SBO December 2009

DECEMBER 2009 $5.00

Joshua Bell Sharing the “Sheer Joy of Making Music”

Report: 50 Directors Who Make a Difference Technology: Hand-Held Digital Recorders

Contents 14

54

December 2009

Features 14

UPFRONT Q&A: NMEA’S ANNE STEPHEN Nevada Music Educators Association president Anne Stephen discusses the creative solutions the NMEA is implementing to combat the challenges facing school music programs in her state.

18

UPCLOSE: JOSHUA BELL Internationally acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell checks in with SBO to chat about the importance of music education and his charity work with Education Through Music, a New Yorkbased organization establishing music programs in underfunded schools.

26

SURVEY: MUSIC IN AMERICAN HOMES Excerpts from the music industry association’s latest global report indicates positive trends among musical instrument players across the country.

30

REPORT: 50 DIRECTORS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE With the global recession finally showing signs of abating, this annual SBO report provides 50 more reasons for optimism about the future of music education.

54

TECHNOLOGY: HAND-HELD DIGITAL RECORDERS As the technology for hand-held digital recorders skyrockets and the price plummets, John Kuzmich takes a look at which models can best serve band and orchestra directors.

18 Columns 4 6 59

Perspective Headlines New Products

62 63 64

Playing Tip Classifieds Ad Index

Cover photo by Alain Barker, Bloomington, Ind. SB&O School Band and Orchestra® (ISSN 1098-3694) is published monthly by Symphony Publishing, LLC, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 (781) 453-9310, publisher of Musical Merchandise Review, Choral Director, Music Parents America and JAZZed. All titles are federally registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Symphony Publishing, LLC. Subscription Rates: one year $24; two years $40. Rates outside U.S.A. available upon request. Single issues $5 each.

February Resource Guide $15. Periodical-Rate Postage Paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER/ SUBSCRIBERS: Send address change to School Band and Orchestra, P.O. Box 8548, Lowell, MA 01853. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competition. Copyright © 2009 by Symphony Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.

2 School Band and Orchestra December 2009

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Perspective

50 Reasons For Optimism

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ach December, SBO highlights 50 directors who “make a difference,” one in each state of our great nation. Over the years over 500 directors have been featured, yet we know that we’ve only scratched the surface in terms of the enormous number of talented, dedicated teachers in our field. This is by no means a list of the programs with the most awards, the most travel experiences, or the most students in all-state ensembles. It is more a “tipof-the-hat” to teachers who have given extraordinary amounts of effort, dedication, time, and energy into helping their students improve their futures. As we look to 2010 in hopes that our current financial crisis begins to wane, it is beneficial to view some of the comments of these 50 directors to gain insight into the latest thoughts on the minds of professional music educators.

While reading the comments of this year’s 50 directors, there are several common themes that reflect their thinking – and their goals. Although they all stand in front of their ensembles and conduct with great quality, many take the passion of a career in education much further than expected. A powerful comment in response to the query about “making a difference in students lives” comes “We salute our 50 from David Centers from Central Hardin High School in Cecilia, Kentucky, who said, “I hope that I have given (the studirectors, as well dents) the skills and knowledge that will go beyond just playas the thousands ing an instrument and translate into solutions for their real life of music educators dilemmas and a plan for their future.”

The “proudest moment as a teacher” provided a wealth who work tirelessly of wonderful responses from directors of bands that marched to educate and in the 2009 inaugural parade, won gold medals in competimotivate the next tions, marched in the Rose Bowl Parade, and attained many generation of other significant achievements. However, many of the very leaders.” poignant comments come from less celebrated events, like seeing past students go on to become directors of their own school programs or providing support for a student whose parents could not attend a special event. One particularly memorable thought came from Joe Cacibauda of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, who said his proudest moment “happens each day…when a phrase is played with so much emotion you feel it in the air… when students smile and you can tell they love and are proud of who they are, at what they’re doing and where they are…making music!”

Lastly, we are honored to have several educators who have been in the teaching profession for over 30 years featured in this group of 50 directors. It is always beneficial to hear the views of these veteran teachers who have a great depth of knowledge and experience to draw upon and provide us with their keen insight. Marion Coleman of Tullahoma High School, Tennessee, who has been teaching for 34 years, summed it up best by saying “Every day that we deal with students we need to be mindful of the tremendous impact that we have on their lives, and let this knowledge guide our actions.”

We salute our 50 directors, as well as the thousands of music educators who work tirelessly to educate and motivate the next generation of leaders.

®

December 2009 Volume 12, Number 12

GROUP PUBLISHER Sidney L. Davis sdavis@symphonypublishing.com PUBLISHER Richard E. Kessel rkessel@symphonypublishing.com Editorial Staff

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RPMDA Rick Kessel rkessel@symphonypublishing.com 4 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

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The NAMM Foundation Invites Music Educators to Music Education Days

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he NAMM Foundation is inviting school music educators to attend the third annual Music Education Days event at the 2010 NAMM Show, held annually in Anaheim, Calif. in January. Although the NAMM show is closed to the public, the NAMM Foundation invites music educators on January 16th and 17th to learn about the instruments and accessories that can best help them teach their students how to learn and play music.

Music Education Days events provide an opportunity for music teachers to interact with each other and music products industry professionals and address mutual concerns about access to music education for all children.

This year’s Music Education Days also feature a Best Tools for Schools program developed by Symphony Publishing that will allow music educators to identify music products and materials that provide innovative solutions and opportunities for music learning.

“School Band and Orchestra magazine is looking forward to presenting the Best Tools for Schools program,” said Sidney Davis, group publisher, Symphony Publishing. “Music teachers will make the product selections during the NAMM trade shows and a panel of their peers will present the items to the assembled educators on Sunday afternoon. The selected items will be profiled in SBO and serve as a guide to our readership of 20,000 band and orchestra directors in their selection of new items for their school music programs.”

Some of the event highlights of Music Education Days include: a welcome reception and orientation at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center; the Sandy Feldstein Music Industry Roundtable, presented by Crane School of Music, at 4 p.m. on Saturday; Idea Center Session: Trends In Music Education on Sunday at 1 p.m.; and Idea Center Session: Top Ten Best Tools for Schools, presented by SBO magazine/Symphony Publishing Group on Sunday at 2 p.m.

“The NAMM Foundation is very excited to be hosting music educators at the NAMM Show again this year as we celebrate their vital role as teachers, musical mentors and community leaders, “ said Mary Luehrsen, executive director of the NAMM Foundation. “The NAMM Show opens its doors to these music educators and encourages them to explore the instruments and musical products that could make a big difference in the lives and education for children and young people.”

For more information and to secure a hotel room during your stay in Anaheim, visit www.namm.org.

Avon HS Repeats as BOA National Champs Music for All’s Bands of America Grand National Championship took place on November 11 – 14, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Local favorites Avon High School took top honors at the competition for the second consecutive year. L.D Bell High School , from Bedford, Texas, placed second overall, and Marian Catholic High School, from Chicago Heights, Ill., came in third place.

For complete results, visit www.musicforall.org.

HeadLines VH1 Save the Music Donates $1 Million to IPS

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n late November, VH1 Save the Music finalized a $1 million donation to Indianapolis Public Schools for their elementary school music programs. Thanks to this donation, IPS has been able to put music programs into each of its elementary schools, making it one of only a very few school systems to have instrumental band programs for all of its elementary schools.

The presentation was witnessed by the donation’s beneficiaries: 645 IPS elementary school band students accompanied the Indiana State University Marching Sycamores in the National Anthem to kick off the Sharp Business Systems IPS Marching Band Tournament on the field of Lucas Oil Stadium. The event and tournament were coordinated through Music for All, a local music education partner with IPS and a national music education advocacy partner with VH1 Save the Music.

For more information, visit www.vh1savethemusic.com.

Online Survey Results Will your holiday concerts include any performances not on school grounds?

56% 44%

Yes No

Visit www.sbomagazine.com and let your voice be heard in the current online poll – results to be published in the next issue of SBO.

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HeadLines Regional Semi-Finalists Announced in SchoolJam USA

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AMM’s national SchoolJam USA competition drew more than 200 entries from a variety of unsigned bands across the country, with each band made up of talented teen musicians between the ages of 13 to 18. NAMM’s panel of judges selected a total of 50 semi-finalist bands from the five qualifying regions, but ultimately, the bands’ fans will help to determine the top 10 bands by voting online.

Each of the 10 finalist bands will win money toward the purchase of musical merchandise from a local NAMM-member music product retailer, as well as money for their school music programs. The winning band also will receive a grand-prize trip for its band members to perform live at the SchoolJam Germany finals in Frankfurt, Germany. Combined prizes total more than $30,000.

The complete list of semi-finalist bands and their hometowns is available online at where visitors can log on to vote once per day for their favorite band until December 5, 2009. Every time an individual votes online, the voter is entered into the Voter’s Sweepstakes. Five lucky voters will receive a Flip video camera and one voter will receive a complete iPod Touch prize package. Voters also can play the instant SchoolJam USA game daily for a chance to win an iTunes gift card. The top two bands from each of the five regions will be invited to the finals to perform live at the 2010 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Calif., on January 16, 2010, when one band will be crowned the first official SchoolJam USA champion.

SchoolJam USA is the first live music competition of its kind, providing youth bands the chance to rock out while also providing support for local school music programs. The competition is sponsored by NAMM, and its promotional partners MENC: the National Association for Music Education, Music For All, the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, and InTune Monthly magazine.

To vote for one of the 50 semi-finalist bands or find more information about the competition, visit www.schooljamusa.com.

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10 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

Vater Honors Memory of Jeffrey Phillips

I

n October, Vater Percussion brought Xavier Muriel, drummer for Buckcherry, to Weymouth High School in Massachusetts, as a guest speaker for the school’s music students.

Xavier spoke to the 60 plus music students about his personal background, the history of Buckcherry, life on the road, his influences, and what his hopes and dreams were when he was a high school music student back in Austin, Texas. Xavier also took some time to answer questions and to sign autographs.

The Xavier Muriel session at Weymouth High School was part of Vater’s ongoing involvement with the school in memory of Jeffrey Phillips, who passed away this past July. Phillips was an employee of Vater for 10 years, who graduated from Weymouth High in 1996.

Additionally, Vater has donated $14,000 worth of drumsticks and percussion accessories to the school.

For more information, visit www.vater.com.

HeadLines

Letters

Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation Awards Grants

School Band & Orchestra Magazine:

T

he Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation has awarded $100,000 in Music Matters grants to more than 30 school music programs across the United States. The Music Matters grants of $1,000 - $12,000 are awarded to qualifying school music programs to support and redefine music education. The recipient music programs will use the grants for enrichment activities and tools such as new musical instruments and electronics, vocal instruction, and band programs.

For more information visit www.heart.muzak.com.

Afterschool Alliance Programs A new survey from the Afterschool Alliance found that participation in afterschool programs is on the rise. Nationwide, the percentage of children enrolled in afterschool programs has increased from 11 percent to 15 percent since 2004, while the number of children unsupervised during the afternoon has increased 25 percent during the same time period (from 14.3 million to 15.1 million).

The statistics are part of the landmark America After 3PM study, conducted for the Afterschool Alliance and sponsored by the JCPenney Afterschool Fund. The results were released in conjunction with Lights On Afterschool, a nationwide rally created by the Afterschool Alliance that emphasizes the importance of afterschool programs.

More information on afterschool programs is available at www.afterschoolalliance.org.

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NYS School Music Association President Susan Weber, recently described music staff cuts in N.Y. State schools as being “minimal,” further suggesting “the economy gave administrators the opportunity to trim back staffing in programs that probably benefited from (these) adjustments.” (SBO, Oct. 2009) While I do appreciate Ms. Weber’s positive aspirations for our profession, I believe that her comments gravely understated the current challenges that many districts are encountering or those that they may face next year.

New York State public schools continue to feature many of the premier music education programs in the country. However, the economic downturn has taken its toll on many school budgets. And while the Federal stimulus funds and state aid adjustments assisted in holding back even greater music department cuts, most Music administrators would describe their staffing and budgetary situations as being worse now than they were two years ago.

I feel that Ms. Weber’s comments did not accurately represent the needs, challenges or stark reality of these troubling times. Simply put, I know of no programs with superfluous music teachers that ought to be cut for the betterment of the music department.

It would be most devastating if her words were used in defense of cutting music programs in our schools.

Dr. Joel Ratner President NYS Council of Administrators of Music Education jratner@bufsd.org

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We, as a board, decided in May, our state work is that they are site manwhen people were saying, “You’ve got aged. In other words, the state gives to do more to advocate,” that princithe money to the district, which gives pals are not going to cut programs that money to principals and the school adhave 400 kids in them. If teachers are ministration. They, and their communities, have the say in what is offered in their schools. So if a “These are new problems we’re facing, and principal feels that a we’re struggling, but we’re going to make it.” program isn’t strong or that numbers are struggling, we need to find a way to going down, they are hard-pressed to start at the site. If the site is where the justify keeping a music program if they organization of the power is, we have can instead, say, hire another math to make sure that the site is strong. So teacher. I’m not faulting the principals we’ve incorporated two grants: we – they have a tremendous amount of have a grant to help teachers in-state responsibility right now, and they have to attend professional development to pass AYP and tests – but they might and to help them get ideas, feedback, consolidate a program, if possible. and learn new procedures that they For example, if a choir teacher leaves, SBO: Going back to the 12 percan bring directly to their classrooms moves to another state, or retires, they cent cut that you mentioned in the to make their teaching stronger and atmight combine the five choir classes school budgets statewide, how tract more students; and we also have into two and then ask the band direcwere you able to prevent music programs from being hit too hard a mentor grant that we’re just starting tor to teach both band and choir. This by that? this year. Teachers that feel that they happens a lot, especially with choir AS: We weren’t able to do much. are struggling or need some help can and theatre. This is better than nothThe way that most of the districts in shadow a master teacher, and we’ll ing, but it’s not great. pay for the sub. It’s not a lot, but it’s a start and this is what we’re trying to work on: helping teachers build their programs and get stronger so that they have a little more ammo when it comes to budget cut time. They’ll be The Harmony Stand is designed for impressive functionality able to say, “You can’t cut my program and, with its oor stacking base, amazingly convenient – we’re strong, we’re doing this, that, storage. The Harmony Stands’ “V-shaped” bases and the other.” conveniently stack in an incredibly small amount of oor space. This stand is perfect for environments demanding a We’re also encouraging community very stable and rugged stand, and locations where storage involvement. son City – puts on its own solo and ensemble festivals. So again, that’s creative thinking keeping things intact.

They have done this now for at least five years. Out northeast zone also holds its own festivals.

We’re trying to keep programs going with the help of professional organizations. For instance, Nevada ACDA sponsors the middle school honor choir, so we are able to maintain that here in Clark County. ASTA is helping out with the middle school orchestra honor programs. We have an organization in Southern Nevada called the Southern Nevada Band Organization, and they are helping with the band honor ensembles.

A lot of organizations are stepping in to help some programs stay around.

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SBO: How so?

AS: The goal is to make fine arts fiscally attractive to administrators and communities. The more we service the communities, the better they will feel about how important these programs are. So we’re encouraging music teachers to get outside of the school, go into the community and show everyone that music is vital – not only for a complete education for students, but as a part of our communities, as well.

Something we’re going to talk about at our next meeting is going to be to encourage our members to have Nevada tours, and our travel grants will help support this. This will help get our schools into the rural com-

munities to do exchange concerts, or have the northeast zone come down and perform for the southern zone, and that sort of thing. This will help us get into seeing what everyone else is doing, and give kids a chance to help other kids. We have some oneroom schoolhouses in some areas, and it would be wonderful to get a chamber group to travel to these one-room school houses and give workshops and music performances.

There is one of those schools in our county that is literally K-12 in one room. There is one teacher who teaches everything – math, science, general music – and someone donated a violin to the school. She went online and learned how to teach violin, and then taught everyone in the school on this one instrument. The superintendent was very moved by this and ended up buying the school more violins. I just found this out last month, and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could get a group from a larger school to go in there and help these kids?”

volvement. I’m a real big advocate of that. I would like to encourage more state tours, our members to have concerts in the community, maybe combine with other schools to rent a facility out in the community to do concerts and invite the public to come out. I’d also like to see more performances at the nursing homes, the veterans homes, and even in front of the state legislature. That’s something we used to do a long time ago, but we stopped doing it.

In fact, we’re moving our state conference in 2011 to Reno, which is just a half-hour drive from Carson City, and we plan to do a lot of performing there and a lot of handshaking. Our members will talk to our legislative representatives so that they know who we are.

I think the key is servicing the community and helping the struggling teachers and the new teachers, to give them as much support and professional development as they need, and to be there when they have questions. If we can keep a teacher in a program for the first three years, then maybe we can keep them

there for five years. And if we can keep a teacher in a program for five years, then maybe we can keep them there for 10 or 15 years. We have to provide professional development so that we can get teachers past those first three years.

SBO: Is there anything that you’d like to share with other music educators around the country?

AS: There’s always a creative solution out there, so don’t give up.

I’ve seen that in our meetings at the NMEA. When I was president-elect, the meetings were always just about the nuts and bolts. Now we really seem to be opening up and brainstorming a lot more to come up with ideas that will work for our state. Our boards in the past focused on the all-state convention, and we can’t just do that anymore; we have to focus on the health of music education, both specifically and generally. Creativity is the key.

These are new problems we’re facing, and we’re struggling, but we’re going to make it.

SBO: In formulating an action plan, are you looking at what other states are doing for their own music education programs?

AS: I just started my presidency as of July 1st, and this is something we’re still looking into. We are lumped in with the smaller states because of our population, even though we’re large in land, so we’re trying to look at what other large states with small populations are doing. They are also calling us to find out what we’re doing, and we are all learning by trying different things. States that have a different geography and population density have problems that are very different from ours’. Nevada really is unique. We’re just starting to work on the ground floor of this advocacy thing.

SBO: As an educator, is there anything in particular that you would like to see other music teachers doing?

AS: I’ve been retired for three years, and the changes that have occurred in that time are incredible. What I would like to see is what I mentioned earlier.

Everyone needs to make it their goal to make fine arts fiscally attractive. I would like to see more community inSchool Band and Orchestra, December 2009 17

UpClose: Joshua Bell

“

There’s no reason why classical musicians can’t be heroes for kids, just like rock musicians, rappers, or sports stars.

”

Photo by Alain Barker 18 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

Sharing the

“Sheer Joy of Making Music” BY

ELIAHU SUSSMAN

School Band and Orchestra, December 2009 19

A

cclaimed as one of the great violinists of our time, Joshua Bell has performed with major symphonies in concert halls around the world, and his recordings have topped the classical music charts. Bell plays one of the finest musical instruments on the planet – the Gibson ex Huberman, a violin crafted in 1713 by Stradivarius himself and currently valued at almost four million dollars – yet, he eschews a white tie and tails in favor of more contemporary clothing. There is a need, he says, to change certain perceptions about classical music, so as to ensure that it remains “a part of the diet of young people.”

With the concept of opening up the doors of the classical genre in mind, Joshua Bell’s latest release, Joshua Bell At Home With Friends, features collaborations with numerous high profile artists, including Chris Botti, Sting, Josh Groban, and Regina Spektor, who represent a wide spectrum of musical genres.

In a recent conversation with SBO, Bell recalls the “sheer joy of music making” that was transferred to him by his childhood teacher, the late Josef Gingold, and speaks of the need for all children to be exposed to the possibilities that music provides, a goal he works towards through the New York City-based charity, Education Through Music.

School Band & Orchestra: Neither of your parents were professional musicians, yet you were raised in a musical household?

Joshua Bell: My parents were very musical. My mom was quite an accomplished pianist, but amateur. My father had a violin and loved the violin, but was self-taught. He was a singer as a child and he sang for a long time and loved music. Also my cousins and my sisters – basically everyone in my family – played music.

SBO: So you were just drawn to it as a child?

JB: Yeah, I was really drawn to it at a very early age. I certainly heard my mother playing a lot in the house as a kid and I guess you could say that I was just a musical kid. As the story 20 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

goes – I can barely remember this! – I used to collect rubber bands of various sizes from around the house and string them on my dresser drawers, and then open the drawers different amounts to play tunes on them. That was when I was three or four years old, so my parents chose to get me a violin. I don’t even remember that decision, they just got me a violin and started having me take lessons, and I just took to it.

SBO: But you went to public school. As an accomplished player at a very young age, what was your experience like playing in the school orchestras?

JB: I participated in the middle school orchestra, but the teacher nev-

er put me in the front of the orchestra for some reason. I think she wanted to give other students a chance. Our town didn’t have a youth orchestra outside of the school at the time, though I think since then it has gotten better.

I had such a strong musical curriculum outside of school, though, so I was fortunate. I know that for a lot of children, their only real opportunities for participating in music happens in the school, which is why it’s so important to make sure that we have music programs in the schools.

SBO: For sure. While you clearly took right to the violin and made remarkable progress – including a professional debut while barely

a teenager – you were also able to participate in other activities.

Would you talk about finding that healthy balance?

JB: That balance is really important. My parents felt it was important to let me be a kid and let me do other things, not just make it musicmusic-music about everything. I had a lot of interest in sports – I played tennis and basketball – and I certainly went through a phase of playing way too many video games. Well, maybe too many, maybe not. It was good to have other distractions, as well, because it kept music as something that I wanted to do. I wasn’t forced to practice six hours a day, and I think it’s important to have a well rounded life. So I’m appreciative that my parents let me be a kid as much as possible.

Bell playing with students in Harlem. Photo courtesy of Education Through Music.

SBO: You also began your musical studies at Indiana University at a very early age. How did that opportunity arise?

JB: I found a way through my school. Well, it’s my parents really, and a matter of them being really strong advocates for their child. They’re psychologists, and I don’t know if that has anything to do with it, but they were very active in making sure that I had what I needed. And it wasn’t easy.

Starting when I was five years old, they fought to put me in first grade instead of kindergarten because I was bored the first week of school. They fought the school system to get me a grade ahead, and that had never been done in our community before – there were very strict rules about that – and then when I was 12 they made a deal where I would split my time between the high school and Indiana University. In that way, my life was a little unusual.

Because music was my passion, my closest friends were at the university.

It have seemed a little bit strange from the outside – at least looking back at it; in many of the pictures I’m 13 and all my friends are 18 to 22 – but at the time it felt very natural. We shared the same passions.

So in the afternoons I’d go over to Indiana University to study and to practice and take my lessons and music theory in things like that.

Bell performing “Eleanor Rigby” with Frankie Moreno. Photo by Marc Holm.

SBO: When did you become interested in music education?

JB: Really, in my early 20s, or since my career started, something I often did – and something that was often asked of me – when I would be playing with an orchestra and we’d go into a local community, was that they would have educational outreach programs and I’d be asked to talk to a class. So I had started getting comfortable going into a classroom and talking for an hour, playing, and enjoying the interaction with the kids. Lately, the last 10 years, I have seen many of these programs disappearing.

One of the organizations I’m involved with is called “Education

Through Music,” and they are doing some really great things with getting music programs into schools that previously didn’t have any music at all.

Unfortunately, too often music and arts programs are threatened with cuts or do get cut, and so I like to do what I can to encourage local communities wherever I go to make sure that they keep the music in the schools. I’ve seen what a difference it makes.

Many of the kids in these schools are really underprivileged. Education Through Music tends to focus on low economic areas, and it’s amazing what the music programs do for these kids – it raises their whole perspective. I notice a big difSchool Band and Orchestra, December 2009 21

ference walking into a school that has a music program versus walking into one that doesn’t; there is just a huge difference in the children’s self esteem and how they work together.

Music helps them on so many different levels.

When I was approached by Education Through Music and they showed me what there were doing, I was very impressed. The first time they took me to a classroom it was to an inner-city school up in the Bronx. I’ve gone to a lot of schools, but they had done something extraordinary: they had prepared the kids for months for my arrival, and the kids all new my records and they had posters up on the walls.

When I walked into the school, they treated me like the Beatles. I’ve had my share of walking into a school and trying to explain to kids who I was and get them interested from scratch, and these kids were already prepped in such a way that it was so exciting for me – these kids treated classical music as something really cool. I realized that there’s no reason why classical musicians can’t be heroes for kids, just like rock musicians, rappers, and sports stars.

SBO: Take me inside a classroom visit. What types of things do you do?

JB: Basically just be an inspiration and show the students how music affects me. I’ll go back to the same schools so that I can see some of the same students a few times and hope-

Photo courtesy of Education Through Music.

22 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

fully have some of my enthusiasm for music rub off. I also want to show that I’m a normal guy, that I play sports and video games, and break the stereotype that classical music is something stuffy – for old men with beards. That’s basically what I do. The people at Education Through Music do most of the work – they have a really dedicated staff. I try to raise money for them, too, through benefit concerts. It’s a great program.

SBO: Let’s talk about that general perception of classical music these days. Are you trying to reinvent its image, or what would you like to see change in young people’s perception of what this art form is all about?

JB: Classical music is still classical music. It’s not that it needs to be reinvented, but certain perceptions need to change. We need to make sure that it’s a part of the diet of young people. Especially in today’s age where you have the iPods and you can stick all kinds of random stuff on there, there’s no reason why a young kid in high school can’t have jazz and rap and pop and a Beethoven symphony – and be excited about all of it.

The same is true with literature – kids are still reading Shakespeare and Tolstoy, as well as modern fiction, and it’s important to see how everything comes from the classics. I don’t think it needs to be completely reinvented, although in the way that it is presented, sometimes I think we need to go with the times on certain

things, even like dress – I abandoned the white tie and tails because it felt really archaic. That has nothing to do with the music at all, but it helps with the perception.

There are places [that understand this], like, for instance, the Proms in London at the Royal Albert Hall, where I play pretty much every summer. There are about eight thousand seats and they put on these concerts every night and fill the place with young people that wait in lines that go down the street in order to get into the promenade, where they’re standing at the bottom section like at a rock concert. People like to go where they feel comfortable and where their peers are, and here they are going to listen to serious classical concerts – not pops, not just Star Wars themes and things like that; real classical concerts – and they love it. It makes me realize that one of the things that keeps the younger people away is the feeling that [classical music] isn’t embracing to young people.

A lot of orchestras are thinking about different ways to present it without cheapening the music. You don’t have to cut it or add drumbeats; there’s a lot that can be done without selling out on the music.

SBO: Speaking of the perception of classical music, that experiment that you participated in where you posed as a busker in a Washington D.C. metro station was fascinating.

Would you mind talking about that experience for a moment?

JB: Yes, that. It sort of blew up into something that I never expected. It was almost three years ago and it’s been haunting me ever since! [laughs] SBO: “Haunting?”

JB: It just was talked about so much, which in some ways is a good thing. Gene Weingarten asked me to go into this metro station to see what the public reaction would be to someone who is established as a concert artist going into a place like that and playing where one wouldn’t expect – to see if people would stop, how they would react, or even if they would react at all. It turned out pretty much how I expected; for the most part, people walked by or ran by and didn’t really take the time to listen. A few did, and it was interesting to see who did.

Gene followed up, asking people why they did or did not stop, and the article made people think about context and perception. For me it was something that was fun and different, so I volunteered to do it.

SBO: To think that you could’ve been playing that night in front of thousands of people, but didn’t draw that much attention playing for free in a crowded metro station is mind-boggling. Shifting gears for a moment, you have a new release coming out called “Joshua Bell At Home With Friends.”

JB: You talk about getting young people interested in classical music, doing projects like this, where I play with

musicians from other genres, helps in some ways, I find.

From doing things with artists in other fields, I find a lot of people coming backstage at my concerts saying that they were introduced to me through someone else, like Josh Groban, for instance. I get a lot of his fans saying that they’d never heard of me or that they’d never seen a classical concert in their life, and now they’re following

School Band and Orchestra, December 2009 23

my stuff and that of other classical musicians. A lot of times, people just don’t know the right entryway, they don’t know where to start.

So this album is a collection of performances with various friends that I’ve met over the past 25 years of my concert life. I brought them together – it’s a real eclectic mish-mash of things – and it’s supposed to reflect my ideal musical soiree, which I do hold in my

house, although I’ve never had all of these people together at one time.

I like to have intimate casual house concerts at my home, and this album reflects that.

SBO: This raises the theme of music drawing people together and creating a social context?

JB: Well, it’s certainly fun for the musicians to do that sort of thing.

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It’s also fun for the audience. I do classical performances in my house and a lot of my friends don’t know anything about classical music because I have a lot of friends outside of that world. They have been to my concerts at Carnegie Hall and those types of places on occasion, but when they come into my house and see these house concerts, they’re much more enthralled. They get the visceral nature of it and come right up close to the music. It’s a fun way to bring people together, and a lot of the great chamber music was written for that setting: Schubert, Mendelsohn, et cetera. That’s the way people used to enjoy music, in their own homes, in the 19th century.

SBO: What do you find to be the most rewarding element of working with students?

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JB: The most rewarding is when I feel like I’ve inspired a kid to make music his or her life. It’s certainly happened on occasion that people will say that I was their inspiration.

When you see that sparking an interest or see the light bulb go off in a young person’s head, that’s certainly very rewarding. I’ve had that for me when I was kid from various people, most importantly Josef Gingold.

Without him, I don’t know what direction my life would have gone in.

He just made me want to be a musician. It’s rewarding to be on the other side of the equation. Also, you learn from teaching. It is kind of clichÊ, but there is so much you can learn from your students. But I’m not a big teacher yet. I’m still busy traveling and performing – but someday I’d like to do more.

SBO: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for music educators out there?

JB: It’s important that music is fun for kids. Concentrate on the joy of music making. Sure it’s a skill and it takes hard work to learn, but it should always be fun. That’s something that my teacher passed on to me: the sheer joy of making music.

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SBOSurvey

Music in American Homes

I

n a break from SBO’s regular survey format, which features responses and comments from

Percentage of households that currently have at least one musical instrument player:

the SBO readership, this issue’s survey is a sum-

54% 52% 50%

mary of relevant and excerpted data compiled

by the Gallup Organization, which is commissioned

58%

38%

every three years by NAMM, the International Music Products Association, to “profile U.S. household participation and attitudes regarding the playing of musical instruments.”

1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 Percentage of households with two or more players:

The results show that more people are playing

40%

music than at any point in the past decade, and attitudes about music remain very positive. Share your

38%

40%

43%

34%

thoughts on this poll by e-mailing SBO editor Eliahu Sussman at esussman@symphonypublishing.com.

26 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

1997 2000 2003 2006 2009

Gender of persons among households with at least one member who plays:

35 or older (34-49)

23% 22% 23% 23%

Someone in household owns a musical instrument (by education and income):

Male

No College

52% 49% 50% 49%

47% 47%

56%

2000 2003 2006 2009 50 or older 2000 2003 2006 2009

21% 20% 15%

Female

18%

College Grad

51% 50% 51% 48% 2000 2003 2006 2009

2000 2003 2006 2009

23%

21% Age of persons among households with at least one member who plays:

29% 31% 30%

35%

64%

66% 66%

Player participation in formal activities:

2003 2006 2009

Take private lessons

Under 18 (5-17)

2003 2006 2009

18%

20%

Under $45,000/year

49% 41%

39%

2000 2003 2006 2009 Take other types of instrumental music lessons

11% 15%

12% 12%

2003 2006 2009 Over$45,000/year

66% 66% 57%

2000 2003 2006 2009 2000 2003 2006 2009

Under 35 (18-34)

27% 27%

32% 24%

Participating in Shcool Instrumental Music Programs

41% 40%

2003 2006 2009

29% 23%

2000 2003 2006 2009 2000 2003 2006 2009 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009 27

Agreement with attitudes about music education in schools: (Percentage of 2009 respondents who “agree.�)

School band/orchestra is a good way to develop teamwork: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96% Music is part of a well-rounded education: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94% Schools should offer instrument music instructions as part of regular curriculum: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92% Participating in school music corresponds with better grades/test scores: . . . . . . 88% States should mandate music education so all students have the opportunity to study in school: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80%

How did musicians (including current and former players) first learn to play?

Took lessons at school

25%

30% 22% 16%

Why should children learn to play instruments?

Helps children make friends: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93% Teaches children discipline: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88% Helps develop creativity: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59% Helps a child’s overall intellectual development: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45% Music helps performance in other subjects like math and science: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81% Teenagers who play music are less likely to have discipline problems: . . . . . . . . . . . 75%

2000 2003 2006 2009 Took private lessons

37%

34% 26% 27%

What musical instruments do people play? (Includes all players in all households.)

Upright piano: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21% Acoustic Guitar: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15% Woodwind: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12% Grand piano� . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9% Drums or percussion: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9% Brass: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8% Electric guitar: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7% Other instrument: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7% Other stringed: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5% Other keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Other bass: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2% Other fretted: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1% (“Other instrument� includes DJ turntables, computer music products, drum machines, et cetera.)

2000 2003 2006 2009 Taught self

26%

22%

20%

14%

2000 2003 2006 2009 Took band/orchestra at school

14% 6SHFLDOLVWV LQ FXVWRPL]HG SHUIRUPLQJ SURJUDPV DURXQG WKH ZRUOG IRU EDQGV DQG RUFKHVWUDV

15%

18%

9%

2000 2003 2006 2009 Parent/Family Member Taught

13%

5% &RQWDFW XV DW RU RQOLQH DW ZZZ FDVWHUEULGJHFRQFHUWWRXUV FRP 28 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

8%

9%

2000 2003 2006 2009

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SBOReport:

50 Directors

Who Make a Difference

A

s has been remarked upon time and again, this past year has not been an easy one for many public schools.

Cuts in both funding and staff have had harsh impacts on teachers and their students. With glimmers of hope that the American economy may finally be breaching the stormy clouds, there is no shortage of reasons to be optimistic about school music programs throughout the country. In fact, in this report, School Band & Orchestra is proud to present 50 of them.

The educators selected for SBO’s 12th annual 50 Directors who Make a Difference report hail from every state in the nation, and they are but a sampling of the many great music instructors in our schools. From eager newcomers who are breathing new life into music programs to wizened veterans who continue to share their years of experience and knowledge, each of the teachers profiled in the following pages represents a reason to have confidence that music will find its way through the dark and twisting maze of funding and bureaucracy and into the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s leaders. With educators such as these among the rank and file, the future of music education is as bright as ever.

ALABAMA

Dr. Rusty Logan Director of Bands Auburn High School Auburn Years at School: 21 Total Years Teaching: 30 Students in Program: 170 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope that I can set an example that my students would embrace. When they leave my class, they will understand that hard work, dedication, and an enjoyment of what you do can lead to a fuller life. I truly enjoy coming to work each day and spending time with my students. I hope they see this and will take it into their own lives.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: I have had many proud moments in my career. The proudest is watching those students who decide that they want to become a band director. It is such a joy to realize that these students see what you do each day and decide that want to do the same themselves. Then once they do become a band director, the enjoyment comes from watching their band perform.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: I have learned that there really is no correlation to how accomplished a student may be (or become) on their instrument, to how good of a band student they are. Some of my most dedicated students have been some of the least talented. These students try as hard as they can, do everything that is asked, and become the strongest supporters of the band once they leave. When you first start teaching, these are the students you might wish were not in the program because they are not strong players.

As you grow and mature as a director, you realize that these students really are just as important as an All-State player.

ALASKA

ARIZONA

Director of Orchestras South Anchorage High School Anchorage Years at School: 6 Total Years Teaching: 40 Students in Program: 90 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope that my orchestra classroom will be a safe place for my students, a place where they are respected, comfortable, at peace, and able to enjoy sharing an activity that they love. I hope to make the orchestra class different and unique in the school day of my students. I promote music as a lifelong activity, both through words and modeling. It is my hope that my students will also participate actively in music throughout their lives.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: My proudest moments have nothing to do with the success or failure of a performance, how much the latest fundraiser earned, or how many students are accepted to All-State. My proudest moments occur every time a student plays a scale in tune for the first time, every time a student corrects a bow hold with the resulting improved tone quality, every time a shy student is able to express himself through music, and especially when a student decides that music would be a rewarding career choice.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: 100 percent is never enough.

Director of Bands/Conductor University Wind Ensemble The University of Arizona School of Music Tucson Years at School: 20 Total Years Teaching: 40 Students in Program: 40 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: By creating an advanced level of self-awareness and creative sensibility through the study and performance of music.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: There are too many to specify one.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That our young people have no limits.

Kathryn Hoffer

Gregg I. Hanson

ARKANSAS Michael Wells

Band Director Clinton School District Clinton Years at School: 2 Total Years Teaching: 13 Students in Program: 116 students in program MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope to teach students that the only limitations that exist are the ones they place upon themselves. Teaching in a smaller school, I see students who think they can never reach the same level as the students in the larger programs. I try to teach my band members that success is a product of how much you are willing to put into it and is not controlled by outside forces. Hopefully this lesson will

serve them past high school music and into their future plans of college and beyond.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: The first time I saw one of my former students standing up and conducting a band of his own.

I realized just how much impact one person can have and how indirectly I was influencing students I had never met. It reminded me of my deep respect for my own high school band director who was my motivation to become a teacher, and how I now was in his position inspiring others into the field.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: As a young director, I was more focused on what students I had lost out of the program and how we would make it without them. I have since learned that no one person, student, or director is bigger than the program. Instead, focus on teaching those students that are right in front of you; there will always be someone ready and willing to step up into the role of leader. Sometimes it’s even the student you least expected, who was just waiting for their chance.

CALIFORNIA Gregory Taylor

Band Director Beaumont High School Beaumont Years at School: 4 Total Years Teaching: 18 Students in Program: 48 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: By exposing my students to high quality music literature in a stimulating, nurturing environment. I’m very fortunate to be School Band and Orchestra, December 2009 31

50 able to work in such a place where I can do just that. By providing them daily with opportunities to be successful, I believe that will help my students to become better musicians and individuals as they approach adulthood.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Of course, I have proud moments daily, like when my band plays a piece particularly well, or when a student learns a new concept. When I was hired at my current school four years ago, that may be my proudest moment yet. My place of work is in a scenic community at the base of a very tall mountain. It is in a small town that is growing, but still has a strong sense of family values. I feel very fortunate to have the privilege to work in such a great place with an extremely supportive principal, dedicated parents, and terrific students.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: I am charged with the awesome responsibility of teaching students music at the highest standards possible. This never ends! I have learned that I can never rest and feel I’ve done all that I am supposed to do, because there is always something more that needs to be done to advance my program. I think above all else, I have learned that I should always treat my students as musicians, from the very beginning.

COLORADO Ed Roush

Director of Instrumental Music Pomona High School Arvada Years at School: 19 Total Years Teaching: 19 Students in Program: 175 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope that they leave our program understanding they are capable of anything they can imagine.

Through performance opportunities, 32 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

we constantly try to offer students the chance to see that they can produce levels of achievement that are well above what they believe possible when they enter our program. Whether these students continue in music or not, our hope is that they value the lessons they learned in our band program and that they not only strive for excellence in all areas of their lives, but that they will also become advocates for the benefits we all know music education provides.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Although our program has been fairly successful, my proudest moment has nothing to do with awards or titles. It would have to be the letters that I have received from previous students who have recognized that the passion they shared with all the other members of our program to constantly achieve at a high level has created a positive impact as they moved on in their lives.

I cannot begin to describe how humbling it is to know that in some small way I have impacted someone’s life in a positive manner. It definitely drives me to continue to reach out to every student in our program and let them know important we believe they are.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: I have learned that music allows the opportunity to teach some truly powerful and many times unexpected life lessons. In our classrooms, we create lifelong friendships, the passion to have music be a daily part of our lives and the expectation of giving and sharing the absolute best of ourselves in everything we do. I know I have experienced those moments when things seemed overwhelming and I wondered if my efforts were really making any difference. I try to always fall back on my belief that if we allow students to see the benefits learning and creat-

ing music will give them beyond the classroom and we continually strive to provide (and expect) the very best for and from our students, they will not only continue to want to participate in music but they will share with so many others how being involved in music education has enriched their lives.

CONNECTICUT Peter Horton

Band Director Trumbull High School Trumbull Years at School: 20 Total Years Teaching: 37 Students in Program: 250 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: Students today need to understand the trials and tribulations that life is going to bring them. My goal is to give my students a variety of life and musical experiences. Through band, the student learns social skills, discipline – both behavioral and work oriented – how to budget time, how to set long and short term goals, respect for people, places and things and how to face success, as well as defeat. By becoming the best they can be, I hope that they will be prepared for life after high school.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: The band being accepted to perform at the 2001 and 2009 Presidential Inaugural Parades, and the faces on my students on becoming Class V Champions of the Musical Arts Conference in 2006 and 2007.

The students work very hard throughout the year and to be acknowledged as one of the top bands in the country is a great honor and a very proud moment.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That a teacher needs to be open, flexible and adaptable. Without these traits, teaching and being a band director would be most difficult.

50 DELAWARE

GEORGIA

Director of Bands Caesar Rodney High School Camden Years at School: 20 Total Years Teaching: 32 Students in Program: 220 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: In addition to a lifelong passion for music and the arts, I also hope that students leave me with a sense of great pride in teamwork – setting and achieving goals through hard work. I hope they know they were a part of something very special while they were here.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: It’s difficult to define any one single moment, but every one that comes to mind involves student achievement. For instance, just last week one of our marching band members was named to the US Army All-American Marching Band. It is a huge honor, and he worked hard for it. Another student comes to mind as well - one who struggled in school, and as his mother said to me many times, only stayed in school because of band. Today, in addition to being successfully employed, he is a great husband and father. I am proud of both of these students, and many others like them. I like to think I am a part of their success in life.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: I think I have learned that we music educators really have the edge on the field of education. Every time something new comes down the pike – performance assessment, differentiated instruction, you name it – I realize that we already do it in music education, and we’ve been doing it for years.

Director of Bands Pope High School Marietta Years at School: 22 Total Years Teaching: 25 Students in Program: 195 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: It is my hope that students will experience lessons through participation in the band program that will make them stronger members of society and better adults. While our focus is on musical development, we also relate our experiences to the everyday lessons in life, such as cooperation, planning, efficiency, credibility, trust, determination, and vision. If they can learn lessons in our program that will allow them to be more successful later in life, then I feel that I have done a good job as their teacher.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: This fall we hosted a multi-year reunion for our alumni. To reconnect with so many former students and to hear about how our experiences have shaped their lives was humbling and gratifying. It was also amazing to see how many former students are now teachers or performers and still keep music as a part of their lives.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That we do not teach music, we teach students. Even those who are not your top players can benefit greatly from the program. The awards and accolades are nice, but the process of learning is the ultimate prize.

DuWane L. Sandlin

34 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

Gary Gribble

FLORIDA Ryan Kelly

Director of Bands Lincoln High School Tallahassee Years at School: 3 Total Years Teaching: 5 Students in Program: 120 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STU-

DENTS’ LIVES: As I see it, the most important job of any music educator is to teach students not only to be performers, but also appreciative patrons of music. While I may have a few students who will become future symphony orchestra musicians, I am educating a much larger number of students who will hopefully be future symphony orchestra audience members. I want my students to love the experience of listening to music, attending performances, and purchasing recordings as much as I want them to enjoy playing it. I measure my success as an educator by the degree to which my students keep music in their lives after they graduate.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: When my band performed at the National Concert Band Festival in March 2009, the most exciting moment of the entire trip was in the rehearsal room in our final opportunity to prepare for our performance.

Going through a routine we had been through many times before in rehearsal had an energy that it had never had before. My students had heard other high school bands play outstanding programs, and with their turn coming up, the level of excitement and anticipation for playing music they had worked on for months had never been so high. I knew in the first few seconds of that rehearsal that preparing for this concert had positively affected the way in which my students appreciated the experience of performing great music.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That being a music educator is much more than being a conductor, rehearsal-facilitator, musical critic, or disciplinarian. Instilling and cultivating a love of music in my students has become my number one priority, and I see it as my job to educate and expose them to as many quality musical experiences as possible. While the majority of our learning takes place in the preparation of

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50 quality literature for performance, encouraging students to attend concerts, purchase recordings, and experience music outside of the band room has had a tremendous effect on the enthusiasm my students bring into rehearsals. I have found that my students share the same excitement that I do in our performances because of the way they experience music outside of the fifty minutes per day I spend with them.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That you have to be humble and remind yourself every day that being at your best everyday is essential to the students’ lives. Music education is not just about teaching music. It is about using the fine art of music to shape every student into the masterpieces that they deserve to be. The students are my number one pride and joy! Teaching music is the best profession in the world.

HAWAII

IDAHO

Band Director Moanalua High School Honolulu Years at School: 21 years Total Years Teaching: 21 years Students in Program: 600 students MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: It is always the hope that the lessons learned through music will affect the students’ lives in every way. I also hope that every student will learn that music is not only the finest art form, but a necessary and life developing discipline that every student should master. Students need to be people first.

If they can master the basic personal values that music requires, then everything else (music and academics) will eventually fall in to place.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: It’s really hard to choose one or even a few since there have been so many great tear-jerking moments here. If I had to choose, then I guess it would have to be the full house standing ovation performances at Carnegie Hall and the International Band Festival at Hamamatsu, Japan. The feeling of the huge audience appreciating the students’ hard work and sacrifices were moments that I will never forget. Of course, as I said before, there were so many more, too.

Band Director, Music Coordinator Highland High School Pocatello Years at School: 26 Total Years Teaching: 32 Students in Program: 160 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I see myself not only as a music educator, but as someone who is a mentor, disciplinarian, friend, and life skills teacher. I want students to love music but to exit my program with the necessary skills to be successful in whatever they choose to do with their lives.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: I’ve had so many it’s hard to name just one. I feel so very blessed to have been able to take my band to the BCS Championship halftime in Miami this past January and was also very honored to be named the Simplot Inspirational Teacher for the year all during my 25th year at Highland High School. I have had many great moments when I’ve been fortunate enough to see the light coming on in a student’s eyes and you know they feel the magic of a great musical experience.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: You can only learn so much from college classes; the rest is gained through experience. Teaching is a humbling profession and you

Elden Seta

36 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

Jay Ronk

should never be so stuck on yourself that you forget to try to be better at what you do every single day. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself – the students definitely will when you make a mistake!

ILLINOIS Jeff Neavor

Director of Bands Morton High School Morton Years at School: 9 Total Years Teaching: 13 Students in Program: 130 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: My music teachers had a profound impact on my life. I went into education to have the incredible opportunity to share that with future generations. While music organizations expose students to the arts and culture, our goal is to prepare students for real life while gaining a love and respect of music. The goal is to have students learn that the proudest moments in life are a result of effort, respect, responsibility and teamwork. I hope that they graduate with a life-long love of music, and a constant desire to set high goals and rise to the challenge.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Marching past the President of the United States. Seeing the pride in the faces of the students, staff, alumni, and parents and experiencing the overwhelming support from our community to send the students to Washington D.C. is something I’ll never forget.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Students will rise to our expectations. Every time we’ve raised the bar to a level that seems just out of reach, when the students know that we truly believe in them, they’ve jumped over the bar and raised it even higher.

50 INDIANA

Janis Stockhouse Director of Bands Bloomington High School North Bloomington Years at School: 30 Total Years Teaching: 34 Students in Program: 200 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: By sharing with them my passion for music, I hope that they too will become excited about making music, and see how it can enrich their lives. Becoming a confident musician can also help them to have more personal confidence in themselves.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Seeing the looks in their eyes when they know that they just presented a truly spectacular and musical performance.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: To treat every student with the same level of interest and respect.

IOWA

Nate Sletten Band Director Earlham Community Schools Earlham Years at School: 2 Total Years Teaching: 13 Students in Program: 114 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: It is an honor to teach music. It is an even greater honor to teach students. I want my students to walk out of the band room with a positive attitude, a drive for success and the inspiration to make the world a better place.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: A senior student’s parent walked up to me after graduation crying. She gave me a big hug and told me that she had something very important to 38 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

tell me. After wiping away the tears from her face, she told me that her son named me as the most influential person in his life. We both walked away from that conversation with tears in our eyes.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Music education is not only a job, but a lifestyle. Even though it can get overwhelming at times, it is important to realize that you are not alone. There are so many great professional organizations, publications and mentors out there ready and willing to help you out. Just don’t be afraid to ask.

KANSAS Eric Griffin

Director of Bands Olathe East High School Olathe Years at School: 13 Total Years Teaching: 14 Students in Program: 140 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope to leave students with a lasting impression that music matters, and that they shouldn’t settle for less than their personal best. When they begin life after public school, some students will continue in music, and some won’t, but I hope that all will continue to value high achievement in music and in life.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Last spring, we were given the opportunity to perform at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The performance itself was memorable for all involved, but it was the dress rehearsal that was my own personal “mountaintop” experience. We all teach our students that the cumulative learning process through rehearsal is the key to a great performance, and at this dress rehearsal it was clear that the kids took that to heart, and were ready to deliver.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Music education is a balancing act. Just like music itself, and just like life. I’m still learning that lesson.

KENTUCKY David Centers

Director of Bands Central Hardin High School Cecilia Years at School: 6 Total Years Teaching: 10 Students in Program: 135 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: It is my hope that in teaching students how to make music, I am doing something far greater in showing them how to live a full and rich life. I hope that through this shared experience in band that my students leave with a greater understanding of how to live and work together. I hope that they learn how to face the hard times with great attitudes and meet challenges head on with determination and hard work. I hope that I have given them skills and knowledge that will go beyond just playing an instrument and translate into solutions for their real life dilemmas and a plan for their future. I hope that I make a difference by creating not just great musicians, but great people.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: I have had many proud moments as a band director – from great accomplishments in competitions to great performances on stage with the full band to fantastic solos with individual students. But the times that stand out the most are those that I recall having directly impacted individual students. I am reminded of my first year here at Central Hardin near the end of the marching band season when we were honoring our senior band and football members. Each senior had a chance to walk across the field with their parents as the student’s name,

accomplishments, and future plans were being read. I had one student whose parents would not come for this event. He approached me and asked if I would walk with him. I was honored to do so – and very proud to be his band director at that moment.

I realized at that time that I had made an impact in his life deep enough that he would allow me to walk side-byside with him for this special occasion. It is times like this that I look back on with the most pride.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Perseverance. Things don’t always go your way, but there are those moments that it is all worth it. The daily stresses of rehearsals, scheduling, instrumentation, and retention can seem to negate the overall progress of a program and of its students. However, I have learned that the one quality that outlasts all others is perseverance. At the end of my career I hope that I can say that I persevered and I made a difference in students lives – not just musically, but also in the great business of being human.

LOUISIANA Robert Freeman

Director of Bands West Monroe High School West Monroe Years at School: 13 Total Years Teaching: 15 Students in Program: 250 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I know that most of my students will not become professional performers, although a few will choose music education in college. I hope that being a band member has instilled a love of music that extends beyond the classroom and will help them to be advocates for music in our community. I hope that the lessons learned in our band program will assist them in becoming successful, engaged, motivated young adults in whatever field of study they choose after high school.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: There are so many. I think the proudest moment I have had as a

teacher was when our band was chosen to represent the state of Louisiana in the 2005 Inaugural Parade of George W. Bush. We had such a short amount of time to make the arrangements and raise the necessary funds. Our community came through with overwhelming support, and it was so humbling to see the entire region get behind our band in that endeavor.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That there is always more to learn. This profession is a life-long pursuit of knowledge and understanding. I covet the advice of seasoned colleagues daily and am continually reminded that there is more to learn, more to share, more to give. I can always do better.

MAINE

Dr. Paul McGovern Band Director Portland High School Portland Years at School: 3 Total Years Teaching: 17 Students in the Program: 30 MAKING DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope that my students will recognize and appreciate the value of music as a unique way to enrich their lives and those of others.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: I am always most proud when I see my students working hard and doing

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50 their best to achieve excellence in rehearsal and performance.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Everyone is capable of being musical and, therefore, every student must have ample opportunity in school to develop their musical skills to their potential.

MARYLAND Brooke Humfeld

Director of Bands Patuxent High School Lusby Years at School: 1 Total Years Teaching: 1 Students in Program: 75 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: My hope is that students will leave my program with an appreciation for band literature and music performance. I also hope that they will take with them a true passion for music, whether as a future career, a fun activity, or an emotional outlet. I want my students to find the value and importance of music in a way that is most meaningful to them.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: As this is my first year teaching, watching my students perform for the first time was an incredibly proud moment for me. I was overwhelmed as I watched them take all of the tools I have given to them and perform with such emotion. Their musical ability, intense focus, and pure enjoyment of the activity was evident in every minute of their performance. I was so proud to call them my students, and knew that more moments such as this would make every day as an educator worthwhile.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That no matter what other day-to-day responsibilities I may have as a band director, my students must always come first. By developing sincere and unique relationships with every single one of my students, I feel 40 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

that I have gotten them one step closer to feeling confident in their abilities, proud of their accomplishments, and motivated to keep music in their lives for many years to come.

MASSACHUSETTS Steven T. Yavarow

Director of Bands/Coordinator of Music Hopkinton Public Schools Hopkinton Years at School: 30 years Total Years Teaching: 32 Years Students in Program: 1140 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope that my students will experience the joy that music has given me and to help them gain valuable life skills as they grow.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Having my students perform multiple times at Symphony Hall in Boston after receiving gold medals at our state festival.

MOST IMORTANT LESSON LEARNED: You need to keep growing and learning from those around you.

You need to “rub elbows” with who you consider the best so you can grow as an educator and to pass that knowledge onto your students.

MICHIGAN Ryan J. Stangl

Michigan Lutheran High School St. Joseph Years at School: 6 Total Years Teaching: 9 Students in Program: 70 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: First of all, as a person and an educator I try to be a good example for them in general. The world is full of bad examples for our youth to follow, so I hope that the way I approach both the successes and chal-

lenges in my life will provide a positive example for my students to emulate.

As a music educator, I strive to share with my students the love I have for music. My hope is that, by sharing my enjoyment of music with them, I can help them both appreciate the power and importance of music and find ways for them to use their musical abilities in their lives.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: I don’t think of the successes I’ve experienced as “proud” moments, because they generally aren’t about me.

The things that bring me the greatest joy in my ministry as a Lutheran music educator are the times when I can show my students how powerful and meaningful God’s gift of music can be. Whether they use their music in a worship setting or in a secular pops concert, my greatest joy comes from seeing my students apply the musical gifts they’ve been given to share their music with others.

When we use the gifts we’re given, we validate the one who gave those gifts to us. I don’t give the gifts of music to my students, but I have the privilege of being able to help them develop those gifts so they can give praise back to the one who truly did bless them. When I have led my students to that end, there’s no better feeling as a music educator.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Teaching music isn’t about making kids play the right notes at the right time; it’s about learning how to breathe life into the notes on the page.

So often I find my students trying to get everything right when they play, and in the process they lose sight of the music inside of the notes. I can’t imagine a composer who would want his or her music to be played technically precise at the expense of what the music is trying to say within itself. And the beauty of music is that it is brought to life anew each time it’s performed by each unique group that performs it.

I’ve learned that the most important thing I can do is to help my students find the soul of the music behind the notes on the page.

MINNESOTA Jim Iverson

School Band Director Fergus Falls High School Fergus Falls Years at School: 26 Total Years Teaching: 33 Students in Program: 200 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I try to be a good role model for my students through the pride and passion that I exhibit in my teaching, and I challenge them to use that same level of pride in all of the things they do in their lives.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: It was a very exciting time for our band program when our marching band was selected to march in the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington D.C. During the time leading up to our inaugural performance, I received many e-mails and letters from former students, expressing their pride for being a Fergus Falls band alumni, and thanking me for the experience they received in my program. It was an overwhelming and humbling experience to know that I had made a difference in so many of my student’s lives.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: High expectations yield high results. Continue to challenge the students to not be ordinary, but instead to be the best they can be, both musically and as young adults making correct choices in today’s society. Challenging the students in this manner continues to make me a better educator also.

MISSISSIPPI Joe A. Cacibauda

Director of Bands Ocean Springs High School Ocean Springs Years at School: 25 Total Years Teaching: 37 Students in Program: 752 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: When students are a part of the Ocean Springs programs, I hope they have a feeling of learning, togethSchool Band and Orchestra, December 2009 41

50 erness and belonging. Our program provides strong teachings of music, social graces and citizenship. It is my intention to provide the best possible band and life experiences, as well as learning environment, for students each day. I hope they leave each day with a sense of worth, pride, and a desire to share what they’ve learned.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: It happens each day… when a phrase is played with so much emotion you feel it in the air…when students smile and you can tell they love and are proud of who they are, what they’re doing and where they are… making music!

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Never settle for less. If you set high standards and expectations, within reason, students will do what it takes to reach them…and they do it for you… then, somewhere down the road, they realize they did it for themselves as well.

MISSOURI Curtis Tipton

Director of Bands Parkview High School Springfield Years at School: 4 Total Years Teaching: 8 Students in Program: 145 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope to instill in my students a hardwork ethic and a sense of ownership for the musical product that our groups. Most importantly, I want my students to leave my program as respectful and trustworthy young adults.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: One of the things (there are many) that I am always really humbled by is when I have students tell me that I made an impact in their lives and that I inspired them to want to go into the music teaching profession.

42 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Students do not respond to yelling and put-downs. Teachers must have very high expectations for their students and reward the students that continually do the right thing.

MONTANA Jennifer Kirby

Director of Bands Florence-Carlton Schools Florence Years at School: 6 Total Years Teaching: 12 Students in Program: 182 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope to bring students an appreciation of, if not a love of, many different forms of music. They also gain, whether they like it or not, a sense of discipline and an admiration of the work ethic it takes to play an instrument. Playing an instrument is a lifelong skill of which you never grow too old to do. Whether my students continue to be players or are active listeners, they will know what it takes and can be better supporters of the arts.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Came this year when five of my students made the Montana AllState Band. This is a big deal for students from a Class B school.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: They are daily, making it difficult to identify the most important. I think I have to say that I know in my heart and must always remind myself that it is not just about the music - it is about the students. They are why I am here.

NEBRASKA Tim Rischling

Wahoo Public Schools Wahoo Years at School: 1 Total Years Teaching: 1

Students in Program: 150 students participating in 5th-12th grade band MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: Teach them a skill that they can use and enjoy for the rest of their lives.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: As a first year teacher, just witnessing my beginning students see their progress from their first time picking up the instrument to what they know today.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Having patience will give you more progress and a better result.

NEVADA

Curtis Melton Director of Bands Cimarron-Memorial High School Las Vegas Years at School: 2 Total Years Teaching: 2 Students in Program: 70 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope to give my students a memorable experience while in my classes, to instill leadership skills, solid thinking skills, as well as how to have fun with music. I also hope that they will learn valuable life lessons while in my program - as well as not being afraid to take risks.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: It was in October 2008, when I took over the Cimarron-Memorial Band Program, and we went to our first competition of the season. We took first place as well as Outstanding Visual and General Effect. The win was not the proudest moment in itself – it was the moment where my new band students, my new band parents, my staff and I got to celebrate how far we had come in such a short period of time. Seeing the kids’ reactions, seeing them in tears of joy, was truly one of the more remarkable moments of

my career thus far. Also this school year, seeing where my band started in August, and seeing the exponential growth they’ve made in just a few short months has also been extremely rewarding for me, to see that they are enjoying music, and I feel that this year we have a really close band “family.”

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That the size of your band is not everything. Developing a rapport, developing musicality and the experiences can be just as rewarding with a small band as it can be with a large band.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Scott Thibodeau

Band Director Bishop Guertin High School Nashua Years at School: 2 Total Years Teaching: 2 Students in Program: 60 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: Students don’t only learn how to play music, they learn so much about social interaction, public speaking, performing, teamwork, auditioning, etc. I hope that when students graduate they take away all of the life lessons they learned and come out a well rounded person with a love and appreciation for all types of music.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: It came last year during our band trip to San Antonio, Texas. We marched in the Fiesta Flambeau parade, which is an illuminated parade at night. After the parade was finished every single one of my students was excited and completely pumped about the experience they just had.

That was the best they had played all year, and they were all excited to be performing. Just knowing that I didn’t have to do anything to incite them to perform as well as they did made me proud that they had taken away the lessons I had been teaching all year. It also didn’t hurt that we won second place in the out-of-state band category.

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50 MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Not to dwell on your mistakes, which you will make plenty of. Even as a second year teacher I can look back on last year and say, “Wow, that was stupid. Why did I ever do that?” The best thing you can do is learn from your mistakes and keep trying to improve. As a teacher you also have to be a lifelong student.

NEW JERSEY Joe Bongiovi

Band Director Princeton High School Princeton Years at School: 4 Total Years Teaching: 7 Students in Program: 167 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: By not only teaching music, but using music as a way of teaching my students life skills that will prepare them for college and the real world. I am fortunate to work with great music students, but pure musicianship alone will not carry a student through our program at Princeton High School. Responsibility, character, commitment and hard work are stressed throughout the entire year in all of the ensembles we offer. It is my hope that these high standards and expectations help our students develop a self-discipline they will need to succeed after they leave Princeton.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: In May of 2008, we took Princeton’s Studio Band to Italy for a performance tour. As part of that tour, our students performed at the Boys’ and Girls’ Town in Rome. Boys’ and Girls’ Town of Rome is a school and community environment for children throughout the world who have tragically lost their parents as a result of war. Most of the children there at the time were from Iraq and Afghan44 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

istan. As our students performed for their entire community, their students began to dance the way they dance in their home countries. It was touching to see music transcend all language and cultural differences and allow all the students to communicate non-verbally. I was extremely proud of my students in this international setting, not only because they played well, but they represented our country in such a positive manner.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Teaching music is not just teaching students to play the right notes at the right time. It’s teaching how to express a feeling or an emotion that our students might not be able to express in other ways.

I’ve learned that it’s not about getting first place in a competition, but that it’s about getting goose bumps during a performance. Music is for everyone, and I think we can teach everyone how to achieve these emotions no matter what their musical skill level is.

NEW MEXICO Henry Estrada

Band Director Los Lunas High School Los Lunas Years at School: 26 Total Years Teaching: 32 Students in Program: 90 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: My goal is to help every student learn how to love and appreciate music on a deeper level than your average radio listener and to pursue their interest in music beyond the classroom.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: There are actually many recurring proud moments that I have as a teacher. Every time I watch the students buy in to what music is really about (beyond the notes and rhythms and into the expressive qualities inher-

ent in music), I feel really proud to be the one to have helped open the door for them into the intrinsic value of great music. This is what gives greater value to their lives.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: It is more important to educate each student on the value of music in their lives than to win countless awards. The awards eventually fade, but their love of music will last them a lifetime and continue to enrich their lives. In addition, the structure provided by a well run program will be invaluable for them as they learn to structure their own lives.

NEW YORK John J. Spillett

Director of Bands Solvay High School Solvay Years at School: 32 Total Years Teaching: 32 Students in Program: 44 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: Music is a powerful force that touches people spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally and cognitively. I love music and I want to share my knowledge and love of music with my students. My educational goal is to provide students with the means to understand, communicate and express themselves with the unique language of music. This will produce students with a deeper understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of music and its unique potential to enrich their lives. I hope to make a difference in their lives by nurturing them not only as student musicians but as unique individuals.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: I have had many proud moments as a teacher. My proudest moments have come from helping student musicians from Solvay High School reach the highest levels of musical achievement both individu-

NORTH CAROLINA James Daugherty

Director of Bands Central Davidson High School Lexington Years at School: 16 Total Years Teaching: 16 Students in Program: 140 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: When I began to teach, I had all this knowledge from years of great training, and just couldn’t understand when students didn’t want to hear about tone quality, twelve major scales, or the history of a Holst Suite. Eventually the realization came that to balance all the musical goals I have, which are so important, I must also understand the kids I teach on a personal level. We must know about them, who they are, where they live, what they like, what makes them happy, and what makes them sad. All of these elements make a tremendous difference in attention, discipline, support. How can we ever forget that one of the reasons we all got into a music profession isn’t necessarily because someone made us a better musician, but because a music teacher cared about us in a very caring and professional way that caught our attention and gave us the drive to want it more and more? In a seminar, I once heard a presenter say, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” So often we, in today’s fast-paced, busy world, have stopped short of leading and we are pushing that horse to the trough and telling him to drink fast, drink now, drink at this top of his class and drink with the highest score on the standardized drinking test.

Often, the horse becomes a mule and tension results or he just gives up and goes thirsty out of exhaustion or anger.

The solution – put salt in his oats. He’ll eventually drink.

Music is one of the salts of life that will have our students to thirst for more and to drink from the fountain of a great and well-rounded life often. This is a passion I hope to instill that will always make a difference in their lives for years to come.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Without a doubt, seeing students achieve great rewards, especially students who have had difficulty in school or who have been marked to not be successful by others. I feel very proud and a great deal of excitement and reward when my students want to audition for county, district, regional, and state events because they have a passion for music and want to go beyond what we are doing

in the classroom each day. When students are selected for these events, and I see them performing on stage synthesizing all of what they have learned, and making music on their own, and with others, it is very humbling to know that you helped to shape what they are doing.

Equally as humbling is to see former students who have made a choice to enter the music profession as performers or teachers. This is a point when you realize that not only did a spark get ignited with those students, but you realize they will carry on the flame and help to shape the future of music and music education. The things that make me the proudest all centers around seeing music continue to change lives and reach students in ways that no other subject can.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: A key element to be a successful musician and music teacher is to listen to lots of great music that covers many different styles and genres, and to listen as often as possible.

It is only through listening that we gain the interpretations and expressive values of other musicians and we see how their ideas can shape our own perspectives. We also cannot forget to listen to the music that our students enjoy, even if we do not care for it, so that we gain an understanding of what it is they enjoy from it. When we can make connections from popular music such as rock, jazz, country, dance and electronica and translate those connections to Western music, it makes a huge impact.

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ally and collectively as an ensemble. Also, helping students obtain college admission, and music scholarships, has been extremely rewarding.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: The study of music is a lifelong pursuit. As a musician, educator and lifetime student, my goal is continued growth and improvement to achieve a higher level of musical performance and deeper understanding and enjoyment of music.

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50 Musicians, even young, really enjoy the programmatic elements of the music they perform. A student who can’t quite get the notes on the page may grasp more if they understand the history of the composition or the composer. Most students think the composer of every piece they play is dead. We must remind them this is not the case and that it is our job as musicians to bring the music (which is dead on the page) to life, and in doing so, we actually even bring a “dead” composer to life momentarily. Beyond the immediate classroom, we must get students involved in as many musical experiences as we can.

Encourage them to attend concerts and take them to professional performances. Inform them of summer music camps and find people to get them lessons. Allow the students to mentor one another and especially younger students. Finally, the last piece of the musical puzzle for success is to continue to be a practicing musician ourselves. Take as many opportunities as we can to perform and make music so that we don’t forget what it is like to not just shape but make the music. Non-musically, organization is one of the most important elements to utilize, especially as a band director. We are called upon to be a secretary, press-agent, foreign ambassador, financial advisor, inventory special-

ist, repair technician and many more things every day. Without a great plan of action to get those tasks accomplished, it can be easy to burn out. We must remember to thank those who help us in these areas. Our secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, band parents, administrators and community members will continue to support us if we just thank them for what they do as often as we can. Second, communication is a huge area that is often overlooked or underutilized. Most parents would rather get too much information than not enough. There must also be great communication with our own peers at school. Never wait until the last minute to let them know that you have students who will be in the All-District Band and not be in class on Friday. They appreciate advance notice. We have so many tools available today with email, texts and the Internet. Third, having fun and enjoying what we do is a key for success. Everyone wants to be a part of the fun and cool thing. If the most fun and cool thing around is the band, choir, or orchestra, then that feeling grows into ownership. A fun, thriving and visible music program that is active in a community reminds parents and students that you are a part of the total atmosphere and their lives, and that having the music program isn’t an option - it must be there.

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NORTH DAKOTA Karen “Anne” Nies

Instrumental and Choral Director Killdeer Public School Killdeer Years at School: 11 Total Years Teaching:11 Students in Program: 107 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope kids look back with good memories about their music education. I hope many will continue to sing or play throughout their lives.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: The “Aha” moments my students have.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: I am teaching the kids how “to be.” I am the example.

OHIO

Greg Snyder Director of Bands Lakota West High School West Chester Years at School: 22 Total Years Teaching: 30 Students in Program: 450 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I do this by setting the best example I can.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Having both my sons participate in our performance at Midwest.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Students want to be part of a great organization and will work hard to meet expectations.

OKLAHOMA Peter Markes

Orchestra Director Cheyenne Middle School and Edmond North High School Edmond Years at School: 8

Total Years Teaching: 9 Students in Program: 214 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope that they realize the value of hard work, especially in an age where more rewards are given for less. I think they see the example of hard work and discipline from me, and I hope they see the reward of hard work in themselves.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: My dad has said, “Peter, every now and then, it is okay to be proud.” These proud moments usually follow a performance, and I cannot claim just one culminating moment. I am proudest when my students, normal high school teens, feel proud and mature about a performance they’ve just given, whether it be in our school auditorium or one of the world’s great stages. I can feel their pride from the stage, just in how they sit and how they play.

That is my proudest time.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Be organized, and be patient. I find the former begets the latter.

cussion section. When I would cue her to play the cymbal part for the “Star Spangled Banner,” she would always play the part 6 beats late. After a day or two of mulling this over, I decided to cue her 6 beats early to see what would happen. It worked. She played right on time, got the biggest smile on her face, and really enjoyed band.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: To be humble, to stay grounded in my faith and to serve others.

PENNSYLVANIA Gregory MacGill

Director Liberty High School Grenadier Band & Orchestra Bethlehem Years at School: 31 Total Years Teaching: 31 Students in Program: 235 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: By providing a welcoming environment, where

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David M. Hodges Director of Bands McNary High School Keizer Years at School: 5 Total Years Teaching: 38 Students in Program: 115 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I try to let my students know they have a lifelong advocate when they have me as a teacher. I have students that I taught 25 years ago still contacting me for advice and encouragement. I hope my students today know they will be able to count on that as long as I am alive.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: In my first year of teaching I had a young lady who was mentally handicapped playing in my perSchool Band and Orchestra, December 2009 47

50 all students are able, encouraged, and expected to achieve their best, and where they can realize the importance and enjoy the rewards of hard work, persistence and time management. Over the years, I’ve witnessed how our music program has positively affected our students, and helped them to grow into wellrounded, responsible individuals.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Wow, tough call... so many cherished ones. On a grand scale, our marching band just came back from the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade... many hours of practice and hard work, culminating in an amazing day before hundreds of millions in the TV audience. Our students knew they had outdone themselves, behaved impeccably, and were extremely proud of their feat... which, of course, in turn, made me immensely proud for them. On a smaller scale, it warmed

the heart when our band bagpipers brought a smile to some seriously ill children (and their parents) as they played for the annual “Dream Come True” Flight at our local airport... at 5 a.m.! Finally, on an individual level, it’s certainly a good feeling any time our music program is integral in helping one of our students through an especially difficult personal or academic struggle.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Take your job seriously, realizing that your actions and words do truly impact your students. But, at the same time, don’t take yourself too seriously. When I first started in 1978, I was very focused on maintaining high musical standards, progress, accomplishments, etc. While teaching music is obviously one of our primary functions, balancing this with students’ (and our own) lives “outside of the band room” is also critical, if our program (and we) are to flourish and sustain over the decades. Amid enjoying all the fruits of hard work,

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take time to laugh and share some lighthearted moments with your students. Everyone (and your music program) will be the better for it.

RHODE ISLAND Phillip Statser

Band and Guitar Instructor Middletown High School Middletown Years at School: 9 Total Years Teaching: 9 Students in Program: 90 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: Through teaching music I hope to give my students a sense of pride in themselves and their abilities. When I look out from the podium during a concert, it is not the assured confidence of my All-State clarinets that makes the goose bumps raise on my arms, but the sparkle in the eyes of my third trumpets when they nail the 7/8 passage we had all been sweating.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Occurs every year at our homecoming game when I invite all of our graduated musicians to bring their instruments and join us in the stands.

They can’t wait to tell me what they played in college, or in the community band that we had performed before. I’m excited when they remember the name of the piece. I’m beside myself when they remember the composer.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: While never a young teacher, (I started teaching when I was 51), I made the mistakes one attributes to the first year teacher. I looked for the best and the brightest and thought that several of my 5th grade beginners were not only wasting their time in band, but more importantly, were wasting mine. I continued to help all students, praising each one’s achievements, but always having the kindest words for the stars.

Somewhere along the way, things

changed. After four years, when my first class of 5th graders was ready to move on to the high school, I moved with them and consequently was that class’s band director for eight years running. As I think back to that first class, since graduated, I find I am the proudest of those that had the hardest struggle. I have learned to never write a child off; he’s the one that will surprise you.

SOUTH CAROLINA Kevin E. Horton

Director of Bands New Prospect Elementary and Chapman High School Inman Years at School: 1 Total Years Teaching: 10 Students in Program: 150 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: Band directors spend more time with their students than any other teacher, so it’s even more important that we serve as a positive role model to all students all the time. Most

students will only be a part of an organized band ensemble once in their lives, during high school. My job is to make sure that this one chance they have to participate in marching band and symphonic band is the best possible experience they can have, and something they will remember for many years to come.

For those who continue in band after graduation, I hope I have prepared them with all the necessary tools to be successful at the next level.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: My first four years of teaching, I taught in a school that did not have a very strong band program.

In 30 years of existence, the band program had never received a rating higher than excellent at the state concert festival. In my second year, we received straight superiors and the SCBDA Outstanding Performance Award, an award given by earning points for the number of stu-

dents involved in all-region or allstate band, the rating at concert festival, and solo and ensemble superior ratings. The students really worked together, practiced hard, and their determination certainly paid off.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Starting the beginning students with proper mouthpiece testing placement and strong fundamentals is the key to having a successful program.

If they can have a sense of accomplishment early, they will continue to work hard to be the best players they can be in middle school and high school.

SOUTH DAKOTA Dan Carlson

Associate Band Director Lincoln High School Sioux Falls Years at School: 11 Total Years Teaching: 11 Students in Program: 300 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I believe the biggest lessons I can pass on to my students are

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50 teaching them how to take responsibility for their actions, manage their time, experience excellence and fun through hard work, and become respectable individuals through all of these things. To me, teaching band is an excellent means through which I can accomplish teaching these things. In essence, I hope to help teach my students outstanding character.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: The moment that comes most recently to mind is watching the Lincoln Band step off in last year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was a thrill like no other. It was really a “wow” moment and one that I and the students will never forget. It was also made more special for me because I was able to experience it with my father, with whom I teach, at Lincoln High School. My lovely wife, daughter, and mother were also there supporting us. My dad and I have had the privilege of teaching together at Lincoln High School for 11 years, and this was a great moment for us all.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: We continually work with, shape, and mold each individual.

Our expectations change because we sometimes think, “I’ve invested all of this time into these students and then they graduate and I have to start all over and I never get anywhere,” when, in fact, as long as we are persistent, in-

50 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

sistent, and consistent, we are making progress. Our job is to start over and continue the process. We never arrive and we’re never done with our work.

TENNESSEE Marion Coleman

Band Director Tullahoma High School Tullahoma Years at school: 21 Total Years Teaching: 34 Students in Program: 150 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS LIVES: I encourage my students to excel in music by maintaining high expectations for them, and then helping them see how achievement in one discipline can lead to successes in other areas.

I also want my students to appreciate the importance of music in their lives - how it nourishes the soul, helps us convey feelings and emotions that could not be expressed in words and ultimately makes us understand what it is to be human.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: We all have those students who become our special projects. I have had several such students throughout my career, but there is one that I will always remember. I had this student from sixth grade through his senior year in high school. His home life was extremely difficult, leading to problems with truancy, passing his classes, and getting along with his peers. I did everything I could to get him interested in coming to school, in-

cluding giving him a gig bag so he could ride his bike and still carry his instrument.

I continued to support him and as he progressed in school, when problems would arise he would always seek me out as his confidant. In time, his grades improved and he eventually had no trouble graduating. I’ll never forget him running up to me after graduation with tears of excitement in his eyes as he told me that I was the force behind him that made him work to achieve his goal. He’s now a successful student in college with what promises to be a bright future ahead of him.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: All teachers have an influence on the lives of their students, but none more than those who teach music.

We usually have our students for more years and for more hours each week than other teachers. Often they experience more excitement, emotion and success in our ensembles than at any other time in their lives. Because of this we have an effect on our students that should never be underestimated nor taken for granted.

Every day that we deal with students we need to be mindful of the tremendous impact that we have on their lives, and let this knowledge guide our actions.

TEXAS

Lance Flisowski Director of Bands The Colony High School The Colony Years at School: 4 Total Years Teaching: 12 Students in Program: 150 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: There are two main points that I want our band students to learn during their time in our program, two things that will impact their lives. The first is a love of music. We strive to expose our students to many genres of music, composers from different time periods, and different ensembles. The second thing, and perhaps to me more important, are the concepts of commitment

and hard work. With hard work and dedication you can achieve great things. I want my students to learn those ideas by the time they leave our program.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: The Colony Wind Symphony performed at the 2009 Music for All/ Bands of America National Concert Band Festival. Our students performed a very challenging program that was well received by many in attendance.

The program covered a diverse selection of literature. Many of the students in the band had been in our top group since my first year at the school. It was a joyous time to share such a wonderful experience with those students. Perhaps the best part was to have a former student of mine (who just completed her Masters in Oboe at the Eastman School of Music) solo with the ensemble on a selection of music that I had arranged for the occasion. To top it off, my high school band director (and former mentor) was our guest host for the festival.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Balance. Balance in your personal life and balance for your students. I am married with three children.

These four people are the most important thing in my life – not being a band director. Earlier in my career I did not understand this as much as I do now.

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their growth is an experience that words cannot express. As they go from learning to perform on their instrument to auditioning for a college scholarship, the experience is one to enjoy.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: That music can help shape the philosophy of a school and the community. As the students and I have become better ambassadors for music in our own school, we have seen the appreciation for those who choose to be a part of grow.

Brent Barnett

Director of Bands Rutland High School Rutland Years at School: 3 Total Years Teaching: 5 Students in Program: 80 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: It is my hope that students will walk away from my classes having gained an arsenal of skills that

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Joseph M. Windsor Director of Bands Roy High School Roy Years at School: 7 Total Years Teaching: 17 Students in Program: 100 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: By instilling in them that the journey toward success is equal to the achievement itself. I want them to know that “if something is worth doing, it is worth doing right.” I also want them to know that music is a lifelong gift that they can share with all those around them.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: The daily rewards of seeing students as they succeed in a rehearsal or a concert. To be a part of the process of

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50 are useful not only in music, but also in life. High expectations, hard work, respect and teamwork are things I try to stress and I hope those qualities will aid my students throughout their lives.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: When a hard-working student finally gets things to â&#x20AC;&#x153;clickâ&#x20AC;? and all of a sudden everything makes sense and they can really start to make music. You can just see their faces light up as they discover a whole new world of possibilities. I find those moments to be the most rewarding.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Not every student has the same drive and love of music that I had at their age. Some students have a great

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52 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

passion for music and hope to be first chair in the all-state band. Some are there simply because their parents make them be in band. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up to me to help my students not only develop an appreciation for music and perform at a high level, but more importantly to enjoy themselves while making music.

VIRGINIA

Kathleen Schoelwer Director of Bands Herndon High School Herndon Years at School: 2 Total Years Teaching: 6 Students in Program: 170 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; LIVES: If I succeed as a teacher, the most important impact Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll make on these kids wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be seen for years to come. I hope to instill all of those traits that we preach about, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually see immediate results for: character, service, time management, self discipline, a love for aesthetics. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one thing for students to demonstrate these to me within the band program, but I truly hope to have a lasting impact throughout their young adult life and beyond the classroom.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: There are so many levels of achievement in different students. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had incredible musical experiences with my top ensembles that gave me chills, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve nearly cried when my youngest group â&#x20AC;&#x153;got itâ&#x20AC;? and started to play their hearts out for our state festival. Watching the reaction of a fantastic student make All-State Band is just as meaningful to me as the first time a dedicated freshman plays their chromatic scale up to tempo.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: To succeed in music education, you have to be absolutely

invested in the students. We face so many obstacles with resources, funding, scheduling and bureaucracy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the kids are what make it important. I tell my students that I will always push them as hard as I can in class and rehearsal (and they might not like it!), but I will always fight for them and their program. The students are what keep me fresh and make it worth the extra hours.

WASHINGTON Vince Caruso

Band Director Bellevue High School Bellevue Years at School: 9 Total Years Teaching: 15 Students in Program: 115 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; LIVES: I just try to be a person they can trust and a musician they can follow.

Hopefully, those things lead to a musical experience that is memorable for them.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clichĂŠ, but in music kids get to use a different portion of the brain and express themselves in a way not duplicated in academic disciplines.

With the emphasis on AP courses and the resulting stress level, I think kids need that now more than ever.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: There have been concert performances and festival trophies over the years to be proud of, but what makes me most satisfied is when former students visit and they talk about fond memories from their high school band experience.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Be organized. Students need it and parents and administrators appreciate it; Be a model for what you expect of your students; Reinforce fundamentals every day; Program music that the students can sound their best on.

WEST VIRGINIA Shawn Dunn

Director of Bands Fairmont Senior High School Fairmont Years at School: 9 Total Years Teaching: 22 Students in Program: 80 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope that I can give them an appreciation for music and the arts, and help them realize that it’s an important part of a well-rounded education, as well as a fuller, richer life after they graduate.

I encourage them not only to learn to play their instruments well, but to be creative and have fun in the joy of making music together.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: When a student who has gone through our program decides to become a music major when they go to college.

We usually have several each year who takes this route. This tells me above all else that they have had a truly meaningful experience in our band program.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Meet the kids where they are, and take them as far as they are able to go. Not every student is going to become a professional musician, but they are all capable of contributing in their own way, and I try to appreciate that. Also, don’t sweat the small stuff.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: Every time a student beams and yells “I did it!” or “I got it!” there is nothing that tops that moment.

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: Teaching is not just about the subject matter. There is so much baggage that comes into the classroom nowadays, music is often times a release for the students – it’s nice to be here for them.

WYOMING Patrick Kukes

Director of Orchestras Natrona County High School Casper Years at School: 5 Total Years Teaching: 36 Students in Program: 154 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: By seeing my students as the wonderful unique individuals they are. Also, taking them from where they are and helping them grow to become the person they need to be to succeed in life. Music and love are my tools to make it happen.

PROUDEST MOMENT AS A TEACHER: I spent a year teach-

ing in inner city Madison, Wisconsin. One school I had was across the street from the projects. Most of my 64 fourth and fifth grade string students lived in these rat infested apartments. At the end of the year, I was let go because of a reduction of staff. I was on the top of the list to be let go because it was my first year in this district (my 30th year of teaching). One day in early May, my students found out about this and got together to form a plan of action.

They decided to take a bus down to Washington street where the “rich folks live” and play on the corner to raise money so I would not have to leave. Another group talked to their parents and said my wife and I could live in two of the cellos’ (twin sisters) basement. They thought that then we would all come over at night and I could continue to teach them to play.

This touched my heart forever. “The desire to learn to play.”

MOST IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED: If we (and all those who control education) could let every child play an instrument, we would have a society of well rounded, self directed, community based, self-fulfilled people. Oh yeah… we would score way higher on tests, also.

WISCONSIN Kathy Bichler

Band Director School District of Random Lake Random Lake Years at School: 10 years Total Years Teaching: 20 years Students in Program: 110 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN STUDENTS’ LIVES: I hope that students feel the sense of pride following a performance that comes from accomplishing something nice due to the amount of work they put into a challenge. I hope that students hold onto the attributes learned in band such as responsibility, respect, cooperation and dedication.

MUSIC APPRECIATION at the 2010 Norfolk NATO Festival April 28 – May 1, 2010

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Join us in Norfolk for a weekend filled with outstanding entertainment and performance opportunities for your students. Exciting events include the Virginia International Tattoo and the Parade of Nations along with Choral, Jazz and Instrumental groups performing at Chrysler Hall and much more.

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School Band and Orchestra, December 2009 53

SBOTechnology: Hand-Held Recorders

The Magic of Hand-Held Digital Recorders

I

n the world of hand-held digital recorders, smaller is better and now it’s getting cheaper, too.

This is great news for music educators who are looking to record their rehearsals, concerts, and lessons. Today’s hand-held digital recorders can professionally record at a moment’s notice with instant, one-hand operation. There are even palm-size hand-held digital recorders

with two channel capability that can record uncompressed digital or compressed formats like MP3 and WMA.

BY JOHN KUZMICH, JR.

When thinking about purchasing a recording device, there are two lines of products to consider: those designed for recording speech and those designed for music. Often, the consumer lines are used to record people speaking, while the pro-lines are mainly for music. However, there is no significant difference between hand-held digital recorders for music applications if you know what product features to look for. The voice recorder unit can weigh less than two ounces and many music recorders, while larger, are still palm-sized and often have easier access to controls with one-hand operation. The field-size recorder is larger and has larger speakers and a substantial on-board speaker playback system for instant classroom playback. Whether on batteries or AC, larger portable units require the use of two hands, whereas the other two sizes are definitely okay for one-hand operation.

Important Facts About Voice and Music Digital Recorders Dr. John Kuzmich Jr. is a veteran music educator, jazz educator and music technologist with more than 41 years of public school teaching experience. He is a TI:ME-certified training instructor and has a Ph.D. in comprehensive musicianship. As a freelance author, Dr. Kuzmich has more than 400 articles and five textbooks published. As a clinician, Dr. Kuzmich frequently participates in workshops throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, and South America.

For more information, visit www.kuzmich.com.

54 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

Price difference between voice and music digital recorders is no longer a significant issue. The $200- to $300-range is typical unless you desire the esoteric features of extravagantly priced music recorders. Both product lines should be capable of doing an excellent job for music applications if you are aware of a few things. Pro-line recorders can record at higher than CD audio quality and are very slick with most of the large operating controls located on the front of the device, while the consumer lines have most of their controls on the side. Audio recording and playback are outstanding, well worth their pricing and often able to record in uncompressed WAV files all of the way up to 24-bit / 96 kHz, which is welcome news if you’re shooting for a high-quality recording of a live performance.

While I personally prefer the larger pro-line units because I have large hands, I must say that the audio quality of voice recorders can be very impressive, and they are usually competitively priced and come in a very convenient size. And if you add on a modestly priced external miniature condenser microphone, it is difficult to tell the difference between the two. External mics have an advantage over built-in microphones because they can be directed precisely toward the sound source and in some cases, you can control the recording angle coverage for an even better recording. The Sony ECM-MS907, for example, can be config-

Sony ECM-MS907

ured for a 90- or 120-degree recording angle coverage.

Regardless of which product line you consider, be absolutely sure that the unit has manual recording level controls. In order to obtain the best music recording with a full range of dynamics, the unit’s VU meter needs to be manually set to optimize the recording for both loud and soft passages. All digital recorders have automatic gain control, which boosts the low volume voice and reduces the recording levels of loud sounds. This will not work for a high quality music recording – the addition of the adjustable microphone recording sensitivity level is mandatory. Do not purchase any recorder without manual recording level controls.

Models by Sony, Olympus, and Yamaha have several new features on their voice recorders that make them good music recorders. They include “lite” music editing software versions of SoundForge or Cubase, which are pro-level applications for optimizing the audio when the recordings are transferred to the computer for more editing. Manual recording level controls give higher resolutions in compressed file formats. I suggest 128 kbps and higher as a minimum audio standard in an MP3 recording mode.

Modestly priced miniature external condenser microphones are a perfect match for a hand-held recorder.

Playback Hints Digital recorders do a much better job at maxing out the sound levels correctly on a manual recording. Avoiding the automatic recording mode will 56 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

give you a noticeably better playback through the small speakers because it is usually at a lower, more acceptable level. Otherwise, use earphones or extra speakers for playback.

Since hand-held digital recorders are not electrically grounded, hand noise can affect the recordings, especially when the device is turned on, put down, held. I suggest using a case, if there is one available, to hold the recorder while recording. If a case isn’t available, I wouldn’t suggest laying the digital recorder down while recording.

If you must do so, start the recording and then place it on something like the reverse rubberized surface of a mouse pad and wait at least five seconds before the music begins to play. The mouse pad will minimize the transfer of surface sound to the recorder and the five seconds of silence will make it easier to edit when using editing software. Perhaps the best solution is a miniature tripod to hold the recorder, provided the unit has a screw mount.

The smaller the unit, the smaller the speaker will be, and the lower output power it will have. Consequently, voice recorders have limited playback use in a music ensemble or classroom because they’re meant to be heard by only one or two people. But if you use external speakers with any size hand-held unit, you will be amazed at how well these devices can function in a large classroom.

For example, Sony offers full range, compact stereo speakers, SRSM50, that have both A/C and battery power options that could be used in a classroom situation without size or weight issues, and with 2.5 watts of power per channel.

With a price tag under $50, these very portable speakers fold in half, making a hand-held recorder more functional in a classroom situation, yet also highly portable for use beyond the classroom.

Another idea for fast and dirty playback is to purchase a Y-cable so two sets of headsets can be plugged into the unit. Two students can then listen to clear audio playback, and an eightfoot extension cable will provide even more convenience, so the students don’t have to be standing next to the recorder when they listen.

The other option that most devices have is to save and play back digital

voice recordings on a PC. Additional foot pedals, headset, and transcription software for professional use only costs another $150. Check out the transcribing software bundle, Sony FS85USB, which comes with foot control and listening device. There are other good transcribing software and foot control bundles on the market from Dictran.com (wavpedal).

There is a plethora of hand-held digital recorders to look at from prominent manufacturers, for both music recorders voice recorders that have good music capability. Here are some worthy competitors for your comparative shopping: • Sony • Olympus • Marantz • Yamaha • Edirol • Zoom • Tascam • M-Audio • Korg

Voice Recorders Two models stand out in the voice recorder line: the Yamaha Pocketrak 2G and Sony ICDSX700. The Yamaha Pocketrak 2G is one of the smallest high-quality portable audio recorders available today weighing in at 1.7 ounces. It also has two gigabytes of memory, three hours of PCM recording at a maximum MP3 quality of 128 kbps. Its lightweight, low-profile de-

Yamaha Pocketrak 2G

sign is just dying to be used for covert spy missions and concert bootlegging because it is easy to conceal in a pocket, or tucked away in some dark corner. The builtin stereo microphone can be angled up on its hinge to prevent picking up vibrations when laid on a table. It includes a built-in USB stick and rechargeable AAA battery. The long-lasting rechargeable battery can be used for 19 hours of consecutive MP3 recording and charges in 90 minutes with a USB connection to a computer. Speaker playback is quite good for the unit’s Sony ICD-SX700 modest size, decent for one or two people. Having cubase AL music editing software included makes it possible to edit recordings, which is a real plus.

If you are looking for a voice recorder to provide even higher audio quality, consider the Sony ICDSX700.

It offers the flexibility to choose between Linear PCM recording at true CD 44.1 kHz quality, with sampling rates up to 192 Kbps in its MP3 mode, or Sony’s LPEC codec for voice dictation. Its one-gigabyte memory is adequate. The ICDSX700 even has a number of different recording modes: Super High Quality, High Quality, Standard Play, and Long Play with High or Low microphone sensitivity settings. It has automatic gain control, but the manual adjustment can shut off this function and is ideally suited for music with a large, easy to see LCD screen and VU meter to calibrate proper recording levels. The controls are easy to use, even with my large hands. Its built-in stereo microphones can either be used for directional or wide-area coverage. The on-board speaker is quite good for a small voice recorder. Sony includes Sound Forge Audio Studio LE software with the ICDSX700 as well as Digital Voice Editor software to transfer the recordings to the PC. Being MAC compatible, re-

cordings can be transferred using drag and drop.

Music Recorders Professional models usually provide a high quality VU meter for adjusting levels, compression options to prevent digital clipping, XLR jacks with 48V phantom power, and the capacity to insert additional memory cards. Limited editing can be done on the unit, but some include PC software for real editing later.

The Tascam DR-100 has more recording features than most voice recorders.

It is definitely a “high end” recorder; it has four built-in microphones – two cardioid and two omni-directional – along with analog limiting and filtering for great-sounding recordings. A pair of XLR microphone inputs with phantom power welcomes pro-grade condenser microphones, and line in and out connectors are also provided.

It also has a tripod mounting hole and comes with a wireless remote control that can start the recording from a distance. The DR-100 has two gigabytes of internal memory and can accept SD media cards up to 32 GB. It records MP3 files from 32-320 kbps and WAV files up to 24-bit/48 kHz. Tascam says that 96 kHz recording capability will be provided in the upcoming 1.10 software update. The DR-100 includes a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, but can also be powered by AA batteries or an optional AC adapter.

The Olympus LS–11 US is a linear PCM recorder with high quality stereo microphones that record in multiple recording formats (PCM/WMA/MP3) of up to 24 bit/96 kHz quality. The microphones are very sensitive. It comes equipped with eight gigabytes of builtin flash memory and a SD Card slot and stereo speakers that rock for a hand-held recorder. It is like having a recording studio in your pocket. The LS-11 allows users to add index marks to files in PCM mode during recording and playback so you can easily return to key places in a recording. It features

file editing in PCM mode to divide files and make partial cuts right inside the device. It is also possible to move and copy files between the internal memory and the SD card, making it easier to switch to a different SD card on the go. You will love the wireless remote option that lets you start and stop the recording from a distance. This is ideal for live performances when the LS-11 can be placed near the stage and activated from several rows back.

The Marantz PMD 620 is a versatile 24-bit handheld digital recorder with unlimited SD flash media capability that can record high-quality WAV or MP3 files with onboard editing, a large, easy-to-read display, and an onboard speaker. This pocket-sized recorder also includes 360-degree recording capability via its internal microphone design, plus line and external mic inputs. This can capture a 360-degree sound field which is great for conferences and live performances, allowing you to get all the sonic information you need, as well as all the “sound of the room” you want. And with external microphones you can capture directional recordings to your delight.

While teaching last summer in Europe, I used the Marantz 620 in concerts and clinics. Visit www.kuzmich. com/IASJ/Marantz/1009.MP3 for a live jazz concert which I recorded from behind the ensemble and its public

Tascam DR-100 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009 57

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address system, and www.kuzmich. com/Pulawy/1029.MP3 for a big band sight-reading rehearsal which I recorded right from the conductor’s podium.

The instruments – from flute to saxophones to brass and rhythm section – are clearly separated for easy, instant analysis and improvement. All recordings were made with the internal microphone.

Sony’s PCM-M10 digital audio recorder lays pro quality in your lap.

It has 24-bit/96 kHz recording capabilities with electret condenser stereo microphones, four gigabytes of internal flash memory and a micro SD/Memory Stick Micro Slot for expanded memory. Key features of the PCM-M10 recorder include a builtin speaker, cross-memory recording, digital pitch and key control, digital limiter, low-cut filter, track mark functions, a five-second pre-recording buffer and A-B repeat capability. The recorder includes a USB high-speed port for simple uploading and downloading of native WAV or MP3 format recorded files to and from Windows PC or Mac computers. The M10 is ruggedly constructed to withstand the rigors of location recording, and has long battery life using conventional AA batteries. You will love the wide LCD screen for access to all the bells and whistles found on this unit, along with centrally placed buttons on the top for userfriendly one-hand operation.

The Edirol R-09HR is a high-resolution WAV and MP3 recorder with 24-bit/96-kHz fidelity and up to eight gigabyte SD or SDHC memory card.

It comes with Cakewalk’s “Pyro Audio Creator LE” wave-editing software, a wireless remote control, and a large OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display.

Closing Comments The excellent audio quality of digital recorders is much like the quality of today’s digital cameras. Until a few short years ago, 35mm cameras had the edge over digital photography, but today, digital is king in both photography and audio recording. For sample recordings of digital voice and music recorders, visit www.kuzmich.com/ SBO1209.html. Enjoy the digital age!

58 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

NewProducts New Books from Sher Music Co.

Foundation Exercises for Bass, by Chuck Sher, features a creative approach to learning the fundamentals of acoustic or electric bass. The book covers the basic scales and chords used in contemporary music; how to count rhythms and improvise around them; correct hand positions, fingerings, and shifting; training your ear to identify music that’s inside you, or that others play; a way to learn to read music, starting with fingerboard diagrams; and how to connect the roots of chord progressions to create a solid foundation for a band Foundation Exercises for Bass is appropriate for beginning/ intermediate bass method.

Jazz Guitar Voicings: Vol. 1 – The Drop 2 Book, by Randy Vincent, includes a thorough discussion of all the basic principles of drop 2 melody harmonization, including passing tones and extension tones, as well as basic chord tones.

Also covered are practical, guitarfriendly methods for creating modern sounds by tweaking the basic drop 2 voicings. Vincent explains how to create an organized practice routine, including fingerboard diagrams as well as standard notation, to fully develop all of the above, with a minimum of theory. The book includes two CDs demonstrating each exercise.

www.shermusic.com

NXT Series Double Bass

The NXT Series Double Bass was crafted in the Czech Republic by the makers of the renowned CR Series and features a solid maple body and neck and graduated ebony fingerboard. The adjustable bridge and truss rod are said to allow for low, fast action, or for higher string settings. The bass is equipped with the Polar Pickup System.

A switch allows selection of the traditional arco mode for percussive and dynamic bowed response, or pizzicato mode.

www.thinkns.com/instruments/nxtbass.php

SKB’s Cymbal Safe

SKB’s new cymbal case, the 1SKBCS22 Cymbal Safe is designed for transport of either cymbals in a gig bag

Gruendler. Gruendler walks the viewer through the entire process of track programming, equipment wiring, and performance to prepare for any commercial gig. Through step-by-step explanations, including performance lessons, demo software, and companion session files, Gruendler presents the viewer with four songs, each featuring a different programming method, equipment setup, and performance strategy.

www.carlfischer.com

Evans SST to EC2 Heads

Evans’ new EC2 heads with SST (Sound Shaping Technology) feature a new damping technique that is said to optimize performance for each individually sized drumhead.

The EC2 SST heads provide the

or marching band cymbals that cannot be mounted on a spindle. The SKB Cymbal Safe is rotationally molded from Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE), offering high durability and strength.

The 1SKB-CS22 is a roto-molded D-shaped case design with molded in feet for upright positioning and stability. The case includes a patented Roto-X pattern for added strength, durability, and reliable stacking. Sure grip handles with a 90 degree stop are designed for easy lifting and transporting. The new Cymbal Safe also includes a padded interior for added protection.

www.skbcases.com

Carl Fischer’s Creating and Performing Drum Loops

Carl Fischer Music is distributing Creating and Performing Drum Loops DVD by clinician and educator Donny

ability to control the ring thickness and density in addition to its width. Controlling the placement and mass of the ring allows the player to target select frequencies for removal in order to fully optimize the attack, tone, length of sustain, and ease of tuning for each size head. Evans’ EC2 heads with SST are available in 6”-18”, clear and coated.

www.evansdrumheads.com

Symphonic Repertoire for Percussion Accessories from Meredith Music

Meredith Music has released Symphonic Repertoire for Percussion Accessories by Tim Genis, principal timpanist of the Boston Symphony and head of the percussion department at Boston University. The book pro-

School Band and Orchestra, December 2009 59

NewProducts K&M Oboe Stand

vides a comprehensive performance analysis of percussion accessory parts for the major symphonic repertoire.

His easy-to-understand explanations are based on countless performances under many of the world’s finest conductors.

K&M’s new Oboe stand features solid, zinc die-cast legs. The detachable legs retract into the peg for ease of transport with the instrument.

www.connollymusic.com

www.meredithmusic.com

The Forestone Clarinet Reed

The new Forestone clarinet reed was designed by Japanese musician Ittoku Kawai.The reed is man-made and contains bamboo, and is said to produce an authentic sound, response, look, and feel. Ittoku Kawai claims the Forestone reed has the functional properties of cane and is consistent, does not degrade with use, and can withstand extreme temperatures, humidity, or altitude changes. All Forestone reeds are made with a mixture of polypropylene resin and cellulose wood fiber, more than 50 percent of which is bamboo.

www.forestone-japan.com

Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer

Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer by Larry Fine is now available for free on the Internet and as a print publication in bookstores and on the Web site.

This advertising-sponsored guide will be published twice a year as a color-illustrated hybrid consisting of a book and a magazine.

The book aspect consists of brief, but informative articles and tips on basic piano-buying issues, such as what to look for when buying a new, used, or restored acoustic, digital, or player piano. The magazine aspect will feature rotating content consisting of manufacturer profiles, spotlights on particular technologies and rebuilders, product reviews, and pricing information, which is updated each issue to adapt to market changes. The pricing information is also available on the Web site in a free, searchable database, allowing dealers and consumers to compare acoustic piano brands and models.

www.pianobuyer.com

GrooveTech String Cutters from CruzTOOLS

CruzTOOLS have designed the GrooveTech String Cutters using a special induction heat treatment process, featuring blades that will slice through guitar and bass strings without damaging cutting edges. A high-leverage handle design allows cutting with minimal effort, and vinyl grips provide a comfortable feel. At less than six inches long, GrooveTech String Cutters are compact enough to fit into storage compartments of cases and gig bags.

www.cruztools.com 60 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

Blocki Flute Method’s Pneumo Pro

The Blocki Flute Method’s Pneumo Pro can be inserted in the body of the flute which allows immediate feedback on the correct placement of the air column even while the player is balancing the flute. The Pneumo Pro allows the player to silently practice technical exercises, while the band or orchestra director is working with other students. The newly designed Pneumo Pro is half the price of the older model.

www.blockiflute.com

The Ring Ligature from JodyJazz

The Ring ligature is designed for the DV and DV NY series of saxo-

NewProducts

phone mouthpieces. The Ring’s self locking CNC machined taper touches on three points only - the left and right side of the reed and on top of the mouthpiece. The ring has no moving or added parts, and is said to thereby increase the efficiency of vibration.

The optimum wall thickness has been chosen to create the most freedom and vibration for the reed which increases the amount of harmonics present in the saxophone sound. The Ring will be available in a blackened brass finish as well as 24 karat gold plating on brass.

www.jodyjazz.com

proved quality and value for the entry level drummer. Produced from a special-formula brass alloy, the budget-priced SBr is available in a full range of popular sizes and models, each featuring deep, large-peen hammering and pinpoint lathing.

SBr is available exclusively in Natural Finish. The SBr series includes

Introducing

hi-hats, splashes, crashes, and rides.

Also available are Sonically Matched pre-packs including the Performance Set (14” hi-hats, 16” crash, 20” ride), the First Pack (13” hi-hats, 16” crash), and the 2-Pack (14” hi-hats, 18” crash ride).

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for Alto Saxophone

Superior Cane Superior Design Superior Performance

Rico Reserve Classic Reeds Experience the new yourself. Go to www.whyvandoren.com/freesample.html and enter promotional code SB1209 to request your free sample.

The Reserve Classic reeds differ from the original Rico Reserve reeds in that they feature increased warmth of sound and lightened articulation by way of a newly designed tip radius. The Classics have been specially measured to offer strengths including 3.5+ and 4.0+. In addition, the Reserve Classic reeds use a special cane treatment process intended to help reduce reed warping.

www.ricoreeds.com

SBr Cymbal from Sabian

Sabian’s SBr is a new series of brass cymbals designed to offer im-

U.S. Importer • 818 W. Evergreen Ave., Chicago, IL 60642 • 888-707-4455 info@dansr.com • www.dansr.com © 2009 Vandoren S.A.S. • www.vandoren.com

School Band and Orchestra, December 2009 61

Brought to you by EPN Travel Services

Play to the Pocket The tendency of a lot of cello players is to pull the bow on a diagonal angle across the strings. To keep the bow running straight, “play to the pocket,” or pull the bow towards the hip. At first, this might feel awkward and even more diagonal. Have your students watch each other and they’ll see that the bow now runs in a straight line!

Hillary Christensen Layton High School Layton, Utah Submit your PLAYING TIP online at www.sbomagazine.com or e-mail it to editor Eliahu Sussman: esussman@symphonypublishing.com.

Win a special prize from EPN Travel, Inc. Winning Playing Tips will be published in School Band and Orchestra magazine.

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62 School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

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Guitar • Horns • Piano • Strings T-shirts, Hats, Stickers, Jewelry, Keychains, Miniatures, Ties, and more.

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INSTRUCTION

For All Instrumental / Vocal Ensembles Tailored to Your Specific Groups Contact Al Newman (505) 681-1213 amnewman@earthlink.net 1424 Sara Way SE Rio Rancho NM, 87124

MERCHANDISE

The NPS8210 Melody Chair

FUNDRAISING

Fund Raising Since 1948!

We have helped groups like yours raise funds since 1948.

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has the same specications as the most popular “Student”chair!

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MERCHANDISE

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Call Maureen 1-800-964-5150 ext. 34 mjohan@symphonypublishing.com

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1-800-573-6013 www.valiantmusic.com

equatone@earthlink.net

School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

63

Classifi Classifieds eds

www.SBOmagazine.com www.SBOmagazine.com

PRINT MUSIC

PUBLICATIONS MEWZKL PUBLICATIONS

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REPAIR TOOLS

Advertise in the Classifieds!

Call Maureen 1-800-964-5150 ext. 34 mjohan@symphonypublishing.com

For 60 years we have providedmusical instrument repair tools to technicians and musicians around the world.

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AdIndex COMPANY NAME

E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS

PAGE #

America Longxing Inc. Antigua Winds, Inc. J.J. Babbitt Co. Inc. Band Shoppe Bari Woodwinds Bob Rogers Travel Busch Gardens Cannonball Music Instruments Cascio Interstate Music Company Casterbridge Concert Tours Charms Music Software Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Concord International Group, Inc. Crystal Records EPN Travel Services EPN Travel Services Festivas of Music Fiesta-Val Music Festivals Fobes Clarinet Products

www.huntermusical.com www.antiguawinds.com www.jjbabbitt.com www.bandshoppe.com www.bariwoodwinds.com www.bobrogerstravel.com www.buschgardens.com

45 15 51 5 6 9 11

www.cannonballmusic.com

41

www.interstatemusic.com www.casterbridgetours.com www.charmsmusic.com

58 28 60

www.csogroupsales.org

58

64

www.concordgroup.com www.crystalrecords.com www.epntravel.com www.epntravel.com www.festivalsofmusic.com info@fiestaval.com www.clarkwfobes.com

School Band and Orchestra, December 2009

39 46 cov 4 55 cov2-1 13 48

COMPANY NAME

E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS

PAGE #

Fruhauf Uniforms Inc. Hawaiian Music Festivals Jody Jazz LP Music Group Macy’s Parade Group Manhasset Specialty Co. Fred J. Miller Inc. Norfolk Convention & Visitors Bureau Pearl Corp.

Peterson Strobe Tuners Pro-Mark Corp.

Rovner Products Sabian Ltd. Super-Sensitive Musical String Co. Vandoren Vandoren Vandoren Vento Music Vic Firth, Inc. Wenger Corp.

Avedis Zildjian Co.

www.fruhauf.com www.himusicfest.com www.JodyJazz.com www.lpmusic.com www.macysparade.com www.manhasset-specialty.com www.fjminc.com

49 50 17 24 25 16 33

www.usafest.org www.pearldrum.com www.petersontuners.com www.promark.com www.rovnerproducts.com www.sabian.com

53 3 23 12 52 7

www.cavanaughcompany.com www.dansr.com www.dansr.com www.dansr.com www.wwbw.com www.VicFirth.com www.wengercorp.com www.zildjian.com

43 10 61 8 47 37 29 35