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  • Pianist Constructs Da Vinci’s Viola Organista

    Mike Lawson | November 21, 2013

    A Polish concert pianist and instrument maker, Slawomir Zubrzycki, has constructed what may be the first known version of the viola organista, a hybrid instrument designed by the great Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci. Based on Da Vinci's original manuscript and sketches, Slawomir built the unique bowed keyboard instrument over three years, unveiling it for the first time on October 18, 2013. See the viola organista in action here:

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  • 2014 Grammy Signature School Semifinalists

    Mike Lawson | November 20, 2013

    U.S. High Schools in the Running for Grants for Music Excellence

    The Grammy Foundation has announced that 123 schools nationwide have been selected as Grammy Signature Schools semifinalists for 2014. Created in 1998, the Grammy Signature Schools program recognizes top U.S. public high schools that are making an outstanding commitment to music education during an academic school year.

    Each of the Signature Schools finalists will receive a custom award and a monetary grant to benefit its music program. The top programs are designated Gold recipients. The best of the Gold recipients is designated the National Grammy Signature School. The remaining schools are designated Grammy Signature Schools. For schools that are economically underserved, the Grammy Foundation established the Enterprise Award category to recognize the efforts in music education made by these schools. Grammy Signature Schools are made possible in part through the generous support of Converse, the Ford Motor Company Fund, the Hot Topic Foundation, and Journeys.

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  • 2013 BOA Grand National Championships

    Mike Lawson | November 19, 2013

    The Woodlands (Texas) High School Band Takes Home the Trophy

    Congratulations to the Woodlands High School Band, from the Woodlands, Texas, who were named the Grand National Champions at Music For All's Bands Of America Grand National Championships on Saturday, November 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Their show was titled "Crossing Boundaries." This is the first Grand National Championship for the Woodlands Band and band director Joni Perez. Texas had a particularly strong representation in the 2013 BOA Finals, boasting five of the top 12 bands, including three of the top five.

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  • National Policy Review Finds that K-12 Teacher Evaluation is Broader than Test Scores

    SBO Staff | November 16, 2013Teacher evaluation systems today are more refined and useful for improving teachers’ skills and connecting teachers to student achievement than past models, a new national report that examines states’ teacher evaluation policies by the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) Center for Public Education (CPE) finds. Read More...
  • The 2014 ‘Best Communities for Music Education’ Survey

    SBO Staff | November 16, 2013The NAMM Foundation’s 15th annual Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) survey is now open for participation by school districts and schools across the country. Read More...
  • PASIC 2013

    Mike Lawson | November 14, 2013

    Thousands of percussionists have converged in Indianapolis for the 2013 Percussive Arts Society's International Convention, which features a lively exhibition hall, as well as discussions, roundtables, clinics, performances, and competitions covering the full range of percussive activities – from marching and drumset to jazz, world music, and symphonic percussion.

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  • MusicFirst Announces ComposeFirst Music Competition

    Mike Lawson | November 6, 2013

    Students of all ages are invited to compete for prizes by submitting original compositions using the cloud-based tools offered by MusicFirst.


    MusicFirst™, the digital education division of Music Sales Group™, is excited to announce the ComposeFirst Music Competition. 

    MusicFirst provides schools across the U.S. with easy-to-use and affordable cloud-based solutions that enable music learning, creation, sharing and exploration on any device at anytime, anywhere. Launching November 1st, 2013, the ComposeFirst competition encourages students to tap into their creativity while gaining insight into MusicFirst’s suite of groundbreaking software tools.

    The competition is open to all music students in the U.S. from the elementary to high school level. Submitted compositions must be original works and be no longer than five minutes long. Entries may contain vocals and lyrics or other acoustic instruments as long as they are created using MusicFirst software tools Noteflight and Soundation. There is no purchase is necessary, as free trial versions of the software are available. 

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  • Yamaha Launches Quest For Music Education Contest

    Mike Lawson | November 4, 2013

    Yamaha Corporation of America is sponsoring the Quest for Music Education, an online contest that runs through November 16, 2013 and offers a total of $105,000 in prizes consisting of band and orchestral equipment for the music departments of winning schools.

    To participate, a band director or other authorized administrator must register his or her school on the contest website to obtain a unique program code. Other participants can then sign up with their school’s program code and complete quests to earn votes and increase the chances of winning.

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  • Indianapolis to Host 2013 BOA Grand Nationals

    Mike Lawson | October 31, 2013

    Music for All’s Bands of America Grand National Championships, presented by Yamaha, is set to take place at Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium. Thousands will converge on the stadium November 13-16 to witness some of the best high school marching bands in the country. Grand Nationals is an educational performance opportunity open to all high school bands, on a first-come, first-served basis. Grand Nationals is also billed as a “spectacular music and pageantry event,” for which marching fans from across the nation and around the world travel to for its performances.

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  • Enter SBO’s Essay Scholarship Contest

    Mike Lawson | October 31, 2013

    It's not too late to enter SBO's 2014 Essay Scholarship Contest! For a chance at $10,000 in music scholarships and matching prizes for music classrooms, have your students complete the following sentence in 250 words (or less): "Now More Than Ever, Music Education Is Important Because…"

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  • University of Mizzouri’s C.O.M.P. Competition

    Mike Lawson | October 23, 2013

    Ninth annual Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P.) competition offers prizes, recognition for Missouri student composers

    Information has been mailed this month to music teachers across the state inviting students to participate in the 2014 competition. The winning composers and their schools will be awarded cash prizes, and the winning compositions will be performed at the Creating Original Music Project's New Music Festival on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

    Students in grades K-5 may submit compositions in two categories, Songs With Words and Instrumental Pieces. For grades 6-8, the categories are Fine Art Music and Popular Music; and for grades 9-12, they are Fine Art Music, Popular Music, Jazz, and Other. All entries must be original music written by the student, and only one entry per student is allowed. Arrangements of previously composed pieces or improvisation based on composed pieces will not be accepted.

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  • OSU’s Moonwalk

    Mike Lawson | October 23, 2013During the halftime show of the OSU vs Iowa football game on October 19, OSU’s TBDBITL (marching band) paid tribute to Michael Jackson with an incredible field show that, along with some of his classic tunes, also featured some of the King of Pop’s most famous dance moves. If you haven’t already seen it, check […] Read More...
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