Dear friends, colleagues, and community,

Many of you know me not only as a trumpet player, but as someone devoted to creating unifying, transformational, and healing musical experiences — in our Jewish community, across Oregon, and beyond. My trumpets are the artistic tools that make this possible, and right now, I need your help.

The Urgent Situation

The positive: my career is starting to thrive. I’ve performed for the Oregon government, have robust teaching work across four high schools, where I’m inspiring youth to see what’s possible with music, work with some of the world’s most visionary composers, am increasingly becoming known as a soloist up and down the West Coast, and have national and international opportunities in my 1-2 year future. In the last few weeks, however, both of my primary professional trumpets — my S.E. Shires Bb and C — became suffered unexpected damage and repair complications such that they are foreign and unrecognizable to me. These are extremely high-end, hand-built instruments that shape the sound, nuance, and spiritual depth of the music I create.

This loss is affecting me right now, every day:

• I cannot demonstrate properly for my students.

• I cannot perform with the artistic ease and resonance my work requires.

• And I cannot deliver my 100% for upcoming community programs that I’m committed to leading.

This is not a distant or theoretical need — this is a today need.

Why I need to replace the instruments now

There is a chance that my damaged horns can be repaired, but the earliest that could realistically happen is in January in Massachusetts. Even then, there is no guarantee that they will return to their original professional standard.

If they do become playable again, they may serve as backup horns, but I cannot wait months to find out.

I have important responsibilities in the coming weeks, including:

• Ruach Weekend with Dr. Yosef Rosen and Rabbi Adina Allen — where I’ll be teaching, performing, and leading spiritual creativity workshops.

• My ongoing role as a soloist and educator within the Portland Jewish community.

• My student commitments, coaching sessions, and ensemble work.

• Preparation for my album project Pardes, beginning in February 2026.

To continue serving, teaching, and performing at the level our community deserves, I need new instruments now, not months from now.

Why these instruments matter

The instruments I use are not generic or interchangeable.

Professional Shires trumpets are:

• Precisely crafted for color, resonance, and depth,

• Capable of the expressive and spiritual range I’m known for,

• Essential for the healing, unifying, uplifting musical experiences I create.

They are the literal vessels of my sound — and my service.

The financial reality

Replacing two high-end Shires trumpets costs $9,000–$10,000.

I have:

• A State Farm insurance claim underway that may cover part of one horn,

• A MusiCares (organization that helps musicians during times of struggle) application going in this week

• But there will still be a meaningful gap to bridge quickly.

I am asking my community to help me raise $4,000 so that I can purchase the instruments I need to continue offering my work without interruption. That number also includes a request for help due to emergency health issues. A week prior to this crisis, I had three visits to the Emergency Room for chronic upper respiratory challenges that caused concerning neurological symptoms, all in one week. I am healing and in good medical care but lost a week of work, so I’m also requesting some support for living expenses lost during that time.

What your support will restore

With your help, I can:

• Return quickly to high-level performance,

• Show up fully for upcoming community programs,

• Teach my students with clarity and confidence,

• Prepare properly for Ruach Weekend

• And continue creating music that heals, inspires, and connects.

I can also get back on my feet more quickly with the buffer of support for the lost week.

I want to be completely transparent: this is a vulnerable moment. I would not ask if it weren’t urgent and essential. Your support will directly restore not just my instruments, but my ability to give back — through music that brings light, connection, and meaning into our shared spaces.

Thank you for helping me move from a moment of narrowness into a place of expanse, possibility, and renewed artistic strength.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Aaron