Bandworld Magazine

A special award of The John Philip SousaFoundation Ron Rogers has been the Director of Bands at William Blount HS in Maryville, TN for the past 10 years of his 37 year teaching career. Rogers is a Tennessee native who attended UT at Knoxville where he earned his B.S.in Music Education. He stayed in Tennessee for his...

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Introduction In music, there are many traditional ideas or concepts that have been taught and passed down through the years that are only “half-true”. This series of ideas, developed by H.E. Nutt, co-founder of VanderCook College of Music, seeks to make you think of improved ways of teaching the student. His concept was...

Managing the percussion inventory Every conductor has experienced it: rehearsal is progressing smoothly, then the triangle part is missing. “Who is playing the triangle?” “Umm…we didn’t know we needed it.” Or “We can’t find it,” your percussionists reply.  There are three keys to solving this dilemma: 

arranged by Jay Dawson Album: O Little BethlehemRecording:California State University Northridge Wind EnsembleConductor:Lawrence Stoffel  Publisher:MARK 51710-MCD Purchase At first glance you will see something missing from this CD: no Sleigh Ride, no Greensleeves, no Nutcracker, no Messiah. What’s left? A very...

by Jack Stamp Album Title: Gettysburg at 150: 1863-2013 Music of the American Civil WarRecording:Sundeman Conservatory Wind SymphonyConductor:Russell McCutcheonSoloists:Brandon Almagro, trumpet; Colin Wise, trombone Publisher:MARK 50696-MCD Purchase Gettysburg at 150 offers an interesting program of twentieth &...

by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski Album Title: ConclaveRecording:North Texas Wind SymphonyConductor:Eugene Migliaro CorporonPublisher:GIA Windworks CD-935 Purchase Conclave begins with an original wind orchestra work by Sergei Prokofiev titled Ode to the End of War. Not too many ensembles can boast the four pianos and eight harps included in the instrumentation. Stanislaw Skrowaczewski is probably best known for his years conducting the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra...

Introduction There are many brands of saxophones currently being produced varying greatly in quality and price. Within their brand, most saxophone manufacturers also produce several different models in order to meet the needs of performers at various stages of development. Student models, designed for beginning saxophonists, are the least...

A special award of The John Philip SousaFoundation David Lesser is the first and only band director that Clovis North Educational Center in Fresno, CA has ever had. Lesser has stayed in the Fresno area since graduating from Cal State University in Fresno with his BA in Music Education. He been his career first as an assistant...

For quite some time the need to have “flex” arrangements was the domain of the small bands with limited instrumentation. Now, however, enter 2020 and Covid-19. With many schools being forced into online learning or greatly reduced class sizes or even losing their rehearsal space so other classes can more easily “social distance”, the need for flex...