The recent Holiday concert which the students at Mercer presented was really well done, and as their teacher I am especially proud of their efforts over the past two months. There were some very traditional settings like “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and “Winter Wonderland” (both older arrangements by Jerry Nowak), mixed in with some newer and interesting settings of familiar Christmas carols like “Hey Man Christmas Swings!” by Larry Clark, “Passacaglia on an English Carol” by Robert Longfield, and “Bell Carol ala Big Band” by Rob Romeyn. I have to give full credit to Michael Worthy at Ole Miss for the moment that took the audience’s breath away and brought tears to the eyes of many moms. During the Middle School Band’s performance of “Christmas Time Is Here” (from A Charlie Brown Christmas, arranged by Michael Sweeney), we played a pre-recorded audio clip of each senior band member in the wind ensemble and concert band wishing their parents Merry Christmas, sharing a Christmas wish, or thanking them for all their support through the years. Michael shared the idea at the Midwest clinic last year, and it worked really well. Read more…
Categories: Advocacy, Christmas Concert Program, Compositions, Concerts/Performances, Expression in music, Feeling, Holiday Concerts, Life & Music, Music, Professional Responsibility, Programming Ideas, Repertoire, Wind Band Literature Tags: Christmas repertoire, Concerts, Holiday Concert, Instrumental Music Education, Programming, Repertoire
Two new works are now up on my compositions page. Yankee Overture, recorded by the GCC Wind Ensemble, and Romance for Winds, recorded by the Westminster College Wind Ensemble are both under publication review. Yankee Overture is a rousing concert opener based upon the folk song “Yankee Doodle”. “Romance for Winds” is a bit of a departure from some of my other songs stylistically, but pretty true to my orchestration tendencies. It is dedicated to my wife Beth, who without her love, support, and care, I could never have arrived at this point in my life. My thanks also to Dr. Arnold at GCC and Dr. Greig at Westminster – I appreciate their willingness to read and record this music with their students and making the recordings available. Enjoy!
Categories: Compositions, Dr. Edwin P. Arnold, Dr. R. Tad Greig, Emotion, Expression in music, Feeling, Life & Music, Listening, Music Composition, Passion, Uncategorized, Wind Band Literature Tags: Compositions, concert band music, new works, school band music, Wind Band Literature
On my way to work today I ran into the baseball coach at my school. His son plays trombone in the bands where I teach, and he was in attendance at the spring concert last night.
“How come you never have a losing season?” he asked with a smile.
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Categories: Advocacy, Concerts/Performances, Feeling, Heritage of Wind Bands, leadership, Life & Music, Motivation, Music & Society, Music Education, Musical Role Models, Professional Responsibility Tags:
What does it mean to say a school is making “adequate yearly progress”? What is the value of a standardized test that produces an aggregate score for a group of students in one school and has it compared in the local newspaper against scores from another? How does student performance on a standardized exam relate to future vocational aspirations? Are teachers really able to teach skills necessary for success in future student endeavors or are they simply trying to teach concepts that will enable students to pass a standardized examination? Read more…
I don’t even know where to begin after the last 30 days, but it has been exciting, thought-provoking, reflective, and emotional. Read more…
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