Alan Gilbert to conduct the Juilliard Orchestra at annual commencement concert, Thursday, May 21, 2015.
ALAN GILBERT CONDUCTS THE JUILLIARD ORCHESTRA FOR THE SCHOOL’S ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT CONCERT
Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in Alice Tully Hall
Mr. Gilbert Leads Works by R. Strauss and Beethoven in his
Only Juilliard Orchestra Appearance of the Season
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Teaching students to play the clarinet is often both rewarding and challenging. A student’s natural enthusiasm when beginning a musical instrument is hard to match. During the first few weeks, students are introduced to embouchure, breath support, and playing their first notes on the clarinet. Some students pick up each new fundamental easily, while others require additional help. Young students are especially flexible in the beginning, allowing instruction that is not grasped to be set aside and replaced with methods that produce better results. If possible, consider meeting a beginning class during the summer band program, as this allows for working with separate instruments and individuals.
One of the most daunting aspects of getting your band ready for contest is preparing them for the sight-reading room. With so much to consider, from the actual music to your preferred procedure for how your band should approach the experience, the percussion section can get lost in the mix. On a good day, the percussion may hardly even be noticed. On a bad day, the percussion section can be a real liability and can potentially create pitfalls that the rest of the band will fall into.
Fortunately, this can be prevented when successful band programs actively apply the saying “plan your work and work your plan.”
Being from Texas, I wrote this from my experiences at UIL Sight-Reading Contest as a band director and as a percussion specialist. It can be expected, however, that many of these strategies will work in other sight-reading Contest formats. Here are eight strategies that will make sure everyone knows their role, has a job to do, and can reasonably understand what to expect when they set foot in the sight-reading room.
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