Band Students Make It Happen!
January 30, 2011
The students here at Indiana-Purdue University in Fort Wayne have had a busy spring semester. They helped host IMEA state ensemble rehearsals, they served as a demo group for a lecture I gave on “Finding the Sweet Spot” of band sound, and they were selected as a featured university ensemble and did a fantastic job with a challenging concert program. This week, those same students helped in hosting our annual Three Rivers Honor Band Festival for middle school and high school students. With faculty masterclasses, performances for the attendees, and endless logistical concerns, that same core group of students rose to the occasion and resolved problems indepedently and professionally. (As more seasoned directors know, there can be some eyebrow-raising surprises when you pool together several hundred 7-12 graders…!)
Both of these experiences went beautifully, depite the long hours and high expectations on these students. I could not be more proud!
Nor am I surprised. This “make it happen” mentality is not unique to my university. It is not unique to university students.
My years spent teaching high school in Beaverton, Oregon, revealed a similar “go big or go home” attitude amongst an invaluable core group of students. They were completely dedicated to having great musical and social experiences, regardless of the hours of required effort. I was amazed by their endless energy and genuine desire to see the entire group succeed.
I was not surprised. This “make it happen” mentality was not unique to my high school. It is not unique to high school students.
I have friends and relatives who are teachers (not music) and those who are professionals in other fields. Many of them do not get to see this side of our culture.
When reflecting upon how we, the wind band folk of the world, accomplish meaningful things like commissions, massive festivals, contests, parades 1,000 miles from home, halftime shows that entertain and elevate, performing groups from combos to chamber groups to 300-piece athletic bands, combined performances with hundreds of students, and so on, and so on, and so on, a singular truth remains.
We are one of the few “make it happen” core groups in our society. This may sound like an over-estimation of what we do, but after 15 years of teaching, I simply do not see this desire, commitment, and ability to function at a high level of organization outside of the band world.
The ability to plan into the long term, to develop programs, concerts, and student skills patiently and methodically, and the willingness to believe that the end result is greater than the sum of its parts is a hallmark of our industry.
And that is why we do it!
Perhaps, someday, we can impart this attitude across a larger swath of our society. There is no question that the greater good would benefit from this attitude that is common to our teachers and students.
As teachers, we’ll keep doing what we can, one student at a time!
Now, all of this talk about organization makes me feel the need to clean my desk….
…nahhhhh! I’ve got a rehearsal to plan!
