I hope this article finds all of you in good spirits and bearing the fruits of a successful semester. In continuing with the repertoire theme I would like to encourage all of you to attend the “Repertoire Roundtable” discussion we are going to have at the annual Winter Conference. In the book Rehearsing the Band Frank Battisti states the following in regard to repertoire:

“We have too many people teaching music who don’t know repertoire, and don’t even listen to it regularly and lovingly. They don’t see themselves as artists or what they teach as art, therefore their behavior is not artistic. I call them ‘musical mechanics.’ They tighten up a bolt and make the motor run better; as if a contest judge sees that all the parts are working and gives them the top rating, they are even more convinced that they are teaching music!”

I have selected a panel that will discuss many of these issues and trends with wind band repertoire and will field questions from you in the interactive discussion.

Winter Conference Notes
Please plan on attending the CMEA Bay Section Winter Conference January 11-12, 2008 at San Jose State University. It is a great opportunity to meet with colleagues and gain new perspectives from some of our own fine Bay Section educators.

I hope everyone has nominated students for the Junior High Conference Band. Andy Collinsworth from Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa will be this year’s guest conductor. Andy has an exciting program planned that you won’t want to miss. For those of you that have not seen him in action, I encourage you to attend one of the rehearsals during the conference.

Due the generosity of JW Pepper Music and Scott Grady, David Gillingham will be this year’s featured composer at the conference. David is not only a fine composer, but a wonderful teacher at Central Michigan University. He will be presenting two sessions which you won’t want to miss! On Friday will be a “meet and greet” and Saturday we will have a reading session of his music along with other notable C Alan composers presented by the Air National Guard Band of the West Coast and their conductor/commander Vu Nguyen.

Cort McClaren president of Alan Publications and Professor of Percussion at University of North Carolina at Greensboro will be presenting a percussion session Friday entitled Teaching Percussion in a New Age, The Common Elements Approach. Cort is considered one of the leading resources in the percussion industry and is truly a friend to education.

I hope to see you all at the conference and wish you the best of luck in the remainder of your semester!