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 […]
An abridged version of this article appeared in the January 2014 issue of Teaching Music (a publication of NAfME). For a list of works that I have completed for this level, please click here. Within today’s middle school band programs around the country, there are many directors that must develop their student’s technical performance skills within the ensemble setting. Although […]
The morning was calm. Too calm. After taking one last drink of coffee, I picked up my scores, baton, and tuner and began walking towards the podium. In just seconds part of my middle school band would descend upon our rehearsal room eager to learn and play music (or maybe it was just the sugar from the snack line at […]
