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Travel/Festivals

  • What’s By Your Deck Chair? Suggested Summer Reading

    Tom Merrill | June 8, 2018

    Finally—summer. Congratulations…you have made it to the end of the school year and survived the sprint of final concerts, finishing grades, graduation, festival performances, spring musical, and any of the other activities that tend to get squeezed into the last four weeks of school.

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  • Five Reasons Why You Should Take Your Ensemble on an International Tour

    Tom Merrill | June 8, 2018

    We all know the benefits of learning and performing music. Playing an instrument in an ensemble can improve a person’s sense of belonging and feeling of community, improve cognitive and motor skills, and help people form lifelong friendships.

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  • The Importance of Our Ancestry

    Tom Merrill | April 6, 2018

    A story was relayed to me by a band director friend. She was at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and while walking through McCormick Place overheard a portion of a conversation between a group of young band directors.

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  • Travel Planning: Budget Myth Busting—Part 3

    Tom Merrill | March 2, 2018

    In this final (for now, anyway) installment of this series, we’ll discuss some myths related to motorcoach travel and expectations at hotels when traveling with your ensemble.

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  • Travel Planning Budget Myth Busting—Part 2

    Tom Merrill | February 2, 2018

    In the last issue we started to tackle some budget-related student travel myths, to help you as a director better address many of the typical questions parent boosters will pose during the travel planning process.

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  • Travel Planning Budget Myth Busting—Part 1

    Tom Merrill | January 8, 2018

    About a year ago in this column, we ran an article about the advantages of early planning in relation to performance travel.

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  • Experiences That Made a Difference

    Tom Merrill | December 6, 2017

    This issue of SBO Magazine is the 20th annual salute to “50 Directors Who Make a Difference.”

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  • Keeping it Real: Having Growth Experiences on the Road

    Tom Merrill | November 6, 2017

    There’s no growth in a comfort zone, and no comfort in a growth zone.

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  • Setting Goals for Your Performance Tour

    Tom Merrill | October 4, 2017

    Once you’ve decided that performance travel will be a part of what your program offers, it’s wise to set some goals to achieve that are related to the tour itself.

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  • Mapping Your Way: Finding the Best Travel Planner

    Tom Merrill | September 8, 2017

    At some point in your music education career, and by some point I mean “every couple of weeks”, you will likely be posed the following question from a student, a parent booster, an administrator, or all of the above: “When’s our next trip?” 

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  • Location, Location, Location: Choosing Site-Appropriate Repertoire

    Tom Merrill | August 11, 2017

    Several years ago, while still working as a travel planner, I was the on-site tour director for one of my client groups.

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  • Tending the Landscape Over the Summer

    Tom Merrill | July 14, 2017

    We have a patio behind our house made of paver bricks surrounded by landscaping.

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