Freshman Jason Kingsbury invests in $3,000 instrument
After only playing on a rental trumpet, Kingsbury invested in a professional grade horn that he plans to use in the future
By Marah Shulda
At the start of this year, freshman Jason Kingsbury purchased a professional grade trumpet for $3,000.
November 12, 2017
Opening his case, freshman Jason Kingsbury pulls out his trumpet and begins to warm up, just like he does every Silver 1 block. He plays through the scales and songs, aided by his professional grade trumpet.
Earlier this year, Kingsbury decided to invest in a Bach Stradivarius trumpet, costing over $3,000. The trumpet, which is the same model as those used by many of the world’s most famous professional musicians, is unique among other trumpets used by band students.
“The typical high school student is using a rental trumpet with low quality metal,” Kingsbury said. “On other trumpets, the main tuning slide is cut off with sharp corners and on mine it is very smooth and helps with air tension to produce a louder sound.”
Band director Deb Steiner has owned the same brand of trumpet as Kingsbury since 1988. When she purchased her trumpet, it cost $800 as opposed to the $3,000 Kingsbury paid.
Before the musical performance on Thursday, Nov. 9, freshman Jason Kingsbury practices his part for the pit orchestra.
“I got it when I was a sophomore in high school,” Steiner said. “I went to a band camp and everyone who was good had one, so I wanted one.”
According to Steiner, the Stradivarius is worth the expense.
“It’s a significant difference when you play on a professional horn,” Steiner said. “[The] intonation, just the sounds you get out of it are much more mature and warm.”
Kingsley uses his trumpet in the several musical groups he is a part of, such as concert band, symphonic band and pit orchestra for the fall musical “42nd Street”. jazz ensembles, district orchestra and the Youth Symphony of Kansas City.
He also plans to put his trumpet to use in his future career. Though undecided, Kingsbury knows that he either wants to be a professional jazz musician or a music teacher.
“I want to go into music because it’s an art form that can express the individual’s feelings,” Kingsbury said.
As for why he decided on the Bach brand specifically, Kingsley said he was thinking of his future participation in professional and amateur ensembles.
“We were looking at a couple different more exotic brands but we decided to go with a [Bach Stradivarius] because lots of symphonies don’t allow the more exotic type trumpets,” Kingsbury said. “I really like Bach’s; it just played nice for me.”
