In this episode I am talking to Jay Crossland, who is the Academic director of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine.

She has arranged Timani courses for the employees, and made changes in the grading system for children and youths.

Jay plays and teaches the French horn, but she has explored multiple instruments on her path to becoming a musician.

She also talks about how physically demanding playing an instrument can be, and the necessity for learning the basics of playing a brass instrument, how to make a sound, breathing and warm-ups.

Different physical challenges also got Jay interested in what role the body plays in playing music, and as a student in London she discovered new possibilities through Alexander technique.

When she later encountered Timani and the possibility to study this part time beside her job, she applied for he certification course, and is now teaching breathing and the physical prerequisites for horn playing with much more confidence.

Jay is a true inspiration for musicians who wish to decide for themselves the different things that one can put together into a career, and to you who wish to follow your ideas of what music you want to make!