Caesar Giovannini (1925-2017) became a piano soloist with the Navy band, and later completed a master’s degree from the Chicago Conservatory of Music. He would go on to join NBC as a staff pianist in 1949. He would go on to be the music director for several television shows, and in 1958 joined the ABC Staff Orchestra (Giovannini, 2017). His […]
What are the R’s of Repertoire Selection? A short reminder for directors as they select their music for the spring semester in the newest episode of the Two Minute Clinic!
Tonight, Canticles of Hyperion makes its world debut after an 18 month delay. My thanks and appreciation to Steve Barton and the University of Richmond Wind Ensemble for bringing this music to life. While Hyperion’s story has been told in many literary works, this is the story that I want to tell through music. Hyperion is caught in a bad […]
While the pursuit of perfection in performance is a goal, progress is the barometer by which directors need to gauge their students and ensembles.
I often see posts in discussion groups and field questions from directors regarding repertoire selection. Too often, the advice I see posted is “Anything by __________” (insert composer name here). I understand the desire to have an easy solution but “play anything by Composer X” does not take into account individual situations, students, and the context of the school. I […]
