November 2015 Southwestern Musician

NOVEMBER 2015

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NOVEMBER2015 8 4

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I S S U E

contents

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features

V O L U M E

columns

Understanding Graduation Plans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 With the advent of endorsements, the options and requirements for students preparing their graduation plans is more complex. Learn more about how to help them and your school counselors.

BY PATRICK LE AVERTON

ALL IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Learn about the ALL IN project and consider how you can create opportunities for all students to be involved in music study.

BY LARRY LIVINGSTON

Teaching Rehearsal Etiquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Students at every level can be expected to follow prescribed rules RI EHKDYLRU VSHFLÀF WR WKH UHKHDUVDO SURFHVV &RQVLGHU KRZ \RX FDQ create and reinforce positive rehearsal etiquette in every class.

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BY LAURA WEIDEL

The Talent Trap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 When success is ascribed solely to talent, we can limit future musical achievement. Is yours a talent mindset or a growth mindset?

President’s Notes ............................................. 5

BY STEVEN DEMOREST

by Keith Dye

Executive Director’s Notes.................... 8 E\ 5REHUW )OR\G

Band Notes ............................................................ 19

by Andy Sealy

Orchestra Notes .............................................. 29 Vocal Notes ........................................................... 41

by Robert Horton

Elementary Notes .......................................... 52

by Juli Salzman

College Notes ..................................................... 58

by Michele Henry

updates

by Penny Meitz TMEA Offers Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarships .................... 2 TMEA Clinic/Convention: Clinics, Performances, Exhibits .................... 4 3UHVLGHQW·V &RQFHUW WR %HQHÀW 70($ 6FKRODUVKLS )XQG...........22

Cover photo by Karen Cross.

Southwestern Musician | November 2015

1

Editor-in-Chief: Robert Floyd UĂ R\G@tmea.org 512-452-0710, ext. 101 )D[

Managing Editor: Karen Cross

kcross@tmea.org 512-452-0710, ext. 107 )D[

TMEA Executive Board President: Keith Dye keith.dye@ttu.edu 6607 Norwood Avenue, Lubbock, 79413 806-742-2270 x 231 – Texas Tech University

President-Elect: Dinah Menger d.menger@sbcglobal.net 1305 Westcrest Drive, Arlington, 76013 ² )RUW :RUWK ,6'

Past-President: Janwin Overstreet-Goode MRYHUVWUHHW JRRGH#ÀVGN QHW )URQWLHU /DQH )ULHQGVZRRG [ )D[ ² )ULHQGVZRRG +6

Band Vice-President: Andy Sealy sealya@lisd.net 4207 Plano Parkway, Carrollton, 75010 469-948-3011 – Hebron HS

Orchestra Vice-President: Penny Meitz pjmeitz@mac.com 5407 Coral Gables Drive, Houston, 77069 281-468-2593 – St. John’s School

Vocal Vice-President: Robert Horton rhorton@conroeisd.net 3205 West Davis Street, Conroe, 77304-2039 936-709-1200 – The Woodlands HS

Elementary Vice-President: Juli Salzman julis@angletonisd.net 625 Milton Street, Angleton, 77515 (281) 660-4776 – Northside Elementary

College Vice-President: Michele Henry michele_henry@baylor.edu 1 Bear Place Unit 97408, Waco, 76798 254-644-0150 – Baylor University

TMEA Staff Executive Director: 5REHUW )OR\G | UĂ R\G@tmea.org Deputy Director: )UDQN &RDFKPDQ | fcoachman@tmea.org Administrative Director: Kay Vanlandingham | kvanlandingham@tmea.org Advertising/Exhibits Manager: Tesa Harding | tesa@tmea.org Membership Manager: Susan Daugherty | susand@tmea.org Communications Manager: Karen Cross | kcross@tmea.org Financial Manager: Laura Kocian | lkocian@tmea.org Information Technologist: Andrew Denman | adenman@tmea.org Administrative Assistant: Rita Ellinger | rellinger@tmea.org

70($ 2IÀFH Mailing Address: P.O. Box 140465, Austin, 78714-0465 Physical Address: 7900 Centre Park Drive, Austin, 78754 Phone: 512-452-0710 | Toll-Free: 888-318-TMEA | Fax: 512-451-9213 Website: www.tmea.org 2IÀFH +RXUV 0RQGD\²)ULGD\ A.M.–4:30 P.M.

TMEA Offers Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarships To be eligible, complete all application requirements by November 16.

Do you teach high school seniors who want to be music educators?

TMEA offers undergraduate scholarships for applicants who enroll in a music degree program at a Texas college or university leading to teacher certification. Encourage your best and brightest seniors to apply and submit all supporting materials by November 16.

Graduating Senior Scholarships • Bill Cormack Scholarship: $3,000/year for up to five years • Past-Presidents Memorial Scholarship: $2,500/year for up to five years • Past-Presidents Scholarship: $2,500/year for up to five years • Executive Board Scholarship: $2,500/year for up to five years • One-year scholarships: $2,500 for one year only

Are you in an undergraduate music education program?

Whether you just started a music education program or are preparing to begin student-teaching, TMEA offers you support. Scholarships for undergraduate music majors (available only to active TMEA college student members) are $2,500.

One-Year Undergraduate Scholarships • TMEA awards one-year, $2,500 scholarships to current undergraduate students enrolled in a music degree program at a Texas college or university leading to teacher certification.

One-Semester Student-Teacher Scholarships • TMEA awards one-semester, $2,500 scholarships to college student members scheduled to student-teach within the two semesters following the application.

Are you a music teacher continuing your professional growth with graduate study?

TMEA supports its members who are committed to expanding their knowledge and skills through graduate study in music by offering scholarships of $1,250 to $2,500.

One-Year Graduate Study Scholarships • Awarded to graduate students for one year only and range from $1,250 to $2,500.

Go to www.tmea.org/scholarships

Southwestern Musician (ISSN 0162-380X) (USPS 508-340) is published monthly except March, June, and July by Texas Music Educators Association, 7900 Centre Park Drive, Austin, TX 78754.

6XEVFULSWLRQ UDWHV 2QH <HDU ² 6LQJOH FRSLHV 3HULRGLFDO SRVWDJH SDLG DW $XVWLQ 7; DQG DGGLWLRQDO PDLOLQJ RIĂ&#x20AC;FHV 32670$67(5 6HQG DGGUHVV FKDQJHV WR 6RXWKZHVWHUQ 0XVLFLDQ 3 2 %R[ Austin, TX 78714-0465. Southwestern Musician was founded in 1915 by A.L. Harper. Renamed in 1934 and published by Dr. Clyde Jay Garrett. Published 1941â&#x20AC;&#x201C;47 by Dr. Stella Owsley. Incorporated in 1948 as National by Harlan-Bell Publishers, Inc. Published 1947â&#x20AC;&#x201C;54 by Dr. H. Grady Harlan. Purchased in 1954 by D.O. Wiley. Texas Music Educator was founded in 1936 by Richard J. Dunn and given to the Texas Music (GXFDWRUV $VVRFLDWLRQ ZKRVH RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDO SXEOLFDWLRQ LW KDV EHHQ VLQFH ,Q WKH WZR PDJD]LQHV ZHUH PHUJHG XVLQJ WKH QDPH 6RXWKZHVWHUQ 0XVLFLDQ FRPELQHG ZLWK WKH 7H[DV 0XVLF (GXFDWRU XQGHU WKH editorship of D.O. Wiley, who continued to serve as editor until his retirement in 1963. At that time ownership of both magazines was assumed by TMEA. In August 2004 the TMEA Executive Board changed the name of the publication to Southwestern Musician.

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Southwestern Musician | November 2015

TMEA Clinic/Convention INCLUDING THE TI:ME MUSIC TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL CONFERENCE )(%58$5< ² SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS HENRY B. GONZALEZ CONVENTION CENTER

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tamuc.edu/music 903-886-5303 4

Southwestern Musician | November 2015

B Y

K E I T H

PRESIDENT’S NOTES

D Y E

A life of gratitude

I

November—Renew your TMEA membership online and preregister for the convention.

November—Make your TMEA convention housing reservation online.

November 16—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 31—TMEA mail/fax convention preregistration deadline.

February 10–13—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

t is that time of year. After the anxiety of August, the newness of September, and the settling in of routines

by October, the holiday season quickly approaches. We have so much to be thankful for in our professional lives, and there are many obvious recipients to whom we should give our gratitude: our families, colleagues, mentors, advocates—anyone who consistently supports our efforts on a daily basis.

I hope you can take a moment and consider a wider scope for your appreciation. There are so many behind-the-scenes individuals who make our lives better. These people often go about their business in an almost unnoticeable manner. We routinely manage so many classes, students, functions, activities, and more that we risk overlooking so much of what many others contribute. Their work makes our tasks easier, they allow us to focus more on what we believe our priorities should be, and they tend to avoid acknowledgment and formal recognition.

One of the most selfless individuals who I believe was truly an exemplar for this manner of character was someone I never actually worked with, but rather witnessed through his effect on the lives of my family. Mr. Rudy Jimenez, affectionately known simply as “Mr. Rudy,” was the school custodian at Oak Grove Elementary School in San Antonio, where my wife taught for a four-year period beginning in 1991. The timeframe is important because in 1991 our daughter was a one-year-old, and in the spring of 1995 our next child was born. At that time, my wife elected to move to a middle school academic position. Because of failing health, Mr. Rudy retired in 1995, and beginning that year, I witnessed what would become a 20-year legacy of annual sentiments bestowed on my wife and two children.

Needless to say, Mr. Rudy was treasured in the way only the finest elementary school custodians can be held in esteem. He treated every child, teacher, staff person, aide, and administrator like they were the most important person on earth and maintained the building and grounds accordingly. Beginning in 1995, and every year until this past August when Mr. Rudy passed, my wife

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5

and two youngest children each received a birthday and Christmas card containing a crisp dollar bill. More impressively, each one of these cards was artfully inscribed by hand with a message of hope and gratitude made all the more significant over the years as Mr. Rudy’s eyesight gradually suffered to the point of legal blindness.

Over time, we learned that we were not the only family receiving these regular correspondences. As best we could tell, almost everyone who Mr. Rudy worked with at Oak Grove Elementary—and their children—also received similar acts of heartfelt fostering. If you are interested, you can find Rudy Jimenez’s obituary from the San Antonio Express News at www.tmea.org/rudyjimenez. If you choose to read it you’ll discover that this incredible, gentle man was so much more than he ever let on to anyone. He was a World War II veteran, having served in the Army in the Philippines, and he was the father of children who each went on to notable professional accomplishments. We suspect his children, and later his grandchildren, were probably often instrumental in aiding him in preparing his prodigious and ongoing correspondences.

I offer this story not just to honor the life of such an extraordinary individual, but also, I hope, to encourage each of us to seek to act in kind through some of the following: • Look for those in your life deserving of appreciation who perhaps you inadvertently, but possibly routinely, overlook.

• Do small yet meaningful acts to better the life of another every day.

• With so many students demanding our attention—positively and negatively—ensure you are intentional with your considerations to those students who by nature might be easy to overlook.

• Find ways to be increasingly conscious of small, random acts of kindness.

• Whenever possible, pay forward the thoughtful deeds and actions others do for you.

• Strive to live as a model for all of these sort of behaviors.

I do hope each of you has had the good fortune to know, or know of, your own

Mr. Rudy. We are often reminded that this is the season to be thankful. And while it’s important as a society to be reminded of that priority, it is the everyday gestures of compassion and well-being that create the greatest and most lasting influences on those in our spheres.

TMEA 2016 President’s Concert By now, I hope you have preregistered for the convention and made your housing reservation online via the TMEA member convention housing system. For all of this and more, go to www.tmea.org/convention. If you haven’t yet, be sure to purchase $10 tickets to attend the 2016 President’s Concert featuring the Canadian Brass. This concert is sponsored by Conn-Selmer, Inc., and all ticket sales will benefit our TMEA Scholarship Fund. You get the opportunity to witness an extraordinary performance by this entertaining and masterful quintet, and you can support the future of music education. For more information about Canadian Brass, go to page 22. To purchase general admission tickets, go to www.tmea.org/presidentsconcert.

We accept TEA Delayed Payment for IMA Purchases.

Jackie Akin, Cary MS Band, Dallas ISD “Even with hesitant ESL learners, RhythmBee encourages participation. They develop concentration and eye-tracking to boost all reading skills. The Assessment lessons let us discover who needs remediation. RB encourages responsibility for counting. No dependence on others! Confidence grows with every lesson.”

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Southwestern Musician | November 2015

Jay Lester, Fine Arts Director, Abilene ISD “RhythmBee has provided the students of Abilene ISD with a strong rhythmic foundation. Incorporating RB into rehearsals has sparked the interest of students and helped our teachers utilize our new technology resources. You can’t beat the brain skills developed by this sequential and well-conceived program.”

Sarah Beth Brewer, Gateway Elementary, Borger ISD “When I realized that 2nd grade students don’t grasp the concept of notes having both pitch and rhythm, I came to love the RB Curwen units even more. The animated format lets students try until they succeed without my interference.

I love seeing them self-correct and problem-solve on their own.”

LIVE YOUR MUSIC S C H O L A R S H I P A U D I T I O N DAT E S

JAN. 30 –31 + FEB. 27– 28, 2016 SOUTHWESTERN.EDU/MUSICSCHOLARSHIP

B AC H E L OR O F MU SIC

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B ACHELOR OF ARTS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTES

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Helping our students graduate

M

embers often call me to share their frustrations over their students not receiving accurate or sufficient information on building a graduation plan that can allow their continued participation in a music program all four years of high school. Just recently I got a call from a panicked member who said that a school counselor had told their eighth graders that if they were going to pursue the STEM endorsement they would not have time for choir in high school.

It is clear that music educators must also be in the business of educating students, and perhaps school counselors, about student opportunities to stay in music under any endorsement.

On page 13 of this issue is an article by Pat Leaverton, orchestra specialist in Fort Worth ISD, sharing thoughts on how teachers can work more effectively with the counselors on their campus. I encourage each of you to read this article for very sage advice on improving the communication lines between you, your students, and your campus counselors. School counselors clearly do not purposely guide students away from our arts programs, but as the article reminds us, their plates are overflowing, and it is a formidable task to have full knowledge of every option for all students within each of the endorsements.

So what is your role in making sure your students receive accurate

Music educators must also be in the business of educating students, and perhaps school counselors, about student opportunities to stay in music under any endorsement.

8

Southwestern Musician | November 2015

November—Renew your TMEA membership online and preregister for the convention.

November—Make your TMEA convention housing reservation online.

November 16—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 31—TMEA mail/fax convention preregistration deadline.

February 10–13—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

University of North Texas

2016 AUDITIONS UNT Campus Auditions

Regional Auditions

(live jazz and percussion auditions offered on campus only)

(live jazz and percussion auditions offered on campus only)

Saturday, January 30, 2016 Friday, February 5, 2016

Chicago Friday, January 15, 2016

(Graduate percussion, piano, strings, and voice only)

Los Angeles Friday, January 15, 2016

Saturday, February 6, 2016 Saturday, February 27, 2016

New York City Friday, January 15, 2016

MUSIC.UNT.EDU

information on how they may graduate on any of the five endorsements and still remain a part of your music program throughout high school?

First of all, make sure you are familiar with the rules of implementation for HB 5 as defined in TAC Chapter 74, Subchapter B (www.tmea.org/tac74b).

The State Board of Education, which wrote these implementation rules, took great care to protect the flexibility as called for in the law. The information in the “Did You Know?” sidebar on page 17 of the Leaverton article provides several specific examples of this flexibility that might be of value to your program and your students.

Each endorsement includes a requirement for a coherent sequence of advanced courses in a particular subject area. Given that, the most valuable SBOE rule that

protects maximum flexibility may be the one that allows local districts to define the advanced courses necessary for a student to earn an endorsement. After several months of attempting to define “advanced course,” the Board chose to make those decisions a local option. This is a rule that you may want to discuss with your school counselors to prevent one of your students from having to use an elective to take an endorsement-related course important to them. Some districts tend not to explain options such as this. It is incumbent on you to encourage your administration to take advantage of such rules.

Another significant accomplishment of the SBOE was to build as much flexibility as possible into the STEM endorsement. STEM should be interactive, collaborative, and cross-disciplinary—not an endorsement that places a student in a

singular course of study in math or science or computer science as earlier rule drafts required. Final adopted language includes one option that allows the endorsement to be earned through cross-disciplinary options after completion of Algebra II, Physics, and Chemistry. This added flexibility allows a student to take the STEM courses that meet their professional graduation plan and still participate in fine arts or other areas of interest throughout high school.

While most students know they may pursue multiple endorsements, it should be made clear to them that completing four credits of band, orchestra, or choir or a combination of four credits from up to two fine arts disciplines will earn them the Arts and Humanities endorsement. Such an acknowledgement on their transcript, paired with a STEM or other

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endorsement area, could increase their credibility with colleges and universities to which they are applying. It certainly should be an additional incentive to participate in fine arts all four years of high school.

As stated in the “Did You Know?” sidebar on page 17, several of the options presented in rule for added flexibility are at the discretion of the local district. In addition to not allowing some course substitutions, districts may add local graduation requirements, such as speech, to every

local graduation program. Some districts require every student beginning high school to pursue the distinguished level of achievement graduation program, which requires a fourth science credit. This would prevent an Arts and Humanities student from opting out of the fourth science credit, as allowed in law. Again, I encourage you to work within the system to relax local policy to protect the flexibility called for in HB 5 of the 83rd legislative session. As Leaverton states, build your case around what is best for

students and not what is solely best for your program. As always, be professional and organized in your effort.

Convention Housing By the time you read this you may have experienced significant frustration attempting to obtain hotel rooms for the convention. Despite adding almost 400 rooms on peak nights to the original housing block over last year, we sold out of rooms in a matter of three days. This usually happens sometime in late December or early January. I can assure you that this staff, as well as the San Antonio Housing Bureau, worked diligently to get more rooms added to the system in the downtown area after sellout, but those rooms also sold quickly, and the downtown inventory is rather depleted at this time.

If you are still seeking housing, I encourage you to frequently visit the online reservation system accessed from www.tmea.org/housing. As cancellations occur, or more rooms are added, that availability will immediately be uploaded to the system. We will continue to work to locate more rooms, even if in the vicinity of the airport, to accommodate all those who want to attend.

TMEA will continue to offer parking at the Alamodome in Lot C (the northernmost lot). While the San Antonio City Council has passed an ordinance to charge for Alamodome parking for all events, TMEA has negotiated a heavily discounted rate of $5 per day. We will continue to provide free shuttle to the center, and in addition the walk to the closest entrance of the newly expanded center will be a short one.

Feb. 10–13, 2016 tmea.org/convention 12 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

Understanding Graduation Plans Help your students continue in a music program and graduate under their chosen endorsement.

by Patrick Leaverton

W

hen I first entered the classroom over 25 years ago, a veteran teacher advised me that three people in the building would be critical to my success: the school secretary, the custodian, and the school counselor. I believe this is still true, but recently the role of the school counselor has become even more important in our student’s success and participation in our music programs.

Since the implementation of House Bill 5 (HB 5) that created the Foundation High School Program, the complexity of student schedules and the school counselor’s work load have each increased. Making sure the school counselor is ready to help our students succeed in music is one of the most important things we need to do every day.

The role of the school counselor has expanded beyond the traditional duty of monitoring a student’s academic requirements.

Before HB 5 there were three basic graduation plans, but that has changed with the advent of endorsements. There are many permutations of graduation requirements for each student, and school counselors have to ensure students are taking the courses needed to graduate with their chosen endorsement and preparing for life after high school.

In the past the school counselor might have given students a list of possible electives and asked them to choose courses that interested them. Students could now find their electives choices are limited to ensure they complete the requirements of their chosen endorsement. Current sophomores and below will be graduating under this new endorsement plan, but our current

juniors and seniors can graduate under a previous plan.

Plans and Endorsements While still in middle school, each student must choose what endorsement they want to pursue and explore which electives to take in high school. Students will choose from STEM, Business and Industry, Public Services, Arts and Humanities, or Multidisciplinary Studies endorsements. Within each endorsement there are also several optional paths. This means that the school counselors will be explaining high school credits to students and their parents much earlier than before.

During their eighth-grade year and certainly prior to grade nine, students will choose their endorsement and begin to create their personal graduation plan (PGP). This could be accomplished by meeting with the school counselor or during another class, depending on local ISD choices. Each student and parent/ guardian must sign off on their PGP by the end of the student’s ninth-grade year. Prior to signing, the student must receive information concerning the benefits of choosing a PGP that includes the distinguished level of achievement under the foundation high school program. After this initial confirmation of the PGP, a student may change the plan, but the school is required to notify the parent/guardian of the change.

A middle school student who is not likely to receive a diploma before the fifth year following entering ninth grade or who does not perform satisfactorily on an assessment administered under TEC Chapter 39 (STAAR) is required by law to have a PGP Southwestern Musician | November 2015 13

Working with our school counselors as partners in the total educational success of the student will lead to success in our music programs and affect our entire school community. in middle school, with a plan from that moment to graduation.

Some districts (e.g., FWISD) have decided to have all sixth-grade students participate in a PGP and write a graduation plan at that point.

Every music educator must understand the graduation requirements and each of the endorsements. I encourage you to spend some time reviewing the TEA website so you understand all the choices your students have to make. (To access TEA’s site, go to www.tmea.org/teagraduation.)

As you will find, there is a lot of information to present to the students. School counselors often present this information to students in a classroom setting by offering an overview of the plans. In that scenario, it is unlikely they would be able to cover all of the information needed to build each student’s schedule to include

music classes every year.

Educate Your Students I have found that if I talk with my music students before the school counselor’s presentations, my students will understand how to choose classes that allow them to participate in music every year. I wrote several four-year plans in consultation with the lead counselor on our campus to show my students how to schedule their classes for each year of high school. While these worked for our schools, you will need to adjust to meet the local requirements of your district.

(Go to www.tmea.org/graduationplans to review sample plans.)

How Can We Help?

There are many things we can easily do to help our school counselors support stu-

dents who want to continue music study.

First, know who is in charge of your campus master schedule. Rather than the school counselor, it may be the registrar, an assistant principal, or another administrator. Work with the campus scheduler starting around October to solve the scheduling issues that force students to choose between music and other required courses. Second, let your administrators and school counselors know that you are committed to the overall success of the school. When it’s time to proctor a STAAR test, be professional and cheerful.

Be the teacher who always collects and turns in their materials correctly and on time. Serve on committees to learn the viewpoints of the entire campus and to build relationships outside of the fine arts department.

When you meet with school counselors, bring solutions for any expected issues you intend to raise. Educate yourself on how students in your district can earn credits in nontraditional ways, including dual-credit, correspondence, and online courses. Also, make sure all the information you submit to your school counselors is correct and on time. Don’t wait until

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14 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

June 2014, the Trinity University Music Department was recognized as an ALL-STEINWAY SCHOOL by Steinway and Sons, for its commitment to excellence and purchase of 32 Steinway pianos.

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August, when there is a long line of new enrollees, to submit a list of 150 student course requests for placement in the correct ensemble.

The School Counselor’s Role We also need to understand school counselor’s priorities. Their primary role is to be an advocate for the individual student. Knowing and understanding this focus is vital to your relationship with these professionals. Whenever you take requests to the school counselor, present them in terms of what is in the best interest of the student. Requests shouldn’t be motivated by what can help your program grow or succeed at a contest.

An important reality to fully understand is that what is best for a student may not always be what is best for the ensemble. We might have to accept that our best clarinet player will be in the nonvarsity group to take a class needed for their graduation plan.

When we approach our school counselors it is also important to understand that, just like us, they have a tremendous workload. In many schools, the ratio of student to counselor exceeds 750 to 1. While this is starting to change, school counselors often provide far more services and deal with many more students than most of us do in music education. Each student requires time from that school counselor.

When a student moves into our school, it can take an extensive amount of time to evaluate their academic transcript before they can begin to know what classes the student needs. Also we must keep in mind that every music program, athletic group, or club submits lists of scheduling requests to the school counselor. Ours might not be the first request handled, and it may not happen immediately.

Be a Resource for Your School Counselors and Students Music educators need to inform school counselors about our programs. Meet with the entire counseling staff and present information about the benefits of music education for students and describe each of the courses offered. Not every school counselor participated in music programs; some might not know the difference between band and orchestra or why a young man in middle school wouldn’t ordinarily be placed in the treble choir.

Take the time to explain the requirements

Did You Know?

It is important to note that several of the options explained below are at the discretion of the local district. For further information, go to www.tmea.org/tac74b to read TAC Chapter 74, Subchapter B. • Students pursuing the Arts and Humanities endorsement may, with parent permission, opt out of the fourth science requirement and substitute another Arts and Humanities course.

• For students pursuing the Arts and Humanities endorsement, the coherent sequence of four credits can be satisfied by courses in one or two fine arts disciplines.

• A school district may define advanced courses and determine a coherent sequence of courses for an endorsement area.

• After successfully completing Algebra II, Chemistry, and Physics, students pursing the STEM endorsement may meet the coherent sequence STEM requirement by completing three additional credits from no more than two STEM categories, thus freeing up electives for fine arts.

• The physical education credit required for graduation may be earned through completion of any TEKS-based course that meets the requirement of 100 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per five-day school week. This same course cannot be used to satisfy another specific graduation requirement.

Possible examples include show choir or musical theatre.

• Students may receive both a fine arts credit and a physical education credit for enrollment in a band course if they also participate in marching band.

• One credit of speech is no longer required for graduation, but the student must demonstrate proficiency in verbal communication and listening skills.

Be sure to read this month’s Executive Director’s Notes on page 8 for additional information on graduation requirements.

of your classes and the prerequisites for success. Consider making a master list of each class and what instruments/voices will be placed in each ensemble or where new students should be placed until auditions can be completed.

Most importantly, we need to be the best source of information for our students. It is our job—not the school counselors’—to recruit students to our programs. We need to be proactive and inform parents and students early and often so they can understand how beneficial and rewarding music education can be throughout their school years. If a student walks into the counseling office wanting out of our program, it is not the school counselor’s job to change that student’s mind. In fact, by that point, we’ve missed our chance to reach that student. We must continually educate and advocate for our program with everyone involved: admin-

istrators, school counselors, teachers, students, and parents. Work with your school counselors to make your own four- and six-year plans to present to the students and parents.

We know that having the student in the right class will lead them to success.

Working with our school counselors as partners in the total educational success of the student will lead to success in our music programs and affect our entire school community. It is clear that music education will help our students be successful in school and life. When we help our colleagues recognize this and when we approach each student’s needs in this way, our programs will continue to improve.

Patrick Leaverton is an Orchestra 6SHFLDOLVW LQ )RUW :RUWK ,6' Southwestern Musician | November 2015 17

B AY L O R U N I V E R S I T Y Welcomes Dr. Gary Mortenson, Dean, School of Music “My goals for the School of Music at Baylor are to understand the considerable strengths already present in the School, to listen carefully to the wisdom that is already present among the faculty and student body, and to explore every opportunity that presents itself to keep Baylor on the path toward ever greater national and international recognition.” — DEAN MORTENSON Prior to his Baylor appointment, Dr. Mortenson was director of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance at Kansas State University, where he taught as a professor of trumpet for 25 years.

He recently received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Department Head at Kansas State.

Dr. Mortenson served the International Trumpet Guild as publications editor and as a member of the board of directors for a dozen years.

The ITG honored him with the organization’s Award of Merit in 2014.

ABOUT THE S C H O O L O F M U S I C AT B AY L O R U N I V E R S I T Y The Baylor University School of Music provides transformational experiences that prepare students for careers in music. Our students thrive in a Christian environment characterized by a nurturing resident faculty, an unwavering pursuit of musical excellence, a global perspective, a dedication to service and a devotion to faith.

They investigate the rich musical and cultural heritage of the past, develop superior musical skills and knowledge in the present, and explore and create new modes of musical expression for the future.

The School of Music of Baylor University is a member of the National Association of Schools of Music and the Texas Association of Music Schools. Degree programs leading to the bachelor of music education degree conform to certification requirements of the Texas Education Agency.

A U D I T I O N D AT E S F R I D AY

S A T U R D AY A

F R I D AY

December Dece cembe ber 4, 2015

January anuary 16, 2016 2

February 26, 2 2016 201

(VOICE AND K E Y B O A R D O N LY )

F R I D AY

( V O I C E O N LY )

S A T U R D AY

January 30, 2016

January 15, 2016

S A T U R D AY

February 27, 2016

( V O I C E O N LY )

Auditions are required of all entering and transferring music majors.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Baylor University School of Music One Bear Place #97408 • Waco, TX 76798-7408 baylor.edu/music and click on “For Prospective Students” 254.710.7681 • Music_Admit@baylor.edu

B Y

A N D Y

BAND NOTES

S E A L Y

In Memoriam TIMOTHY DAVID TULL January 30, 1958–September 19, 2015

Developing good citizens

I

constantly stress to students and parents alike that perhaps the greatest benefit of purposeful participation in a band program is how students learn to be accountable to and reliant on one another. Our programs are microcosms of the larger communities our current students will enter as young adults. Students, especially at the high-school level, often spend more time with their directors than they do with any other adult. This provides us with unique opportunities to foster attitudes and behaviors that will lead to good citizenship.

Developing good citizenship requires clarity of purpose and practice in our programs. To make our programs work toward creating good citizens, students must learn to take responsibility for themselves and for their classroom materials: • Show them how to clean and maintain their instruments and how to set up and take down rehearsal spaces.

November—Renew your TMEA membership online and preregister for the convention.

November—Make your TMEA convention housing reservation online.

November 7–8—All-State Jazz judging.

November 16—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 31—TMEA mail/fax convention preregistration deadline.

January 9—Area Band and Vocal auditions.

February 10–13—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

• Hold them accountable for their music binder, rehearsal markings, uniforms, and meeting deadlines.

• Teach them to treat their instruments, music, and other materials with respect.

Each of these can help build the bridge for getting them to treat other students and their contributions with respect.

Get your students to acknowledge the efforts of fellow students by frequently

Teach your students how to celebrate the communal and individual successes of the program no matter how small.

Southwestern Musician | November 2015 19

Plano West Senior HS Jazz Ensemble

Indian Springs MS Band

New Diana HS Band 20 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

recognizing not only your students’ best work but also their dogged daily improvement. Help your students understand and value the concept that great bands (and communities or nations) are created by a daily commitment to excellence and by faithfully fulfilling their role within the larger context.

Ask your students to look for the best in their peers and to cushion the blows of competition or hardship with kindness and dignity. Asking students to be kind to one another is a great first step toward developing empathy and for understanding the perspectives of others. This also helps our students see the humanity in each other.

Teach your students how to celebrate the communal and individual successes of the program no matter how small. Try to help them understand that competing with ourselves to be the best version of ourselves is really what should determine our gratification and fulfillment. Also, teach your students how to deal with adversity and to view obstacles as challenges rather than roadblocks.

TMEA Clinic/Convention Updates Please consider giving back to TMEA by volunteering at the 2016 TMEA Clinic/ Convention. Submit your information

online at www.tmea.org/bandvolunteer.

When you preregister for the convention be sure to purchase tickets for the Thursday night President’s Concert featuring the wildly entertaining Canadian Brass. As you’ll read on page 22, ConnSelmer, Inc. is sponsoring the appearance by Canadian Brass, and the proceeds from tickets sales will benefit the TMEA Scholarship Fund. So not only do you get to be greatly entertained, but you also get to make a difference in the process.

This month it gives me great pleasure to share with you our Invited High School Jazz Ensemble and our Class 2C, 3C, 3A, and 5A Honor Bands. Next month, you can look forward to receiving a full convention schedule preview in this magazine. In January, we will feature a preview of our invited university ensembles.

Invited High School Jazz Ensemble Plano West Senior HS Jazz Ensemble Preston Pierce, Director Ranked by Newsweek as one of the best high schools in the country, Plano West SHS is home to approximately 2,722 students in grades 11–12. The Plano West Jazz Ensemble is a 19-member ensemble made up of some of the best musicians in the band and orchestra programs. The Plano West Jazz Ensemble meets daily for 50

Coppell MS North Honor Winds Southwestern Musician | November 2015 21

TMEA PRESIDENTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CONCERT ip h s r a l o ch TMEA S W &RQFHUW Ă&#x20AC; elmer, Inc. H Q H %

)XQG red by Conn-S Sponso

FEBRUARY 11 â&#x20AC;˘ 8:30 PM â&#x20AC;˘ LILA COCKRELL THEATER Go to www.tmea.org/presidentsconcert for details on purchasing $10 general admission tickets.

TMEA is proud to present Canadian Brass as the featured performer of the 2016 Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Concert during the TMEA Clinic/Convention. In addition to this exciting concert, Canadian Brass will present a masterclass on Friday of the convention.

With an international reputation as one of the most popular brass ensembles today, Canadian Brass has truly earned the distinction of â&#x20AC;&#x153;the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most famous brass group.â&#x20AC;? Masters of concert presentations, Canadian Brass has developed a uniquely engaging stage presence and rapport with audiences.

Each of their concerts demonstrates the full range, from trademark Baroque and Dixieland tunes to new compositions

22 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

and arrangements created especially for themâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from formal classical presentation to music served up with lively dialogue and theatrical effects. Whatever the style, the music is central and performed with utmost dedication, skill, and excellence. Their appearance in the 2016 Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Concert and in a masterclass on Friday, February 12, are sponsored by &RQQ 6HOPHU ,QF &RQFHUW WLFNHW VDOHV ZLOO EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W WKH 70($ Scholarship Fund.

Canadian Brass is Chuck Daellenbach (tuba), Caleb Hudson & Christopher Coletti (trumpets), Achilles Liarmakopoulos (trombone), and Bernhard Scully (horn).

Aledo HS Wind Ensemble minutes as a curricular course. Students study traditional big band music, jazz theory, improvisation, jazz history, and a variety of different musical styles including swing, bebop, blues, funk, Afro-Cuban, and contemporary jazz. To further each student’s jazz education, a major emphasis is put on transcribing historically significant jazz solos as well as learning a different jazz standard each week.

Past guest artists include Steve Wiest, Rodney Booth, Joe Eckert, Stockton Helbing, Akira Sato, Ron Carter, and a joint concert with the University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band. In 2011, the Plano West SHS Music Department was a Grammy Signature Schools Gold Award Recipient.

The ensemble is under the direction of Preston Pierce, who is currently in his fourth year teaching in Plano ISD. He serves as the director of the Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Band and co-director of the Concert Band and teaches music theory.

Winner in the 2015 National Wind Band Honors Project. Honor Winds has earned consistent UIL superior ratings for more than a decade. Coppell MS is located northwest of Dallas in Coppell ISD. 3C Honor Band Indian Springs MS Band David Puckett, Conductor Indian Springs MS is a Keller ISD school located in North Tarrant County.

Band students begin their musical journey in sixth grade on the South Keller Intermediate campus. The classes are taught in homogeneous groups, every other school day. In seventh and eighth grades, the same band staff of David Puckett, Christopher Sebesta, and Jennifer Alcocer also teach at Indian Springs MS—one band family on two campuses!

Individual success is the foundation of instruction from day one and continues through their graduation from high school. ISMS students feed into the Keller and Keller-Central HS bands.

With exceptional support from our fine arts director and campus administration, these two outstanding high school groups have the motivation and support to soar to new heights in their band journey.

Musical skills are sequentially designed and developed to prepare each student to achieve individual success. These individual skills are the core of our ensemble accolades. The Wind Ensemble has earned a reputation of excellence at the local, region, state, and national levels for outstanding achievement in performance. In addition to this Honor Band recognition, the group recently received the 2013 John Philip Sousa Sudler Cup,

2C Honor Band Coppell MS North Honor Winds Jeremy Lindquist, Conductor The Coppell MS North Honor Winds is proud to have earned the TMEA CC Honor Band recognition for the 2015– 2016 school year. The Coppell North Honor Winds has a long history of musical excellence. Under the direction of former director of bands Joey Ashbrook, the North Honor Winds was recognized in 2007 and 2012 as the TMEA CC Honor Band.

The North Honor Winds has been chosen as the outstanding performing group at several local and state festivals over the past 15 years. Most recently, the North Honor Winds was named a National Southwestern Musician | November 2015 23

The University of Texas at San Antonio to host world-renowned Baroque violinist, Rachel Podger.

Thursday, January 28,2016 11:30 AM – Solo Recital Biber: Passacaglia in G minor Bach: Partita No. 2 in D minor 7:30 PM – Lecture & Solo Recital

Saturday, January 30, 2016 3:00 PM – Chamber Orchestra Concert Purcell: Suite from the Fairy Queen Bach: Violin Concerto in A minor

Bach: Partita No. 2 in B minor

Telemann: Concerto for Violin and Flute in E minor

Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G minor

Vivaldi: Four Seasons, “Summer” and “Winter”

Podger will also be leading master classes & workshops. Visit music.utsa.edu for a complete schedule.

MASTER OF MUSIC EDUCATION INFORMATION SESSION 1:00—2:00 PM in the Choral Hall (Main Campus) Saturday, December 5, 2015 For more informa on contact Dr. Si Millican (si.millican@utsa.edu)

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡

Program overview Meet the faculty Ques on & Answer session Light snacks provided

Department of Music 2015 –2016 Auditions December 5 Brass, Percussion, Strings, Woodwinds February 20 Scholarship Audition

All Areas: Brass, Keyboard, Percussion, Strings, Voice, Woodwinds March 5 Scholarship Audition All Areas: Brass, Keyboard, Percussion, Strings, Voice, Woodwinds May 7 Brass, Percussion, Strings, Voice, Woodwinds

Contact Us Auditions: Scott Flanagan scott.flanagan@utsa.edu 210-458-5333 Visit us on the web: music.utsa.edu

were a 2014 Midwest Clinic performing group, and have been recognized eight times in the Mark of Excellence National Wind Band Honors. Our ISMS and SKI band family strives to provide all of our students a consistent quality environment in which they can grow into tomorrow’s leaders.

3A Honor Band New Diana HS Band George Little, Conductor The New Diana HS Band is composed of approximately 80 students in grades 8–12 and is a consistent UIL Sweepstakes award winner. New Diana HS is located 15 miles north of Longview in the piney woods of East Texas. The New Diana Band regularly advances to the state level in competitions such as the UIL State Marching Contest, the TMEA Honor Band Competition, and the ATSSB Outstanding Performance Series. The New Diana Band has previously been an Honor Band state finalist three times. Individual achievements in music include NDHS band students

qualifying for ATSSB All-State band and earning medals at the UIL State Solo and Ensemble competition. Currently in his 14th year of teaching in Texas public schools, New Diana HS band director George Little earned his undergraduate degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and is a member of TMEA, ATSSB, NAMMB, TMAA, and the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity. He also currently serves as the President of NAMMB and is the TBA Region Representative for Region 4.

5A Honor Band Aledo HS Wind Ensemble Joey Paul, Conductor Aledo HS is a 5A high school with an enrollment of 1,608 located west of Fort Worth in south central Parker County.

Along with Aledo, students attend from the towns of Annetta, Hudson Oaks, and Willow Park.

The Aledo HS Wind Ensemble feeder programs include McAnally Intermediate and Aledo MS. Homogeneous classes start at McAnally. Seventh and eighth graders

are in ability-based band classes. At AMS, emphasis on individual skills continues, as does developing strong ensemble skills.

The Wind Ensemble is the varsity ensemble for wind and percussion students. Students meet daily before and during the instructional school day. Students participate in all individual TMEA/UIL activities to further develop their musicianship. Several ensemble members participate in the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra and other musical activities.

Aledo HS is a four-time TMEA Honor Band finalist and a two-time National Wind Band Honor finalist. The Bearcat Regiment has advanced to the UIL State Marching Contest in 2000, 2005, 2007, and 2011. Other achievements of the program have included winners of the 2014 PASIC ensemble showcase and a 2015 Winter Guard International finalist at the 2015 World Championships.

The Aledo HS Wind Ensemble is under the musical direction of Joey Paul, who has served 18 of his 23 years in Aledo ISD as the director of bands.

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Southwestern Musician | November 2015 25

In a perfect world, there would be unanimity about music’s sentient meaning for everyone.

In this less perfect one, the educator who is familiar with the pro-social effects of music will be more able to make a convincing case.

26 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

BY LARRY LIVINGSTON

F

or many years I have been working on a project called ALL IN. Essentially a teacher development strategy, ALL IN, among other things, aspires to increase access to music for public-school-age students. But more about that later.

I have been a very active conductor in the all-state world, and this coming year I am blessed once again to conduct a Texas AllState Orchestra. In a lifetime of teaching music and working with pre-college students across the United States, I have come round to some thoughts I would like to share, observations harvested not only from conducting but even more from conversations with hundreds of music educators. Disinclined to pontificate, I offer my commentary as fuel for further discussion and feedback. I thank you in advance for your input.

Let’s start with what we all agree on. Doing music has powerful derivative value for humankind. Neuroscience has delivered an avalanche of data about the extra-musical impact of musicmaking. When we play, conduct, compose, arrange, or even listen to music, neurons fire, releasing potent neurotransmitters such as oxytocin and dopamine. Academic performance, SAT scores, and graduation rates positively correlate with musical activity. In the urban setting, there is ample evidence that involvement with music can lead to drug and gang abatement.

I suggest that, in many ways, the Music Man was right. While he was a musical fraud, the Music Man persuaded the parents, the school board, the administration, and the community that kids who played in band would stay away from the pool hall.

Today, instead of barking from a negative perspective, he might

ALL IN

turn to the positive and speak about improved test scores. ALL IN strongly urges music educators to bring advocacy arguments to the table when in dialogue with a principal or, in fact, any of the key stakeholders in order to sell the justification for music. The economic and curricular pressures faced by school administrators can make it difficult to support music for music’s sake. In a perfect world, there would be unanimity about music’s sentient meaning for everyone. In this less perfect one, the educator who is familiar with the pro-social effects of music will be more able to make a convincing case.

Beyond the importance of advocacy, there is another issue I wish to address. As I have met with so many music teachers, I continue to marvel both at what they have achieved and, equally, at how often the narrative is about trophies and winning competitions. Indeed, some of these contest-oriented music educators claim with pride that only a small percent of the students in their schools qualify to be in the program. It is true that competitiveness is part of human nature that can lead to higher levels of accomplishment and to a deeper understanding of what it means to excel. It also involves discipline, commitment to long-term goals, and cultivating respect for the collective well-being of the group.

However, there is a danger inherent in basing music programs on competitive yardsticks. Not every student has the desire to participate in such an intense atmosphere. For some individuals, the very nature of trying to win is anathema. In fact, the disinclination to compete has nothing to do with one’s artistic interests or talent. If competition alone is the raison d’être of the program, a cohort of interested students may be left out. Contest ratings, then, are purchased with the coin of exclusivity.

I am troubled by this point of view. Here is why. I believe we are all music missionaries, bringing to our schools the poetry and power of music to the broadest population possible. Seeking widespread participation in the music program does not obviate the quest for success. Pervasive and addicting, music speaks to virtually the entire culture. I have yet to encounter a young person who does not like or love music. The ubiquity of smartphones and the availability of other inexpensive technological gear have

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15-485 8-15

enlarged the ambitus of musical access for everyone, and young people seem particularly disposed to taking advantage.

Why, then, is it not our job to invite the entire school into our music program? If we are truly committed to changing lives through music education, and I absolutely believe we are, can the compass of student enrollment be inclusive rather than purely selective? I dream of a school where the band, orchestra, jazz ensemble, and choir are excellent, and an entire army of students not in any of these ensembles is also doing music, whether that be mariachi, country fiddle, steel drum, rock and roll, or any other version of the dynamic musical world we now occupy.

Aware of the schedule demands for the typical music educator, I realize that I am asking a lot. Perhaps there is too little

time, too many financial constraints, and too few staff to create programs which are so rich and diverse. On the other hand, the notion of being a musical missionary perforce begs the effort. I am struck by the opportunities that exist to act on this idea, that a great music program is defined as much by the number of students involved as it is by the number of trophies that adorn the wall.

I envision the band room becoming, as well, the music room, a space in which all manner of creative and inspiring stuff happens—new compositions, experiments with improvisation, a string quartet vying for rehearsal time with an idiosyncratic ensemble of pop music devotees, tyros alongside young experts—a cornucopia of vigorous music exploration. And

CONVENTION @ A GLANCE February 10–13, 2016, San Antonio, Henry B. Gonzalez Center $60 early registration fee for active TMEA members

Discounted downtown hotel rates at www.tmea.org/housing

300+ clinics, 100+ performances, 1,000+ exhibit booths

Full-day preconference of music technology clinics

Active TMEA members earn CPE credit

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before you question its feasibility, know that I have witnessed it in action!

Syosset HS in Nassau Country, New York, is just such a school. Fifty percent of the students in the school participate in music. Bands, choirs, orchestras, jazz ensembles, song-writing class, rock band concerts, theory class, and music itself abound in Syosset. I spent a day there a few years ago and was amazed to find that the look of the school, the facilities, and equipment were not remarkably different from so many other schools I have visited or worked in. What is different is the absolute commitment of the administration, the music supervisor, and the music educators to the concept that more students doing music is better! Blessed with a willingness to act on the philosophy of maximum participation, the ensembles I observed were outstanding, not compromised by such a broad-based approach to curricula.

Syosset HS is already an example of one way to design an ALL IN program.

There are others achieving similar results.

Of course, no one size fits every situation. At the core, ALL IN is about guiding teachers to take ownership of their school programs, to think in an entrepreneurial manner. It is about dramatizing the fact that the most successful music educators really know who their learners are, endeavor to build personal relationships with the students, their colleagues, and the community. ALL IN can equip music teachers with the tools for being effective fundraisers, can show the steps to building a booster group, and can help devise a flourishing program which is not necessarily modeled after traditional formats.

To find more about ALL IN, go to www.nafme.org/programs/all-in.

In the end, it is always about the teacher.

An inspiring teacher can change lives. We are by nature change masters, striving to enrich and elevate the lives of our students through music. Imagine a school in which the miracle of transformation is a gift to the entire student body.

Larry Livingston is Chair of the Conducting Department at the USC Flora L. Thornton School of Music. He will serve as the TMEA 2016 All-State Symphony Orchestra Conductor and will offer the keynote address during our convention’s First General Session, Thursday, February 11.

28 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

B Y

P E N N Y

ORCHESTRA NOTES

M E I T Z

Selecting the right literature

P

November—Renew your TMEA membership online and preregister for the convention.

November—Make your TMEA convention housing reservation online.

November 7–8—First and second round All-State CD judging.

November 16—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 31—TMEA mail/fax convention preregistration deadline.

January 9—Area Band and Vocal auditions.

February 10–13—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

erhaps one of the most difficult aspects of our work is learning to select appropriate literature for our ensembles. What our students are capable of playing, what we want to teach, and what they are willing to learn can sometimes be at odds with each other. When the skills they need to learn to advance to the next level are factored in, choices become even more difficult. One place to start sorting out the myriad of options is determining pacing and objectives for each performance during the year. Much like the pacing of an excellent lesson plan, the school year can be broken into segments.

Begin the year with repertoire and supplementary materials to review and refine skills previously learned. Literature selected to open the school year will likely be a notch or two easier than the pieces students performed at the close of the previous school year. This music will serve to help teach and build ensemble skills in the group’s new students. Through this literature, we can also teach rehearsal standards, behavior, and protocol, and start cultivating leadership skills. Look for pieces that will appeal to your students and edit as necessary if there are more advanced students needing the challenge of working in positions or younger ones who may be overwhelmed by a complex rhythm or other difficulty. You have likely experienced that your ensembles move through this back-in-the-saddle music quickly and are soon ready for more difficult pieces.

For each piece you choose, make a list of the skills needed to play the selection. In each selection, include skills students have already mastered, relatively recent ones that need more practice to put them in the muscle memory bank, and one or two new techniques. It is the balance and proportion between these three categories that is a critical component in choosing the right music for an ensemble. Many middle school pieces have “Learning Concepts” as part of the edition. These can help make your life easier and your students’ learning more thorough. Use them as a warm-up before practicing the selection.

Much like the pacing of an excellent lesson plan, the school year can be broken into segments.

Southwestern Musician | November 2015 29

As the school year progresses through fall concerts and into the holiday season, selecting repertoire takes a different slant.

Finding pieces that reflect varied cultures and in which all your students can participate can sometimes be a challenge. Add to that finding pieces that have pedagogically sound content. This might be a great time to combine forces with other divisions in your department and prepare a full orchestra selection or a piece for choir and orchestra. Collaborating with departmental colleagues can strengthen professional ties and can give the students a

terrific experience!

After the winter holidays, UIL contest looms ahead for most of us. This is the time of year when carefully chosen repertoire is especially critical. I recall years ago one colleague who always chose UIL contest music that was too difficult for his orchestra. I know his intentions were good; he wanted to challenge and inspire his students to strive for a higher level of playing. He would say, “My kids could play this if only they would practice!”

Even if that were true, UIL contest is not the event to force this issue. It was never

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much of a surprise when that orchestra received threes and fours at contest. More importantly, the students felt defeated and never had the opportunity to refine their playing. Many never had the opportunity to learn a high standard of performance.

After UIL contest, many teachers relax their repertoire and look for something fun to end the year. This is a great time to program something light, such as a current pop piece. A selection from this genre can offer our students an opportunity to learn and understand more complex rhythmic patterns. Students can learn that how something is performed is not necessarily how it is written and that there are variations in the ways music is notated.

This notational challenge will help build their music reading skills.

One of my favorite end-of-year traditions is programming a piece that combines all the students in our program as the grand finale for the spring concert.

With students from grades 2–12, this is often a wonderful motivator for keeping students in the program. For parents of the younger students, it also offers a great picture of what to expect down the road.

Almost every year after the spring concert, a few students change their minds about wanting to drop orchestra because of the positive experience of performing with all the other students.

TMEA Clinic/Convention Update As we think about repertoire, it’s certain that our Honor Orchestras are studying the literature they’ll present in February. I’m pleased to feature three of our four Honor Orchestras below. Look to the January issue for a preview of our HS String Honor Orchestra, and next month’s issue will be a complete convention schedule preview. If you haven’t already, be sure to preregister for the convention and secure your convention hotel reservation—many TMEA room blocks in our hotels have already sold out.

For this and more, go to www.tmea.org/ convention.

MS/JH String Honor Orchestra Westbrook Chamber Orchestra Tom Dinardis and Brandon Cornett, Directors Westbrook Intermediate School is located south of Houston near NASA and is one of ten intermediate schools in Clear Creek ISD. With an enrollment of

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AUDITION DATES FOR ADMISSION:

Saturday, November 21, 2015 Saturday, February 13, 2016 Saturday, March 5, 2016 Additional Piano Audition Day: March 26, 2016 To sign up for an audition please go to: www.uco.edu/cfad/academics/music/auditions.asp or call 405.974.5004 UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS: Music Education – Instrumental, Music Education – Vocal, Musical Theatre, Percussion Performance, String Performance, Vocal Performance, Wind Performance GRADUATE PROGRAMS: Collaborative Piano, Composition, Conducting, Instrumental Performance, Jazz Studies – Music Production, Jazz Studies – Performance, Music Education, Musical Theatre, Piano Pedagogy, Piano Performance, Vocal Pedagogy, Vocal Performance • Outstanding Music Education & Performance Opportunities: Internationally Recognized Bands, Orchestra, and Choirs; Kennedy Center Award-winning Musical Theatre; Downbeat Award-Winning Jazz Bands and Combos; Opera, Chamber Music, Solo Recitals, and our Brisch Center for Historical Performance!

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more than 1,100 in grades 6–8, the school includes students from the surrounding neighborhood and also students from WAVE, the district’s north-side magnet for gifted learners. Westbrook’s orchestra students go on to participate in the orchestra programs of Clear Brook HS or Clear Lake HS. There are four levels of orchestra at Westbrook. Students from all grade levels audition for places in the top two orchestras. The Chamber Orchestra was a final-

ist for Honor Orchestra in 2009 and 2010, and was named Honor String Orchestra in 2011. The group regularly earns outstanding orchestra and best-in-class awards at various festivals, in addition to UIL Sweepstakes awards. Westbrook’s string players are also heavily represented in the Region XVII orchestra, and many Westbrook orchestra students have become high school Region and All-State musicians.

The Westbrook Orchestra has been led

by Tom Dinardis since the school opened in 2004, and Brandon Cornett, who joined the program in 2013.

MS/JH Full Honor Orchestra Robinson MS Philharmonic Orchestra Mary Havenstrite, Kimberly Hernandez, and Jason Duck, Directors Robinson MS in Plano ISD has an enrollment of 1,008 students in grades 6–8. Seventy-five percent of the students participate in band, choir, or orchestra, making the music department the largest on the Robinson campus. The Robinson Bands and Orchestras each average 200–250 students. The orchestra program includes three beginning classes, four upper-level performing ensembles, and a jazz orchestra. The Band program consists of seven beginning classes, three performing groups, and a jazz band. The Robinson Bands and Orchestras consistently earn the highest ratings at the UIL festival.

The Robinson Philharmonic was formed in 2009 and is jointly conducted by Mary Havenstrite, Kimberly Hernandez, and Jason Duck. The group meets in the spring and combines the chamber orchestra with select members of the Robinson band. The Philharmonic has been a finalist in the TMEA Honor orchestra competition every year since its formation.

The Robinson Wind Ensemble was a 2015 state finalist for CCC Honor Band and a National Winner in the Mark of Excellence Honors Project. The Robinson Chamber Orchestra has been a TMEA Honor Orchestra finalist seven times and was named the 2009 MS/JH String Honor Orchestra. This year, the orchestra was also a Nationally Commended Winner in the Mark of Excellence Honors Project.

The Robinson Philharmonic is a labor of love and represents the camaraderie of the Robinson Music Department, the extraordinary talent of its students, and their tireless dedication to the art of music-making.

HS Full Honor Orchestra Seven Lakes HS Symphony Orchestra Desiree Overee, Director The Seven Lakes Symphony Orchestra comprises the top two string ensembles and the top band at Seven Lakes HS in Katy ISD. In its ten-year history, the ensemble has earned numerous awards, including 10 consecutive UIL Sweepstakes

32 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

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Seven Lakes HS Symphony Orchestra 34 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

awards and numerous placements in the semifinal round of the TMEA Honor Orchestra competition, and most recently it was named a Foundation for Music Education’s Mark of Excellence 2015 National Winner.

Through its biannual masterwork performances, the orchestra has performed masterpieces such as Holst’s The Planets, Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Faure’s Requiem. Composers such as Kinley Lange have had their works premiered by the Seven Lakes Fine Arts department, notably a commission and world premiere of Lange’s These Gifts.

In 2008, composer Lowell Liebermann was in residence for the masterworks performance, and the orchestra became only the second ensemble to perform his Symphony No. 2.

The ensemble performed in 2008 at the prestigious Circle of Honor Festival in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, and they will return to this festival in April 2016.

They have also been part of Disney’s Performing Arts OnStage as a featured ensemble performing at Walt Disney World. With select students from the string and band divisions, the Seven Lakes

Musical Pit Orchestra has earned “Best Orchestra” recognition from the Tommy Tune Awards, winning the award in 2009.

Seven Lakes Symphony is proud to perform original works by student mem-

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bers, including a work called Guardian Souls of the Alamo that won runner-up in State Farm’s Original Score Contest. The Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Desiree Overree and Damon Archer.

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Teaching Rehearsal Etiquette by l au r a w eidel

here is a reason that the terms band class, choir class, and orchestra class sound a little odd—it’s simply because they are odd classes when compared to the others in a student’s day. The format for performing arts classes is based on a rehearsal—a different paradigm than the instructional format of other classes. It’s a format in which our goals are group goals and our products are ephemeral and difficult to quantify. This rehearsal format can also yield inherent behavioral challenges. To meet those challenges, I believe it is important to establish clearly understood expectations or rules of rehearsal etiquette.

While some students behave very well in rehearsal, we can’t confuse ritual compliance—either through fear of their director or through being inherently wellbehaved—with knowledge of the rehearsal learning process and rehearsal etiquette.

Rehearsal etiquette is the standard of behavior during the rehearsal that allows the rehearsal to be successful and productive. We must establish rules, teach the rules, and reinforce those rules. For our middle schoolers, I present the following: In performing groups like choir, band, orchestra, drama, and dance, many people come together to prepare a performance.

Usually, a rehearsal session has a leader who guides the group in the learning process. When groups of people work together, it is necessary for the rehearsal to work smoothly and efficiently, and

T

36 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

it is necessary for the performers to use every minute wisely. Wasted time results in sloppy performances.

There are basic steps to good rehearsal etiquette: 1. Anything that disrupts the flow of a rehearsal is considered to be poor rehearsal etiquette.

2. Have all of the materials that you need. Stopping a rehearsal to get things wastes time.

3. Be ready to go when the rehearsal starts.

4. Every rehearsal has natural breaks or pauses in the routine. If you have a question, wait until there is a natural pause. Always raise your hand.

5. Every rehearsal goes through the process of breaking down the performance piece into small sections.

Naturally, there is a lot of stopping and restarting. It is during these in-between times that the director or members will want to evaluate and describe the things that went well or need to be fixed. It makes sense that there is no talking during this time.

6. Often during a rehearsal, one section will rehearse while another section is left idle. When other sections are rehearsing, listen and watch what they are doing.

You will probably have to do the same thing yourself.

Whatever you do, do not talk or disrupt. The group leader will take this as a sign of disrespect to both the leader and the other performers.

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7. Mark or make note of important things that the director or other members point out so that you will remember it next time. It is a waste of time to go back and relearn what you have already learned. Wasted time results in a sloppy performance.

8. Make transitions smooth, quiet, and seamless.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s helpful to have simple rules that are concrete, yet flexible enough to apply to everyday rehearsal situations. Rehearsal etiquette applies to beginner and experienced students, and the approach is adaptable to all ages. These rules provide a common language for communicating expectations clearly with my students: â&#x20AC;˘ A student is late for rehearsal? Rule #3. â&#x20AC;˘ Students talk after a cutoff? Rule #5. â&#x20AC;˘ Someone makes a dramatic entrance when returning from the restroom?

Rule #1.

Assessment My students receive a rehearsal grade based on compliance with their rehearsal rules. I believe that grading rehearsal is justified in our setting because it is through the rehearsal that we achieve our high performance standards. I usually grade students weekly, but I actually prefer for students to grade themselves using a rubric I provideâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this allows them to take responsibility for their own learning and assessment.

Band, choir, and orchestra classes present such interesting paradoxes. We use a

standardized process to create a nonstandard product; the more the process is standardized, the more creative we can be with the product. Establishing and consistently applying clear rehearsal etiquette rules is key to supporting this paradox. When this consistency is achieved, our students can achieve a higher level of learning, greater ownership in the rehearsal, and a more satisfying music-making experience.

Laura Weidel is Huffines MS Choir Director in Lewisville ISD.

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Reinforce Rules with Beginners I often remind beginners when rules apply. For example, I might say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transition to our next song. Which rehearsal etiquette rule applies? Show me you understand the rule.â&#x20AC;? Or, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Part One, I am going to work with Part Two for about three minutes to help them learn their harmony part. Which rehearsal rule is your responsibility?â&#x20AC;? While critical for beginners, I also ask similar questions of eighth gradersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a continuing mission.

I also differentiate when I am teaching a lesson and when the group is rehearsing. For example, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Today we are going to review the terms for slowing down in music, and after we review the terms, we are going to rehearse the ending of song X.â&#x20AC;? And when we change from lesson mode to rehearsal mode, I remind them that we are in rehearsal mode with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rehearsal etiquette rules apply.â&#x20AC;?

Another benefit to maintaining these rules is that they provide a language for communicating with parents and administrators about behavior problems in class (i.e., rehearsal etiquette rules violations).

The rules allow me to be very specific when explaining what the student is doing (or not doing) and what needs to be done to fix it.

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Southwestern Musician | November 2015 39

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B Y

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VOCAL NOTES

Getting the right view

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November—Renew your TMEA membership online and preregister for the convention.

November—Make your TMEA convention housing reservation online.

November 16—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 31—TMEA mail/fax convention preregistration deadline.

January 9—Area Band and Vocal auditions.

February 10–13—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

hen my brother and I were kids, we would excitedly page through the Sears catalogue looking at all the items we could add to our Christmas lists. I remember the two things I wanted most were a camera and a microscope. As a tenyear-old, I used the camera to take pictures of every present received and of my family, but I most loved my new microscope. The details of sugar crystals and the cell structure of blades of grass were amazing. My younger brother chose a telescope. With it we looked at the lovely constellations in the night sky and spied on our neighbors down the block!

Over the past 25 years of teaching, I have often thought about the value of the telescope and the microscope. Each provides an amazing viewpoint, and each serves a different purpose. It occurs to me that using the analogy of the telescope and microscope can be valuable to our journey with our choirs.

The telescope can show where you are going. It can give you features to remember as you embark. The telescope gives you a picture of landmarks that help you mark your course, and helps with perspective. The telescope offers the big picture. The microscope shows striking detail. It can clarify objects at the simplest level. Using a microscope can reveal hidden structures and links to why things are.

How can thinking about the telescope and microscope affect our work?

The telescope view can help us plan our instruction. We know before we begin what the big features will be—tone, vowel production, rhythmic integrity, and dynamic structures. The telescope view can also give us an opportunity to consider other features we might want to explore: articulation, new aural skills—perhaps even different types of literature.

The microscope view can help us focus on the processes we use to teach and rehearse. This close-up view can also help us identify the root causes of issues our ensembles experience. Finally, the microscope is a great way to examine

(DFK YLHZSRLQW DOORZV XV WR UHÁHFW RQ SURJUHVV of the journey and gives perspective to the assessment of teaching and learning.

Southwestern Musician | November 2015 41

the foundational skills that we prioritize, and how we measure the success of our singers in executing those skills.

Each viewpoint allows us to reflect on progress of the journey and gives perspective to the assessment of teaching and learning. Switching back and forth between them is one of the art forms of choral music. There are times when we simply must sing the song. This might be considered the telescope. There are also times when we must stop and isolate places or passages that require a thorough and detailed approach to the music.

One of the hallmarks of a successful choir director is the ability to know when to use the telescope or the microscope.

Balancing the two approaches is tricky but absolutely necessary. I encourage you to consider which approach might be most effective to help your singers connect deeply to the music.

TMEA Clinic/Convention Update In just three months, we’ll all be enjoying four days of inspiration and education during the annual TMEA convention.

Be sure you preregister for the event and

ALL-STATE CHOIR CLINIC Saturday, December 19, 2015 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Sectionals and large choir rehearsals will be offered to aid students in preparing for the final All-State audition. Area finalists and alternates are welcome. Rehearsals will be led by Dr. John Silantien and Dr. Gary Mabry.

Pre-registration fee (postmarked by December 11) ................................$75 Registration fee at the door ….............................................................$100 For further information and pre-registration materials, go to http://music.utsa.edu and click on “Camps and Workshops” or contact: DR. JOHN SILANTIEN Department of Music, The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, Texas 78249 (210) 458-5328 john.silantien@utsa.edu

secure a hotel reservation before all of the TMEA hotel room blocks sell out. For this and more about the convention, go to www.tmea.org/convention. This month, I’m pleased to feature half of our performing choirs. Look for the remainder in the January issue, and next month, be sure to read through the full convention schedule preview. It’s always exciting to anticipate this incredible convention!

Peet JH Chamber Choir Elisa West, Director Peet JH is a CCC campus located in Conroe ISD, serving approximately 1,200 students in grades 7–8. This year the Peet Choir family has grown to 170 singers, 39 of whom make up the Chamber Choir.

The Chamber Choir is an auditioned group of seventh- and eighth-grade students and is one of six performing organizations in the choral program. The young women of Chamber Choir are also cheerleaders, volleyball and basketball players, Dancing Dolls, orchestra and band members, NJHS members, Theatre Troupe members, and friends. They are intelligent, musical, funny, and beautiful inside and out. Elisa West is currently in her third year of teaching as the Director of Choirs at Peet JH. Choirs under her direction consistently receive sweepstakes awards at UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest. Peet Choirs have also been awarded outstanding choir and best-inclass awards at choral festivals.

West received her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and music education from Howard Payne University and her master’s degree in vocal performance from The Boston Conservatory.

Hudson MS Mixed Choir Kelly Flores, Director Hudson MS, in Garland ISD, serves approximately 1,200 students in grades 6–8 and is located in Sachse, a northeastern suburb of Dallas. Under the leadership of the Fine Arts Director George Jones, Garland ISD has been nationally recognized as a Best Community for Music Education six times.

The Hudson Choir program, under the direction of Kelly Flores and Kellan Hickman, attributes most of its success to the solo and ensemble, TMEA Region, and UIL processes. It is through the push for excellence at each of these events that strengthens their level of musicianship.

42 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

Music is your passion TCU is your school SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITES AVAILABLE FOR YOU At TCU, you can receive both music and academic scholarships that make attendance more affordable.

NORDAN SCHOLARSHIP The NORDAN Scholarship is an exclusive award, open to entering freshmen vocalists, instrumentalists, and composers of superior talent, who have chosen to major in music. NORDAN winners receive a four-year, FULL TUITION AWARD. NORDAN Live Auditions are held on January 16, 2016 by special invitation. More information is available at www.music.tcu.edu/ nordan-request.asp TCU EARLY APPLICATION/DECISION PROGRAM If you are interested in an earlier admission response we strongly encourage you to complete all application procedures before the TCU Early Action deadline of November 1, 2015. TCU Early Action provides application review and nonbinding University notiďŹ cation by January 1, 2016, while allowing you to decide by May 1, 2016 (National Candidate Reply Date) to attend TCU. AUDITION DATES FOR SPRING 2016 January 30, 2016, February 20, 2016, and February 27, 2016 GRADUATE PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR YOU TCU offers Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in different disciplines. Graduate Assistantships are available.

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The HMS Varsity Mixed Choir consists of 58 members in the seventh and eighth grades. Twenty-nine are currently on the volleyball or football team. Typically, this choir does not meet as a regular class.

The members audition following the fall concert and rehearse once weekly outside their choir classes. Each student’s dedication and love for choir enhances their motto: choir familia.

Kelly Flores, the director for this choir, is in her eighth year at this campus and in her 20th year of teaching. Her choirs have consistently received UIL Sweepstakes awards. During her tenure at Hudson MS, she has cultivated thousands of aspiring musicians. Her loving push and direction gives purpose to the students and families of Hudson MS. Vandegrift HS Chorale Women Michael Feris, Director Vandegrift HS in Leander ISD is starting its seventh year. The 42 members of the Vandegrift HS Chorale Women were selected by audition and represent grades nine through twelve. The ensemble meets every other day for 90 minutes. Many of the students are involved in private lessons at VHS and participate in the TMEA All-State process as well as solo & ensemble contest. The VHS choir has a very dynamic and versatile group of singers who are involved throughout the school in sports, theater, dance, cheer, NHS, robotics, and a variety of other activities.

44 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

The VHS Chorale Women are thrilled to perform at the TMEA and SWACDA events in the 2015–2016 school year!

Sunnyvale HS Varsity Women Megan Senter, Director Sunnyvale HS Varsity Women’s Choir is composed of the top 15–20 women in the choir department. These women are involved in the choir and many other activities including OAP, marching band, athletics, NHS, and FFA. They are very competitive in the All-State process. Many of these singers participate in TSSEC and ACDA honor choirs. The Varsity Women consistently earn Sweepstakes awards at UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest. Sunnyvale ISD, home of the Raiders, is located approximately 15 miles east of downtown Dallas. The town of Sunnyvale housed K–8 in one building from 1953–2006. The expansion of the middle school in 2006 and the high school in 2009 has put Sunnyvale on the map in many areas, including with two state champion athletic teams.

Cypress Woods HS Varsity Mixed Choir Jason Womack, Director The Wildcat Choir program of Cypress Woods HS in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD has a tradition of excellence since the school opened in 2006. In those ten years, the choir program has grown from 75 students in two choirs to nearly 300 students in seven performing groups.

These ensembles consistently earn UIL Sweepstakes awards and have been recognized for outstanding performances in Choice Music Events, Seasons Music Festivals, and American Classic events, including a performance of distinction award at the American Classics Madrigal and Chamber Festival. This is the Cypress Woods Mixed Choir’s second performance at a TMEA convention, having been invited in 2011 under the direction of Marsha Robinson. The Mixed Choir singers are involved in numerous activities outside the choir room, including band, orchestra, dance, theatre, art, UIL academics, athletics, and FFA. Also, a large majority are in the academic top 10% of their class. Jason Womack has been at Cypress Woods since 2007 and has been the head choir director since 2011.

Langham Creek HS A Cappella Choir Chris Fiorini, Director Located in Northwest Houston, Langham Creek HS is one of 11 high schools in the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. With a school population of over 3,100, Langham Creek serves a diverse population of students who consistently perform well in numerous areas of fine arts, other academics, and sports.

Approximately 300 students participate in the Langham Creek Choir program within nine performing ensembles and one AP Music Theory class. The A Cappella Choir is the premier varsity mixed choir of LCHS. The choir consists of 62 students who have auditioned and earned membership in the choir. The A Cappella Choir consistently earns sweepstakes at UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest and is regularly asked to perform at various collegiate and community invitational events.

The A Cappella Choir is under the direction of Christopher Fiorini, with assistance from Andrea Loer and Natalie Robinson. Christopher is in his ninth year at Langham Creek and currently serves as the Region 27 Vocal Chair. This will be his fourth appearance on a TMEA convention stage—previously as a singer at Palacios HS under the direction of Michael Petrisky, as a singer in the U of H Concert Chorale with Betsy Weber, and as the assistant director at Langham Creek with Cathy Wafford.

Peet JH Chamber Choir

Hudson MS Mixed Choir

Sunnyvale HS Varsity Women 46 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

Vandegrift HS Chorale Women

Cypress Woods HS Varsity Mixed Choir

Langham Creek HS A Cappella Choir Southwestern Musician | November 2015 47

The Talent Trap

by Steven Demorest

P

opular perception in our country is that to be good at music you must possess this indefinable quality known as talent. Nowhere is this talent mindset more evident than in my area: singing. My colleague Peter Pfordresher and I recently published a study in which we compared the singing accuracy of kindergartners, sixth graders, and musically untrained adults. What we found was that the sixth graders were much better than the kindergartners at our three singing tasks, but adults were worse than sixth graders and performed like kindergartners on two of the three tasks. One explanation we offered was that the adults, when they were younger, were likely as capable as the sixth graders, but they became less accurate because they stopped singing. We suggested that singing requires practice and that if our adults were to start singing once or twice a week like the sixth graders did in general music, they would likely improve.

To my astonishment this article received a fair amount of media attention not from the surprising finding that adults performed no better than young children, but from the reaction to our suggestion that singing could improve with practice! I realize this suggestion will not surprise choral and general music teachers who see students improve every day with practice. However,

48 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

this idea was treated as somewhat revelatory by the press with headlines like “Singing more of learned skill than natural talent” and “Can’t Sing? There’s Still Hope, Study Suggests.”

What this reaction revealed to me was, first, the clearly pervasive belief in singing as a talent or gift that one either has or doesn’t and, second, how many people might really want to sing but believe they can’t. Almost all the reports featured encouraging statements like “don’t give up hope” or “you could still be a singer,” suggesting that the prevailing wisdom until then had been the decidedly discouraging perspective “give up hope; you will never be a singer.” That outlook was reinforced by stories I received after the article came out. People prefaced their remarks with comments like “I definitely do not consider myself to have any singing talent or ability” and then went on to tell about once being told by a family member or music teacher that they couldn’t sing. Many spoke of giving up or avoiding musical engagement.

Some spoke of rediscovering their singing voice later in life when given an opportunity to join a group.

Researching Musical Accomplishment

What’s interesting about our culture’s view of music as a talent or gift is that there’s not a lot of empirical support to justify the claim. We know that some kids pick up musical skills more quickly than others, just as in reading, math, or athletics, often because of a combination of prior experience and motivation. Research on young musicians who exhibited high musical achievement in adolescence found that these same children were not considered more musical in their preschool years. In fact, research into musical growth and accomplishment has often found that successful students are not necessarily those who always experience success easily, but those who learn how to work deliberately toward improvement without being easily discouraged, a quality known as self-efficacy. While practice alone will not make you a great musician, you cannot become one without it.

Psychologist Carol Dweck suggests that, even outside of music, thinking of oneself as gifted can interfere with future achievement. To study this she gave a group of adolescents a test with moderately challenging problems. After they were finished, she told one group that their performance on the test was a sign of their intelligence (a stable fixed trait), while the other group was told that their performance represented their superior effort (a flexible or growth trait). When the two groups were given

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Just as the vast majority of athletes do not continue in college or professional sports, the vast majority of our students aren’t looking for careers in music; rather, they seek meaningful musical engagement, the challenge of improving their skills, and the joy of performing. more challenging tests in the future, the “effort” group was able to respond to the challenge by exerting more effort, a quality she termed growth mindset, while the “intelligence group” was not able to progress as well because, according to Dweck, their poor performance conflicted with their self-image.

Talent Mindset Vs. Growth Mindset

Possession of a talent mindset—arguably similar to Dweck’s idea of the intelligence group—reflects and reinforces the idea that musical ability is a fixed trait.

Talent cannot be learned, it can only be

developed. Consequently, with a talent mindset a music educator’s job becomes teaching music not to those who are interested, but to those who are talented.

While our goal as music teachers is to develop the skills of all students, it is easy to sometimes be caught in the talent trap.

We often speak about how talented the young people in our programs are and we celebrate the most talented through contests and festivals to separate the great from the merely good. Such competitions can motivate students to go beyond their selfperceived capability and are good preparation for the competition inherent in music careers. But just as the vast majority of

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50 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

athletes do not continue in college or professional sports, the vast majority of our students aren’t looking for careers in music; rather, they seek meaningful musical engagement, the challenge of improving their skills, and the joy of performing.

The most damaging aspect of the talent mindset is when students are pushed away from music despite their interest in or even love of it. Maybe they simply got a late start or struggled early in the learning process. Nevertheless, somehow they come to believe they don’t have what it takes or can’t find a way to get started because they are too far behind. This is what happened to Gary Marcus, author of the book Guitar Zero. He believed that because of his apparent lack of musical ability, particularly in the area of rhythm, he would never be able to improve as a musician despite the fact that he loved music. Still, his desire never went away, so as a 38-year-old professor of cognitive psychology he made himself a guinea pig to see whether an adult of average (he would say below average) ability could “become musical.” His book describes his successful 18-month journey toward musical competence as a guitar player

through dedicated and deliberate practice.

I don’t believe the talent mindset serves music teachers or students well. In addition to pushing students away, espousing the concept of talent can lead to negative consequences even among students who are high-achieving. Performance majors entering college who have been raised with the belief that they are very talented, a belief reinforced by their acceptance into an elite music school, may not have the mindset to cope in an environment where they are surrounded by individuals who appear to have more talent. As with the children in Dweck’s studies, if college performers attributed their success to hard work rather than native talent, they could see the level demonstrated by other more accomplished students as a goal to be achieved rather than as a threat to their self-image.

Fostering a Growth Mindset

If we looked at secondary music programs that focus on a growth mindset, we would find programs that offer opportunities for any interested students while not abandoning the high achievers. As a choral conductor, I have seen tremendous benefits of large ensemble musicmaking—fostering a student’s sense of belonging as well as musical growth and enjoyment.

I would never suggest abandoning the large ensemble as an important vehicle for music education, but I believe we need to reevaluate secondary music programs in terms of the opportunities they offer all students. Here are several questions one might ask about music programs to determine how well they support a growth mindset:

particular might want to think about offering a beginning singing class (as opposed to a choir) that teaches the basics of singing, perhaps through a karaoke approach, using a variety of musical genres.

3. How many classes during the school day require an audition, rather than years of instruction, as a criterion for admission? If a student spends two or more years in a program but cannot join an advanced curricular ensemble, perhaps the curriculum needs to be adjusted. Could our ensembles be organized based on students’ prior educational experience rather than an audition? The large ensemble is actually an excellent setting to accommodate multiple skill levels. One might even consider removing most auditioned ensembles from the school day, particularly in the younger grades, and reserve auditioning for select extracurricular ensembles

where equivalent ability levels allow more advanced students additional challenges.

If it is our professional belief that every child is musical and that all children can benefit from a musical education, then that belief must shape the entire K–12 curriculum, not just the elementary general music curriculum. Such a belief means having a place in which every student who is interested in music may continue participating for however long he chooses.

If successful, the outcome will not only be more musically involved and musically confident people, but also a potential need for more music teachers to meet the increased demand.

Steven Demorest is professor of music education at Northwestern University and is a 2016 TMEA Clinic/Convention College Division Featured Clinician.

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1. How easily can an interested student get involved in the music program at any point after elementary school?

Could an interested senior find a spot in a choral or instrumental program?

2. Are there opportunities for a student to get involved in music that do not require a multi-year commitment?

Can a beginner try something out in an environment that is low-stakes enough to give her room to improve at her own pace? This already exists in many schools in the form of beginning piano and guitar classes, but why can’t that include beginning winds or strings classes? Choral teachers in Southwestern Musician | November 2015 51

ELEMENTARY NOTES

B Y

J U L I

S A L Z M A N

Hey, look us over!

E

very June, the Elementary Division VicePresident is charged with appointing a committee that will select the top elementary choral and instrumental groups to represent our state the following year during the TMEA Clinic/Convention.

Some groups submit recordings many times before they are accepted and others are asked to perform at the annual convention on their first try. What is the secret? Is the process fair? Can a group perform again if they have already performed? Through this column, I hope to answer those questions and offer you the criteria used to ensure the Elementary Division selects the best groups to perform each year. And even if you don’t have the aspiration of applying to perform, read on—almost all of these concepts apply to each of us preparing our groups to perform before our communities.

Performance factors are the most important reason for the required DVD versus an audio recording. Many aspects, such as conducting, memorization, and general conduct cannot be evaluated via a CD. At the secondary level, choral and instrumental ensembles have multiple opportunities to perform and experience other groups’ performances. With the shortage of public performance opportunities with other choirs, many young students do not understand the expected demeanor of an exemplary choir.

The committee is looking for groups that are performing literature appropriate for children’s voices and the group’s skill level. The poise and behavior of the group needs to be outstanding. Facial expressions should reflect an understanding of the context of the piece. Songs should be thoroughly memorized. Finally, the conducting needs to be both clear and expressive.

Next is tone quality. Aim for a resonant, stylistically appropriate tone in all registers and ranges. Vowel formations should be round and well-matched.

Accurate intonation is essential. Any necessary pitch adjustments compared to printed pitches are made immediately.

These factors used to evaluate applications for TMEA convention performing groups can also be used to help every music educator prepare their future performances.

52 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

November—Renew your TMEA membership online and preregister for the convention.

November—Make your TMEA convention housing reservation online.

November 16—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 31—TMEA mail/fax convention preregistration deadline.

February 10–13—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

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Rhythmic accuracy is important in not only the values of the notes but also the rests. Performances should be metrically correct and have an accurate pulse throughout the composition.

Nothing detracts from the sonority of an ensemble more than poor balance and blend, whether it be individuals or complete sections. Students should be actively listening, not only to their section but also to the overall ensemble, and adjustments should be immediate.

Directors should encourage students to go beyond the mechanics of a performance. Outstanding groups strive for a high level of expression with appropriate style, tempo, phrasing, and contrasting dynamics.

One of the most objective parts of the evaluation is technique. For instrumental ensembles, this includes correct mallet handling, the left hand on top for recorders, with fingers near the correct holes, ready to play. With recorders, also pay attention to coordination of articulation and fingering.

Strive for uniform sticking technique with percussion instruments. Whether sitting on their knees or legs crisscrossed,

the seating of students with similar instruments in an Orff ensemble, steel drum band, or similar group needs to be uniform. For a mariachi band or ukulele group, the bowing and hand placement is important. In vocal ensembles, pay attention to breathing, support, balanced attacks, and releases. Correct, intelligible and expressive pronunciation should be evident for the language being performed.

For all groups, good posture is essential.

Make sure you mail your DVD in protective packaging well ahead of the deadline, in case there is a delay. About two weeks after the deadline, the committee meets and divides the DVDs into categories: Unauditioned Choirs, Auditioned Choirs, District Choirs, and Instrumental Ensembles. Each committee member uses a rubric to grade the choirs (to review it, go to www.tmea.org/elemrubric). The scores are added, the top two groups from each category are selected, and an alternate is noted. To ensure as many quality groups as possible get the chance to perform at TMEA, ensembles that have never performed at the convention are given preference over those who were featured recently.

TMEA Clinic/Convention Update With the information offered above, it’s clear that we are in store to hear some of the best elementary music from across our state in February. Take a moment to read more about half of these convention performing groups. We will share the other half in the January issue. And look for the December issue that will include a preview of the full convention schedule.

If you haven’t already, preregister for the convention, and when you do, be sure to purchase other items already available (clinic recording access, President’s Concert tickets, and more). Make your hotel reservation now as well. Many hotels have already sold out of their TMEA block of rooms and we expect most will sell out, so don’t wait. For all of this information and more, go to www.tmea.org/ convention.

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Beckham Blazer Honor Choir

Rogers MS Choir

Mary Orr Tiger Choir

Stephens Elementary School Choir Southwestern Musician | November 2015 55

and Thursday after school throughout the school year. The Honor Choir gives back to the community by performing at senior living care facilities and nursing homes during the holiday season. For the past two years, the Honor Choir has competed at the Pride of Texas Music Festival, where they received first division ratings. This groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s focus is to grow as individual musicians and as an ensemble and to strive for musical excellence in all they pursue.

Rogers MS Choir Crystal Chamberlain & Megan Hoggarth, Directors Rogers Choir is proud to represent Prosper ISD at the 2016 TMEA Clinic/ Convention. Rogers MS is the fifthâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; sixth-grade campus in Prosper and serves a diverse group of students.

Rogers MS is committed to academic excellence, student involvement, and citizenship. Community is the key to success at Rogers, with students, teachers, and staff working together for individual student successes while celebrating the unique gifts each brings to our local and global learning communities.

The Rogers Choir is an ensemble of fifth- and sixth-grade singers who meet daily. This exemplary group of singers characterizes what Rogers and Prosper ISD are all aboutâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;excellence, hard work, and pride. The group consistently earns superior ratings and outstanding choir

awards at area competitions.

Crystal Chamberlain has been Director of Choirs at Rogers four years. She is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University, holds a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree from Texas Womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s University, and recently completed her KodĂĄly training at Southern Methodist University. Megan Hoggarth is in her second year as Associate Director of Choirs at Rogers and is a graduate of the University of North Texas.

Mary Orr Tiger Choir Christi Powell, Director The Mary Orr Tiger Choir consists of 120 talented and dedicated sixthgrade students in Mary Orr Intermediate School (Mansfield ISD). The choir members are chosen by audition at the end of their fifth-grade year and commit to a challenging and rewarding sixth-grade choral experience. Each of the four daily choir classes is divided into two and sometimes three parts. The choir comes together at least once a month for afterschool practices to develop as an ensemble and promote a feeling of unity among the members.

The Tiger Choir maintains a busy and varied performance schedule. The choir performs about five times throughout the year, including a choral festival performance (where they consistently earn sweepstakes and best-in-class awards) and their exciting spring concert where students dress in costumes and perform cho-

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reography to songs from a chosen theme.

Christi Powell is a graduate of the UT/Arlington and is in her 18th year as a music educator. She came to Mary Orr Intermediate after serving as an elementary music specialist for 14 years in Keller ISD and Arlington ISD. Powell is honored to have taught six students selected for the 2014 TCDA Elementary Honor Choir and to lead the Tiger Choir chosen to perform at the 2016 TMEA Clinic/ Convention.

Stephens Elementary School Choir David Dalton, Director Stephens Elementary School is an exemplary Kâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;4 school located on the north side of the Greater Houston Metropolitan area within Aldine ISD. It is a Title 1 school serving a diverse student population of over 1,100 students. The National Center for Urban School Transformation named Stephens Elementary the best urban elementary school in the United States in May 2015, partly because of the success of the Stephens Elementary Choir and the Stephens Elementary Orff Ensemble.

David Dalton founded the Stephens Elementary Choir in the fall of 1988 when he began his teaching career in Aldine ISD. The Stephens Choir is composed of approximately 65 third- and fourth-grade students who are auditioned in early September. The choir rehearses one hour weekly before school. They perform for the community at nursing homes, banks, a local mall, and for special occasions. The Stephens Choir has won the best-of-class award two consecutive years at the Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Music Festival of Houston where over 50 choirs from the surrounding Greater Houston area participate annually.

David Dalton earned a bachelor of music education degree from Angelo State University in 1988. Dalton is certified in KodĂĄly and Orff training. He also directs the award-winning Stephens Orff Ensemble and is an assistant director for the Aldine ISD Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Honor Choir. Dalton was selected as the Stephens Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2007.

ry 5-6 Februa

7 6 r e b m e Nov

4-5 March

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us ULE m D / E u H C d du S e e . . u u TO kc okc o . @ s w n w o i w audit

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COLLEGE NOTES

B Y

M I C H E L E

H E N R Y

Express yourself!

O

ur students have a lot to say. And as their faculty mentors, we want to encourage their thoughtful expressions in the professional realm. We want to guide them as they develop their thoughts and further their verbal proficiency. The opinions and ideas of these future educators and leaders of our profession merit our attention and our consideration.

One vehicle we have for encouraging our students to share their professional views is through the TMEA College Student Essay Contest. Each year, up to six college students (undergraduate and graduate) are recognized for their writing through acknowledgment at our annual clinic/convention and with a cash award. Entrants have the option of writing about a variety of topics: • Identify one or more benefits of a music education. Explain how/why it is beneficial and/or provide examples of what it might look like in a school environment.

• Specify a challenge in teaching music. Identify strategies used by experts to address the challenge, or propose a solution of your own.

• Select another topic appropriate for publication as an article in SOUTHWESTERN MUSICIAN. Articles may focus on band, choir, orchestra, general music, or research, but the information should be relevant for a majority of our members.

Go to www.tmea.org/essaycontest for more details about the requirements of the contest.

This past year, award winners tackled several topics, from teaching beyond the notes to the pros and cons of contests, from how to develop a personal philosophy of music education to maintaining our own health and wellness despite the demands placed on us as professional music educators. The following excerpts from these winning essays can give you and your students an idea of the scope and quality of the writing being submitted to our essay contest.

Be sure to use the URLs provided to read each essay in its entirety.

The opinions and ideas of these future educators and leaders of our profession merit our attention and our consideration.

58 Southwestern Musician | November 2015

November—Renew your TMEA membership online and preregister for the convention.

November—Make your TMEA convention housing reservation online.

November 16—TMEA scholarship online application deadline.

December 1—College Division Essay and Composition Contest deadlines.

December 31—TMEA mail/fax convention preregistration deadline.

February 10–13—TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

Beyond the Notes and Rhythms: Teaching What We Intend to Teach

by Adrian Teti Fundamental performance skills are the cornerstone of instrumental music education, and teachers at every level understand that the key to the success of their pupils lies in their ability to refine and master these concepts over time.

However, I suggest that we as educators must continue to consider how best to instill the most critical musical values in our students. In my work as a secondary-level low brass instructor, one of the most pervasive problems I encounter is that errors such as poor tone quality, poor articulation, and poor intonation are routinely left unaddressed in my students’ personal practice. In fact, they are often not even a part of their thinking.

This is certainly not a revelation—music teachers have long understood that all component parts of music performance require time to develop and become cohesive. However, the understanding of this process must drive our instruction to be focused on ensuring that all aspects of music performance carry equal importance in our students’ minds. Our values must be reflected in our instruction if they are to be effectively adopted by our pupils, and whether or not it is our intention, fundamental errors related to tone quality, articulation, and intonation may be left uncorrected because we inadvertently teach our students that those errors are simply not as important to address as note and rhythmic accuracy.

In a student’s beginner year, practice and performance habits are likely to reflect three things: the musical priorities addressed in our classrooms, music concepts learned from their elementary school musical experiences, and their home musical environment. This point is of particular importance, because it is easy to forget that our students are not blank slates when they enroll in a secondary music program. Virtually all students have taken some kind of elementary music classes that likely consisted of group singing, basic music theory, and learning how to play the recorder. Elementary teachers who introduce these activities are likely to emphasize note and rhythmic accuracy, and are less likely to focus on other basic tenants of musicianship (e.g., intonation, articulation). When these same students begin more focused music study at the

secondary level, their initial approach to music performance is likely to reflect the same values they learned in their general music classrooms and will primarily consist of attempts to improve their technical accuracy alone. This is further exacerbated by the fact that many secondarylevel teachers, despite understanding how critical it is to affect improvement in their students’ tone production or articulation clarity, tend to give feedback that focuses more on whether their students are playing the correct pitches and rhythms during their time in class. Both are obviously

important, but when we begin to ignore the other fundamental tenants of correct playing in favor of making sure that our beginner classes can get through all of their music, what we’re teaching them is that note accuracy is paramount to all other tenants of music performance. This serves only to reinforce the flawed methodology that our students are most likely utilizing in their own practice and further marginalizes the importance associated with the other necessary components of instrumental mastery. (Read more at www.tmea.org/essay1)

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Southwestern Musician | November 2015 61

Blinn College Scholarship awards are available!

Degree programs in instrumental and vocal music are available on the Brenham Campus. Auditions are available on Saturday:

December 19, 2015 January 23, 2016 March 5, 2016 April 16, 2016 May 14, 2016 or by scheduling an individual appointment

To schedule an appointment: Instrumental: Jill Stewart (jstewart@blinn.edu) Vocal: Dr. Paulo Gomes (paulo.gomes@blinn.edu) String Private Lessons, Choir, and Voice Lessons are available on the Bryan Campus. Auditions are scheduled by appointment only by contacting Todd Quinlan (Todd.Quinlan@blinn.edu) Any general questions may be directed to Todd Quinlan, Performing Arts Department Head 979-830-4288.

Our outstanding music faculty members are waiting for you!

Blinn College Music Faculty Dr. Marcelo Bussiki ....Division Academic Dean Todd Quinlan...............Performing Arts Department Head Jill Stewart ....................Instrumental Music Coordinator Brenham Campus (Instrumental) Dr. Sarah Burke ...........Director of Bands/ Percussion Kerry Bird ....................Woodwinds/General Music John Dujka .....................Piano/Music Theory Dr. Craig Garrett ........Jazz Studies/Trumpet Brian Klekar.................Jazz Studies/Saxophone

Jeffrey Hill.....................Double Bass Dr. Jeremy Marks ........Trombone Marie McElroy .............Flute Robert McElroy ..........Special Assistant/ Recruiting Dr. Eric Miller .................Double Reed Kendall Prinz ..............Assistant Band Director/ Low Brass Jill Stewart ....................Clarinet Felipe Vera ....................French Horn Steven Winter .............French Horn/Trumpet Brenham Campus (Vocal) Dr. Paulo Gomes ........Choir Director Dan Bircher .................Director of Vocal Studies

Lauren Shelton ............Voice Cheryl Amelang ..........Accompanist Pat Daugherty .............Accompanist Leah Jorgensen............Accompanist Dr. Linda Patterson ....Accompanist Cindy Schulz ................Accompanist Bryan Campus Chris Hoffman ............Director of Vocal Studies Nannette Pope............Accompanist Nicole Cherry.............Violin Diedra Lawrence ........Viola Prudence McDaniel....Cello Dr. Alan Strong...........General Music

For more information call 979-830-4262 or 830-4288 or visit our website at:

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Win All the Things! A Brief Review of Literature Regarding Competition in Music Education

by Kelley Poche-Rodriguez What defines a successful school music program? Is it winning trophies, medals, and professional accolades? Is it the number of students accepted into elite honor ensembles across the region, state, or nation? Is it the superior performance of exclusionary top ensembles? Numerous best-practice articles in various music educatorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; journals attest to the omnipresence of competition in music education.

Many directors question its time consumption, its expense, its detriments to students and to music education, yet the practice persists. Why is this?

Allsup (2010) suggests that prominence of contest and competition structures in North American music education is a prime example of hegemonic practice: in other words, a cultural practice that â&#x20AC;&#x153;is maintained uncritically while at the same time winning the consent of the potentially disempowered voices for whom it speaksâ&#x20AC;? (218). Given the prominence of competition in music education, particularly here in Texas, it seems prudent that

the potential benefits and consequences of such competition be examined critically.

(Read more at www.tmea.org/essay2) Developing a Personal Philosophy of Music Education

by Brian Murray Mahatma Gandhi said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.â&#x20AC;? This idea encourages everyone to contemplate his or her beliefsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to consider the foundational principles that govern everyday decision-making. Every choice has repercussions; therefore, it is essential that music educators understand and are able to articulate their beliefs about why music is important, why it should be included in the school curriculum, what kind of music should be experienced, who should teach it, and who should learn it.

In creating a personal philosophy of music education, educators establish a raison dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ĂŞtre for their lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work, a foundation and impetus behind every decision they make.

Why music?

Music is an integral element in the lives of all people. According to Reimer (2010), â&#x20AC;&#x153;the arts exist to make the seemingly ordinary extraordinary . . .â&#x20AC;? Music, then, has

a transformative power over everyone it contacts, an unparalleled ability to communicate directly with the soul and transcend reality.

Music, in its capacity to achieve a sense of deep significance by going beyond the meanings made available by words to meanings only sounds can bring into being, has always been a major source of, or an important accompaniment to, the quest for profound experience (Reimer, 2000).

Music is more than an activity, a pastime, or a hobby. It is integral to the human experience. To be able to express meaning and emotion, to prompt the senses through intricately planned noises, to unite unique individuals momentarily through a shared communal endeavor is the art of music. Through music we experience the past, communicate with the present, and inform the future about the essence of humanity. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Music . . . is a demonstration of the human capacity to thinkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to be intelligentâ&#x20AC;? (Reimer, 2000).

Why music in school? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The primary aim of education is not to enable students to do well in school, but to help them do well in the lives they

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lead outside of schoolâ&#x20AC;? (Eisner, 2004). A lifelong pursuit of musical experiences is valuable for everyone. It is integral, then, that music be included in school curriculum. If students do not have the opportunity to study music in schools, then where or when will they? (Read more at www.tmea.org/essay3) A New Life Symphony

by Nathan Dame Teaching music is about much more than the notes our students see on the page. We not only have to be expert musi-

cians, lecturers, and motivators; we also must serve as accountant, counselor, secretary, copier technician, travel agent, and CEO. While I am convinced that music educators have a PhD in multitasking (grading exams while typing an email to a parent and inhaling a sandwich during our lunch break), we often forget to take care of one of the most important people in our classroom: ourselves.

Teachers, by the very nature of our profession, possess a servantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart. So, we muster up the energy even when challenging to serve students, teach curricula, and

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appease administrators, but at what cost?

Music educators often burn both ends of the candle trying to balance administrative tasks with our desire to create musical mountaintop moments. This practice can send us into crisis management, as we attempt to deal with stress, which if not taken care of can lead to bigger problems such as burnout, attrition, or physical or emotional troubles.

To discuss how to effectively manage time, we must define its importance. In music, time can mean tempo or duration; however, does time (or lack thereof) define our teaching attitudes and perspectives? We frequently exclaim: there arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough hours in the day! Yet we have the same amount as those before us. One need only look to the past to see how the world has changed. Beethoven began his day with coffee at breakfast, which he prepared with great care using 60 beans per cup, counting them one by one. The next eight hours were spent composing, followed by one hour eating dinner, a two-hour walk with pencil and music, and four hours reading the newspaper (Currey, 2013).

I know what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re thinkingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Beethoven would never last with my 30 kindergarten kids, my non-varsity girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; choir, or my beginning band that canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to play concert B-flat in tune. But Beethoven found a way to achieve the coveted work-life balance, through adequate amounts of work, leisure, and introspection. Charles Buxton once said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;You will never â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;findâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.â&#x20AC;? So by using Beethoven as our tutor, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compose a New Life Symphony (Read more at www.tmea.org/essay4).

Composition Contest In addition to expressing themselves verbally, we also want to encourage our students to express themselves through their own musical creations. Again this year, TMEA is sponsoring a Composition Contest for undergraduate and graduate college students. Like the Essay Contest, the deadline for the Composition Contest is December 1. Details for submission can be found at www.tmea.org/ compositioncontest.

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