Wind Conductor

One of my favorite memories from the classroom is taking my students caroling this time of year. I enlisted the help of the band parents and allowed the band members to sign up for this optional performance opportunity. The band parents made the arrangements with their neighborhoods and HOAs and several of them opened their homes to the band members for warm cider and cookies (always a favorite of band kids… and their director…). It was a great experience! People came out to

April and May are traditionally the time of year many music programs take their Spring Trip. It’s the perfect time. Assessment/Festival is behind us, things are winding down, and it’s nice to reward the students with the opportunity to enrich and educate while taking them to perform in prestigious or exotic locations. I will never forget the first overnight trip I took with my band. I was the Director of Bands at King George High School. It was my first year there – in fac

The 18th Century was an exciting time! In America we saw the birth of a nation built on the ideas of rugged individualism. Figures like John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin shaped the future with ideas of freedom and liberty. Religion found refuge in the New Land and the concept of the common man rising above genetic heritage laid the foundations of the thought which would lead the fulfilment of the theory that “all men are created equal.”

Today we celebrate the life of one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I have always been amazed by the life of Dr. King. He was strong yet peaceful. He was articulate yet concise. He was charismatic yet thoughtful. Dr. King possessed the characteristics of leadership of the noblest quality. Those characteristics shone brightly in one of the darkest eras of our country. 2018 marks the 55th anniversary of one of the most pivotal ye

Last week, the Davis High School Marching Band took center stage in one of the most prestigious marching events in the U.S.: the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Each year, up to 60 million people tune in to watch the broadcast and the Macy's Parade has become an important part of many families' holiday traditions. Steven Hendricks, director of bands at Davis High School in Kayesville, UT, sees this event as his Swan Song as he retires from 30 years of service as a music educa

​ This past weekend, I and the other conductors of the Rappahannock Youth Symphony took our students to a local bookstore and played Christmas carols for the shoppers. It was one of the most well-received outings by the ensemble. Customers made it a point to come and say how much they enjoyed the music performed by the students! I would encourage you to do the same with your ensembles. Caroling in the community is a great way to share your students' talents with an audience

​ I never get tired of listening to, performing or studying the music of Percy Grainger! I remember the first time I programmed a piece written by Percy Grainger with my band at King George High School (VA). It was Bainum's arrangement of Australian Up-Country Tune. This beautiful melody was a favorite of Grainger. The original composition was for voice and was sung at his wedding, an event that was held at the famed Hollywood Bowl. Grainger, ever the showman, composed the p

I can remember the first Wynton Marsalis recording I ever heard. It was an early evening in the spring of 1991 in the band room of Fairfax High School. I was a junior in high school and the jazz band was not a class. We rehearsed one night a week for a few hours. My Director, Ms. Mary Ulrey, wanted us to hear what she meant to breathe through a phrase. She played “Never Let Me Go” from the Standard Time, vol. 3 album. I had been inundated by the offerings of my peers with t

As we close out the Month of Marches, WindConductor.com would like to honor a composer who may not be as well-known as Sousa and Fillmore, but made a strong contribution to the wind band idiom: George Rosenkrans. Many band directors may not recognize George Rosenkrans. However, his contributions to the the world of wind band music were significant. Over the course of his career, Rosenkrans would compose over 200 compositions for band. His music has been performed at major e

This week we take a look at a powerhouse in the march world, Karl Lawrence King. The music of Karl King was the background of countless circus performances and can still be heard today in auditoriums in the three rings of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Here are some cool facts about Karl King, the King of the Circus March! FACT #1 Karl King picked up a local newspaper route to earn enough money to purchase hi first musical instrument, a cornet, at the age of 11. Mostly self-ta