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Follow the University of Arkansas Trombone Studio

Cleveland Institute of Music Summer Brass Lab

2026 Third Coast Trombone Retreat

Host, Sebastian Vera travels to Arkansas where he interviews Dr. Cory Mixdorf on his joy of teaching and what we learn from life's most unexpected trials.

00:00 Podcast Kickoff

00:24 Timothée Quote Debate

02:09 Opera and Ballet Defense

04:04 Corey McDo Interview Tease

04:59 Retreat and Camp Announcements

07:31 Meet Corey in Arkansas

08:39 Traveling With Trombones

11:03 Trombone Day and Studio Culture

13:08 Corey’s Trombone Origins

14:00 Iowa Roots and Early Success

16:34 College and Teacher Carousel

17:54 Gap Year and Early Teaching

20:04 Family Life and Marriage Story

21:44 Choosing Teaching vs Performing

24:31 Tenure Lessons Learned

27:12 Pandemic Teaching Outdoors

28:15 Post Pandemic Student Maturity

28:59 Freshmen Struggling Post COVID

30:00 Teachers as Part Time Therapists

31:21 Mentorship Beyond Trombone

36:48 Building a Studio Culture

37:47 Sabbatical Pedagogy Tour

40:49 Aha Takeaways and Growth Mindset

45:20 Meyers Brain Tumor Diagnosis

48:21 Chemo Stem Cells and Pandemic Life

54:12 Family Resilience and New Perspective

58:27 Recurrence Anxiety and St Jude

01:03:13 St Jude Costs Explained

01:03:40 Balancing Work and Treatment

01:05:07 Trombone Community Steps Up

01:06:12 Second Round Family Strain

01:08:31 Support Systems and Helping

01:09:59 Scan Anxiety and Resilience

01:12:26 Sticky Note Window Art

01:14:19 Healthcare Empathy Heroes

01:16:18 Lessons and Perspective Shift

01:20:26 Rapid Fire Advice and Gear

01:25:19 Life Offstage Family and Pets

01:29:13 Closing Thanks and Links

Also introducing special features with Patreon: www.patreon.com/tromboneretreat

Learn more about the Trombone Retreat and upcoming festival here: linktr.ee/tromboneretreat

Hosted by Sebastian Vera - @js.vera (insta) and Nick Schwartz - @basstrombone444 (insta)

Produced and edited by Sebastian Vera

Music: Firehorse: Mvt 1 - Trot by Steven Verhelst performed live by Brian Santero, Sebastian Vera and Nick Schwartz

Thank you to our season sponsor Houghton Horns: www.houghtonhorns.com

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