When he was in seventh grade, Charlie Porter’s hands shook just before he was to perform his first improvised trumpet solo. Beads of sweat rolled down his neck, and his thoughts filled with doubt.
It was an outdoor lunch concert in public. Randy Sonntag, founding dean at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, sensed Porter’s anxiety and said, “Look, it’s easy.” Sonntag proceeded to play badly on purpose to show Porter that it was OK to play and not worry about sounding “correct” or “right.”
“Once I saw him do that, I knew I could do it, and I have been trying ever since,” Porter said.
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