Resourcefulness Pays Off

Monday, August 29, 2011

Ashley Hale lives with her father and two siblings in SeaTac WA. Ashley, the most recent Michael Kamen Solo Award recipient graduated high school this year with a 4.0 GPA.

 "I have never had enough money to take private trumpet lessons. For new skills, I would look online for recorded trumpet lessons and see what experts recommended to master certain skills. I also talked with my band director as well as any other musicians she introduced me to. I am able to take lessons today because my trumpet teacher generously offered to give me lessons at a much discounted price. To this day, YouTube is a site that I visit regularly to listen and learn from the professionals and legends. I have been able to obtain reference recordings from YouTube which have helped me understand what I need to work on and where I need to improve."

Ashley was recently selected as a Gold Medalist by the Seattle Symphony and was given the opportunity to perform with them in March. MHOF's donation came just in time as she plans to study music at college in the Fall and until now, has been borrowing her band director's old trumpet. Well done Ashley!

For more inspiring stories, visit http://www.mhopus.org/Get-Involved/Touching-Lives