In January, 2019, Finn was in his fourth grade classroom at Saltonstall Elementary School when he heard music coming from the hallway.  A group of students from Salem High School was marching through the school playing brass instruments.  A rhythm awoke in Finn that day which persisted throughout the pandemic and middle school, and continues today.  He had not yet learned the name of that instrument with the sliding tubes, but asked the teachers leading the troupe, Ms. Nalani Fujiwara and Mr. Luke Deardorff, who introduced him to the tenor trombone.  He came home that evening and announced, "Daddy, I want to play trombone."

So, we rented him a Yamaha, and hired Garth Retallack for private instruction.  His first lesson was on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, and he continues to study with Garth today.  In 2022, his third year of playing, Ms. Fujiwara invited him to join her Ipswich Community Band for a series of summer concerts.  That same summer, he participated in Alexa Tarrantino's Cape Ann Jazz Workshop and got interested in playing jazz.  In the Fall of 2022, he played with Nalani's band for Ipswich Illumination, and started playing with the High School jazz band.  He began to research the acquisition of a new instrument better suited for symphony performance, under the guidance of Nalani and Luke, who accompanied him to Virtuosity in Boston to test-drive some trombones.  Around this time, Finn started composing music to use in his movies, two of which he featured in his Portfolio Day presentation for his teachers and classmates just prior to graduating from Saltonstall.

In the Summer of 2023, he was invited to play in David Benjamin's Cape Ann Community Band for the Gloucester 400 celebration, and continued playing with the ICB and CAJW.  He also auditioned for the Gordon College Jazz Ensemble and the NMYO Symphony, Intermezzo and Wind Ensemble.  Finn embraced all of these new opportunities, and began studying music theory on his own, at night, driven by his curiosity and desire to improve his musical understanding.  He learned to manage his own schedule and make sure transportation was arranged to get him to all of his rehearsals early.  He worked at the Salem Willows arcade and saved up his earnings to put towards a new trombone.

In December, 2023, he made another appointment at Virtuosity, and again dragged Mr. Deardorff and Ms. Fujiwara to Boston, this time to select and purchase his SE Shires Joseph Alessi trigger trombone.  The next day, he played this instrument in NMYO's winter concerts at Ipswich High School, which was a tremendous success.  His favorite selection was Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain," conducted by Dr. Walter Pavasaris.  On the ride home after this concert, he announced, "I want to play with symphony orchestras."

So I began to research more opportunities.  Most youth symphony orchestras (NEC, BSO) hold auditions in May each year.  Then I remembered that Dr. Fred Harris, director of the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and Wind Ensemble, also conducts a youth Wind Ensemble at the Groton Hill Music Center.  In a quick email response, Fred invited Finn to rehearse with him on Saturday, December 15, in the Skyview room. He played with 40 like-minded musicians he had never met before, from music he had never seen before, for 2 1/2 hours.  By the time we left, we were both convinced this is where the magic happens.  He auditioned in January, and performed in their Winter Concert on February 4, 2024.

As it turns out, Groton Hill also has a youth symphony, which was rehearsing Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain."  With an invitation from conductor Ken Culver, Finn contributed his part to the February concert as well, and continued rehearsing with the GH Sinfonia through the end of the season.  He was unable to perform in their spring concert on May 19, due to his prior commitment to NMYO and the Three Body Problem of appearing in Ipswich and Groton, on the same day, at the same hour, to play different sets of music.  However, Nalani Fujiwara managed to defy the laws of physics, gravity,  decorum, and the Commonwealth by beaming him in her Mazda Millenium directly from the last note of Balmages "Uplifted" to the first note of Susato "La Mourisque," a distance of 12 parsecs, in under 57 minutes.

I consider these to be the pivotal events in Finn's musical career, so far.  There were many other wonderful moments: four concerts with Gordon College Jazz Ensemble, performances in the MMAE District festival and All-state audition, the MAJE festival, the MICCA performance and gold medal award, two performances with the Salem State University Band (2023 and 2024), a concert with the Gordon Symphonic Band in Spring of 2023, the NMYO Chamber Music festival in Rockport, and all of his many concerts with the Salem High School Brass, Wind and Jazz Ensembles, including their fun trip to NOLA in April, 2024.

Finn is pursuing his interests in film scoring and composition this summer at Berklee College in Valencia, Spain.  While there, he  enjoyed a performance by Chucho Valdes at the Palau de Musica, and symphony by the National Youth Orchestra of Spain, also at the Palau de Musica.  After returning home, he will perform with the Ipswich Community Band again, and dive into more improvisation with the Cape Ann Jazz Workshop at Endicott College.