Reaching for Higher Standards By Christian Wissmuller A respected percussionist who has performed with top-notch jazz ensembles and the Binghamton (N.Y.) Philharmonic, Joel Smales has also authored ensemble, percussion, and method books published by Phantom Publications and his articles on music education and percussion have appeared in nationally distributed periodicals, including School Band & Orchestra. [...]
By Christian Wissmuller School Band and Orchestra’s sixth annual music student essay contest attracted the most entries since the launch of our program, with well over 13,000 submissions. This year’s topic, “How Music Education Has Made Me a Better Student,” spoke to the far-reaching benefits of music scholarship on young lives – a topic which [...]
From The Trenches: The Parent Trap by Bob Morrison There is an emerging trend that, until recently, had been isolated to California ( Redwood City, Concord, and dozens of others). This trend has now started to pop up in school districts across the country. I call it The Parent Trap. To explain this phenomenon, here [...]
He’s an award-winning, often-published composer working in one of the country’s top five public school districts for music education, and his high school orchestra has not only won scores of honors, they’ve performed in likes of Carnegie Hall. He received the Missouri’s String Teacher of the Year Award in 2000, the Excellence in Teaching Award [...]
All conductors face the issue of planning for their next performance. I constantly mull over questions like “How many weeks do I have?” and “How am I going to tackle this issue?” In planning from year to year, I always look for new and interesting ideas to help in the preparation for my next year’s [...]
By Roe Lewis You’ve finally built up your music program’s repertoire. The question is “What’s in it?” You don’t know what tunes you have, who the arrangers are or the exact instrumentation. It’s time to get organized and put together your music library. Here are some guidelines to get you started. Put Someone In ChargePut [...]
URL: www.isd77.k12.mn.us/schools/west/music/band.htm The buzz about school music Web sites seems to be building, as School Band and Orchestra receives more and more e-mails from directors and Webmasters about their new sites. Each site we visit has many innovative components, making the decision to select only one Web site to highlight each month a difficult one. [...]
By Jennifer H. McInerney He’s waving his baton wildly. He’s high on his toes, then dipping deeply, then pointing directly at the French horns. He smiles. He raises his eyebrows. His entire being speaks to the Boston Pops, who are arranged in an arc before him. Conductor Keith Lockhart, who describes his own conducting style [...]
URL: www.bvband.com When the Brandon (S.D.) Valley High School Marching Linx donned their striking new uniforms, Webmaster Charlie Henson was struck with inspiration. He decided to incorporate the uniform jacket’s sash with the new Web site’s design, creating a unique and engaging approach to what can sometimes be a rather “uniform” presentation of information. This [...]
