Hey music lovers! I thought I’d go in a different direction this week and pull together some real-life examples of the potentially awesome gigs, events, and non-musical merriment you could be part of when in a community music group. This post is very personal, since I’ve created this list from my own life experiences, and […]
Film Score Day
Princess Leia. Forrest Gump. Indiana Jones. Marty McFly. Hedwig (Harry Potter’s snowy owl). In honor of yesterday being the first National Film Score Day, I have a pop quiz for you: What do all of these well-known characters have in common? Yes, they all appeared in popular movies, but what else? That’s right, music fans, […]
Time to Tune
One major difference between professional ensembles and many amateur ensembles is the focus on tuning instruments before the rehearsal or performance. Pros know how helpful this is, since it’s obvious how awful an out-of-tune band or orchestra can be – kind of like a car horn or the old nails-on-the-blackboard sound. I am constantly amazed […]
Priorities and Pragmatism
Community concert band directors have more decisions to make than anyone else in the group, but sometimes it’s not about what you might think. Oh sure, they have to come up with pieces for the next program, perhaps following a theme. They need to know if certain parts will not be covered and remember how […]
2017-18 “Hell Freezes Over” Tour
I’ve heard China described as an “emerging” country, but as I’ve just experienced, emerging from Communism takes time. The following is an edited summary of the good, the bad, and some of the ugly from my second trip to China with an excellent Chicago-area community ensemble called the South Shore Orchestra. The flights from D.C. […]
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