Category: The Band Director

THE Trip

In a few days, we’ll be taking our Wind Ensemble to Chicago then Indianapolis for the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival. I’m really excited about being able to go and even conduct the band! Getting this trip together has been a little stressful but now that it’s here, I’m just anxious to get going. I’ve been to both Chicago and Indianapolis but never during this time of year so I’m concerned about not having enough warm clothes to take. Luckily, we’ll be indoors quite a bit so I should think about taking things to layer with. While in Indianapolis, BOA has asked that everyone (kids included) dress business casual so no jeans are allowed. Coming from Austin, that’s actually kind of hard to pack with! I will wear jeans more often than not, even to work, but I have dress pants so I’m definitely safe.

Okay, enough with this brain dump. I really do have a lot to do before we leave but I do want to get in some “me” time…these few days before the trip being my Spring Break and all. I still have laundry and packing to do, as well as clean up the house so I don’t come back to a dump. So, I hope that if you get some Spring Break time, you take time to enjoy yourselves. Drink one for me on St. Patrick’s Day and have a great week!

So fun, so busy!

I’m a little behind on my blogging. In fact, off the top of my head, I can’t remember the last real thing I blogged about before the iPod breaking, feeling tired and feeling better (and Connie, a little dose of vitamins does do wonders, doesn’t it?). A lot has happened recently, too. I guess the way I’m remembering how long back it’s been since I’ve blogged is to look on my camera to see what’s still on the memory. I have pictures from Super Bowl Sunday on there! So, it’s been about a month? Wow. Okay, enough about my not blogging…let me get to actually blogging.

TMEA was very productive and fun. I didn’t party at all – didn’t feel the need, really – but I went to some good clinics and met up with some fun people. I even got to meet Jonathan Newman! At first, it was without John Mackey but then, I got to hang in line for the All State Symphonic Band Concert with the both of them!!! So very exciting.

The more the days pass, the more I want the iPhone to come out. I’m really excited about the possibilities.

My physical therapy has been going well. Did I mention before that I’m going? I finally got fed up with my knees being inconsistent with the pain so I went to see Dr. Bosquez at Round Rock Orthopedic and he prescribed physical therapy for me. I’ve been going to Round Rock Rehab for about a month now and I can definitely tell a difference. I’m not as consistent as I’d (and my therapist) would like to be but I do get them done as often as I can at home. Dr. Bosquez says he can see muscle development already! YAY for knees with less pain without surgery!!!

The Wind Ensemble is going to the Band of America National Concert Band Festival in a few weeks and while there, I get to conduct a piece called Pacem by Robert Spittal. It’s a beautiful piece and I’ve started a blog about what the music has gotten to mean to me. It envokes so much emotion that I have to write this blog entry in stages. This concert is quite an honor for our band and this ensemble and for the program, we had to submit our bios and a formal picture. In case you didn’t see my picture on my MySpace (*cough*devil*cough*) or Facebook, you can see the picture here. Amy Weison is the photographer and she’s amazing! I’ve taken a lot of pictures (both snapshots and professional) over the years and I don’t think I’ve ever looked this good.

Tonight, I went to the Tx State Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band concert at Jackson Auditorium on the TLU campus in Seguin. Mr. Daniel Montoya, Jr. accompanied me and we had a good time. Frank Ticheli, composer, and John Whitwell, Professor Emeritus Michigan State, was there to perform and conduct several Frank Ticheli pieces so it was a real treat. My band is playing Amazing Grace, a setting by Frank Ticheli, commissioned by John Whitwell, and of course, with both of them there, they performed that piece. (Am I using too many commas – and in the wrong way – in that sentence?) I had a meeting/lesson with Dr. Ticheli on Amazing Grace yesterday and I have such a new perspective on the piece. And to have Professor Whitwell conduct it today with Dr. Ticheli there…wow! All that AND being accompanied by Mr. Daniel Montoya, Jr. …what a great night!!! Stay tuned to Daniel’s blog for some fun updates from today. Oh, Daniel, Fortress IS a Ticheli piece!

Well, I guess I’m almost blogged up for now. I’ll post pictures as soon as I get the pictures off the camera. Hope you all have a good week!

Goodsearch

Hey all! There’s a search engine out there called goodsearch.com. It’s powered by Yahoo! so you get good search results but if you specify the Stony Point High School Band as your charity of choice, it will give the band a penny for each search you do. So, if you would, at least check it out, if not switch over. Thanks for your support!

TMEA

This week is the Texas Music Educator’s Association annual convention. I’m really excited about getting to hang out with my old friends as well as seeing some great clinics. I’ll be back with lots of pictures to share, and maybe a few stories as well. Not sure when I’ll get to post them being that I’ve been so busy lately but I’ll get them online at some point. Hope you guys also have a great rest of the week!

The past week

This week was REALLY a long, hard week. It’s been very productive so that was good but by the Friday evening, I was absolutely exhausted. It turned out to be quite a rough evening and the emotions of having such a hard week caught up with me. Once I got past that, however, I slept like a baby; which was good because we had a Austin Stars Board of Directors Meeting here this morning.

The corps is coming along well and being that this is a brand new organization, going slowly is just the right thing. I think as long as we keep an eye on our pacing and not get overly excited but stay energized, we’ll be okay in the long run. The long haul is what this is all about and we want to last. Since we’re not a junior corps, we don’t have to worry about competing with The Crossmen or Revolution for membership. There are two other senior corps in Texas but one is in the Dallas area and the other is in Houston so we fit right in the middle for our membership. Anywho, productive meeting that didn’t go on forever!

Everyone at school was feeling the exhaustion as I did but no one seemed to know why they were so exhausted. I think it was because it the last week we had a full week of school, it wasn’t that eventful. Then, we had the ice storm then this past week; which was when grades were due for progress reports and activities cancelled last week were trying to make up time, as well as get done what was planned for this week. It really seem to hit us outta no where.

So, let’s see how this next week goes. We have our first Ensemble Recital night on Thursday (so no Grey’s with the girls this week 😦 ) My mom’s birthday is next Saturday and since the “Ice Storm 2007” happened around my dad’s birthday, we’re going to celebrate both my parents at the same dinner. The rest of today is dedicated to laundry, paying bills, studying my scores for UIL, doing my physical therapy exercises and just chillin’ out. Tomorrow, Allen Vizzutti is playing with the Temple Symphony at Georgetown HS PAC so I’ll be going to see him. Hope your weekend is just what you need!