CancerBlows began as a once-in-a-lifetime musical event and has blossomed into a movement to bring together the most famous trumpet players in the world in the fight against cancer! The original CancerBlows concert on March 4, 2015 presented trumpeters Doc Severinsen, Arturo Sandoval, former trumpet players from Canadian Brass and many more to a sold-out audience in Meyerson Symphony Hall to honor Ryan Anthony, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s principal trumpet and former Canadian Brass member, diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. Since the inaugural concert, CancerBlows continues the music and the mission of Ryan Anthony in his memory. MISSION STATEMENT:
Through exciting & unique musical events featuring the talents of brass musicians worldwide, Cancer Blows will raise both awareness and money to encourage research for cancers with a focus on blood cancers & Multiple Myeloma. Background
In 2012, Dallas Symphony Orchestra principal trumpet, Ryan Anthony had just completed a guest appearance with his old group, Canadian Brass and wasn’t feeling well. After the concert, Ryan told his wife, Niki, that he felt like his entire body was “jangling” as he ran off-stage. Recent chronic aches & pains had sent the 43-yr old to multiple doctors searching for the cause. Blood tests revealed abnormalities but multiple doctors reassured him that “it can’t be cancer” because Ryan was too young to be a candidate for the types of cancers that caused his symptoms. Fortunately one doctor decided to test for cancer “just in case”. The Monday after the Canadian Brass concert, Ryan & Niki got the call that no one anticipates or is prepared for – especially with two young children in elementary school – Ryan had been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a terminal cancer of the bone marrow that most often appears in patients 65 and older. Ryan immediately began therapy at Baylor Sammons Cancer Center while he and Niki researched the places for his long-term treatment. After researching hospitals all over the country, they decided to stay at Baylor in Dallas and Ryan began preparing for a stem cell transplant to be performed in the Spring of 2013. Just 20 years ago, Multiple Myeloma was a death sentence with a life span of 2-3 years. While the cancer is still considered incurable and terminal, recent, rapid advances in research have greatly extended the life span of newly diagnosed patients and hope for a cure is a real possibility. During his transplant, Ryan was overwhelmed with phone calls from trumpet players all over the world. Everyone asked what they could do to help and Ryan jokingly started saying “we’ll all play a concert when I am healthy again and we’ll call it cancer blows”. As the weeks went by, the joke solidified into a real event with an impressive guest list. Soon Ryan & Niki realized the event could be more than just something for fun but could be used to raise awareness and money to further the research that helped give their family a hope for a future. When he was diagnosed, Ryan’s goal was to survive long enough to see his children, then just 6 and 11-years-old, graduate from high school. Unfortunately Ryan passed away in 2020 just three days before his oldest child graduated but Niki and the rest of the CancerBlows family continue the music and the mission in his memory.
