Articles

UpClose: Julie Bounds

Building A Band Worth Being A Part Of 

Things are moving in the right direction for the Santa Teresa High School Band in San Jose, California. Under the guidance of director Julie Bounds, the opportunities for music students have expanded dramatically over the past decade, with the program doubling in membership and, in turn, new ensembles being formed to accommodate the influx of students. Santa Teresa’s current offerings include three concert bands, a competitive marching band, and three jazz bands, as well as percussion, guitar, ukulele, and other chamber-style groups. In addition, the band’s budget has gradually expanded from around $4,000 per year to over $100,000. Several years ago, Bounds started a blog titled “The Thrifty Band Director,” and she insists that the recent growth in capital hasn’t altered her fastidious efforts to maximize the return on every dollar spent, whether replacing instruments, purchasing new uniforms, or taking her band on the road. In this recent interview, Julie Bounds discusses the strategies she used to build a comprehensive program that her students feel is worth being a part of. 

Performance: Working with Beginners

Break It Down: Learning it all at once is just too much for beginners - It’s the first day of handing out horns at school and the kids are off the wall with excitement about learning how to play music. Congratulations, you have created a new band member who can’t wait to get his or her hands on an instrument and start making music. Now what? If you’re a beginning teacher faced with large numbers of mixed instruments, this question can be paralyzing. When I was in my first few years of teaching, I realized that I was spending most of my time fixing mistakes. It wasn’t until I discovered how to “break it down” that my band program really took off. Breaking it down allows you to make kids comfortable, give them confidence, and, most importantly, not practice mistakes.

Commentary: Selecting Repertoire

Skimming the Top: - How to Find the New Masterworks - It was the summer before my second year of teaching and I had been looking forward to this day for months. Eager to fill my students' folders with new music in the fall, I had been saving all of the promotional recordings I had received from publishing companies and today was Listening Day Number 1. My enthusiasm didn't last long, though, as after three hours, I had found only one piece that I thought was interesting and well written. "Hmm," I thought, "I must have just accidently picked the wrong companies – tomorrow will be better." 

Different Platforms, Common Goals

In my own experience initiating and executing an El Sistema program as an afterschool supplement to an already existing school-based music program, I noticed some of the same tensions between even the best of professionals. These sorts of tensions arise very naturally for us. As musicians, we spend hours refining nuances in practice rooms, and then perform for others, waiting for them to find the tiniest imperfection, point it out, and urge us to greater perfection. The university-level experience conditions us to be critical – of ourselves and others – and to pursue perfection.

Music & the Art of Foley: Universal Orlando

Universal Studios Resort Youth Program has designed a new professional audio production experience that reinforces national music education standards by putting the students to work in a recording studio environment doing sound-for-picture music production. In partnership with composer and music educator Robert W. Smith, Universal has created an educational program that allows bands and choirs to produce an audio score, sound effects, and voice overs for a motion picture complete with their names in the film credits.

Perspectives – The Mandatory Marching Band

When it comes to the high school marching activity, most programs follow one of two very different approaches. Allowing marching band to be optional usually means that all students who want to participate can do so, but they aren’t obligated to take to the football field if they only want to pursue jazz, concert, wind bands, or other musical activities. While this approach makes sense for many programs – depending on school tradition, culture, size, and the interests of both the student body and director – there are some strong arguments to consider in favor of having the entire band department participate in the marching band, whether incoming students initially want to or not.

2015 Best Communities for Music Education Survey Now Open

Schools and districts across the country are invited to participate in the NAMM Foundation’s 2015 Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) survey. The BCME program applauds community efforts to provide high-quality music education for all students. Teachers, parents, school administrators, and board members can complete the updated and refined 2015 BCME survey now through Friday, January 30, 2015.

Changing of the Guard

After eight wonderful years sharing inspiring and insightful stories of remarkable music educators in programs across the U.S. and seeking out the most relevant, practical, and useful editorial content I could possibly think of, I’m moving on. The next step in my career will take place at Longy School of Music of Bard College, a progressive conservatory in the Boston area that is actively rethinking how music education can be delivered on a global scale. I’ll be serving in a communications role there, so don’t hesitate to look me up and keep me informed about the wonderful activities that you and your programs are engaging in. Hopefully we’ll have an occasion to work together again soon.

Berklee Online Partners with Avid for Bachelors Program

Berklee College of Music has teamed up with Avid® to utilize Pro Tools®music production software as the foundational digital audio workstation application for an accredited, non-profit, online music production bachelor degree program. Berklee Online is offering a 120-credit Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in two areas: music production and music business. A high level of collaboration between online music production students is central to this new degree program.

Introducing the NYC Training Orchestra

Longy School of Music launches innovative orchestra-based M.M. program in NYC

Longy School of Music of Bard College has announced the formation of a new training orchestra that provides a Master of Music degree, recently approved by the State of New York and designed to prepare students for the mounting challenges facing today’s orchestra players. The training orchestra, recruited from the finest postgraduate musicians, will offer advanced orchestral and leadership training and grant a Master of Music degree in Curatorial, Critical, and Performance Studies. All applicants accepted into the three-year degree program will receive a fellowship, which includes the full expense of tuition, as well as an annual stipend. Applications are now being accepted. The orchestra will begin performing during the 2015-16 academic year.

College Marching Season 2014

With the college marching band season in full swing, student musicians are once again delivering some spectacularly creative and well-executed performances. Here are a few recent performances worth checking out.  

OSU's tribute to classic rock from October 18th:

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2014 NAfME National In-Service Conference

The music educators' conference comes to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, October 26-29

The NAfME 2014 National In-Service Conference will be taking place this upcoming weekend at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The highlights of the conference will include performances by the Boston Brass and the U.S. Army Field Band and Chorus, and a keynote address delivered by musician and music advocate Ben Folds. 

The four-day event is also slated to include: