Travel/Festivals Archives

Festivals and Travel Resources for 2018!
Tom Merrill | June 19, 2017
The 2017 school year is over, summer band programs are beginning, and planning for 2018 is well underway.
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Prevent a Blizzard of Worries: Have a Travel Planner
Tom Merrill | March 20, 2017
Early in February, winter storms Maya and Niko cut across the northern United States and the east coast, bringing with them advisories ranging anywhere from “blowing and drifting” to “repent your sins.” And as I watched the coverage on the news, one thought consistently went through my mind: thank goodness it wasn’t peak tour season.
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Early Planning – The First Step to Tour Success
Tom Merrill | February 13, 2017
With the new year begun and 2017 a few weeks in, it’s time to start thinking about...2018. Wait a minute, you might be thinking. I just now finally got my holiday cards in the mail.
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Leadership Lessons from Wrigley Field
Tom Merrill | December 13, 2016
We’ve all been thinking about leadership a lot lately.
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Selecting the Best Trip for Your Students
Tom Merrill | November 11, 2016
Traveling with your student performing groups can be a rewarding and enlightening experience.
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The Long Game: Multi-Year Planning
Tom Merrill | November 11, 2016
Living in the northern Chicago suburbs, I’m a proud Chicago Cubs fan. And as I write this, they are poised to possibly win their first World Series in over a century.
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The Benefits of a Performance Event While on a Music Tour
Tom Merrill | October 6, 2016
We lived in the Boulder, Colorado, area for nearly 15 years. If you’ve ever been there, you know that it is a bit of an eclectic place. Legally now.
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The Benefits of Staying on Both Sides of the Podium
Tom Merrill | September 8, 2016
Many of us have just completed another summer of performing in community summer bands or orchestras— the once per week, concert in the park ensembles that play a wide variety of repertoire.
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Competition: Inside the Mind of the Adjudicator
Tom Merrill | September 8, 2016
As the fall semester draws to an end, many students and directors are turning their musical efforts to the preparations necessary for concert festival and solo and ensemble contests. In the coming months, many groups and individual young people will perform for mysterious people who are busy scribbling furiously on adjudication sheets.
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Festivals: Not Just for Music Majors Encouraging Lifelong Musicianship
Tom Merrill | August 15, 2016
It was the one thing I remember from my first meeting with my college engineering counselor. “You don’t have time for band.”
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Don’t Let The Job Kill You
Tom Merrill | July 13, 2016
Do you remember the story of Jean-Baptiste Lully from music history class? (You WERE paying attention in music history class, right?) A French composer of the Baroque Period, he was also one of the world’s first conductors. And in 1687 the job killed him.

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The Undeniable Benefits of Band and Orchestra Trips
Tom Merrill | June 14, 2016
As a choir director and employee at a music travel company, I can say without a doubt that every traveling ensemble undergoes a transformation at the end of the tour that enhances their music program on both a group and individual level.
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