Senior and trumpet player T.J. Tucker has worked hard to get where he is today. Through his determination, inspiration and passion, Tucker has achieved the honor of playing at Lincoln Center.

“I’ve been in the all national band twice. I even got accepted a third time, but I couldn’t go, and I was one of five trumpet players at Brevard music camp. I also performed three times at Lincoln center in New York city,” Tucker said.

Tucker is dedicated and puts a lot of time into his music. He has a whole process to practicing music outside of school.

“I have a routine that starts with a warm up, then I move on to fundamentals, and that’s to improve your skills with your instrument.

Then I go into music, which can go for an hour to four hours,” Tucker said.

Tucker has had a lot of musicians and bands that have inspired him in his life.

“Wynton Marsalis and Marcus Printup, not only is their music incredible, they actually travel a lot to inspire people. Just meeting them and getting to know them was inspiring,” Tucker said.

One major inspiration on him has been his father, who is the band teacher.

“He always encourages me to play as much as I can. He’ll hook me up with gig contacts that pay. He’s helping me to attain a career I always wanted,” Tucker said.

However, Tucker has had to go through many hardships to get where he is today. He has had to conquer his own fears and live up to past mistakes.

“I’ve always had horrible performance anxiety. I’ve bombed a ton of performances. But totally screwing up a performance makes you a little stronger than you were before. I’m not perfect, but I’m certainly improving,” Tucker said.

Even through hard times, he stuck with music.

“I’ve always had a very good work ethic. I’ve always been a very determined when it comes to achieving my goals.” Tucker said.

Tucker wants to pursue other careers outside of music in his future.

“Ideally, I would like to have a career in engineering, play trumpet on the side, and have a few cool cars. That would make me happier than anything. The only reason I say that is because there is not much money in music and cars are a huge passion of mine, so doing that and playing on the side, I’ll be able to enjoy both of my passions every day.”