Posted by Rank Amateur on February 02, 2004 at 22:00:58:
In Reply to: Re: serious question posted by Offended on February 02, 2004 at 17:42:36:
Disclamer: First of all, in the interest of full disclosure, I've never been to ANY tuba conference, though I've recently moved to a part of the country where I may be able to attend next year. I hope so!
I don't at all think that Americans think that American playing is superior, but the fact is that far and away the greatest number of players are amateurs. For us -- and perhaps moreso for struggling young pro hopefuls -- dropping a couple of grand to go to Europe is out of the question. Frankly, at my level I couldn't tell a dime's worth of difference among the top 50 - 100 players in the world, so if only a half-dozen or so of those are at the Army thing, I'll have experienced as much as I could ever appreciate.
I think I can understand why those top 50-100 players in the world might want to get together every few years; but why should I care? Why should 99% of the participants on this board care?
Joe Baker, who thinks that, where tuba playing is concerned, one continent of 300+ million people is about like the next.