Cory Mixdorf's Lessons of Strength, Family and Unyielding Hope

Send us Fan Mail 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: 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: Support the show

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Cory Mixdorf's Lessons of Strength, Family and Unyielding Hope is an episode from The Trombone Retreat by Sebastian Vera and Nick Schwartz.

This episode is 94:26 long.

This episode was published on Mar 20, 2026.

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