Director’s Corner. By Tom Lizotte 01/13/2009
Thanks
to all who attended the recent choral and band concert. Both
Paul and I
were very happy with the students’ performance and very pleased with how hard
they worked to achieve those
performance levels.
Each
year is different, and it is interesting to consider how the personnel have an
impact on educational goals. With
the Wind Symphony so much of the focus has
been on taking chances and really working to make the music come alive. I
often
tell the kids that our objective isn’t just a good performance. Concerts
are only a
snapshot of what we do. The everyday
journey is much more important – and has
a much greater influence on the final product.
It
is our objective to play so well that if the composer walked into the room,he or
she could say, “You play my music as I intended it to sound.”
Each
new piece brings a revelation, and a bit of growth. “Whispers
from the
Heart”, the George Farmer piece, was my favorite because I love ballads, and
Mr. Farmer writes so well.
I
met Mr. Farmer the year I taught in Florida. He
teaches piano in a performing
arts high school outside of Tampa. He
is a very nice man who writes music that
reflects his personality.
Another
revelation was “The Swarm”, the Robert Smith piece about how a swarm
of bees helped the Colonists with the American Revolution. Mr.
Smith writes
beautifully and in a very educationally sound way. The
kids loved this piece.
The
Wind Symphony kids loved “Canticle of the Creatures”. I
agree. It was a
fun, creative piece with plenty of opportunities for them to be
expressive.
Both
Paul and I are always looking for music that connects with the audience,
is of high quality and gives the musicians the opportunity to express
themselves.
It
was great to hear the choral groups and the debut of the orchestra. Paul
and
the kids worked very hard, and the performance – classy and a high quality
rendering of top-notch literature – reflected those efforts.
We
have made progress in building our audience. Years back there would be
about 50 people in the audience. Word
of mouth has made our audience at over
capacity.
This
support is encouraging. In these
challenging budget times, we need to
protect our programs and support what students do. We
can’t let them down.
Our next concert is February 26. Hope
to see you all there.