School Band ad Orchestra December 2012

December 2012 • $5.00

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Paul MacAlindin

Iraq& the National Youth Orchestra of

A Triumph of Music

34 School Band and Orchestra • December 2012

ALABAMARyan FitchpatrickHoover High SchoolHooverYears at School: 3Total Years Teaching: 14Instrumental Music Students: 250

Teaching Philosophy: I emphasize a strong foundation in funda-mentals of playing as it pertains to each stu-dent’s particular instru-ment. I work to com-

bine that with an understanding and appreciation of the artistry of music and musicianship. I believe in teaching students to take ownership of their musical experience. I desire for the stu-dents to see themselves on a musical journey that is intertwined with their peers.Affecting Student Development: I hope that after my students leave our program, they will have a stronger be-lief in their ability to accomplish goals

and the clarity to envision a purposeful and enriching experience, both musi-cally and otherwise.Most Important Lesson Learned: I am routinely setting both large and small goals for our program, and I am always excited to see the students reaching these goals along the way. It is with great fondness that I look back on the step by step experiences that the students and I have had as we worked together to not only accomplish a goal, but to create a bond and an apprecia-tion for one another.

ALASKALiesl WietgrefeWest Valley High SchoolFairbanksYears at School: 5Total Years Teaching: 8Instrumental Music Students: 71Teaching Philosophy: Music teaches two important skills to students that they will use indefinitely. First, music teaches students how to express their

feelings and emotions in a way that everyone can understand. The sec-ond skill music teaches student’s is the value of hard work, self-discipline, and dedication resulting in a glorious prod-uct, especially at the secondary level.

Affecting Student De-velopment: It is my feeling that young adults that are coming out of this generation have a poor work eth-ic, very little real com-

munication skills (like with real human beings, not computers), and an expec-tation that things will come to them without much work on their part. It’s my hope that by working in an ensem-ble setting, always having to be respon-sible for their part of the product, rely-ing on and communicating with others, students will gain skills that can be used throughout life.Most Important Lesson Learned: Don’t underestimate any student. People take different amounts of time

Directors50 Who Make a Difference

SBO’s 15th annual “50 Directors Who Make a Difference” report comes at a pivotal time for music education in the United States. Even with the divisive and acrimonious Presi-dential election finally behind us, a great deal of uncertainty still lies ahead. Incessant talk of increasing national debt and other lagging economic indicators kindles fears of another recession that would undoubtedly put even more pressure on school budgets and, consequently, could be disastrous for arts programs nationwide.

And yet, in the midst of monumental national and lo-cal economic challenges and dour budget forecasts, music educators continue to excel in classrooms across the coun-

try. Take heart in this report, which sheds light on exem-plary educators who run thriving, and vibrant programs in schools big and small, elementary through high school, from coast to coast. These following 50 band directors, orchestra directors, and instrumental music teachers are joined by their common cause of spreading the language of music and, through it, the life lessons that are manifest in the dedication to this endeavor. In this 2012 edition of the “50 Directors” report, educators share their teaching phi-losophy, how they hope to affect overall student develop-ment, and the most important lesson they’ve learned since entering the teaching profession.

Report:

50 Who Make a Difference

Directors

Guest Editorial: Teaching Musicology

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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 trade-marks 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 © 2012 by Symphony Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.

ContentsFeatures12 From the Trenches: Dear Santa

Bob Morrison’s annual holiday wish list recommends gift ideas for the good, the bad, and the ugly figures on the political and national stage, as relating to arts education.

16 Commentary: The Modern BandSBO contributor Ryal Zellner examines the evolution and future of music education and the shifting band/orchestra/choir paradigm.

22 UpClose: Paul MacAlindinNow in its fourth year, the fledgling National Youth Orchestra of Iraq is steadily growing and gaining momentum. SBO recently checked in with music director Paul MacAlindin to discuss the process of creating this extraordinary ensemble, as well as some of the obstacles in its path.

34 Report: 50 Directors Who Make a DifferenceIn this 15th annual SBO report, outstanding music educators from each state in the U.S. share their teaching methodologies and philosophies, lessons learned, and how they hope to affect their students’ development.

64 Guest Editorial: Teaching MusicologySBO contributor Kenneth Dale Disney explores integrating musicology into the curriculum, as mandated by the 8th and 9th National Standards for music education.

Columns4 Perspective

6 Headlines

67 New Products

69 Playing Tip

70 Classifieds

72 Ad Index

School Band and Orchestra • December 2012 65

an increasingly wide audience of stake-holders. Importantly, this article also proposes these solutions in a way that allows ensemble directors to continue focusing on performance.

The public, sadly, often does not see the correlation between playing an instrument and exemplary test scores, not to mention measurable success in post-secondary life. This lack of un-derstanding can find dire resonance in the voices of school board members and other elected officials. In many cases, principals will ask music teach-ers directly: “How are you supporting school goals (read: boosting achieve-ment data)? Are you collaborating with the faculty to include core standards?” Even supportive administrators will of-ten defend music to audiences that do not understand how band improves a system’s data, and will likewise depend on the music specialist’s ability to show proof of such efforts. While it is ideal to imagine that citing a study connecting musical performance with academic excellence will suffice, more and more school boards look specifically for teachers’ effort to maximize growth in core proficiencies.

How does the modern ensemble director produce proof of such efforts? Further, how does one make changes to “the routine” without taking focus away from concerts, festivals, competi-tions, and clinics that are so important to the survival of a program? Ironically, a band program that shuns perfor-mances in order to focus on, say, read-ing comprehension will find itself elim-inated for reasons wholly unrelated to data. A true solution must allow music professionals to continue upholding performance standards, uphold the eighth and ninth national standards in a way that relates to overall school goals, and do so in measurable, empiri-cal ways. Musicology, uniquely, fulfills these goals while remaining salient to the rigorous standards of ensemble set-tings.

What Musicology Adds to the Ensemble Classroom

The first questions for any addition to the classroom usually are: “What will my students gain, and what does it require?” The precious commodity of

rehearsal time must never go to waste. Understandably, the very prospect of inefficiency makes directors cringe. Musicology, rather than acting as an additional burden, builds on many as-pects typical to most rehearsals. Imple-menting musicological methods, in fact, is something that many directors do naturally, daily, to create effective performances. Rather than fearfully changing one’s basic teaching methods,

directors concerned with creating in-terdisciplinary connections should in-stead focus growing awareness of these quotidian occurrences.

In a practical sense, musicology can become involved any time a di-rector address the Ws (who, what, when, where, why). Knowledge of a musical period, the characteristics of a style or form, and information about the creation of a piece represent just a few tools directors employ that stem, whether one is aware of it or not, from research done in the fields of music history, theory, and criticism.

Why do directors do this? The answer: students will feel more in-vested in performing music after un-derstanding its context. This includes information about historical figures, events, or literary works surrounding the creation of the music. How much more approachable does Beethoven’s “9th Symphony” become to teenag-ers after learning about the composer’s deafness or his struggles with society? Considering such extra-musical con-texts gives the student tools necessary for understanding a conductor’s sty-listic interpretation, and provides the groundwork for future personal cre-ative endeavors.

ImplementationDirectors who consider musicol-

ogy valuable, and who recognize its importance to adhering to trends in education, may still feel afraid of sac-rificing performance standards. This legitimate concern has hopefully been

assuaged with the idea that musicology occurs naturally. To help further dis-pel fears, and to help teachers adapt to the overarching academic focus (read: math and reading) of Common Core, what follows are several ways a teacher may add to the rehearsal without inter-rupting the playing schedule. In fact, directors may find that applying these methods, which all stem from common classroom practices, will streamline the

schedule and promote efficiency. The setup of instruments and

equipment remains a common aspect of most ensembles. It also provides an excellent time for directors to in-troduce musical vocabulary, concepts, symbols, or historical figures. Every day, give a short lecture on a concept or person important to music. This might be called the “word/person of the day.” More complex concepts, such as sonata form, could become the “word of the week,” with different sections receiving a focus each day. Rather than chatting, wandering around, or otherwise wast-ing time, expect students to absorb the daily mini-lesson while quietly assem-bling instruments. Expect the class to answer one or two questions at the end, which will directly lead into warm-ups.

Alternatively, listening examples may be used to introduce composers, and especially forms. However, this should only occur after establishing the daily mini-lessons, and making sure students understand the director’s expectations regarding behavior. Oth-erwise, students will attempt to talk over the music, and generally ignore it in favor of chatting with friends.

In addition to the word/person of the day, create five-minute blocks for critical thinking once or twice a week, focused on relevant discussion about musical topics. This enforces music vocabulary and provides practice for the high-level questions encountered



By Kenneth Dale Disney

Musicology in the Ensemble Setting: Tools for Connecting to the Common Core and Traditional Classroom Evaluation Models

The eighth and ninth national standards of music education

call for the development of relationships between music

and other disciplines, and the fostering of understand-

ing music “in relation to history and culture.” Music pro-

fessionals often assume that our methods of achieving

these goals are understood, but such an assump-

tion is dangerous in the modern educational envi-

ronment. Pressure for lean budgets, focus on test

scores and data, and new evaluation methods that

lean heavily toward traditional classroom methods

have made music programs a tertiary concern for

administrators, who feel pressured to meet feder-

al and state benchmarks. The latest example, the

common core curriculum, reemphasizes a univer-

sal focus on math and English skills. While this

is a desirable goal, the initiative ultimately places

even more accountability for growth in tested areas upon

the shoulders of all teachers, including music specialists.

Directors can turn to musicology, the study of music in a sociological, historical, or anthropological light, for help. Besides fulfilling obligations to national standards eight and nine, musicology can streamline the re-hearsal. Proper and realistic planning can result in adding relevant infor-mation to the music curriculum and create evidence of a music teacher’s commitment to common core standards and other school goals. This arti-cle proposes to integrate musicology into the performance setting, adding tools that bolster students’ understanding of music’s relationship to other subjects, especially history and language arts, in order to justify music to

“Musicology, rather than acting as an additional burden, builds on many aspects typical to most rehearsals.”






ALASKALiesl WietgrefeWest Valley High SchoolFairbanksYears at School: 5Total Years Teaching: 8Instrumental Music Students: 71Teaching Philosophy: Music teaches two important skills to students that they will use indefinitely. First, music teaches students how to express their

feelings and emotions in a way that everyone can understand. The sec-ond skill music teaches student’s is the value of hard work, self-discipline, and dedication resulting in a glorious prod-uct, especially at the secondary level.


munication skills (like with real human beings, not computers), and an expec-tation that things will come to them without much work on their part. It’s my hope that by working in an ensem-ble setting, always having to be respon-sible for their part of the product, rely-ing on and communicating with others, students will gain skills that can be used throughout life.Most Important Lesson Learned: Don’t underestimate any student. People take different amounts of time



And yet, in the midst of monumental national and lo-cal economic challenges and dour budget forecasts, music educators continue to excel in classrooms across the coun-

try. Take heart in this report, which sheds light on exem-plary educators who run thriving, and vibrant programs in schools big and small, elementary through high school, from coast to coast. These following 50 band directors, orchestra directors, and instrumental music teachers are joined by their common cause of spreading the language of music and, through it, the life lessons that are manifest in the dedication to this endeavor. In this 2012 edition of the “50 Directors” report, educators share their teaching phi-losophy, how they hope to affect overall student develop-ment, and the most important lesson they’ve learned since entering the teaching profession.

64

34

December 2012

Cover design by Andy P. Ross.

28 Paul MacAlindin

“The most important resource I have for getting the best out of people isn’t talent, but compassion.

”

40 School Band and Orchestra • November 2012

Survey: Streaming Video

79%

21%

Yes

No

63%

33%

67%

Yes

No

21%

79%

Yes

No

24%

62%

I don’t worry about it

14%

I make sure I have all the licenses

I don’t load performances online because of this issue

15%$250-$500

$500-$1,000

0-$250

18%

4%

$1,000+

The people seated in the concert hall or the stands of a football field will always be the

primary audience for a musical performance. However, with advances in modern

technology, musical events can now reach across the globe, and in real time. From

simple set-ups like video chat or Skype to sophisticated usage of cameras, routers, and other

equipment, there is a wide array of possibilities for sharing performances far and wide. Of

course, there are challenges with broadcasting video, including equipment, expertise, and

the time and effort involved with setting it all up. On top of that, concerns about copyrights

are enough to prevent some school groups from making the dive.

Beyond the Auditorium

TheAudience

For a closer look at how school groups are cur-rently using video and streaming capabilities with their ensembles, this recent SBO survey asked readers to weigh in on this very 21st-century topic. And with almost 80 percent of respondents indicating that they shoot video of their performances, stay tuned, as the nature of this conversation is sure to evolve over the next few years.

Do you make video recordings of your ensem-bles’ performances?

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December 2012 • Volume 15, Number 12GROUP PUBLISHER Sidney L. Davis

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Member 2012

Perspective

Child-like InspirationAs we look back over the past year, it’s important to consider our successes and failures

while reviewing the current state of affairs of our programs. In SBO’s discussions with our “50 Directors Who Make a Difference,” many featured educators seem to share a common thread in that they’re not only teaching music, but also trying to instill in their students the concepts and skills that will help them become better human beings. This means developing more thoughtful, caring, passionate, and collaborative students who will have a life-long understanding and love of music and musical performance. Though we have so many challenges in achieving these essential goals – budgets, administration, community support, and so much more – we have to be thankful that we’re not doing all

of this while dodging bullets, improvised explosive de-vices, and radical ideas, as do the students and leaders in our feature story on the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.

It’s difficult to imagine that the germ of the idea for this Iraqi musical group came from a student who simply wanted to perform music together with her peers. We often think that in launching a new project, we have to do everything ourselves, but Zuhal Sultan, the young woman from Iraq who envisaged a youth orchestra in her native country, knew that she would need help in pulling together this extraordinary proj-ect. Mary Pitta, our featured director from Maryland, perhaps said it best by indicating that her most impor-tant lesson learned was to collaborate, and Sultan did just that. Though only 17 years old, she knew that she would need the assistance of many others to pull to-gether this exciting new ensemble. However, beyond the considerable safety issues related to getting the orchestra launched, there were many other challeng-es that, again, we take for granted, including getting players who were at varying levels and abilities to play together, obtaining music, financing the project, locat-

ing places to rehearse and perform, and so much more. Most people would have given up before they started, but it’s often the ideology and enthusiasm of a young person who perhaps doesn’t consider all of the challenges and moves forward anyway, leading to such significant goals.

As we move further along in our careers, we often think that new ventures cannot be undertaken or that they are too challenging or difficult. However, we must also main-tain a youthful enthusiasm that sometimes the seemingly impossible can be achieved. Whether the project is small or large, through vision, perseverance, and collaboration, we can often bring together the framework of something that has a greater possibility of a positive outcome. Although we face continued challenges here in our country, states, and local communities in the coming year, when we keep in mind those who face far harsher circumstances, we should not be hesitant to move ourselves, our students, and our pro-grams onward to greater heights!

“It’s often the ideology and enthusiasm of

a young person who doesn’t consider all

of the challenges and moves forward anyway who is able to achieve

such significant goals.”

Rick [email protected]

Join the conversation on:

Perspective.indd 4 12/3/12 10:27 AM

Mastering music is more than a destination. It’s about all of theexperiences you have along the way. We give you the freedom toexperiment, find your own solutions, and evolve. But we also give youa structured and demanding curriculum that will test even the mosttalented musicians. You’ll be prepared to succeed in the world of music.Wherever it takes you. Learn more at berklee.edu

WHERE MUSIC TAKES YOU

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Headlines

The NAMM Foundation’s 14th annual Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) survey is now open for school districts and schools across the country to participate in. The survey acknowledges and cel-ebrates schools and districts across the U.S. for their commitment to and support for comprehensive music education in schools.

Teachers, parents, school administrators, and board members are invited to complete the 2013 BCME survey online now through Friday, January 18, 2013. Many districts have reported that making the “Best Communities” list has had a positive effect on their ability to preserve music education for their students amid budget cuts to arts programs. In 2012, 176 communities were recognized, includ-ing 166 school districts and 10 schools.

The BCME survey asks detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class partici-pation, instruction time, facilities, sup-port for the music program, and other relevant factors about their communities’ music education programs. One application may be submitted per school or district, and community members are encouraged to work together to complete the comprehensive survey. To download the survey and review the questions, visit www.nammfoundation.org.

NAMM Foundation Launches 2013 Best Communities Survey

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Alice Schoen-feld, holder of the Alice and El-eonore Schoen-feld Endowed Chair in String Instruction and a professor of violin instruc-tion and perfor-mance for more than half a cen-tury at the USC Thornton School of Music, has committed $3 million to create a new symphonic hall for the school. The hall will be named for her and her sister, Eleonore, who was the holder of the Gregor Piatigorsky Chair in Violoncello and a USC Thornton professor from 1959 until her death in 2007. The 3,700-square-foot Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld Symphonic Hall was dedicat-ed Oct. 28. A campus open house and student concert followed.

This gift from Alice Schoenfeld rep-resents significant support for the Cam-paign for the University of Southern Cali-fornia, a multi-year effort to secure $6 billion or more in private philanthropy to advance USC’s academic priorities and expand the university’s positive impact on the community and world. www.usc.edu

USC Professor Gives $3 Million for New School Symphonic Hall

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USC and LA Phil Initiate Five-Year Study on Music and the Brain

A five-year study involving USC and the LA Philharmonic is now under way to examine the effects of heavy musical training on children’s brains. In keeping with recent atti-tudes and scientific directions as ex-plored in the October issue of SBO, researchers with the USC Brain and Creativity Institute are set to work with students of ages six and sev-en years old who have no musical training up through an intense pro-gram of music study for five years. The study will be lead by acclaimed neuroscientists Hanna Damasio and Antonio Damasio. They will then compare those students with a control group of students with no musical training.www.usc.edu/schools/college/bci/

Renowned American Composer Elliott Carter, 1908-2012

American classical composer Elliott Cart-er, whose career spanned several eras of music throughout the world with challenging, rhyth-mically complex works, died November 5th at the age of 103. His music publishing company, Boosey & Hawkes, called him an “iconic Ameri-can composer.” Indeed, the lifelong musician earned the respect of generation after generation of contempo-raries (along with two Pulitzers). In 2002, The New York Times said his string quartets were among “the most difficult music ever con-ceived,” and it hailed their “volatile emotions, delicacy and even, in places, plucky humor.”

USC’s Antonio Damasio.

Headlines.indd 6 12/3/12 11:03 AM

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Headlines

The Percussive Arts Society recently brought the Percus-sive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) to Tex-as for a four-day celebration of everything percussion and drums November 1-4. Over 6,000 drummers and percus-sionists descended upon Austin for over 120 sessions, recon-necting with fellow percussionists and making new friends in the percussion world. Austin also housed 113 exhibitors for the International Drum & Percussion Expo, the world’s premier event to see what is new within the drum and per-cussion industry.

Highlights from PASIC 2012 included many competitions,

concerts, clinics and an overflowing Expo hall. Thursday, No-vember 1 included a day of competitions in the competitive Marching Percus-sion Festival format, with over 110 en-tries spanning high school and college en-sembles and individual performers.

The second day at PASIC consisted of many excellent ses-sions, including the U.S. Marine Band Percussion Section, professional development sessions by Zoro, and clinics and concerts with Stanton Moore, Rajna Swaminthan, and Michael Burritt. Saturday continued the festivities as the Santa Clara Vanguard percussion section showcased the latest and greatest information for the marching world, Ari Hoenig, and Mike Mangini each displayed drumset skills, and multiple FUNda-mentals sessions assisted young students, band directors, and music teachers with the ins and outs of teaching percussion.

The PASIC 2012 evening concerts included a special Fo-cus Day evening concert celebrating the 100th birthday of John Cage through performances by Percussion Group Cin-cinnati, red fish blue fish, Steven Schick, and Benjamin Toth. Thursday evening saw steel pan artist Andy Narrel take over PASIC with his special steel band/big band project. The Sat-urday evening concert was a fitting end to PASIC 2012 with attendees dancing in the aisles as Steve Gadd joined forces with the incomparable Pedrito Martinez Group with a tour-

de-force through Cuban jazz.www.pas.org

Scott Johnson works on some warm up exercises

with PASIC attendees.

New Orleans drummer Stanton Moore.

SoundTree Education Expands with NAfME Alliance

Korg USA’s Education Division, consisting of SoundTree, the SoundTree Institute, and SoundTree.com, is expanding in multiple areas that will provide music educators of all types with a variety of products and services to enhance their curriculum and personal development. Founded in 1995, SoundTree is a leading provider of products and turnkey learn-ing systems for music education.

In 2011, SoundTree launched the SoundTree Institute, the first-ever online school for music educators. This fall marked the launch of a new ini-tiative, the “NAfME Learning Network powered by SoundTree,” which is the re-sult of an alliance with the National Asso-

ciation for Music Education (NAfME, formerly MENC). The NAfME Learning Network is available to educators via an annual subscription; NAfME members will be able to sub-scribe at a discounted rate. With this subscription, educators will receive access to high-quality, online professional devel-opment with the opportunity to receive continuing educa-tion credits at a fraction of the cost offered by traditional

learning systems – all from the comfort of their own homes. Not just limited to of-ferings for music technology educators, the NAfME Learning Network offers on-line courses, live webinars, lesson plans, and more to music educators of all types, with course topics ranging from Band & Orchestral all the way to music technol-ogy and digital audio recording. www.institute.soundtree.com/nafme

2012 Percussive Arts Show a Success

PASIC 2012 in Austin, Texas.

�

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HeadlinesNEMC, Jupiter Launch Performance Contest

In conjunction with Jupiter Band Instruments, NEMC has announced their second NEMC “Music Is Life” Video Performance Contest. This high-profile contest calls on school band or orchestra ensembles from around the country to submit a video of a great performance re-corded this year or a new performance captured on video specifically for this contest, to be submitted before January 31, 2013.

Participants can enter online at NEMC for prizes that include a choice of one of three $10,000 Musical Instrument Packages and additional $1,000 for their school music program. Videos can be edited down from an existing media file of a past performance or school ensem-bles can simply record something new. Entrants are urged to capture video by any means pos-sible – whether an HD video camera or a smart phone – as it is the performance, not the video production that counts. The winner is decided by public vote starting in February 2013.

In May 2012, the inaugural contest was won by Glenn Cowen, the band director of Chel-tenham High School, Cheltenham, Pa., who submitted the video entry on behalf of his school band. “Our students are dedicated to excellence, and they realize that the measure of their success is not necessarily by the end result but by how hard they tried. I always remind them that their instruments will only work if they do, and that effort is everything,” says Cowen. “Times are tough in music education right now. There are needs for growing bands and con-tinued ongoing resourcing of music programs. The NEMC contest award was a wonderful and refreshing bonus to our program and I’m very grateful for the instruments and money that we won that has contributed to our schools musical growth and legacy.”

NEMC urges all School band directors, students and parents to spread the word and get involved in this contest that rewards the winning school with major musical instruments from industry profile brands such as F.E. OLDS and Son, Inc. and Jupiter Band Instruments.

All details of the contest and entry submissions can be accessed online at www.nemc.com.

ONLINE SURVEYHow would you rate your

band program’s 2012 marching season?

Topping 87 of the best marching bands in the country at the recent Bands of America Grand National Champion-ships was Carmel High School of Car-mel, Indiana, who was awarded the title of 2012 Grand National Champion. A panel of nationally known music educa-tors and marching band experts evalu-ated each competing band in the Cham-pionships, held at Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium, as 34 bands from the event’s preliminary competition advanced to the Semi-Finals, with the top 12 scoring bands on advancing to the evening finals competition, where the Grand National Champion was named.

Closely following Carmel High in the rankings were Broken Arrow High School (Indiana) and Avon High School (Okla-homa). Winners of the Al Castronovo Memorial Esprit de Corps Award were Bridgewater- Raritan H.S., (New Jersey)

and Avon High School. The winner of the Outstanding Music Performance Award was Carmel High School. The winner for the Steve Brubaker Awards for Outstanding Visual Performance was Broken Arrow H.S., who also won Out-standing General Effect honors.

The four-day event began with the In-dianapolis Marching Band Tournament, which gave Indianapolis band members the opportunity to perform in a profes-sional stadium. Spirit judges awarded the most spirited, enthusiastic school with the Spirit Award and a $1,000 scholar-ship for the school’s band program. This award went to Broad Ripple Magnet High School. Broad Ripple Magnet High School was this year’s Class A Champion, and Crispus Attucks High School was Class B Champion.www.musicforall.org

Carmel High Wins BOA Grand Nationals

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From the Trenches

Ho ho ho, everybody! Yes, indeed, it is that time of year. It

is time to find out who has been naughty (and you know

who you are!) and who has been nice, who will find a

lump of coal in their stocking, and who will find something a little

more pleasant. So, with the marching band season and the holiday

chorus and band concerts behind you, it is time to sit back, relax,

and enjoy the parade of presents!

By Bob Morrison

Dear Santa,It’s me again, Bob Morrison. How’ve you been? How’s the missus? Loved you in

the new Chevy TV ads. I didn’t know you freelanced as a car salesman on the side!Yes, I know, it has been almost 10 years of me writing to you requesting goodies

and not-so-goodies for unsuspecting, yet deserving, individuals and organizations. And this year is no exception! You know how much I love to give presents in an election year!

Anyway, please pack your sleigh with the following items for some deserving folks this year:

For President Obama – A Ginormous Bottle of Tums (Tum ta-Tum-Tum)! After winning re-election, here is what you receive as the victor: a divided con-

gress and American population, fiscal cliffs, declining bond ratings, a sluggish economy, and widely suspect education policy. On the best of days this is going to give anyone an upset stomach. At least you get what many people do not… a second chance! But if this is what awaits the winner I would hate to see what the loser gets…

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For Mitt Romney – A Brand New Career! That’s right! For losing your second campaign for president,

after spending eight years of your life and millions and millions of dollars of your own money, what do you get to show for it? Nothing!

For Bill Clinton – Four More Years! Okay, I know this is constitutionally impossible but you have

to admit… love him or hate him, Bill Clinton has been one of the greatest politicians in our history and he has certainly set the bar high for being an effective past-president with his work on the various causes housed inside the Clinton Global Initiative. And hey, wasn’t it cool to have a sax playing bando in the White House?

For Governor Christie (Yes, I am a homer) – Four More Years!

I can give more than one, right? Yes, a lot of people want you to run for president and everything, but we could still use some of your “Jersey Style” around… Jersey. With a gubernatorial cam-paign coming up in 2013 and years of rebuilding after the devas-tation of Hurricane Sandy, I believe our state needs you more now than any place else. Beside, all the Republicans are mad at you… which brings me to…

For the Republican Party – An Anti-Reality Distortion Field!

Do you really think Christie cost Romney the election? Really? Are you sure the reason for Romney’s loss doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that he ran one of weakest campaigns in Ameri-can history and offended 50 percent of the population along the way while taking on a sitting President overseeing a very weak economy? You do? Yeah, Romney lost the election when Chris Christie hugged the president. “Oh, waiter, I’ll have whatever it is they are drinking!”

In the spirit of treating both parties unfairly, equally…

And for the Democratic Party – An Agenda. Yes, your guy won the election, but I am not sure there was a

clearly articulated agenda other than, “The other guy is worse than me.” And co-opting Republican education strategies and packag-ing it as your own does not count as a strategy. It is sad to think we could have elected either parties standard bearer as president and the impact on education would be exactly the same. This, in and of itself, is sad!

For Education Officials in Oregon – A Clue! Sadly, Oregon will begin testing all five-year-olds next fall to

assess their “readiness” for kindergarten. Some people believe it is never too soon to test children. These people should be shot (metaphorically, of course). Have we just gone off the deep end of the pool? Sir Ken Robinson has it right: the big challenge for our students is not getting through school; it is getting through school without the system beating the creativity out of them. Put-ting kindergarten and pre-K students through standardized test-ing is clearly a step in the wrong direction. But where are all the education researchers? Why are they silent?

For UK Education Secretary Michael Gove – Truth Serum!

In early 2012, the secretary cut funding for music programs by 43 percent but told the public his plan would actually lead to more music education – maybe he failed math. This great slight of hand act was followed up by proposing a new “English bacca-laureate” for graduation from school (think common core) which would focus on fewer subjects (can you guess what they left out?). UK celebrities and citizens have been rightfully outraged at the threat to creativity in the schools. Secretary Gove says this will help increase creativity. Somebody is not telling the truth… any guesses?

For the STEM Education Reformers (Science, Technol-ogy, Engineering and Mathematics) – A Vowel!

That’s right, you cannot talk seriously about creativity and edu-cation reform and forget to include the subjects that are based on creativity! So with your “Buy a Vowel” card, go out and get an “A” for “Arts.” Now your acronym will be STEAM… maybe by including the arts you can get a head of STEAM going for educa-tion reform. Otherwise it becomes nothing more than a bunch of hot air.

For West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jorea Marple – A New Job as US Secretary of Educa-tion!

First, she instructed her department to conduct research on the impact of arts instruction on students across the state. The office of research confirmed an association between arts partici-pation and progressively higher levels of academic proficiency and performance and finding that participating in arts programs beyond the one credit minimum improved academic proficien-cy. Then she went on a tour of the state to promote the findings. Finally a policy maker who really does believe in research based education reform!

For the Education Policies in the Cities of Boston, Chi-cago, Los Angeles, and Portland – Cloning Machines!

All three cities have instituted major education initiatives to bring music and the arts back to more students. In Boston, superintendent Carol Johnson has been methodically work-ing her multi-year plan to restore music and arts programs. Chicago just announced a plan to expand arts offerings in all schools as part of a citywide arts blueprint. Los Angeles just elevated the arts to equal status with other subjects ensuring there could be no more funding cut and is developing a plan to deploy arts across the district. In Portland, a new tax levy was approved by voters explicitly to fund arts education in schools. We need to clone these programs and take them to others!

For All Other Major Cities – A Trip to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland.

Four cities is a good start, but if we really want some trac-tion, we will need more and more cities to follow the bold lead of these education innovators so the lessons they have learned may be transported to other communities.



For the Clark Atlanta University, Texas Southern Univer-sity, North Carolina Central University and Florida A&M University Marching Band members – A FULL YEAR SUSPENSION.

Come on folks! A year after the tragic hazing death of the Flor-ida A&M Drum major and we have to read about… four more hazing incidents? This is marching band, not some street gang or fraternity or even Congress. Enough already. One death is one too many. These absurd rituals must come to a stop. If you can’t stop then it is time to kill the programs. Period.

For Carmel High School (IN) – Grand Nationals Champion Emeritus Status!

Under the leadership of director Richard Saucedo, the school has won a boatload of Grand National Championships. If we make Carmel the Grand National Champion Emeritus it will give some other schools a fighting chance. Richard has been arguably the best director of this era overseeing one of the great programs of our time. Congratulations to you and the entire Carmel Band family! And while we are at it, if Carmel is one of the great public school programs…

For Immaculata High School (NJ) – National Recognition! Immaculata has one of the great instrumental music programs

in the country (housed in a small private school). With the 2012 USBANDS national title and an undefeated season in hand for their marching band, along with a consistently great instrumental pro-

gram year in and year out, this small private school deserves some national props! The music program, led by department chair Sister Dolores Margaret, band director Ed Weber, and assistant director Frank Amato, is one of the best kept secrets outside of the East Coast and is one school that others could certainly learn from.

For the Ohio State Marching Band – A Standing Ovation! I have seen a lot of creative shows in the course of my career

but the video game half time show on October 6, 2012 was one for the record books. The show, featuring the music from Mario Bros., Pac-Man, and Zelda has been viewed more than 14 million times on YouTube and will be talked about for generations to come. Kudos to first year director Jonathan Waters and his staff for building on TBDBITL’s traditions and creating a show for the ages!

And lastly, to all our readers, who bring the wonderful gift of music to students across this nation everyday – may you receive as much joy this holiday season as you give to your students and have a very happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Robert B. Morrison is the founder of Quadrant Arts Edu-cation Research, an arts education research and intelligence organization. In addition to other related pursuits in the field of arts education advocacy, Mr. Morrison has helped create, found, and run Music for All, the VH1 Save The Music Foun-dation, and, along with Richard Dreyfuss and the late Michael Kaman, the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

He may be reached directly at [email protected].

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Traditionally, public school instrumental music programs have consisted of four distinct “streams”: orchestra, jazz band, marching band, and chorus. At schools with robust music programs, all four of these streams may exist harmo-niously under a single roof. Other schools may have any combination of these offerings. The teaching of these streams emphasizes prescribed canons and focus on the learning and playing of genre-based music through note reading. Recita-tion of music composed by others is normative.

The most recent stream of music education to entrench it-self in the US public school system is jazz band, which rolled out on a national level in the 1970s. Forward thinking educa-tors of the day saw that music education was in need of a re-fresh. This happened at a time when the commercial appeal of jazz music was waning, but recognition of its importance as a cultural treasure was beginning to grow. Jazz reached the apex of its commercial appeal in the ‘40s and ‘50s, 30 years before the introduction of jazz into school music programs. However, as it was initially being integrated into schools, the newness and novelty of the approach led its proponents to call it by the less threatening (though more confusing) name of “stage band.” In fact, many of us attended universities or colleges where jazz was practiced in darkened halls in secret for fear of the wrath of the dean. Well, 40 years have passed and jazz is no longer a threat. However, in the 60 years since jazz was at the top of the US charts, an awful lot has happened in the broader world of music.

By Ryan Zellner

Commentary: The Modern Band

The Modern Band:The Next Step in the Evolution of Music Education

In my days as a high school marching band director, I understood the direct impact that I made on

students’ lives each and every day. I also understood the impact that our performance could have on

an audience. Not that this impact was always positive, mind you, but an impact nonetheless. The

fact is that music education began in the United States as a way to improve music singing and reading in

church. Yet somehow, someway, we have evolved to entertaining, or some might say educating audiences

on a football field. Social influences and innovations evolved music and its sub-genres to this point. Now

we welcome in the 21st century, where we are carrying super-computers in our pockets, iPads are domi-

nating classrooms, and having Wi-Fi is commonplace. The music “r”evolution is far from complete and

it already exists all around us.

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The advent and triumph of rock ‘n’ roll music has fueled the development of a spate of seemingly disparate sub-genres including rap, heavy metal, punk, top 40, funk, disco, hip hop, electronica, reggae, country, and more. The last three generations of pop composers and per-formers have changed the face of music profoundly, dramatically influencing the tastes of youth and adults alike. The commercial landscape is now dominated by the works of these newer artists.

So does this mean that traditional music education will be supplanted by the new genres? No more than the Uni-versity of Illinois Marching Illini on the field in 1907 destroyed the popularity of John Philip Sousa. In fact, Sousa enjoyed his most prolific years from 1907 into the 1920s and in 1929 wrote the Univer-sity of Illinois march.

The concept of a fifth stream of music education is so new that, like jazz band before it (aka “stage band”), it lacks a de-finitive name. This “contemporary band” model can and does bridge the unneces-sary learning divide that exists between the music that our children experience in schools and the music they experience in their communities.

However, it is not only our students who can experience a disconnect be-tween what they listen to at home and what they learn at school. Increasingly, music educators themselves feel the strain between their own experiences of mu-sic in the world and music as they have been trained to teach. Such is the impact that popular music has had on our cul-ture for more than half a century. Newly minted (and not so newly minted) music teachers are also the products of the same cultural shift that transformed the face of music. Simply stated, they are part of one of the rock ‘n’ roll generations. I em-phasize the word “generations” because there are now at least three of them.

Each of the four existing streams of music education has pedagogical under-pinnings and teaching techniques that

stem from both the cultural practices of each stream’s progenitors as well as the specific demands of the genres they em-brace. The classical music stream teaches a group discipline and rigor necessary for large ensembles performing elaborate pieces with many precise parts. The jazz stream (ideally) teaches improvisation, as this is a central part of what constitutes jazz music. What unique or special skills and values can a fifth stream music pro-gram bring to our students?

The “contemporary band” stream re-imagines music education from the ground up. Drawing liberally from the teaching practices and learning dispo-sitions of the rock ‘n’ roll laity, we have codified an approach that is replicable in public schools and yet maintains the core value of the “pop approach” to music making. Think of the longhaired guitar teacher at the back of the music store or the older sister in a band or the Beatles or Nirvana or the legions and legions of people who play, learn, and/or teach con-temporary music. How do they pass on the knowledge?

The fifth stream emphasizes the act of creation over that of recitation. Al-though there is an emerging pop canon, pop musicians frequently compose their own music. By teaching children to do the same, they are empowered to use music for its primary, inherent purpose: namely as a communicative tool. The fifth stream integrates composition and improvisation at the beginning of chil-dren’s educations as a means of ensur-ing that they experience the confidence-building and self-esteem raising benefits that come with authorship. Currently, all other fields of a liberal arts education afford such opportunities to young chil-dren: music education is often the sole exception.

Though adding a fifth stream to mu-sic education helps bring aesthetic align-ment between the music our children consume and the academy, the benefits don’t end there. Focusing on the music

“Increasingly, music educators themselves feel the strain between their own experiences of music in the world and music as they have been trained to teach.”

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that is familiar to our students in their schools allows them to see themselves reflected in the curriculum. By validating and leveraging their cultural capital, we can forge stronger bonds between tradi-tionally marginalized students and the schools that serve them.

Just as Purdue University placed a “P” on the marching band field and the University of Illinois did the first half-time show in 1907, there are programs all over the country that are instituting

contemporary band programs and ex-periencing a major resurgence in music education. In the Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, this “fifth stream” model reaches over 23,000 students with amazing results. Melanie Faulkner, supervisor of Elementary Fine Arts, states that, “One of the most vital areas that teachers experienced benefits is in original composition and improvi-sation. Through training in the Modern Band curriculum, teachers have become

comfortable with improvisation and composition; it shows in their teaching, and translates to other musical genres, where the concept of improvisation and composition had previously been intimi-dating.”

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the teachers have noticed a dra-matic effect on their students. “One of the greatest challenges we face as educa-tors is to give our students the skill set they need to move beyond replication of what we teach them to the synthesis of new ideas and the ability to express these ideas,” says Steve Venze, an elementary music specialist. “Our Modern Band music courses have provided a powerful set of tools for helping each student find such creative expression. The changes in students I have observed over the past four years have been remarkable. I am anticipating the day that every student in our District has access to a Little Kids Rock program at his or her school.”

For music education, the modern band stream has opened the door to an endless array of possibilities that are adaptive to every situation and need. Most recently, the incorporation of tech-nology into our everyday lives is chang-ing the face of music. Whether or not it is something that we embrace, it will be here. Just as I stood there wondering how the marching band got on that foot-ball field anyway, we will one day won-der what we used to do before modern band programs.

From 1998-2012, Dr. Zellner served as director of Instrumental Activities at Tunkhannock Area High School, where he was re-sponsible for the marching, concert, jazz, and percussion ensembles. Dr. Zellner holds a bachelor of music degree with emphasis in Education, a master’s in music, an MS degree with emphasis in Classroom Technology and an MS degree with emphasis in educational development and strategies both from Wilkes University. In April 2011, Dr. Zellner received his Ph.D. in Educational Psy-chology from Capella University. His dissertation topic was “The relationship between instrumental music and critical thinking skills in 8th and 11th grade students.”

He is also a graduate school instructor for Perfor-mance Learning Systems, where he facilitates Teaching Through Learning Channels Online, Merging Educa-tional Goals and Interactive Media Projects Online, Action Research, and Successful Teaching for the Ac-ceptance of Responsibility. In August 2012, Dr. Zellner joined Little Kids Rock, a music education not-for-profit organization, as their national program director.


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SBOUpClose: Paul MacAlindin

By Eliahu SuSSman

Paul MacAlindin

Iraq& the National Youth Orchestra of

A Triumph of Music

In September of 2008, conductor Paul MacAlindin was enjoying a plate of fish and chips in a restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland when he reached over to pick up a copy of the Glasgow Herald that was sitting on a nearby table. In that newspaper, an announcement caught his eye: “Search for UK Maestro to help create an orchestra in Iraq,” read the headline. “An Iraqi teenager is appealing for a British maestro to help her set up the country’s first

national youth orchestra.” What followed was a brief description of the mission of Zuhal Sultan, a remark-able then 17-year-old Iraqi teen who had a vision. Sultan, a piano playing girl who grew up in Baghdad, dreamed of assembling a National Youth Orchestra. Her story gained attention when she was contacted by Raw TV, a British television channel that makes reality shows in London. Raw TV then put out the press release, which MacAlindin came across in a restaurant in Edinburgh.

UpClose.indd 22 12/3/12 10:35 AM

A Triumph of Music



Paul MacAlindin, a Scottish con-ductor and music director who is based in Germany but has worked through-out Europe, was hooked. “I was so im-pressed by the story,” he recalls. “I said to myself immediately, ‘I know how to do this.’ I contacted Zuhal through Raw and the British Council London, who put me in touch with their Iraq office.” With funding and assistance from groups like the British Council London and the Scottish Government, plans were put in place for a schedule to be arranged, tutors to be flown in, details to be ironed out, and the Na-tional Youth Orchestra of Iraq (NYOI) was born.

SBO recently caught up with MacAlindin to discuss the rather in-credible particulars of how this ground-breaking ensemble was launched, the logistical and musical challenges the NYOI has faced, and the larger sig-nificance of creating a unified outlet for young musicians in a war-ravaged country.

School Band & Orchestra: What were some of the logistical and conceptual challenges of getting the NYOI off and running?

Paul MacAlindin: In year one, we had no idea who was providing secu-rity or where we were rehearsing as we flew into Iraq. It’s a last minute culture, so we were given the Palace of Arts by local government contacts on arrival, who also supplied us with local Pesh-merga soldiers, the Kurdistan Region’s own army. These were burly young men in uniform patrolling the build-ing and its surroundings with AK-47s.

It became a ritual of our bassoon tu-tors over the years to get photographed holding the weapons. I guess there’s not much difference between a bassoon and a Kalashnikov, on some deep level.

SBO: How much of a realistic con-cern was safety?

PM: Safety is priority number one. You can’t concentrate on learning mu-sic unless you have the basics in place. Choosing a Kurdish town in the north to hold the course was sensible for the Kurdish Iraqi players, but could mean a long and potentially dangerous jour-ney from Baghdad for the Arab players. Because the Kurdistan region of Iraq is much safer than the rest, this was a logical location for the course.

Once we’d all started to relax into a routine, we began to get to know each other and the town of Suleymaniyah, which was a heartwarming and lovely experience. We were very fortunate to begin our life there.

SBO: Would you talk about the pro-cess of recruiting players?

PM: The musicians hear about NYOI through Facebook (www.face-

book.com/nyo.iraq) and word of mouth. Auditions have to be done by YouTube. I needed to know what stan-dard the players were at, so I could choose suitable repertoire, and obvi-ously, I couldn’t take on everyone. There are no course fees, so the players have to be fully financed by the project.

Auditions by YouTube were very difficult because Iraq’s infrastructure had been shattered by the war, and wireless capacity was just beginning to be set up. Uploading five minutes of video could take 10 hours, and if there were a power cut, you’d have to start all over again.

SBO: What were your initial expec-tations, musically?

PM: I had few expectations coming in. I was very clear what I wanted to do in that first two-week course in 2009, but I had no idea how this would work in reality. The repertoire was Haydn’s “Symphony No. 99” and Beethoven’s “Prometheus Overture.” I also had a pile of shorter, easier pieces, which I would weave into rehearsals in week one as I got a feel for how [the students] were progressing. There was a lot of

“The short-term goal is to put on a concert at the end of each course. The long-term goal is to train as

many talented young Iraqis as possible so that they will return to Iraq with better teaching ideas and more motiva-tion to start their own ensembles and chamber orchestras – and this is already happening.”

MacAlindin leads the NYOI in rehearsal.

Photos by Tariq Hassoon.


SBO_25 25 12/3/12 10:32:25 AM

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ducking and diving, but we pulled to-gether a final concert that the audience was pretty surprised and delighted at. I loved that they burst into applause, not just after every movement, but wher-ever there were two or three beats rest in the Haydn. This was hilarious fun, and made the whole relationship with the audience come to life.

SBO: What sorts of musical back-grounds do the players in the NYOI have?

PM: Many of the players have no formal teaching, and those with teachers are often not instilled with a pedagogy, or sometimes sabotaged by older players who try to quash their talent, as a threat to them-selves. My tutor team agrees that those without teachers are generally better off than those with. There is no exam system, and players coming from certain districts of Baghdad or Kirkuk have to be careful how loud they play in case they get their fami-

lies into trouble from local funda-mentalist authorities.

There are Institutes of the Fine Arts around the country, so the founda-tions are there, and they provide what support they can. Some of my less fi-nancially well-off players have been given their first instrument through such organizations, but then often

there is only the Internet to download from for further study. Classical music is seen as a basic educational necessity regardless of whether you play classi-cal or Iraqi music. This takes young musicians up to a lower intermediate level, especially in terms of reading music and playing the more popu-lar instruments such as violin. Many of the NYOI players know how to play Iraqi music, but don’t tell me, as they see their own traditions as being somehow less significant. This is why every program we do features an Arab and Kurdish Iraqi orchestral composi-tion. Violinists and clarinetists are the most versatile, as they can alter their tuning with a good degree of control and play traditional Iraqi Maq’ams.

SBO: How would you describe the experience of working with students from conflicting ethnic backgrounds and across different languages?

PM: Back in 2009, the Kurdish/Arab/English tutor divide was obvious in week one, as people would simply not speak to each other outside re-hearsal. Given that the Kurds don’t speak Arabic and the Arabs don’t speak Kurdish and only half the orchestra could get by in English, this is not sur-prising. But once we had a birthday party, and discovered what an irre-pressible bunch of party animals we all were, the ice broke and everyone hun-kered down with new determination to make the concert happen. Music and party are the two common languages of NYOI.

� German violinist Arabella Steinbacher joins the NYOI for Beethovenfest in 2011.

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SBO: Could you elaborate on that birthday party? How did that come together?

PM: It was the Friday at the end of week one, and we were all in an Irani-an restaurant that we’d booked to feed the orchestra during our stay. We’d all started sitting at our usual tables out-

side on the lawn, defined by language, Kurds, Arabs, English speakers. A birthday cake for Boran Aziz, a highly talented young pianist, appeared for her 18th birthday, on that day. After singing “Happy Birthday,” a violinist and Daff player struck up a tune and we started dancing around in a circle. All the differences melted away and we

realised how keen we were to let go and have a good time. Now, every year, someone brings along a Daff, which is an Ottoman drum, and someone else will start playing a local melody on violin or clarinet, two very common folk instruments in Iraq, and we’ll all spontaneously start dancing, non-stop for hours on end. And without a single

I traveled to Iraq for parts of three consecutive summers, about two-and-a-half weeks each year. I first heard about the NYOI while doing a fellowship with Carnegie Hall, where one leg of my program was educational outreach. The director of my fellowship program had given my name to an American representative for the NYOI, Allegra Klein, who presented the opportunity to me. Going to Iraq was a pret-ty scary idea at the time, but I was eventually convinced that I would be safe, and I decided to go ahead and do it.

When I got to Iraq, it was a lot more peaceful than I was expect-ing. There was some tension between the Kurds and the Arabs in the orchestra and there were some adventurous moments, but the sensa-tionalized violence and chaos that the media loves to report on was basically non-existent. Still, we were all pretty paranoid whenever we went outside. We spent most of our time indoors in the hotel or at the rehearsal hall, but whenever we went outside, the locals were friendly. There was also a lot of curiosity about who we were and what we were doing.

As far as the schedule went, the rehearsals were pretty much all-day affairs. We’d wake up in the morning and have sectionals right after breakfast. There were tutors for each instrument; I worked with the first violin section. Sectionals would last about two hours, during which time we’d go through the parts, fingerings, mark the score, and work on rhythm and other areas that might be problematic. The Iraqi musicians had such a wide range of playing levels that it was quite challenging. We’d break for lunch, and then have full rehearsals for another three hours or so. There was also travel time going from the hotel where we were staying to the rehearsal venue, and then time out for meals, so we were basically working with the kids non-stop. In addition, we would give lessons in the evenings, sometimes before dinner and sometimes after dinner, one-on-one, working on whatever individual skills the NYOI musicians needed [to improve].

The first year was really doing a lot of basic work with the musi-cians. There was a really wide range of musicianship, and some of them had never been in an orchestra or done a string sectional before. In the end, they pulled through for the concert – the concerts were always rewarding. Still, the second year wasn’t like picking up where we left off after the first year, because we had so many new members. Almost half of the musicians the second year were new, having heard about the NYOI purely through word of mouth. By the third year, though, it seemed like some of the more advanced musicians had be-gun teaching their colleagues.

I thought it was important to give my time freely while I was over there, and they were so enthusiastic about learning any-thing they could. They were like sponges. They really absorbed as much as they could. Working with them was really touching for me. Some of the Iraqi musicians would stay up all night long downloading videos related to the music we were playing – they hardly went to bed. We would give them a hard time about it, being strict with them and telling them that if they didn’t sleep, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

There was a French horn player named Ranya Nashat, who was the most outgoing person in the group. She also spoke very good Eng-lish. When I asked her why she and her colleagues were staying up all night, she said, “You guys don’t understand what a gift this is for us. Your presence here means so much that we want to absorb every moment, and that’s more valuable than sleeping. There’s no way we’ll know what happens tomorrow.” This a girl who grew up in Baghdad, and still lives there. Ranya told me, “You don’t know what we see every day. My friend was just killed last week.” That put it into perspective for us, and I guess that’s why I went back for the next two summers.

Seeing the way that these kids worked together by the end of each season, I realized that wherever you are, whatever your means or resources, it doesn’t take much to make the most of any situation. Especially in music, where people have a common goal and interest, it doesn’t matter what happened in the past. There was a lot of conflict between the Arabs and the Kurds and the Arabs outnumbered the Kurds. By the end of the session, they were not only working together, but laughing and helping each other, and really learning, trying to pull off something that may have been beyond their scope.

Learning from them really was a gift for me. I realized a lot about how necessary it is to reach out to people through what we do. It gave more meaning to my own life as a performer and as an educator. I could be playing in concert venues – I’m on tour right now – but what really gives meaning to what I do as a musician is helping, and feeling useful, needed, and relevant. They made that happen for me. They helped me realize the importance of what I do and why I do it, which is to teach, to pass on what I know to people who are eager to absorb it, and to people who need it. And that place really needs it, more than any other place that I’ve ever been to.

Angelia Cho is a New York City-based violinist and member of The Academy, a program “for musicians who wish to redefine their role as musician and extend their music making from the concert stage into schools and the larger community.” In 2009, 2010, and 2011, Angelia traveled to Iraq as a violin tutor for the NYOI, one of approxi-mately 10 instrument coaches brought in for about two weeks each year.

Cho is currently touring with A Far Cry, a self-conducted classical chamber orchestra that she helped found in 2007. In between recent tour stops in Georgia and Louisiana, Cho took a moment to share her experiences in Iraq with SBO.



drop of alcohol. I think this first party made everyone feel they could have permission to be young, joyful, and silly while still taking music seriously.

SBO: How would you describe the strategy for getting the NYOI off the ground, and then developing growth?

PM: I think that first year worked with sheer guts and determination. The past four years have been blood, sweat and tears, especially for me, but there really is no other way of setting some-thing like this up for sustainability. Al-though the orchestra intake is better each year, there are still fundamental problems of listening, musicianship, and technique that our tutor team – one per instrument – try their best to iron out in our brief annual courses, but this cannot replace the years of neglect that these young people have experienced.

Our strategy is to become diplo-mats, showing a more positive, united face to the world than it has seen so far, and to reach out to other youth orchestras. Last year, we collaborated with the German Youth Orchestra, Bundesjugendorchester, and this year with Edinburgh Youth Orchestra. Next year will be with the French Orchestre Francais des Jeunes in Aix en Provence. Our values, chosen in a players’ work-shop in 2009, are love, commitment and respect.

SBO: What do you mean by “values” for the ensemble?

PM: In 2009, I ran a mission and values workshop with the players, be-cause I needed to know who they were and what they wanted out of this or-chestra for the coming years. We asked them to write down anonymously, on pieces of paper, what qualities they valued in themselves, in music, in the youth orchestra, and if they were to run their own youth orchestra, what values would be its foundation. The most common answers were love, com-mitment, and respect, along with hard work, love of Iraq, and peace clustering around them. So that gave me as good a mandate as possible for how the play-ers themselves saw the orchestra.

In practice, as with any value sys-tem, this can be hard to live up to, but at least it’s there to refer to, and for everyone to remind themselves what NYOI is about. These are very broad and solid foundations that create a standard of behavior towards each oth-er, especially through hard times.

SBO: How has the course of study and performance for the NYOI evolved since its inception?

PM: The 2009 and ‘10 courses were two weeks of rehearsal in Iraq and one concert. The 2011 course was two weeks in Iraq and one concert, then two more weeks in Bonn, a workshop concert in Berlin, two kids’ concerts and one final concert in Beethovenfest. This year, the whole course was in Ed-inburgh for 3 weeks, with concerts in Glasgow, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and London Queen Elisabeth Hall. We’re still trying to create the ideal for-mula for working.

SBO: Do I understand this correctly then, that in some respects the NYOI is as much an advanced music educa-tion training program as it is a select performance ensemble?

PM: Yes. It has to be a musical boot camp to skill-up the players and get them through the course and final per-formance, as there really isn’t much of a music educational infrastructure to

support them in Iraq. Those that make it through the auditions are largely self-taught.

SBO: Have you had the same musi-cians participating from year to year?

PM: We run annual auditions, just like every other national youth orchestra. The best applicants from each year get in, subject to available places. I reckon about a quarter have been in since the start. The short-term goal is to put on a concert at the end of each course. The long-term goal is to train as many talented young

Iraqis as possible so that they will re-turn to Iraq with better teaching ideas and more motivation to start their own ensembles and chamber orchestras, and this is already happening. In that sense, the viral effect of good quality teaching influences Iraqi music making by stealth over the long term future. That we’ve made it through the first four years is a miracle, but it’s the deep impact over the next 25 years that we’re thinking about, as well. We can’t guarantee that there’ll be a musical infrastructure for the future, but we can change the way music edu-

On the web: • www.nyoiraq.com• www.friends-nyoi.com• twitter:nyoiraq• www.facebook.com/nyo.iraq• www.youtube.com/user/nyoiinfo

Year Founded: 2008Founder:ZuhalSultanMusical Director:PaulMacAlindinCurrent number of Musicians:45Total number of Musicians in NYOI history:100Notable accolades & accomplishments: • BringingyoungIraqisfromdiverseback-

groundstogetherinpeaceandmusic• InternationaldebutatBeethovenfest• CommissioningKurdish&Arabcompos-

ers:http://soundcloud.com/nyo-iraq• FoundingGermanFriendsofNYOI:

www.friends-nyoi.com• InvitedbyScottishGovernmenttoper-

formatEdinburghInternationalFringe• LondondébutwithJulianLloydWebber

ForacloserlookattheNYOIinaction,scanthisQRcodewithyoursmartphone!

The National Youth Orchestra of Iraq

at a Glance

“We can’t guarantee that there’ll be a musical infra-structure for the future, but we can change the way

music education is perceived, one player at a time, and give them a strong feeling of success and achievement.”


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cation is perceived, one player at a time, and give them a strong feeling of success and achievement.

After four years of getting this baby organization on its feet, we now have rolling interest from various embassies,

countries, festivals, and this is all we can do to make sure it has a sustain-able future. The orchestra is a paradox from top to bottom, and like all good paradoxes, it works because, and not in spite of, it’s apparent contradictions.

SBO: The “orchestra is a paradox from top to bottom”? Could you ex-pand on that?

PM: The first paradox is why a Scottish conductor based in Germany is doing this. I still don’t really know, other than it still sounds like a great idea, and it’s easy to fall for the young players and want to try and help them.

The second paradox is how a 17-year-old female pianist in Baghdad rallied considerable support in that

“How can a bunch of young people who can’t even speak each other’s language, and have been

taught to hate each other, sit down in front of the same music and play beautifully together?”

Photos by Tariq Hassoon.

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first year to get NYOI off the ground. Zuhal has a magnetic charm and is fu-riously intelligent. We’re lucky to have her.

Thirdly, how can a bunch of young people who can’t even speak each oth-er’s language, and have been taught to hate each other, sit down in front of the same music and play beautifully to-gether? Because of the discipline of or-chestral playing, we have a very secure and productive framework to come together. Having me and the other for-eign tutors there also creates a neutral third space between the Kurds and Ar-abs through which we can mediate and pour our energy safely.

The fourth paradox is between Arab, Kurdish, and Western musical culture, but this is also a generation who glob-ally switches between cultures more ef-fortlessly and articulately than ever be-fore. It’s a real Generation Y orchestra, with a high awareness of music outside Iraq through the Internet. Taking a very conservative format, the orchestra, and fitting it into a very conservative coun-try within this globally aware context actually fits strangely well.

The final paradox is the most tragic and most important, and that is the suffering of the players themselves. Al-though there is little evidence on the surface of what they personally have been through, everyone’s family has been affected by gas attacks, invasion, tribal tensions, and war. As young peo-ple, this is their normality. That comes out in the sound, which has been borne out of their determination to play through dangerous times, in order to shut out the world around them. It’s a crazy, tense energy, but one which we can convert into joy together.

SBO: In the bigger picture, what do you think this organization repre-sents?

PM: That’s a huge question. I don’t know really. The organization is a pro-cess. It represents a way of teaching and communicating that is kinder, more creative, more loving than what they’ve been used to. This has a stealth impact in Iraq, as people gradually realize what the true potential of these young players is, and it forces older musicians to deal with a highly informed, em-

powered next generation. The players know how to translate this experience to Iraq in ways I cannot. Diplomatically, we’re looking at an orchestra of Iraqis living in Iraq, all with Iraqi passports, but some people high up cannot let go of the divisions within Iraq, so we deal with some resistance to our symbolic wholeness. There’s another paradox – a national youth orchestra from a nation that doesn’t believe in itself as a whole.

SBO: How does this project differ from other conducting gigs you’ve had?

PM: NYOI will always be a coaching more than a conducting experience for me. Due to lack of experience, the play-ers don’t really know how to watch and play at the same time, and if they do, classical conducting technique doesn’t have much meaning. I adapt my physi-


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cal communication to be more ener-getic and direct than with profession-als. My verbal communication is very economical, because it also has to be translated into Kurdish and Arabic. There’s a Kurdish and Arab concert-master sharing every concert, which helps keep a cultural balance. Working with two concertmasters is also a joy, because you’re giving two people lead-ership experience instead of one, and leadership is a key development goal for when they return to daily Iraqi life. I’d say after four years, we’ve gotten all the lead positions about right.

SBO: How would you describe the impact that this ensemble has had on the musicians, their families, and their communities?

PM: That’s a huge question. I don’t know where to begin. In short, the aver-age age in Iraq is about 21. Our upper age limit is 29. Therefore NYOI players, who are about 18-25, are really the cur-rent generation of music teachers and

performers in Iraq. So those who teach, teach better. Some create ensembles like the Kurdistan String Quartet or the Babagoorgoor Chamber Orchestra in Kirkuk, and those who already play in ensembles like the Iraqi National Sym-phony Orchestra or the Kurdish String Orchestra, bring their NYOI experience to the rehearsals and performances.

SBO: Have you faced skepticism about the concept of playing classi-cal music in Iraq?

PM: The first orchestra in the Middle East was the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, founded in Baghdad in 1959. But really, why are we still having this discussion today? The idea that orches-tras only belong to the West is something that might have held water 60 years ago, but now, orchestras are a world culture, composers of every background and style are writing for them, and practically every film you see needs one to bring the sound track to life. Even synthetic soundtracks end up imitating them.

Also, the contemporary definition of orchestra is broader than the 19th-century model, with Kurdish and Arab orchestras mixing violins, clarinets, double basses, ouds, nyes, josas up into whatever ensemble does the job of making the music. I’d say that four years on, we’re well on the way to in-tegrating diverse Iraqi voices into the programming, language is no longer a barrier with our superb team of trilin-gual translators, Kurdish/Arabic/Eng-lish, and the diversity of individuals, regardless of where they come from, or what they speak, is richer than the anodyne characterless conservatoire playing you now get that churns out perfect and perfectly dull musicians for the global market.

SBO: What sort of potential do you see with this ensemble, both cultur-ally and musically? What are the long-term goals of the NYOI?

PM: The energy, the grist to the mill that we bring to each other and our audiences, is irrepressibly joyful and defiant. It’s really the beginning of a 30-year arc that I can only see bring-ing good things to the people of Iraq. Iraq is so focused on rebuilding and at-tempting to maintain it’s fragile democ-racy that culture is pretty low down on the list of priorities.

And yet, for a post-war country as fragile as this one, I wonder who else but organizations like the NYOI is go-ing to keep it from falling apart? Cul-ture binds us together in common un-derstanding far more powerfully than infrastructure. As Iraqis soul-search for a new identity, music will play its part. Let’s not forget that the 21st century will not be shaped by the West, but by other cultures who are comfortable with paradox and see answers in ap-parent conflicts that we, with our linear thinking, don’t understand.

SBO: What particular lessons have you taken away from this experience?

PM: The lesson for me is to enter into as many challenges as possible in order to help others grow, because the most important resource I have for get-ting the best out of people isn’t talent, but compassion.

“How can a bunch of young people who can’t even speak each other’s language, and have been

taught to hate each other, sit down in front of the same music and play beautifully together?”


www.charmsoffice.com

©2012 Avedis Zildjian C

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ALASKALiesl WietgrefeWest Valley High SchoolFairbanksYears at School: 5Total Years Teaching: 8Instrumental Music Students: 71Teaching Philosophy: Music teach-es two important skills to students that they will use indefinitely. First, music teaches students how to ex-

press their feelings and emotions in a way that everyone can understand. The second skill music teaches stu-dent’s is the value of hard work, self-discipline, and dedication resulting in a glorious product, especially at the secondary level.


munication skills (like with real human beings, not computers), and an expec-tation that things will come to them without much work on their part. It’s my hope that by working in an ensem-ble setting, always having to be respon-sible for their part of the product, rely-ing on and communicating with others, students will gain skills that can be used throughout life.Most Important Lesson Learned: Don’t underestimate any student.



And yet, in the midst of monumental national and local economic challenges and dour budget forecasts, music ed-ucators continue to excel in classrooms across the country.

Take heart in this report, which sheds light on exemplary teachers who run thriving, and vibrant programs in schools big and small, elementary through high school, from coast to coast. These following 50 band directors, orchestra di-rectors, and instrumental music teachers are joined by their common cause of spreading the language of music and, through it, the life lessons that are manifest in the dedica-tion to this endeavor. In this 2012 edition of the “50 Di-rectors” report, educators share their teaching philosophy, how they hope to affect overall student development, and the most important lesson they’ve learned since entering the teaching profession.

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People take different amounts of time to blossom. I’ve had students who were horrible musicians during their 7th-grade year but when I had them again in their junior and senior years, it seemed like all those things I told them years ago were suddenly put into place.

ARIZONAGeorge HattendorfMountain Ridge High SchoolGlendaleYears at School: 9Total Years Teaching: 40Instrumental Music Students: 155

Teaching Philoso-phy: Set high yet rea-sonable expectations, be consistent, be pas-sionate yet caring, and treat your stu-dents with dignity

and respect. Each has their special way of learning and excelling. Most importantly, be a positive role model for your students in and out of the classroom. Always produce your most beautiful and characteristic sound on your instrument, always be aware of your musical surround-ings, and never miss an opportunity to turn a musical phrase.Affecting Student Development: My goal is that my students will develop a lifelong love and passion for music in all of its forms and, most importantly, become advocates for school instrumental music and spearhead the next generation of arts supporters in the 21st century. I also hope that they have learned life skills that will aid them well into their adult lives.Most Important Lesson Learned: If less is your goal, then less is what you will get. Set high yet reasonable expec-tations, provide meaningful engage-ment with timely feedback coupled with a sincere passion for what you do, and they will deliver time and time again.

ARKANSASJoe TrustyCabot High SchoolCabotYears at School: 30Total Years Teaching: 31Instrumental Music Students: 234

Teaching Philosophy: I try to find a students’ strengths and weak-nesses and then work at developing each of them into the best mu-sician and person they

can become. It is more than teaching music. I try to teach life!Affecting Student Development: Nothing makes me happier than run-ning into a former student and have them tell me “I still play my horn at church” or “I heard a recording of the Holst ‘2nd Suite’ and it reminded me of how much fun we had playing that in high school.”Most Important Lesson Learned: I am the biggest influence in my class-room. Programs come and go. Financ-es change constantly. The constant is me! It is my responsibility to teach every student every day to the best of my ability.

CALIFORNIAD.L. JohnsonNorth Monterey County High SchoolCastrovilleYears at School: 29Total Years Teaching: 38Instrumental Music Students: 120

Teaching Philosophy: After 38 years it is not the trophy that is most important, it is per-forming your best that is important. Music is important to every

child. I find tremendous joy in helping kids create music.Affecting Student Development: Our job as music educators is to pre-pare young people to face a new world without fear. Creating music is as im-portant as listening to music. The mu-

sical experience of playing or singing in a school music group has so many positive implications to future success.Most Important Lesson Learned: If you’re not in music for the joy of help-ing kids make music, get out. A posi-tive honest attitude is what will give you success. Teach with your strengths, and continue to work and study your weaknesses. No one knows it all and learning is constant. Identify and de-sign a music program your school and community are truly capable of to be successful, rather than trying to keep up with the Joneses. You and your stu-dents and parents will be happier. If your love for creating music is in the right place, you can dream and achieve any goal you want. I have, many times over.

COLORADODaniel BerardFossil Ridge High SchoolFort CollinsYears at School: 9Total Years Teaching: 20Instrumental Music Students: 275

Teaching Philosophy: Each day is an oppor-tunity for all of us to get better: as people, musicians, teachers, and learners. We set high expectations for

ourselves and our students, work each day to be better than the last, hold each other accountable for achieving those standards, and celebrate the steps along the way.Affecting Student Development: I hope to inspire my students to find their passion in life (whatever that may be) by relentlessly living mine. I love what I get to do each day, and feel so fortunate to be able to do it with so many incredible students who put their faith and trust in me. Music, in and of itself, enriches our loves in so many powerful ways, and the skills learned through participating in music making transcend the band hall. Our goals all revolve around helping stu-

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dents understand higher levels of personal excellence, and applying that level of excellence to all that they do.Most Important Lesson Learned: I think the most im-portant lesson I’ve learned is that the more we invest in the people around us and the relationships we build with our students rather than the desired outcome of x-rehearsal or y-performance, the more those students are willing to strive to meet the challenges we give them.

CONNECTICUTThomas ScavoneCanton High SchoolCantonYears at School: 12Total Years Teaching: 25Instrumental Music Students: 560

Teaching Philosophy: I believe that every student must be valued and each has a unique contribution to make to our pro-gram. My goal is to create “lifetime” memo-ries for our students. Early in my career, my mentor stated that in 20 years, our pro-fession would become one of the last bas-

tions of humanity in the public school. That drives my be-liefs and philosophy.Affecting Student Development: Two overriding beliefs exist in our music room: 1) the hardest workers succeed in life; and 2) if you cannot be polite and help each other, then you cannot be an artist.

To overcome diminishing interpersonal verbal skills, when they see me anywhere in the school, every student in our program must say “Good Morning!” to me while maintaining eye contact. Finally, every student in our pro-gram learns to recite the following, “Fun is the end result of hard work, everything else is cheap entertainment. Is cheap entertainment important? Absolutely! But know the difference.” Our goal is to make every day “fun.”Most Important Lesson Learned: Do not underestimate the impact we have on students’ lives. I am constantly sur-prised when a former student cites a memorable instance that I would not think of as significant. In musical terms, the success of our students is due to a high quality, articu-late K-12 music education program where skills are devel-oped and the love of music is embedded from an early age.

DELAWAREAndrew Jason RogersLaurel School DistrictLaurelYears at School: 26Total Years Teaching: 26Students in Music Program: 239Teaching Philosophy: A teacher striving to be exemplary

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is the teacher making a commitment to having a classroom full of students that could be identified as exemplary stu-dents. My daily professional practice is based on my belief that this is one incredibly important instructional day out of a very limited number of very important instructional days. To have exemplary students I must do several things. I must have a shared vision of purpose and mission with my students and parents, base instruction on clear-ly defined outcomes and theories of practice for music as identified by the “Enduring Understandings” of the Del-aware content standards. I need writ-ten, clearly defined, but flexible daily lesson plans based on best educational practices. I must teach “bell to bell” and be able to identify the individual learning needs of all students and take action!

Affecting Student De-velopment: It is my intent to have each stu-dent accept and be-come a part of a class-room culture of high performance teaching

and learning. It is my hope that my stu-dents develop the capacity to share their knowledge of music and guide themselves and others in developing communication skills related to leader-ship and critical thinking.Most Important Lesson Learned: The most important lessons that I’ve learned so far are simple – Be prepared! Plan for success! Being prepared is the key to any successful teaching or per-formance endeavor. Focus on student achievement! Focus on communica-tion skills that convey your confidence in your students’ ability to be high achievers! Set achievable but challeng-ing instructional goals! Establish and maintain a safe and nurturing learning environment!

FLORIDALaurie ZentzSwitzerland Point Middle SchoolJacksonville

Years at School: 2Total Years Teaching: 25Instrumental Music Students: 360

Teaching Philosophy: My broad experience teaching elementary, secondary, and special needs kids has taught me that I need to listen more than talk, make

clear connections, never cut corners, never underestimate a child, and make sure they are solidly grounded in fun-damentals of good musicianship.Affecting Student Development: If I can help young people discover strengths and talents that they never knew they had, and develop those strengths with confidence, focus, poise, attention to detail, and perseverance, I feel I have done my job well. I hope they leave my classroom knowing they were each a valued member of our en-sembles with fond memories of making music together.Most Important Lesson Learned: Ev-ery student is someone’s child – handle with care!

GEORGIAWilliam KilgoreWest Jackson Middle SchoolJeffersonYears at School: 12Total Years Teaching: 18Instrumental Music Students: 354

Teaching Philosophy: As a middle school band director, my edu-cational philosophy centers on envisioning what each band student will become and em-

powering them to be the best they pos-sibly can. To promote growth, I teach each day with enthusiasm and maintain consistent, high expectations for all of my students. Through inventive tech-niques like the rhythm of the day, our pass-off system, and the fabulous fifties club, individuals grow musically.Affecting Student Development: My contributions as an educator ex-

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ist in the success of individual stu-dents who have excelled beyond my imagination. One of my goals is to instill in my students self-discipline, self worth, and help them to ma-ture toward being productive, well-rounded individuals who love music for a lifetime.Most Important Lesson Learned: Stu-dents are inspired by the teacher who hopes and never gives up on them. As a teacher, I give the students the skills and the motivation to maximize their potential.

HAWAIIHenry FuKailua High SchoolKailuaYears at School: 14Total Years Teaching: 14Instrumental Music Students: 80

Teaching Philoso-phy: I feel that some directors push musi-cal performances so much that the stu-dents have no time to do anything else at

school or at home. I have adjusted how I teach over the course of many years to make practices as efficient as possible, while trying to preserve their musical integrity.

I also try to have students under-stand what musical performances are like outside of our state and country. We are planning on going to Japan for the second time in March 2013.Affecting Student Development: Unlike athletes, musicians don’t get benched if they do not know their music well. A student who can per-form at a high level would not be happy knowing that a student just a few seats down cannot perform his or her music well. Instead of complain-ing, the students need to help each other out because they are part of the same team.Most Important Lesson Learned: I have learned that no matter how much you want your musical ensem-

bles to succeed, don’t neglect your family. Whether or not my day goes well at school should not affect my attitude or commitment to my wife and children.

IDAHOSteve GarnerSouth Middle SchoolNampaYears at School: 5Total Years Teaching: 7Instrumental Music Students: 138

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50Who Make a Difference

Teaching Philosophy: I believe in music as a way for students to enrich their everyday educational experience and to enjoy life. We must teach mu-sic in such a way that the students find and create aesthetic experiences. These aesthetic experiences drive students to want to become better musicians.

Affecting Student De-velopment: I teach sixth grade through eighth grade band, choir, and orchestra. In those three years stu-dents change and de-

velop a great deal. My goal as a middle school music director has always been to help the students develop into high school-ready music students.Most Important Lesson Learned: The results I receive from my students come from a constant and vigilant effort from me. Every school, every student has the ability to progress. It comes down to the director and his/her desire to work to that end or not. When any teacher blames the group’s failures on the students, that teacher is failing to look at him or herself.

ILLINOISElise MatusekWoodland Middle SchoolGurneeYears at School: 14Total Years Teaching: 29Instrumental Music Students: 340

Teaching Philosophy: I have worked hard to create a “band family” here. When one of “our own” is sick or in-jured we, as a group, support that student

and look out for him or her.Affecting Student Development: My students all have fun together at an overnight band lock-in, and raise money for animals while doing this! I’m sure they don’t think I know, but they help each other with homework, lunch money, boy/girl problems, and I’d like to think the time in our small

confined space contributed to all of this in a huge way!Most Important Lesson Learned: Band kids are people too! They laugh and cry like me (and with me!), and share in the “thick and thin” of life. I have lost both of my parents to ter-rible illnesses during the last four years. My reserves of inner strength were fortified by the band students who knew when to offer a word or a hug, and when to laugh or get seri-ous in any rehearsal. The result of all of that is a strong family unit within Symphonic Band 1 here at WMS. As I write this, I am looking at and hear-ing the most talented group of young musicians that I have had in my teaching career, spanning 29 years. I firmly believe a good deal of this is because we all work together in a very unique way.

INDIANAJim HopkinsBattle Ground Middle SchoolWest LafayetteYears at School: 11Total Years Teaching: 22Instrumental Music Students: 285

Teaching Philosophy: When I started direct-ing here, there were 78 band members who were disheartened with the adults in the building and felt they

were losing their band program. What I eventually learned from these kids was not any superior knowledge of teaching music, but instead a basic hu-man tenant: people have to know their leaders care and will always be there for them. What is my philosophy? Show the kids you understand them and will always be invested in their ef-forts and beautiful, and fun music will follow.Affecting Student Development: I want my students to always have an appreciation for the unique beauty every student in the room brings to the music we play. Some of the

most wonderful moments I have had as a band director are when some little girl or boy in my band (not the most popular, not the most pretty, not the one who will scrap for his dinner or even for what is theirs) comes into my band pro-gram and becomes someone special. The most gratifying moment I have had in my career was with a little girl named Barbara. She had done nothing particularly outstanding in her life except be a generally sweet kid. In anyone’s book this should have been enough. However in her eighth grade year she earned a spot on the final concert as a soloist on a wonderful tune called “Dark of the Moon” by Ann McGinty. Along with a host of other great musicians in her band she stepped up and played the most beautiful French horn solo. The memory of her parents and her beaming with pride will always re-main in my heart. I like helping kids feel good about themselves – espe-cially the ones who deserve it most.Most Important Lesson Learned: Treat every student like he or she is the most important member of my band; that means never give up on any stu-dent – no matter what! I am very proud of the kids who step into my program, pick up an instrument and just start playing like they have done it all their lives. What band director wouldn’t be? However the kids who provide me the deepest sense of pride are those who struggle, and through nothing but hard work and grit, manage to become some of the best musicians I have had the privilege to teach. I am sure I was a young musician who made my band directors consider selling insurance. If they had to reflect back on me I am sure they would say the two most prominent characteristics Jim Hopkins had were hard work and persistence. This is why I have such an apprecia-tion for the kids who start out strug-gling and never give up. One thing is sure: no matter how it turns out, they won’t be in the fight alone.

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IOWAThad DriskellJefferson High SchoolCedar RapidsYears at School: 11Total Years Teaching: 21Instrumental Music Students: 220Teaching Philosophy: I’m grateful for the opportunity to live our profession of music education daily. My goal is to provide meaningful guidance and instruction, with high personal and aesthetic impact for each student, on a daily basis through music. I strive to provide a welcoming and collaborative environment that fosters individual and ensemble growth musically, intel-lectually, socially, and emotionally. I believe and expect that all students will succeed and strive to instill a passion, understanding, and excitement for each step of the musical process.

Affecting Student De-velopment: I hope to model and provide a vision of excellence from which the stu-dents can work toward and realize their indi-

vidual and collective potential. This will not only enhance the student’s band experience, but transcend the band and carry over to all parts of their life with a lifelong impact.Most Important Lesson Learned: The student comes first, teach to both the head and heart, and enjoy the journey.

KANSASMarion RobertsBlue Valley NorthOverland ParkYears at School: 28Total Years Teaching: 43Instrumental Music Students: 200

Teaching Philosophy: My teaching method is interlaced with my phi-losophy of music educa-tion. Teaching music to people through the per-formance of high-quali-

ty literature that challenges their intellec-

tual, artistic, and emotional levels and creates a desire with greater abilities to move on to higher levels of performance. This has been my philosophy since I be-gan teaching in the late 1960s.Affecting Student Development: I hope that my students learn from each

other in a safe environment that en-courages risk taking, and challenges them to become better listeners and to take pride in their individual and collective efforts. I truly feel that the students learn to respect and appre-ciate each other and other musicians

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through their rehearsal room or field and performance arena. The experi-ences shared by music students with their fellows who demonstrate differ-ent technical and emotional develop-ment levels help the music student prepare for a future in professional and personal life.Most Important Lesson Learned: Each year there is a new “most impor-tant lesson learned.” I am learning that I am challenged to continue my growth in literature and in may ability to be patient as students learn. I must still try to motivate my students to learn in an ever-increasing environment of instant gratification and loss of personal inter-actions among the students.

KENTUCKYEric HaleBourbon County High SchoolParisYears at School: 8Total Years Teaching: 22Instrumental Music Students: 180

Teaching Philosophy: My method of teaching varies for each individ-ual student. However, I do insist that all stu-dents learn how to read music (from the

first day) through counting and singing their parts. My personal philosophy: If a student really enjoys band/chorus, I will do all I can to help them excel.Affecting Student Development: I enjoy teaching students real life situa-tions. Competitive band is subjective, and can be very political. Every year we taste victory, defeat, sorrow, and joy through competition. Although, no matter how hard you work, some-times the results are not in your favor. I constantly remind the students that it is not about winning, but how you feel while performing, and in the end there should be “no regrets.”Most Important Lesson Learned: I learn something different just about every day, but there is one thing that I learned a long time ago. The true de-

sire that a student has to perform mu-sic, will always outweigh their lack of ability!

LOUISIANAJoan GreenL.J. Alleman Middle SchoolLafayetteYears at School: 20Total Years Teaching: 29Instrumental Music Students: 225

Teaching Philosophy: My philosophy and methodology is to have high expectations from every student. Stu-dents progress are evaluated on a consis-

tent and individual basis.Affecting Student Development: To touch all domains of learning, includ-ing the acquisition of knowledge, mu-sic appreciation, and sensitivity. The involvement in music is considered a fundamental component of human culture and behavior.Most Important Lesson Learned: Students will take what was learned in band, whether it is perseverance, hard work ethics, or group effort and hold on to a life-long love for music.

MAINERebecca EdmondsonConnors Emerson SchoolBar HarborYears at School: 23Total Years Teaching: 27Instrumental Music Students: 186

Teaching Philosophy: In order to keep the in-terest of their young musicians, their teach-er must put the stu-dent in a position to have early success. If

they become frustrated or over-whelmed they will quit, never return-ing to an instrument. In the elementary schools, my job is to nurture young musicians until they can make a practi-cal application of their talent in a band, orchestral, small group, and ensemble

settings. By planting this seed of musi-cality, I can then transition them into skill-appropriate challenges. Along with the usual classroom band and or-chestra, I take pride in offering many optional extracurricular opportunities within the framework of my program ,such as: Swallowtail Fiddlers, TEMPO youth orchestra, and our show choir pit.

I strive to strike a balance between a high standard of excellence and the sheer enjoyment of playing within the student. Gifted musicians must always be challenged and the student seated in the last chair must feel an important contributor to the ensemble as well. When the musician leaves the lesson or rehearsal with a smile on his or her face, it is a good indication that I have reached my goal.Affecting Student Development: I have initiated and launched several in-strumental programs during my career as music educator in order to anchor the music program within the school day, provide opportunities for all chil-dren, and serve the community. At the beginning of the 1998 school year, I de-cided to establish a second grade class violin program in order to introduce my students to stringed instruments. After putting out a call within our dis-trict for donations of used violin, then, supplemented with the proceeds of a talent show fundraiser, our school was able to secure within two weeks of the opening of school 25 violins in varying sizes for the entire second grade Con-tinuing today, class violin gives every child in grade two a hands on instru-mental experience.

As an outgrowth of this effort, in 2002 I formed the Swallowtail Fiddlers from self-motivated string students in the middle school orchestra. The al-ternative style of Celtic and folk style fiddling offered the young musician a creative outlet along with the prospect of expanding their musical repertoire. The doors that have been opened to our students and the opportunities generated by our community outreach are vital links to our town. We meet

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professional musicians, greet cruise ships, entertain visiting dignitaries, and play for crowds of tourists, making the string program visible and valuable to Bar Harbor.

Outside of school, in the spring of 2011, I founded and am conductor of TEMPO: The Eastern Maine Pops Orchestra for Young Musicians. This self-sustaining non-profit organi-zation was conceived to augment the school district’s music programs. TEMPO provides a full orchestra experience to the neighboring student communities of Downeast and Central Maine as an added benefit. Through these avenues, it is my hope that my students develop a love of music to continue with life-long playing.Most Important Lesson Learned: Although music is an af-firming and uplifting pursuit, without parental support and involvement in your school program, it is doomed to col-lapse. The music educator’s efforts must been seen as having value beyond the usual fare offered at the Christmas concert or spring recitals. What the parents must see from their child is dedication, enjoyment, growth, and social benefits when weighed against the expense, inconvenience, and commit-ment usually associated with a successful music program. This means that when it comes to parents or administrators evaluating your program – perception is reality. I learned ear-

ly that I must be aware that I and my program are constantly being judged in a cost versus benefit equation. That’s the real-ity of modern life. With so many other activities available to the children, there needs to be a tangible reason for a parent to demand that their beginning student practice their instru-ment at home or even surrender valuable classroom time for sectional lessons.

There must be a positive impression of the music program imprinted on the school, community, and student. It is de-monstrable that success breeds success. Once the parental community understands that there will be real reward for the efforts expended on behalf of their child, they will gladly provide private instructors, first rate instruments, and their time. All of these are key to maintaining a first rate program.

MARYLANDMary PittaSeverna Park Middle SchoolSeverna ParkYears at School: 5Total Years Teaching: 17Instrumental Music Students: 174

Teaching Philosophy: I focus on maximiz-ing student engagement by reaching students in many different ways. Taking advantage of technological resources helps me to teach students who thrive in the age of computers. Students may go to our class website to study videos that I have posted demonstrating

skills they may need to review. I encourage them to use SmartMusic as a tool for practicing our pieces, solos, and any other music that may interest them. Students record them-selves, so they can see how they are progressing and self-evaluate. It can be difficult for a student to self-assess while performing. The recording gives them an opportunity to ob-serve their own performance, gain insight into their progress and improve. Making a game of trying to improve their per-formance also results in increased time spent practicing, de-veloping problem solving skills, and the joy of a challenge. They often figure out, on their own, what they need to fix, and work to create a better recording. This gives them the power to improve and teaches the value of reflection. Stu-dents use an online composition program to write music. These online activities are introduced in class, but then are used by the students at home. Some get really excited by composing and playing their pieces, some love playing along with the latest pop tunes.

My goal is to increase the amount of time that they spend working on music and to reach students where their interests are. As long as they are working on their music and having fun, I consider it a win!

I think of music as a land of opportunities. I offer students many opportunities in music, and the freedom to choose

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their level of involvement. Some enjoy music but participate in many other ac-tivities, too. Some love music and take advantage of every opportunity, perfor-mance, and honor group available. It is important to give as many students as possible the opportunity to participate in music. This requires some flexibil-ity in demands and extracurricular re-quirements, but the pay off is a larger, more diverse student population in-volved in music.Affecting Student Development: I hope that my students will develop a love of music that comes from deeply understanding and experiencing it. I hope that they develop an understand-ing that all learning is connected. Mu-sic is science, and math, and history, and story telling. I hope that they also experience the pay off of hard work, dedication, and teamwork.Most Important Lesson Learned: Collaborate! I’ve learned so much from discussions with other teachers and from observing rehearsals. Get involved with your state association. You’ll meet great teachers and build a network. As music teachers, we are of-ten the only one teaching our subject area at our school, so building these connections is critical to keeping your teaching fresh.

Connect! Say good morning to stu-dents and colleagues in the hallways. Build lines of communication with parents. A simple word can let stu-dents know that you care and are there for them. For some students, this will make all the difference.

MASSACHUSETTSSteven ConantNorwood High SchoolNorwoodYears at School: 10Total Years Teaching: 18Instrumental Music Students: 100Teaching Philosophy: I feel that all students have the potential to be suc-cessful within the school music pro-gram. I do my best to structure the instrumental music program with a va-

riety of levels so that each student has the opportunity to experience success.

Affecting Student De-velopment: You just can’t do it alone. My successes have relied heavily on a coopera-tive and supportive ad-ministration, a dedi-

cated parents music group, private teachers, and very eager fellow staff members during and after school.Most Important Lesson Learned: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes...” Going the extra mile gets more and more chal-lenging with each and every passing year. No matter how exhausting it is, I always try do my best to persevere and make it happen.

MICHIGANSamantha J. CorrionElkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker High SchoolPigeonYears at School: 6Total Years Teaching: 12Instrumental Music Students: 125

Teaching Philosophy: I wish I could rattle off an excellent education-al phrase, but I will not. I go into the class everyday to make mu-sic. All students want

to be part of something that is mean-ingful and have some sort of success with it. That is what we try to achieve everyday and we rejoice in the little things. Also, I am not their friend, but their teacher first. They are held to high standards and are expected to try their best. As to educational philoso-phy, we are here to make music and have fun and learn something in the process. Maybe laugh a little on the way.

Being a band director is nothing I thought it would be. It is stressful, joy-ful, and fulfilling everyday. Plus, I go home with a smile and cannot wait to get to school the next day.

Affecting Student Development: I pray when they are done that they not only have an appreciation of musical arts, but all the fine arts. Not all my students will become professionals, but they will know that if they work hard and give it 110 percent, they can accomplish anything. I also pray that they will encourage their own children to someday be a part of band. I get to see them for seven years. To watch them grow up in front of my eyes, they start to feel like my own children. I al-ways refer to my students as “my kids.” I treat them like I treat my own. That type of bond is hard to have. I hope to instill in that to be good citizens as well as musicians.Most Important Lesson Learned: Things do not go always as you have planned. Flexibility is so key to the overall classroom and performance. In the public school setting, students are in a multitude of activities and working with coaches and staff will help the overall experience for the student.

MINNESOTAWayne IversMarshall High SchoolMarshallYears at School: 30Total Years Teaching: 36Instrumental Music Students: 265

Teaching Philosophy: I have always felt that our job is to do more than teach notes and rhythms. We see many of the very best kids in our school – the

school’s leaders and people that will be leaders later in life. I have tried to help these students become better citizens, not just in the school but always! They need to make the group or organiza-tion they belong to better because they were there – whether that means taking the time to help someone, or stand up for someone, volunteering to do some-thing extra, or something as simple as just showing that they care! Band (mu-

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sic) is the “tool” I use to get this mes-sage across to them. I always tell my band members that if they leave this place better people then I feel that my time with them has been a suc-cess!Affecting Student Development: I know they are probably not going to go on to be a professional perform-er, but hopefully they will be bet-ter supporters of the arts and much more understanding when they hear a band or see a marching band as to all of the hard work and effort that went into it. At a time when you are put down by your peers for being in-volved it is okay to be proud of your hard work and everything that you have accomplished, and to show ev-eryone how deeply you care about what you do.Most Important Lesson Learned: There are many battles you have to fight – choose wisely! Having to make a sacrifice right now may gain you countless advantages in the future.

MISSISSIPPIReuben McDowellColumbia High SchoolColumbiaYears at School: 21Total years teaching: 22Instrumental Music Students: 250

Teaching Philosophy: Have a passion for peo-ple first and your sub-ject second, and keep them prioritized in that order. In these days of so many chang-

es and challenges in the education field that put music education at risk, we must always focus on using the music experience (the means) to help create responsible and respectful humans (the end).Affecting Student Development: It is my hope that what our students ex-perience in band/music helps foster adults who feel, who care, and who have both passion and compassion. If they look back on their high school band years with fond memories and have a desire for their children to be a

part of something similar in their for-mative years, then I feel we have made a difference. More importantly, I sin-cerely hope that the daily life lessons of hard work, teamwork/cooperation, and personal sacrifice carry with them through their lives and help them to become productive members of soci-ety and leave the world a better place than they found it.Most Important Lesson Learned: For educational success, repetition is the mother of skill. But overall, it’s all about people. If you love people and they know you care about them not only as a musician, but on a per-sonal level as well, they will do al-most anything you ask of them. Treat people right and they will work hard for you.

MISSOURIJohn TrewBolivar Middle SchoolBolivarYears at School: 4Total Years Teaching: 11Instrumental Music Students: 295

Teaching Philosophy: It is well documented that music has a huge effect on cognitive thinking skills. This is due in large part to the fact that we rehearse

these skills in a meaningful and excit-ing way. I try to focus on this each day in a cooperative learning environment. These cognitive performance skills translate into thinking skills that follow students into their communication arts, mathematics, and science classes. Literacy skills are reinforced when stu-dents practice reading their music. When band members are successful at performing on their instruments, they will be motivated to attend school and continue in this success.

I challenge students to work to-wards excellence by using failure as a springboard and inspiration to over-come obstacles. Of course, no two stu-dents are the same, so helping students

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find their path to success is part of my professional growth.Affecting Student Development: I teach students that music is a uni-versal language. It demands both individual discipline and sacrifice. It spawns individual creativity and cooperative learning. I teach them that music challenges the mind and soothes the soul. I work to de-velop students’ musical responsibil-ity. Responsibilities like work ethic, dependability, punctuality, and re-hearsal focus not only affect individ-ual performance, but affect the other ensemble members as well. Most of all, I want students to love every as-pect of music, as I do. When that happens, all the other details usually work themselves out.Most Important Lesson Learned: At the end of the day, I have to remember that kids are kids. I try to remember that I am blessed to teach them music and I get to be a positive role model in their lives. Many students are in my bands for seven years, and that is an amazing opportunity to mold them into better musicians and better indi-viduals, and that is an awesome job. Music is a perfect vehicle for students to reach these goals because the love of music will enable them to develop intrinsic motivation and cause them to strive to reach their dreams.

MONTANAMartha IlgenfritzCorvallis School District #1CorvallisYears at School: 10Total Years Teaching: 25Instrumental Music Students: 271

Teaching Philosophy: In a word, “Respect” is the of my teaching and philosophy. From day one, I tell students that respect is the primary classroom rule: respect

for adults (teachers, substitutes, custo-dians, etc.), respect for each other and respect of the instruments. Additional-

ly, I would add that respect for our pro-fession that instructs the next genera-tion in the fine art of making music is a central component of my ideology.Affecting Student Development: I would like to give students a deep ap-preciation for music, and encourage them to strive for excellence in every aspect of their lives. The discipline of music, performing it together in large and small ensembles, is much like the teamwork needed in the work world as well as in the athletic realm.Most Important Lesson Learned: Never stop learning! I will never “know it all” and there is so much to learn about reaching each individual child, and imparting enthusiasm, encour-agement, and challenges to hold their interest and achieve the goal of being able to play music as a gift for others.

NEBRASKAR J MetteerLincoln Southeast High SchoolLincolnYears at School: 18Total Years Teaching: 23Instrumental Music Students: 150

Teaching Philosophy: I believe music is the use of sound and si-lence to express emo-tion. Thus, my goal is for students to have shared emotional ex-

periences through the performance of music with other musicians as well as with their audience.Affecting Student Development: My hope is for students to learn they can accomplish their goals by taking own-ership and responsibility for them. Through their involvement in instru-mental music ensembles I hope they grow and mature so they can take all the lessons they have learned beyond music into their daily lives.Most Important Lesson Learned: Students must believe. They must be-lieve in themselves. They must believe in you. Once that happens they can achieve their very best.

NEVADAJohn MuellerIncline Middle SchoolIncline VillageYears at School: 15Total Years Teaching: 34Instrumental Music Students: 135

Teaching Philosophy: I believe that if a stu-dent really wants to do something, he or she will do it. It is my job to make them want to play and then to teach

the students the skills needed to reach their goal. Incline Middle School has only 215 students in the whole school. In order to have bands and orchestras we will often have stu-dents who have not played before. These students need extra effort on my part to be able join in.Affecting Student Development: I hope that I will affect my students’ ability to not just be good musicians but also to encourage them to look beyond what they thought possible. Each year we attend an out of state music festival and the day prior we go to a university for clinics with a music professor. Several of my for-mer students, who were the first in their families to graduate from col-lege, told me it was these clinics that caused them to think, “I can do this.”Most Important Lesson Learned: Students and their parents know if you care about them. In 2003, on the day before our band, jazz band, and string orchestra were to leave on our festival trip, I received a letter telling me that, due to the budget, I was to be laid off. Instead of giv-ing up, our students worked their hardest, winning three Gold ratings and the Instrumental Sweepstakes Award. Their parents went to work talking to the school board and I’m still here.

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NEW HAMPSHIREMichael AdamsPinkerton AcademyDoverYears at School: 8Total Years Teaching: 25Instrumental Music Students: 190

Teaching Philosophy: All of the courses I teach are elective courses in that the stu-dents choose to fill one of the few holes in their schedules with an

ensemble or music theory class – a fact that I need to remember each day I meet with them. At Pinkerton Acade-my, we are lucky to be able to offer en-sembles of varying sizes and genres in-cluding several jazz ensembles, larger concert bands, and many chamber en-sembles. Providing quality musical op-portunities, performing good literature that is worthy of the commitment that students are making to it, and creating an atmosphere that is relaxed but fo-cused is my job. My students, who have chosen the music program as one of their course electives, deserve no less than my best effort in doing this job every day.Affecting Student Development: Very few of our students will go on to

careers in music, but each of them is a potential consumer of the arts. With luck, a majority of my students will continue to play their instruments after high school, but the greater likelihood is that most will end their performing careers at graduation. It is these students that should be en-couraged to continue to support the arts in other ways – as an audience member, financial benefactor of arts organizations, or even as a registered voter at a town meeting. With the skills developed by performing in an ensemble, music students have the potential to not only be strong advo-cates of their local artists and musi-cians, but the leaders in our commu-nities as a whole.Most Important Lesson Learned: There are certainly many terrific things about being a band director, but one great advantage I have is the ability to see students grow and de-velop both as musicians and young adults over their high school career. Although the nature and degree of the individual student’s develop-ment can vary greatly, few students go through their high school band experiences without some level of change. Generally this manifests itself as a change in attitude or

commitment level about their mu-sicianship, but it can also be the emergence of a student as a leader or role model within the program. This development can take a great deal of patience – in many instances sev-eral years – before a student’s true place within the program is obvious both to him or herself and to me. I have had many examples of students who I did not consider to be very committed to the program prove me wrong and become invaluable to our success. My greatest lesson I have learned is to not underestimate or give up on students because you can never know for sure what they will become and it is always well worth the wait!

NEW JERSEYBen SchwartzElizabeth High SchoolElizabethYears at School: 7Total Years Teaching: 9Instrumental Music Students: 140

Teaching Philosophy: As an instrumental music teacher, I focus on demonstrating to students that learning to perform a piece of music resembles basic

problem solving. By teaching students how to ask the right questions, they learn how to solve the problem, or play the piece. Some of the basic ques-tions I encourage them to ask them-selves are, “Am I playing the rhythms correctly?”, “Am I playing the correct notes?”, “Am I blending my sound with the person or people who are near me?” This usually leads to suc-cess, especially after they see the re-sults for the first time.

In terms of my philosophy, I am an avid believer that hard work and persistence go much further than your final grade in my classes. For example, students can practice scales tirelessly and correctly, yet not perform them well in front of the

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teacher for a classroom grade. Con-sequently, the students still learned how to play their scales, while de-manding more from themselves. As a result, they became stronger, more proficient musicians.Affecting Student Development: I hope my students understand that music exists anywhere and every-where they will ever go for the rest of their lives, and this is the main rea-son why it is so important to learn. I also think it’s crucial to teach them about music from the past, whether it was 20 years ago, or 350 years ago. It is also with great hope that my students can identify specific musi-cal artists by ear, identify styles of music, and know the background on any music, such as who performed it, composed it, etc. It’s my firm be-lief that knowing this information is crucial in helping students become well-rounded intellectual members of society.Most Important Lesson Learned: I think the most important thing I have learned so far in my teaching career is that there is no such thing as a typical student. The methods that work to ed-ucate some will certainly not work for others and vice versa. You always have to be prepared and attempt to try new things in order to get all students on the same path and really understand where you are coming from. They need to know why the message you are try-ing to convey is so important.

NEW MEXICODonna SchmidtDesert Ridge Middle SchoolAlbuquerqueYears at School: 16Total Years Teaching: 20Instrumental Music Students: 220

Teaching Philosophy: My basic belief and guiding principle is that I first and fore-most teach children. I strive to teach children to love music and mu-

sic making, and my emphasis has al-ways been centered on each child in my classroom. How can I best reach him or her? How can I discover a child’s unique relationship to music and build upon it? These questions guide my dai-ly instruction.Affecting Student Development: I hope to show them that music is a part of a well-balanced life, and an excellent way to spend their leisure, whether it be listening to music, performing, composing or attending concerts. In short, I want my stu-dents to love music. I know that for many of my students, my program could be their only experience in a school ensemble. I want to be sure that that experience is meaningful and memorable.Most Important Lesson Learned: I have learned that middle school stu-dents are the wackiest, weirdest, and most wonderful creatures in the uni-verse, and that I am so lucky to be able to teach them every day of my profes-sional life.

NEW YORKChris RandDover Jr/Sr High SchoolDover PlainsYears at School: 27Total Years Teaching: 30Instrumental Music Students: 250

Teaching Philosophy: Learners of music can access concepts in dif-ferent ways – various levels of knowledge, motor skills and/or the sheer love music all are

in the mix. I believe my job is differen-tiating which the learner has a propen-sity for and building on that. Instruct-ing “cookie cutter” is not my style.Affecting Student Development: Total mastery is essential in music performance. It is then that you can fire up those higher level skills that make music’s magic happen. A test grade of 90 percent might be con-sidered outstanding in math, but

when performing music it’s remark-ably deficient. Most music teachers work toward this idea; I obsess on how to relate it to my students so it’s the norm.Most Important Lesson Learned: When I began my teaching career, a mentor of mine counseled me that it was essential to go where the school administration placed music on the same level as other academic classes. I did. It works – through the various incarnations of administrators over the years, music is still on solid ground (knock on wood).

But I have also learned that strong parental involvement is paramount to the success of the individual student and music ensembles. I have been fortunate in Dover in that my parent booster program, administration, and staff acknowledge music’s educational value.

NORTH CAROLINAJerry MarkochAthens Drive High SchoolRaleighYears at School: 19Total Years Teaching: 27Instrumental Music Students: 180

Teaching Philosophy: I want to create a healthy musical envi-ronment in our band where students love to perform music and feel respected and val-

ued by their peers. In order for this to occur, our repertoire must be of the highest quality and the teaching must always be done in a positive manner. It is important that we spend time learning “life lessons,” as well as mu-sical ones. When we are rehearsing, I enjoy teaching on the offensive; that is, I try to focus on the musical les-sons in a given passage rather than on solely fixing problems or “chasing notes.”Affecting Student Development: I am passionate about everything I love, including my family, music,

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teaching, LSU football, and golf. Above all, I want my students to find happiness as well. As Dr. Tim would say, “you are only worth what you give away…” Put another way, “You find happiness by giving to oth-ers.” From the first day of summer marching band, we teach our lead-ers to serve others before thinking of themselves. That attitude spreads throughout the band so that within weeks, the band is a very close family. I hope that my students will transfer the positive way in which we work in band to the way in which they will work in their chosen profession and with their family.Most Important Lesson Learned: “It is better to succeed with help than to fail alone.” This is a lesson I learned while student teaching and it is one which is applicable to a teacher at any stage of develop-ment. I am fortunate that our band boosters provide the means to hire local professional musicians to come to our school to work with our stu-dents for sectional rehearsals. I en-joy picking their brain as to what methodology they use to help stu-dents improve. I also enjoy bringing in other directors before an impor-tant performance. Frequently I learn more from these experiences than the actual contest/festival. Directors in our county often post questions online concerning literature, instru-ment manufacturers, and so on. I have found that most band directors enjoy helping each other. The bot-tom line is that as a teacher, you are first a lifelong learner – and you will never know it all!

NORTH DAKOTAJeanne MorrisonWing Public SchoolsWingYears at School: 23Total Years Teaching: 34Instrumental Music Students: 43Teaching Philosophy: My teach-ing philosophy is based on the fact

that I am very fortunate to teach in a K-12 school of 110 students in Wing, North Dakota. By implementing the standards in Kindergarten, I am able to prepare students for a successful transition into band. When a student is in the 5th Grade they are able to

begin their individual band lessons. They already possess a wealth of Music Theory. Learning the fingerings and the technique of blowing the instrument comes quite easily. I research different method books to find a source that will lead my students to a successful, and

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hopefully, close relationship with their instrument.

Affecting Student De-velopment: Student development is affect-ed by their ability to take ownership. When we read a new piece of music I ask for stu-

dents’ input. Is the grade level appro-priate for our ability? Are there meter changes, key changes, difficult instru-ment registers, dynamics, interesting rhythm patterns, breathing challenges, and melodic flow in this selection? Is the piece interesting? Is this a good learning piece? By having the band take part in choosing good music, they want to rehearse the selection and are excited about the new techniques to be learned and other techniques to be re-inforced.Most Important Lesson Learned: The most important lesson my teach-ing experience has taught me is re-spect. I have respect for my students, the music, my job, and myself. As an educator, I must possess these char-acteristics in order to instill the val-ues of the music into the lives of my students. I love my job and my stu-dents. I tell them how important they are to me, how proud I am of them, and I hope this is all conveyed in my teaching. This rapport with the stu-dents can lead to great things. I have 65 percent of students in grades 5-12

involved in our band program. This also helps to carry over to my choral program.

OHIODavid HarbartStrongsville High SchoolStrongsvilleYears at School: 25Total Years Teaching: 27Instrumental Music Students: 445

Teaching Philosophy: I feel that we need to teach the whole child, meaning that I don’t just teach music. I teach students impor-tant life skills that they

can take with them long after high school. I like to teach the concepts in a practical manner and then go out and perform. Most of the time things go well. Sometimes they don’t, but I use it all as a teaching tool.Affecting Student Development: I would hope that I can affect students in a positive way towards music and being good citizens. I always tell my students that I care about what they do off of the stage or field as much as I do on it. When we are in uniform per-forming anywhere and even when we are not, I expect them to act like ladies and gentlemen at all times.Most Important Lesson Learned: Af-ter 28 years of teaching I think I have learned to be more patient and not

to sweat the small stuff. I used to lay awake at night with my mind constant-ly going over things to do or improve. I learned a lot from my teachers and colleagues about being organized but also about learning to delegate respon-sibilities.

OKLAHOMAAdam SteuartHennessey SchoolsHennesseyYears at School: 4Total Years Teaching: 7Instrumental Music Students: 70

Teaching Philosophy: I am flexible and able to adjust to my kids’ moods, temperaments, and needs on a day-to-day basis. I like the Chinese proverb, “Tell

me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.” When I stand in front of the classes and just verbally relay lesson content, [the students] defi-nitely forget. When they are shown, they remember, but when you in-volve them and get “hands on” with a lesson, they understand and re-member much better. When I have my students make a personal invest-ment into their education, they take ownership in their program. All three are important to really retain the information, to hear it, see, and then do it to make it really stick with them.Affecting Student Development: I am teaching my students things that are helping to prepare them for their future, not just for “the test” or for the next competition, but for what is in the real world awaiting them following high school and college. It is my desire for students coming out of my program to be self-disci-plined, self-controlled, respectful young adults as they move through middle school, into high school, and then into college and eventually the world.

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Most Important Lesson Learned: It’s more than just me. It takes my students to believe in themselves and give their 110 percent. There are the parents who support their children and the program helping build it. There is my wife, my fam-ily, her family, my friends and their families, the administration – and the list goes on and on. It is a team effort to have a successful program. No director can do it all alone. I had a seasoned band director tell me in my student teaching to not be afraid to ask questions. My colleagues are important sources of information and have helped me getting past that “brick wall” on more than one occa-sion. It is also important to be able to determine what is important and what isn’t so important. I am learn-ing to “bite my tongue” and decide which battles should be fought and which ones to just let go.

OREGONTodd ZimbelmanWest Salem High SchoolSalemYears at School: 4Total Years Teaching: 19Instrumental Music Students: 240

Teaching Philosophy: I view students as ac-complished learners. I view them leaving after graduation knowing everything I would want them to know

about music and being a good per-son – this forms my curriculum and overall approach. I believe students can achieve the highest standards possible. However, when they start getting close to achieving the stan-dards, we raise the bar. In the jour-ney toward perceived perfection, we constantly try to improve and strive for excellence in everything we do. Every ensemble is important and I apply high standards to every per-formance situation. In the ensemble setting, I strive to teach components

of music theory, music analysis, mu-sic history, as well as individual and ensemble performance skills. Stu-dents will do what you expect them to do. Expect the best.Affecting Student Development: Through various activities, ensem-

bles, experiences, challenges, and successes, I hope students come away with a strong work ethic, a life-long love and appreciation for music, and an overall drive to get better and achieve the highest levels of excel-lence possible. I encourage students

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to develop their outgoing personali-ties, self-confidence, expressive abili-ties, and creativeness. I want them to learn responsibility, determination, compassion, work ethic, communi-cation, respect, cooperation, problem solving, perseverance, and elegance. My goal is that they become better people who can contribute to our complex society.Most Important Lesson Learned: What you put into it is what you get out of it. I apply this premise to teach-ing, but I also teach this to my stu-dents. If something is not working, look at yourself first.

PENNSYLVANIATom ElliottLower Merion High SchoolArdmoreYears at School: 23Total Years Teaching: 35Instrumental Music Students: 180

Teaching Philosophy: Teaching a child what is beautiful by example can change their life. Let a child make mis-takes but keep them moving forward. Teach

them to listen to themselves, to others, and together. Focus first on what they do right, then show them what can be done to make it better.

My personal educational philoso-phy is to be a role model for lifestyle, discipline, and skill, as well as to draw out of a student their potential as a lov-er of beauty through music.Affecting Student Development: When a child begins to love making their own music, it is good to teach them how to teach what they know. By mentoring, a child finds value in their music by sharing what they have learned. When a child learns three notes, they share what they know with a younger student. When the entire ensemble has this approach, music becomes a joyful experience in shar-ing with a desire to encourage each other.

Most Important Lesson Learned: I have learned just how little I know and that learning must be a life long experi-ence.

RHODE ISLANDGregg R. CharestExeter-West Greenwich Jr/Sr High SchoolWest GreenwichYears at School: 12Total Years Teaching: 12Instrumental Music Students: 200

Teaching Philosophy: I teach children, not music. This philoso-phy guides my work on a daily basis, and I try to meet each and every student exactly

where they are in their development. I use humor to get their attention, and my own mastery of the material to communicate the breadth and artistry of each work we study. I live to teach, and I teach by these three rules: 1. Teach to instill the intrinsic value of music. 2. Teach and live with high so-ciological and moral values. 3. Explore new ideas.Affecting Student Development: I hope that I can inspire my students to continue on their music journey past high school and into adult life. I con-sider it the highest compliment to find out that one of my former students is still playing their instrument – that they are still so inspired by our art that they need to keep performing. I hope that all students leave the band room with a solid focus on the “big picture” issues in their own life, but understand how the arts, especially music, fits into their every day life.Most Important Lesson Learned: Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned about my teaching (and it took the better part of a decade to realize this) is that I have so much more to learn. My ears keep developing, my methodology keeps improving, and my students keep me inspired to be curi-ous about our musical world.

SOUTH CAROLINAEdna Y. GraceStratford High SchoolGoose CreekYears at School: 16Total Years Teaching: 32Instrumental Music Students: 240

Teaching Philosophy: My experiences in the educational realm have taught me a plethora of things. These are the ones I reflect on most frequently:

1. We have a strong affinity for the subject we teach.

2. We usually feel our subject is the most important in our students’ lives.

3. We will fight to the finish for its ex-istence.

4. Most students are not in love with our subject the way we are.

5. We need to be prepared for that so that we do not force them out with our disapproval (spoken or unspo-ken).

6. Discipline is the central aspect key to any subject. The teacher must work to teach students ways to dis-cipline their minds to be receptive to listening, trying, learning, and utilizing that information.

The bottom line brings us back to one of the founding principles of educa-tion – we teach students how to be-come good and productive citizens – and yes, that can and does happen through music!Affecting Student Development: As I look at the students I currently teach and those of the past, I hope that I have enhanced their ability to work cooperatively and diligently (doing it until it’s right and/or completed). I hope that they have learned to appreci-ate and respect diversity, and not just in music, but in people. I hope they have learned that there can be multiple ways to do something correctly. I hope they have learned to appreciate music to the point that they will play or be support-ers of music for their lifetimes.

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Most Important Lesson Learned: The most important lesson I have learned is that no matter how many ways I have learned to teach funda-mental information, there will always be another that a student or colleague will teach me. If you teach, always be ready to embrace learning a new way or something new and be happy about it. If you can’t do this, please do not spread your unhappiness to others.

SOUTH DAKOTARenita DoseLennox Middle SchoolLennoxYears at School: 33Total Years Teaching: 35Instrumental Music Students: 129

Teaching Philosophy: My teaching method-ology is largely based on teaching funda-mentals, both in pri-vate lessons and the performance group

setting. I spend a large portion of my teaching time on the fundamentals of sound production, proper breathing, and correct embouchures. Other as-pects of playing such as rhythm, ar-ticulation, technique, and musicality will fall into place if the proper tone is achieved. I strive to keep a compre-hensive approach to my teaching, in-corporating music history and theory. Although it is difficult to achieve, I try to keep a balance between the content standards of performing, creating, reading, listening, and understanding music’s relationship to society. I also like to keep the students actively in-volved in the learning process by dis-cussion and evaluation of our rehears-als and performances. I encourage individual playing in the younger group setting (fifth and sixth), so that they develop self-confidence in play-ing for an audience and develop lis-tening/evaluating skills while they lis-ten to others. I like to incorporate writing assignments or quizzes peri-

odically to keep students listening and accountable. When other teachers are teaching theme units, I try to incorpo-rate related material in band as well, so that students see the correlation be-tween subject areas.

My personal educational philoso-phy revolves around teaching the value of hard work, commitment and self-discipline. Although striving for excellence through intense rehears-als is very important, my top goal is for students to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments and have an emotional, aesthetic experi-ence through the creation and ap-preciation of music. I hope that they develop a life-long love for music. I believe that the role music will play in students’ lives depends on the level of achievement they attain as young musicians.Affecting Student Development: I hope that students will learn the val-ue of self-discipline and hard work in my class. I hope that they will develop self-confidence in playing and shar-ing ideas in front of others, which will carry through in other aspects of their lives. I hope to instill in my students a sense of pride and passion in what they do. I hope that music will affect their souls and spirits, so that they are happier, more productive people in all areas of their lives.Most Important Lesson Learned: I have learned that it is important to have high expectations of all students. Every student, no matter what his/her intelligence and ability level is, has something to contribute to the group personally and musically. I have found that having high expectations of the lower level learners has amazing re-sults. It is easy as educators to let these students slide; often they aren’t expect-ed to achieve excellence. Being able to perform successfully instills a sense of pride and belonging in these students, which they may not feel in other areas of their lives. When students feel good about themselves, it affects the morale of the entire group.

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TENNESSEEPerry ElliottElizabethton High SchoolElizabethtonYears at School: 22Total Years Teaching: 35Instrumental Music Students: 133

Teaching Philosophy: Legend has it that Mi-chelangelo was asked how he was able to carve the statue of Da-vid. His reply was sim-ple and direct, “I sim-

ply removed all the stone that wasn’t David and there it was.” That, in a nutshell, is how I teach. I have in my mind what I want to accomplish musically and I take away all the sounds that simply do no fit and in the end, the music is there to be en-joyed. I believe that the students want to be challenged, but they must have a personal ownership of the end product. I try to make them feel that what we are doing will change their lives. I believe in my subject matter and, in my opinion, that is the secret to teaching.Affecting Student Development: We strive in our program to teach our students to become complete individuals. We discuss self-moti-vation and self-discipline being the only ways to excel in one’s life. A student needs to be able to com-plete the coursework demanded by our school, but the art programs prepare them to learn these impor-tant academics. What we try to do is to develop workers, thinkers, and leaders.Most Important Lesson Learned: When I started teaching I was con-fident that I knew everything. What I have learned so far is that now I’m confident that I know precious little. I discover new things every day from everyone I meet, thus I try to keep my eyes and ears open so I do not miss the next important thing!

TEXASRandy JonesNorth Lamar High SchoolParisYears at School: 27Total Years Teaching: 27Instrumental Music Students: 400

Teaching Philosophy: I have such a passion to establish an envi-ronment within the North Lamar Band program that is as “safe and secure” as possible

for students. By this I mean that those students who chose to be part of our program will find an organization that will become like a second family. In this “family,” there will be expectations, rules or boundaries, consequences of choices that they will make (both posi-tive and negative), encouragement, the opportunity to fail while someone is there to catch them, positive fellow-ship, and most of all, they will be un-conditionally loved. As we teach the students what our expectations will be, we begin to teach, demonstrate and help these young people learn that many times their own expectations fall far short of their abilities.Affecting Student Development: The goal of our staff is that when a student graduates, the skills, life lessons, work ethic and character traits that have been taught, discussed and applied through our organization will follow them throughout their life and make a positive impact on their life, family, and our society.Most Important Lesson Learned: The most important lesson that I have learned is to have patience with each student and to love them all uncon-ditionally. There are so many issues that students are facing today and so much burden that too many students have to carry in today’s society. If we can provide a place where a student can feel secure and be successful, then hopefully we have helped a young per-son become a positive and productive member of our society.

UTAHChris TaylorPark City High SchoolPark CityYears at School: 18Total Years Teaching: 18Instrumental Music Students: 240

Teaching Philosophy: I hope to help my stu-dents develop a life long pursuit of excel-lence by challenging them with quality lit-erature. I try to make

my students as successful as they can be, so they can take that experience and apply it to other facets of their lives. I hope that through the chal-lenges they face in music they learn how to be team members as well as leaders. I want them to understand that music continues after high school, even if they don’t make it a profession. They can become mem-bers of community ensembles, local pit orchestras, play in churches, or just be great audience members. We try to offer the students as many dif-ferent musical opportunities that we can to get them ready for music after high school.Affecting Student Development: I hope that students take from my mu-sic classes a sense of accomplishing something, and not just doing some-thing. Too many students go through the motions in school, thinking, “What do I need to do to pass?” I want students to reach beyond the minimum requirements, not just in music, but in all that they do. I hope that they have gained problem solv-ing skills that they can apply in other areas of their lives.Most Important Lesson Learned: Don’t ever tell the students that it is hard. Most of the limitations that we put on our students come from us. Students (and teachers) need to un-derstand that they will never know it all. Music is a life-long journey; I am still learning as much as my stu-dents are.

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VERMONTChristina TonerSouth Burlington High SchoolSouth BurlingtonYears at School: 14Total Years Teaching: 18Instrumental Music Students: 202

Teaching Philosophy: Each student in my classroom has strengths as well as ar-eas of challenge. I en-courage my students to work hard with their

own strengths and weaknesses and not compare themselves to the folks sitting around them. I also encourage them to take risks. It’s okay to make mistakes – in fact, it’s great to make mistakes – that’s how we learn! As long as they work hard and don’t give up, they will continue to grow as musicians. That’s actually a great philosophy for life in general!Affecting Student Development: I truly hope that I teach my students that with effort, energy and enthusiasm, great things can be achieved. I hope that they learn a love of music and they look back on their time in the South Burlington Band as rewarding and en-joyable.Most Important Lesson Learned: I try to remember who I’m teaching and what it’s really about and not get caught up in the “product.” It’s all about the students. My students are amazing people: smart, funny, and talented, and they really just want to have great time learning about mu-sic and playing their instruments. Most of them are not going to be music majors and many of them will not even play after high school, but while they are in high school, de-spite the fact that their class sched-ules are packed, they choose to sign up for band.

My greatest joy as a teacher is that my students keep coming back, keep practicing, and continue to love mak-ing music together.

VIRGINIADarren KirschGrafton High SchoolYorktownYears at School: 17 Total Years Teaching: 18Instrumental Music Students: 300

Teaching Philosophy: My teaching method-ology revolves around simplifying things to the lowest level and adding layers as the students’ progress. We

have really started to stress counting as the most basic of levels. The other thing that is really stressed is tone qual-ity. If you can’t play it with a good tone, then who really wants to listen if your notes are rhythms are right?My personal education philosophy is that we are here to teach students, and the student is what is most important. I always try to think of that first and foremost, and balance that with hold-ing students accountable for their play-ing and actions within the band and band class.

Affecting Student Development: To be honest, I hope my students leave the program after four years with an understanding and appreciation of mu-sic that will follow them through their adult lives. The other things that band teaches – such as time management, teamwork, goal setting, hard work, and discipline – are the traits that all students will benefit from in whatever career paths that they choose.Most Important Lesson Learned: The most important lesson is that hard work… works. You can be the best teacher in the world, but if your stu-dents do not meet you in the middle with their practice and preparation, you will not achieve your goals and the band will suffer.

WASHINGTONJake BergevinEdmonds-Woodway High SchoolEdmondsYears at School: 13Total Years Teaching: 20Instrumental Music Students: 225Teaching Philosophy: I have high ex-

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pectations for music and citizenship. I believe that being a musician is an hon-or and an obligation to use your skills for the benefit of the school and com-munity. It should be fun and challeng-ing for the musicians and enjoyable for the audiences.

Affecting Student De-velopment: I want them to love music, each other, and me! This doesn’t always happen. The teen years are pretty important

and students need a place to belong. I had a great teacher in jr. high and high school named Gary Evans. He made us feel important and special. We’re still great friends. Hopefully the success my students experience in band will build their self-worth, making them able to transfer success to other areas of inter-est and grow up as self-confident mem-bers of society.Most Important Lesson Learned: Music and teaching are both pretty de-manding. They will take every bit of energy you can give them and still ask for more. I recommend to young teach-ers to fight the urge to have too many good ideas. Once you start something, it’s difficult to stop.

WEST VIRGINIAGreg JamesRichwood High SchoolRichwood

Years at School: 37Total Years Teaching: 37Instrumental Music Students: 260

Teaching Philosophy: I try to teach my stu-dents that their level of success is directly re-lated to the amount of effort they are willing to put forth. All stu-

dents can be successful, especially in music; but some may need to work a little bit harder than others. Those who are willing to work the hardest will eventually experience the greatest lev-els of success. My students know that anything short of success is unaccept-able in our music program – the bar is very high.

Since we are a small rural school with several economically disad-vantaged students, I try to make sure that the band students have the same opportunities available as their counterparts who attend larger, wealthier schools. We travel exten-sively, participating in parades and festivals that would usually not be accessible to schools our size. We’ve been to the Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500, Macy’s, not to mention pretty much every theme park in the eastern U.S. and Canada. As a school with under 400 students, we often find ourselves in the role of David facing Goliath.Affecting Student Development:

Over the years, I have had several graduates who have gone on to par-ticipate in band at the college level; and there are many of my former students who have had great success in the field of music. However, the majority of my students will never pick up an instrument again after graduating from high school. My goal is that every student develops into a responsible, independent hu-man being with the skills needed to interact in society. By participat-ing in the arts, students learn how to problem solve, how to cope, how to celebrate, rationalize, and think logically. It’s not about how to play notes, it’s about how to live.Most Important Lesson Learned: Over the years, I have found that kids have a basic innate desire for structure. Although what we do in my classroom may sometimes ap-pear to be disorganized, there is a rhyme and reason to everything. Nothing happens without planning. My students know what to expect and can usually predict what’s going to happen next. They’ve come to ap-preciate that – it’s just the way we do things in band. Everything has a proper place, every activity has a scheduled time, and every student has assigned expectations.

WISCONSINConnie RootHudson Middle SchoolHudsonYears at School: 29Total Years Teaching: 35Instrumental Music Students: 340

Teaching Philosophy: Our music department has always used guide-lines for assessing stu-dent growth and achievement. Due to the recent emphasis

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Students know what is expected of them, and are learning strategies to accomplish or improve upon music fundamentals such as: posture, tone, preparation, theory, articulation, and technique. Our music staff has created a rubric for students and parents to follow (accessible on our individual class pages) and we assess each lesson and performance using this rubric. My personal educational philosophy is that arts education is fundamental to teaching the whole child and that every student should have the opportunity to participate in the arts in their school and com-munity.Affecting Student Development: Over the years I have always made it clear to students, fellow staff members, parents, and administra-tors that we teach so much more than music fundamentals and per-formance to our students. Being in-volved in music develops skills that will be with them their entire lives. Students are allowed to be creative, think “out of the box,” and to be expressive. Music education allows students to work as a team, and to develop personal strengths through self-discipline, poise, and public performance. Music education pre-pares students for life!Most Important Lesson Learned: Never stop learning and growing within the profession. Seize every opportunity to network with col-leagues at all grade levels, always strive for personal growth by attend-ing meetings and seminars, taking coursework, attending music festi-vals, arranging for guest clinicians, adjudicating, and being involved with local and state honors organiza-tions. Establish personal and profes-sional relationships with fellow edu-cators that put students first. Share your ideas with others. Ask your col-leagues to share their great teaching strategies, literature, and innovative technology ideas with you. I’ve of-ficially reached retirement age, but am not quite ready to retire – I still

have more to learn and to share with my students and colleagues!

WYOMINGMichele LazarusCentral high SchoolCheyenneYears at School: 11Total Years Teaching: 19Instrumental Music Students: 96

Teaching Philosophy: I believe in strong teacher-student rela-tionships. I want my students to know that I care about their school and personal

success and that they can depend on me to help them. I strive to provide them with opportunities to succeed.Affecting Student Development: I encourage my students to audition and perform for as many different events as possible. Each new expe-rience gives them a higher level of confidence for both music and life.Most Important Lesson Learned: Being a part of a musical group pro-vides all students with a place to belong, goals to believe in, and the satisfaction of achieving success.

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By Kenneth Dale Disney

Musicology in the Ensemble Setting: Tools for Connecting to the Common Core and Traditional Classroom Evaluation Models

The eighth and ninth national standards of music education

call for the development of relationships between music

and other disciplines, and the fostering of understand-

ing music “in relation to history and culture.” Music pro-

fessionals often assume that our methods of achieving

these goals are understood, but such an assump-

tion is dangerous in the modern educational envi-

ronment. Pressure for lean budgets, focus on test

scores and data, and new evaluation methods that

lean heavily toward traditional classroom methods

have made music programs a tertiary concern for

administrators, who feel pressured to meet feder-

al and state benchmarks. The latest example, the

common core curriculum, reemphasizes a univer-

sal focus on math and English skills. While this

is a desirable goal, the initiative ultimately places

even more accountability for growth in tested areas upon

the shoulders of all teachers, including music specialists.

Directors can turn to musicology, the study of music in a sociological, historical, or anthropological light, for help. Besides fulfilling obligations to national standards eight and nine, musicology can streamline the re-hearsal. Proper and realistic planning can result in adding relevant infor-mation to the music curriculum and create evidence of a music teacher’s commitment to common core standards and other school goals. This arti-cle proposes to integrate musicology into the performance setting, adding tools that bolster students’ understanding of music’s relationship to other subjects, especially history and language arts, in order to justify music to

Guest Editorial.indd 64 12/3/12 10:49 AM


an increasingly wide audience of stake-holders. Importantly, this article also proposes these solutions in a way that allows ensemble directors to continue focusing on performance.

The public, sadly, often does not see the correlation between playing an instrument and exemplary test scores, not to mention measurable success in post-secondary life. This lack of un-derstanding can find dire resonance in the voices of school board members and other elected officials. In many cases, principals will ask music teach-ers directly: “How are you supporting school goals (read: boosting achieve-ment data)? Are you collaborating with the faculty to include core standards?” Even supportive administrators will of-ten defend music to audiences that do not understand how band improves a system’s data, and will likewise depend on the music specialist’s ability to show proof of such efforts. While it is ideal to imagine that citing a study connecting musical performance with academic excellence will suffice, more and more school boards look specifically for teachers’ effort to maximize growth in core proficiencies.

How does the modern ensemble director produce proof of such efforts? Further, how does one make changes to “the routine” without taking focus away from concerts, festivals, competi-tions, and clinics that are so important to the survival of a program? Ironically, a band program that shuns perfor-mances in order to focus on, say, read-ing comprehension will find itself elim-inated for reasons wholly unrelated to data. A true solution must allow music professionals to continue upholding performance standards, uphold the eighth and ninth national standards in a way that relates to overall school goals, and do so in measurable, empiri-cal ways. Musicology, uniquely, fulfills these goals while remaining salient to the rigorous standards of ensemble set-tings.

What Musicology Adds to the Ensemble Classroom

The first questions for any addition to the classroom usually are: “What will my students gain, and what does it require?” The precious commodity of

rehearsal time must never go to waste. Understandably, the very prospect of inefficiency makes directors cringe. Musicology, rather than acting as an additional burden, builds on many as-pects typical to most rehearsals. Imple-menting musicological methods, in fact, is something that many directors do naturally, daily, to create effective performances. Rather than fearfully changing one’s basic teaching methods, directors concerned with creating in-

terdisciplinary connections should in-stead focus growing awareness of these quotidian occurrences.

In a practical sense, musicology can become involved any time a di-rector address the Ws (who, what, when, where, why). Knowledge of a musical period, the characteristics of a style or form, and information about the creation of a piece represent just a few tools directors employ that stem, whether one is aware of it or not, from research done in the fields of music history, theory, and criticism.

Why do directors do this? The answer: students will feel more in-vested in performing music after un-derstanding its context. This includes information about historical figures, events, or literary works surrounding the creation of the music. How much more approachable does Beethoven’s “9th Symphony” become to teenag-ers after learning about the composer’s deafness or his struggles with society? Considering such extra-musical con-texts gives the student tools necessary for understanding a conductor’s sty-listic interpretation, and provides the groundwork for future personal cre-ative endeavors.

ImplementationDirectors who consider musicol-

ogy valuable, and who recognize its importance to adhering to trends in education, may still feel afraid of sac-rificing performance standards. This legitimate concern has hopefully been

assuaged with the idea that musicology occurs naturally. To help further dis-pel fears, and to help teachers adapt to the overarching academic focus (read: math and reading) of Common Core, what follows are several ways a teacher may add to the rehearsal without inter-rupting the playing schedule. In fact, directors may find that applying these methods, which all stem from common classroom practices, will streamline the schedule and promote efficiency.

The setup of instruments and equipment remains a common aspect of most ensembles. It also provides an excellent time for directors to in-troduce musical vocabulary, concepts, symbols, or historical figures. Every day, give a short lecture on a concept or person important to music. This might be called the “word/person of the day.” More complex concepts, such as sonata form, could become the “word of the week,” with different sections receiving a focus each day. Rather than chatting, wandering around, or otherwise wast-ing time, expect students to absorb the daily mini-lesson while quietly assem-bling instruments. Expect the class to answer one or two questions at the end, which will directly lead into warm-ups.

Alternatively, listening examples may be used to introduce composers, and especially forms. However, this should only occur after establishing the daily mini-lessons, and making sure students understand the director’s expectations regarding behavior. Oth-erwise, students will attempt to talk over the music, and generally ignore it in favor of chatting with friends.

In addition to the word/person of the day, create five-minute blocks for critical thinking once or twice a week, focused on relevant discussion about musical topics. This enforces music vocabulary and provides practice for the high-level questions encountered

“Musicology, rather than acting as an additional burden, builds on many aspects typical to most rehearsals.”



on college applications, writing tests, and music school entrance exams. Schedule critical thinking segments on days with after-school activities, such as rehearsals or performances. It is as-sumed by the author that a small break from playing becomes likely on these days, due to the increased burden on players’ chops. Instead of totally losing focus during the break, students will instead answer a high-order question, participate in discussion, or complete a simple writing prompt.

It is useful if the question derives from the “word of the day” terms, or especially from the repertoire used for performance, but this does not repre-sent a strict rule. Other possible topics include comparing and contrasting two pieces of music or two different forms, speculating on the composer’s inspira-tion for a piece of music, or arguing for the most appropriate interpretation of a passage. Again, deriving these ques-tions from the class’s repertoire will create the most benefit for students and directors.

In perhaps its most useful and non-obstructive manifestation, musicol-ogy provides an answer to increasingly prevalent “dead days” in the music classroom. These are periods in the school year where students cannot per-form on instruments. They happen for a variety of reasons – a test given next door, students removed from class for a presentation on four-wheeler safety, an important meeting scheduled in the band room, and so on. Regardless of the reason, dead days are the antithesis of efficiency, often leading to students watching a loosely connected musi-cal film, or just listlessly searching for something to ease their boredom.

Directors can, however, turn any dead day into “musicology day.” Stu-dents, at first, may rebel against the idea of doing “real work” instead of vegging out to a movie. Regain student interest by making the activities worth their time; relevance and rigor are not merely buzzwords. A “musicology day” should be no different than the other activities proposed, utilizing activities and concepts coming from music cur-rently being played.

Music composition can easily be-come the archetypal dead day activity. Of course, this best fits a “music theory” heading, and supports national stan-dard four more than the ones focused on in this article. For our purposes, though, we will assume that other fac-tors make their way into a composi-tion lesson, such as historical context, composer biography, or knowledge of form. Assign an approximate number of measures to be written fitting a form derived from repertoire, and have stu-dents explain how what they compose matches the assigned form. Advanced students may strive for a longer com-position or use more instruments. Per-form the most characteristic examples composed in class, even (if you are dar-ing) at the next concert.

Not all students, of course, will love this idea, or any other. As a mu-sic professional, however, you have to ask whether you feel more comfortable writing a lesson plan like the one above, or one that reads “watch a movie.” What if it the dead day coincides with an un-scheduled evaluation? Even a class-re-lated movie will not go over well if used

for the whole period without some sort of effort on the part of students.

Finally, keep record of all the daily terms, five-minute discussion topics, and relevant activities used in class, and put any handouts or performanc-es viewed (use of technology!) in a file. This file will serve as documenta-tion of your support of reading com-prehension skills, critical thinking, differentiated learning, school goals, and more. It also protects you if any-one questions your use of a movie, or if a student contests that his grade derives from something non-musical in music class. Do not skip the step of making this file – all the effort to con-form to common core, and to include national standards eight and nine, can easily to go waste if no proof ex-ists that a director did his or her job!

ConclusionCritical thinking, collaboration, and

universal standards are quickly becom-ing benchmarks by which all teachers are measured. Musicological methods, and a willingness to try new things, allow the music professional to stand with principals and school boards in the face of increased scrutiny regard-ing the common core, and any other evaluation model that relies on “tradi-tional” classrooms. This does not mean decreasing performance standards, but instead recognizing musicology’s cur-rent presence in the ensemble rehears-al, and planning to use it to the greatest advantage possible.

Dale Disney is music and art coordinator for Clai-borne County Schools, Tenn,, where he leads a perform-ing arts program consisting of marching band, concert band, pep band, percussion ensemble, and winterguard. He also acts as percus-sion instructor for Lincoln Memorial University’s music program, where he teaches applied percussion, percussion methods, and assists with the university pep band.

Mr. Disney is an active percussionist in the East Tennessee region, where he performs with commu-nity bands, church ensembles, and as a soloist. He has appeared playing percussion on two recordings with the TTU Symphony Band - Slide Ride: Works for Solo Trombone and Band, and Tennessee Tech Pride. He can also be heard on local television and radio stations performing with the Big Orange Ban-ditos brass band.


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SCM – 1077 “What Is That? (Driving Funk Rock)

SCM – 1078 “Big Dipper” (Thad Jones- Blues)

SCM – 1079 “Mr. GK” (Gene Krupa Tribute)

SCM – 1080 “The Christmas Spirit” (Traditional- Jazz Style)

SCM – 1081 “At The Oasis”\ (Latin / Swing /Jazz)

SCM – 1082 “Space Junk “ (Modal / Rock / Latin)

SCM – 1083 “Reciprocity” (60's Blue Note Groove)

SCM – 1084 “Two As One” (Thad Jones - Ballad)

SCM – 1085 “Bad Ol' Blues” (Slow- then Med Tempo)

SCM – 1086 “New Mambo Loops” (Hot Jazz Mambo)

w w w . s m a r t c h a r t m u s I c & w w w . b a r n h o u s e . c o m



Ad Index www.sbomagazine.com

COMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE #Antigua Winds, Inc. www.antiguawinds.com 21Bari Woodwinds www.bariwoodwinds.com 18Beret’s Publications www.beretspublications.com 56Berklee College of Music www.berklee.edu 11Berklee College of Music www.berklee.edu 7Berklee College of Music www.berklee.edu 5Bob Rogers Travel www.bobrogerstravel.com 13Burkart-Phelan www.burkart.com 17Charms Office Assistant www.charmsoffice.com 32Crystal Records www.crystalrecords.com 62D’Addario & Co. www.daddario.com 29Disney Performing Arts OnStage www.DisneyPerformingArts.com 11Distinguished Concerts International www.DCINY.org 31EPN Travel Services www.epntravel.com cov 4 Festivals of Music www.educationalprograms.com cov2-1 Festivals of Music www.educationalprograms.com 53 Fobes Clarinet Products www.clarkwfobes.com 52Gary P Gilroy Publications http://www.gpgmusic.com 30Good for the Goose Products www.chopsaver.com 63Hunter Music Instrument Inc. www.huntermusical.com 44J.J. Babbitt www.jjbabbitt.com 57 KMC Music, Inc www.kmcmusic.com 15Legere Reeds ltd. www.legere.com 39Legere Reeds ltd. www.legere.com 41MakeMusic, Inc www.makemusic.com 49Manhasset Specialty Co. www.manhasset-specialty.com 26Fred J. Miller Inc. www.fjminc.com 45MTS Products Corp. www.MTSproducts.com 61National Educational Music Co. www.nemc.com 55Northeastern Music Publication www.nemusicpub.com 48Pearl Corp. www.pearldrum.com 3Peterson Strobe Tuners www.petersontuners.com 51Rovner Productsusic Products www.rovnerproducts.com 10RS Berkeley Musical Instruments www.rsberkeley.com 66Sabian Ltd. www.sabian.com 25Students on Broadway www.studentsonbroadway.com 38Super-Sensitive Musical String Co. www.cavanaughcompany.com 59The Tuba Exchange www.tubaexchange.com 43Vic Firth Company www.vicfirth.com 37Vic Firth Company www.vicfirth.com 36Wenger Corp. www.wengercorp.com 19West Music www.tjflutes.com 20World’s Finest Chocolate Inc. www.WorldsFinestFundraising.com 47Avedis Zildjian Co. www.zildjian.com 33

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Documents

School Band ad Orchestra December 2012