Features

Helping Music Educators Teach Online in the Age of Covid-19: The Music Industry Steps Up to Support Music Teachers

Whether we like it or not, we are now in the Covid-19 era – a global pandemic that will likely have widespread repercussions on every aspect of our lives. One of first disruptions was the preemptive closing of schools across the country with a shift to teaching students remotely using technology. For many teachers, especially music teachers, they have been thrust into the unknown. Few, if any, have had experience teaching performance ensembles and classroom music remotely.

The HONDA Battle of the Bands: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia January 25, 2020

It starts quite simply with the auxiliary units strutting down the north sidelines and taking their positions facing that half of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s 68,000 attendees.

Blair Callaway: SBO’s Georgia Director That Makes a Difference

“It being my hometown I felt I had to apply. I knew that I had the knowledge and experience that I needed to do this job.” With those words Blair Callaway began the twelve-year journey to become Georgia’s recently announced SBO “Director That Makes a Difference.”

Pro Tips for Getting Grants!

Need a grant for your super-cool music ed (or other) program? Here are some hot tips (and some NOT tips) from someone who’s won half a BILLION (with a B!) dollars in grant funding.

St. Olaf College Instrumental Music Programs

At many schools, at almost every level, the image of their instrumental organizations, bands and orchestras, overshadows their vocal programs.

From Carnegie Hall to Berklee: A Conversation with Dr. Chelsey Green

If any of your students have ever wondered what they need to do to perform at Carnegie Hall at the age of 16, point them in the direction of Dr. Chelsey Green.

John Wernega: Quinton Township School Music Director

Citrus Grove was my neighborhood school in Miami, Florida. Remember when you walked to school and carried your books in your hands… with no backpack! It was THAT kind of school: elementary and junior high all in one place, with one classroom for each grade, first through ninth.

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

It has been an eventful 2019. I hope you and the Missus are doing well. I hope you have some extra carrots for the reindeer. A lot is going on in the world and a lot of interesting things happening in music education.

Row-Loff Productions 30th Anniversary: Three Decades of Fun with Drums

If you’ve ever been to the Texas MEA show, or Midwest Band Clinic, or other of the bigger state MEA tradeshow floors, odds are good you’ve seen, from across the room, the Row-Loff Productions booth and its founders, the two Chris’s, Chris “Brooksie” Brooks and Chris “Crock” Crockarell.

The Actually Affordable (and Convenient): Universal’s Endless Summer Resort, Surfside Inn and Suites

I often write about the importance of student travel for performance, clinic, festival, and workshop opportunities.

History Repeats: Florida’s Teacher of the Year, Dr. Dakeyan Chá Dré Graham, Directs the Band at His Alma Mater

When the Florida Department of Education chose its Teacher of the Year for 2019/2020, it could be seen not only as an achievement for the individual, Dr. Dakeyan Chá Dré Graham of C. Leon King High School (Tampa, Florida), but also as a win for music teachers throughout the state.

Welcome to America, You are Welcome Here! Buffalo String Works

Buffalo, New York is known for many things, including Buffalo Wings that are rapidly replacing the hot dog as the All-American food at baseball games and other sporting events. In [my home-base of] Moultrie, Georgia, the director of the local sports rehabilitation center (a Buffalo native) proudly displays his signed Buffalo Bills football and helmet.