Danny Reding

A few years ago, I was writing out remarks for a wedding where I would be officiating and casually asked Lynn, “what would you say is important for a happy marriage?” She paused, but only briefly, and said, as if she had been preparing for this moment for quite some time, “Be nice (brief pause) Work it out. (another brief pause) Get over it.” Whatever I had in mind to write next faded in the light of her insight. I sat, silent, leaned back from my desk and thought, “I’m gonn

Several years ago, I was in the middle of a trumpet lesson with the best teacher I ever had. At one point he paused and said, "Danny, you don't have a musical problem, you have a mental problem." Before I could thank him for that observation he continued with this, "Performance always follows our concept. You'll never play better than you think. Unless you address your concept of how you should sound, you'll never do anything more than play the same pieces in the same way wit

A Tale of Two Musicians (A Love Story . . . sort of) I was one of those kids who loved band and didn’t notice that it kept me from being one of the cool kids in school. I loved everything about it. Well, almost. I tolerated marching band but I truly loved everything else. Band camp was the best. It was band on steroids. One summer’s experience stands out though and left me with an enduring lesson on leadership. This particular camp lasted for two weeks with a different