It is a strange and trying time for all of us in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We certainly understand times are tough for you, as it is for us. We have been proud to bring School Band & Orchestra for free for more than two decades and we will continue to provide you with free subscriptions during the pandemic. However, we would like your consideration in these difficult times to help support our efforts here at School Band & Orchestra to keep our information flowing and to provide you with a continuous stream of current and vital information when you need it the most.
It is with the utmost sincerity we ask you to consider supporting our efforts here with a small donation which will allow our staff the ability to keep these interesting stories about your chosen career coming to you in a consistent and timely basis. Your consideration is greatly appreciated. We at School Band & Orchestra wish nothing but the best for you, your school, your family and co-workers. We hope you continue to remain healthy during this most strenuous of times.
This issue marks the beginning of my sixth year as editor of SBO, the end of my fifth, and a small but significant milestone for me.
We are now officially entering the second decade of the twenty-first century. That is a little mind-blowing, but it is the decade, which toward its end, will find me turning 60.
I can basically recycle this November editorial every year now, with a few modifications. The message is the same. So, allow me a little self-plagiarizing, if you will.
For over two decades now, SBO has honored an instrumental music educator, one from every state. The tradition continues, but you can imagine the process is involved, and chasing down a nominated band director times 50 is daunting.
The email from the local high school band booster parent in my small town outside of Nashville, Tennessee, Fairview High School, read:
Wow, summer is wrapping up! Some of you are back in school now, the rest of you are on your way back.
It’s an exciting couple of months for the students involved in United Sound’s new drum corps program.
It’s an Uber/InstaCart world we live in now. People can self-employ through apps for just about anything you can think of these days. It is no different for musicians.
This month, my editorial is this sparse set of photos of a trumpet made of the shell casings of the kind of bullets used in an AK47, as fired in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
It is a percentage that is often used, and almost a cliché now. The actual number isn’t that germane, it could give or take a few points, but the big picture is instrumental music programs don’t reach the vast majority of students for a multitude of reasons.
I’m fresh off two amazing “MEA” conferences where, as executive director of TI:ME (ti-me.org), I oversee the production of professional development training sessions that teach music educators to integrate technology into the music classroom.
We all got into music careers because we love music. I got into the world of music how-to book publishing, non-profit music education management, and music education journalism because I am a musician first.