The Trombone Retreat Cory Mixdorf's Lessons of Strength, Family and Unyielding Hope
Prayers for Meyer Facebook Page
Donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
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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