“The trumpet is an impact instrument,” said Brittany Hendricks, a doctorate student of musical arts in trumpet performance at The University of Alabama. Hendricks is a performer out to make an impact and not just with her instrument.
“I think Brittany is incredibly versatile,” Paul Houghtaling, director of the UA Opera Theatre, said. “Her ability to communicate as an artist in so many medias – music, painting, writing – is impressive and speaks to the power of art to transcend any media. Art is simply communicating, and Brittany is a master communicator.”
For the Dallas, Texas, native, communicating started in the fifth grade when her school required students to join the band, chorus or orchestra. Chorus and orchestra got a quick veto. She then had to choose between the French horn and trumpet.
“I think I always thought I would switch to horn,” Hendricks said.
She didn’t entertain this thought for long though. After her parents bought her first trumpet, she was sold.
“It was the first trumpet I owned, so naturally I thought it was the most beautiful thing,” she said.
Hendricks holds a Master of Music degree as well as a Bachelor of Music degree in performance from Arizona State University and Northwestern University. Balancing editing her dissertation and performing, she is nearing the end of her degree. She is a student of Eric Yates and teaches private students and sections of MUS 121.
“Anyone who knows her for longer than five minutes understands Brittany’s obvious passion for her instrument and how it fits into the world around us,” Bruce Faske, a fellow doctoral student in trombone performance who has known Hendricks since 2010, said. “She believes that when the trumpet speaks, people pay attention. What makes her special is that she is always thinking of ways to make the trumpet say something different. In a world of relative sameness, Brittany isn’t afraid to say something different.”
After her master’s graduation in 2009, she was teaching in Phoenix, Ariz., when a serious jaw issue forced her to seek out a job with health insurance. At the same time, the economic recession was hitting the Phoenix, Ariz., area hard, causing parents to cut their kids’ trumpet lessons. As a result, Hendricks had to make a change.
She planned to host a recital and art show in Dallas, Texas, where she knew she had support. One $75 piece of art sold. After paying her pianist, it wasn’t quite the rousing success she hoped for. Her finances were drained. Things were looking grim when she received a voicemail from Eric Yates, who she had met during her undergrad studies at Northwestern University. He told her he had a graduate student at Alabama who had moved and he was looking for someone to step in.
“At first I didn’t even hear the words ‘doctorate,’” Hendricks said. “All I heard was there was a job with health insurance.”
This ushered in a whirlwind of applying for the school and packing. She left Phoenix, Ariz., on Sunday with a dog and a cat. By Wednesday, she was teaching her first section of MUS 121 in Tuscaloosa.
Hendricks hopes to be able to teach at a college level after she graduates. By teaching at the collegiate level, she hopes to build a system of sound music education and create what she refers to as a “trickle-down effect” that will occur after her students have students of their own. Hendricks has a passion for music education and a special affinity towards trumpet students.
