I got the music right away to practice a little and invited me to his home to pick it up. He interrupted Hannukah studies for his kids to do this for me and I am so grateful to him. TubaChristmas became my only musical outlet for a few years until I ran into the Baltimore Ravens Marching Band at TubaChristmas. They were recruiting! The band had originally been the Colts Marching band. When their team left town, the band president, John Ziemann, had kept the band going for all those years. Within a few weeks, I was playing a Yamaha marching baritone and learning field shows. Eventually, I became section leader, marched in a U.S. Presidential inaugural parade, played shows with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlish, played the opening ceremony for Special Olympics and, of course, played at many NFL games. It was a series of musical dreams come true. However, with a move to a new house and 2 kids starting band themselves I made the difficult decision to quit the Ravens.
It was back to a few Maryland, DC area TubaChristmases and helping with the elementary school band for me. Then, an article in the paper said a recently retired local band director was starting a community band. It has been 5 years now and The MidShore Community Band (www.mscb.org) is going stronger than ever. I currently play a Weril 4 valve (the Yamaha 321 copy) which does the job well for me. I am an inveterate horn collector and have quite an assortment of horns that I rotate through for fun. A series of dedicated amateurs and professional musicians alike have enabled and encouraged me to play music and I am indebted to them all.