Where did all this music come from? My role as a composer has become an integral component of my philosophy and my daily walk as a music educator. Since my time as an undergraduate student I have always held an interest in arranging and composition for instrumental ensembles, but after taking my first teaching position I found my duties did not allow me to devote the proper time to this art. I found myself often envious of colleagues who had directed or played in a group in the evenings or on weekends. They had a great outlet to feed and nourish the musicians inside. Read more…
Quick: Name three composers of wind band literature whose music was written before 1950 that will still be revered in the year 2020?
That should be a fairly easy question for any conductor who has studied scores and understands the pieces that have been at the foundation of the American Wind Ensemble and Concert Band.
Name three composers who wrote music for wind ensembles or concert bands between the years of 1950 and 1980 and will still be played in the year 2020.
Hmm….
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My thanks to Tad Greig and the Westminster College Wind Ensemble for their recording of “Rising Winds from the Valley”. The piece written for the Seneca Valley Freshmen Concert Band debuts tonight under the direction of good friends and colleagues Varden Armstrong and Bob Matchett. The piece is now available from Bandworks, alongside great music from Patrick J. Burns and Chris Bernotas!
I am very pleased to have received an Editor’s Choice for “Festival and Ballade for Winds”, a piece I wrote for the 2009 Pittsburgh Diocesan Honor Band. A recording should be up in the coming weeks at Wingert-Jones. Other new works coming this summer include “Moravian Dance” and “A West Highland Fanfare” from FJH, and “Siege of the Dark Castle” from Barnhouse.
It was a great day yesterday at Marion Center with the PMEA District 3 Junior High Honor Band. I was able to share some good music with a great bunch of students and directors – including “Supsended Animation” (Patrick Burns), “Marching Song” (Holst), and the world debut of “For the Love a Soldier”. The 6th Grade Honor Band was under the direction of friend and colleague Mike Grady – it was great catching up with him and hearing the debut of his “Gift for Band”.
Be sure to bump on over to Travis J. Weller on myspace to hear the PMEA District 5 Band recording of “Moravian Dance”. Jack Anderson did a great job with the band, and I am so proud of the students for what they did with the music. The piece will be available from FJH this summer.
A busy week – in the stretch of a busy month of thinking…
On Tuesday, I will be taking students to audition for our District Honor Band at Westminster College. It is always an anxiety filled time for them, and easy to lose site of the fact auditions are the test of our growth, not our worth (see I believe for more examples).
On Wednesday evening and all day Thursday I am guest conducting in Beaver Falls, Pa. I was absolutely floored that Len would ask me. I have a lot of respect for Len as a director and person, and the fact he would consider me for the JH portion of the festival is an honor. The program includes Julie Giroux’s Wagon Trail, Suspended Animation by Patrick J. Burns, Friends of Freedom by Timothy Loest, Basin Street Blues arranged by Paul Jennings, and the group will give the world debut of A West Highland Fanfare (coming in July of 2011).
On top of that I am still knee deep in research from my own students about their chamber music experience (Yes we stuck the landing, now we have to measure how far we lept…), thickening up a review of literature that may lead to my disseration topic at Kent, finishing a piece for another Honor Band in February (where I get to work with Mike Grady), and starting a commission for a pair of friends and colleagues who have an outstanding band program near Pittsburgh.
I will be back on soon hopefully with some profound thoughts and perspective that help save music…one note at a time.
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