Glowstick Symphony

The signs that summer vacation is looming are quickly becoming more obvious than those for the failed rapture.  I had my final band concert of the year last week and the students (and their teacher) are having a hard time trading their daydreams of golfing and bicycling for reappearing concerns over the intonation issues at m9 of Pomp and Circumstance or the Star Spangled Banner; and who could blame them?  The students have been hard at work over the last few weeks and I'm pleased to say that their hard work paid off with their last concert.



The concert, which featured both concert ensembles, was made memorable by a few hardworking and innovative percussionists...

Lids by Ed Argenziano

The best part of this video?  When the students stop playing.  No, it's not that I'm relieved that they've finished (rough entrances and all), it's the ovation from the audience and the look on the face of my percussionists.  My students were the rock-stars of Dodge Center for the days following this performance; and the audience members flooded my inbox with positive comments about their concert experience.

Now, my point is not to build myself up, but rather to examine the average band concert vs. the changing face of music education.  One of my favorite bloggers has been discussing the difficulty of programming modern music in the orchestra setting; for quite some time band directors have thought of this as a problem for the orchestra to worry about.  After all, the average band audience is either excited about new music, or they're loving family members who politely sit through evenings in stuffy auditoriums, biding their time before grabbing a celebratory ice cream after the concert.  And that scares me.

Numbers in music programs seem to be dropping everywhere, and if we want administrations to stop cutting the arts, we need to find a way to energize our audiences.  That's where this performance came in.  I try to program my concerts like many directors - a showy opener, something moderate, something reflective, a major work, and a upbeat closer.  Wrapped up nicely like a Radio Flyer on Christmas morning; it's the same formula we've used for the last 100 years.  Obviously this package works, right?  I mean, sure... numbers might be dropping around the country, but... but... that can't be the directors fault, right?

I'm hoping to use the momentum from this concert to create an experience for future audiences.  I love the idea of a Collage Concert; the band may open with that strong opener, but rather than moving to the moderate follow-up, the crowd may be greeted by the jazz band or a small chamber group.  This would continue throughout the program, featuring all aspects of a band program and stimulating the visual along with the aural.

While the music hasn't changed much over the last 100 years, the audience has.

Obviously the music has changed but between the music and the average listener, which has changed more?  The music lovers of the audience will always enjoy the Holst Suites or a well played Sousa March but it's our job to create music lovers and maybe a little Glowstick Symphony next to Vaughn Williams' Folk Song Suite would keep them guessing; or at least keep them from day dreaming about their next round of 18 on a sunny day.