Travis J. Weller

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…

Some quick reflective thoughts as 2011 closes, and 2012 begins from my small corner of the podium: Read more…

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…

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!

Since May of 2011 I have been preparing for the last week of my life, and I still did not feel ready. With all course work complete at Kent State University, the next major hurdle in front of me towards a doctoral degree in music education were candidacy exams. On Wednesday & Thursday (10/26 & 27) I wrote for a combined total of 12 hours answering questions related to music education, music and special education, music theory, and musicology related to American music. After completing on site writing at Kent, I completed two research papers at home: one a dissertation review, the other a review and critique of “educational” band literature (A surprising question to be offered for sure given my background, and that I have already written a little on the subject here and here). Read more…