Each Monday evening at 8PM EST, music teachers get together and share ideas about important topics within music education. It’s a great chance to interact directly with educators from all over the world and to get new tips and tricks to help you succeed in the classroom. The entire #musedchat discussion is organized and moderated by Joe Guarr.
Burton Hable, 6-12 band in Ankeny, IA. Counting down the days until that will be DMA student in Music Ed at Boston University via Charlottesville, VA #musedchat
Survived last week and the only performance we have left now is Chamber Music Night. Concerts were all fun, but glad to have made it through that week! #musedchat
A1 We are very lucky in that @travisjcross is an alumnus of our program. He wrote the fight song for our new school, and I wish he lived closer so we could bring him in more frequently! #musedchat
A1: I can't speak to the first part of this question, but I have been a part of commissions/consortiums and I always try to keep composers in the loop about rehearsals if we are playing a piece of theirs whether it's through a Facebook message or email. #musedchat
A1: all of the above. Started with writing emails to composers with “previewed and edited” questions. Now we commission whenever possible on our own or through consortium #musedchat
A1a. I have commission 3 works. The composers have been great. 1 came to the school, 1 did a Skype session, 1 just cashed the check. The music was great. Kids loved it. #musedchat
A1 I have not had the opportunity 'yet' to pursue working with a composer but it would be pretty awesome. Excited to hover over others insights on this one. #musedchat
A1 We are very lucky in that @travisjcross is an alumnus of our program. He wrote the fight song for our new school, and I wish he lived closer so we could bring him in more frequently! #musedchat
A1 We also do a jazz artist residency at the end our our jazz band season (April). One year we had Michael Conrad come and do compositions of his with our MS and HS jazz bands, talking about composition with our theory classes, etc. #musedchat
Most composers charge by the measure or minute. I had 1 person say he would not put pen to paper without a $10,000.00 deposit. Most are great and will work with you. #musedchat
@sircalebhammer Benjamin Dean Taylor have been awesome for us. Look for crowd sourced commissions from @BrianBalmages - been a part of 2 of his for orchestra. #musedchat
Multiple schools go in together for a less expensive fee. Total cost for the piece might be $5,000 and the consortium cost might be $150 per school. The more the merrier #musedchat
A1 Just thought of this, but we "commission" an arranger for our marching show every year. Not at all on the same level, but a part of what we do. He's an in-state collegiate director that sees us perform frequently and gives us feedback. #musedchat
Well, don’t mind if I do 😊
This is a good example of a very affordable consortium... 1 work from 3 composers for only $90! Very rare to be that cheap to be honest, however we are using this one for connections more than anything!
#musedchat
Q2: For those of you who have been involved in the commissioning process...how do you begin the process? How much input would you typically expect to have? #musedchat
A2: I reached out to a composer friend from college for ours. He was really great about incorporating our ideas and even taking feedback from students. Since he was local, he came to a few rehearsals and the premier too. #musedchat
A2: my experiences as been we discuss parameters like keys, ranges, technical concerns, instrumentation, grade and length. We collaborate on the style/topic . Since I have worked with Ben Taylor several times and he live close to me I sometimes get sketches to read #musedchat
Anyone know of some current/upcoming Grade 1-3 consortiums? I've seen several interesting ones lately, but generally only one of the pieces would be accessible for my middle schoolers. #musedchat
Didn't realize he was on Twitter. We worked with @anthonylai84! He wrote the piece to be played by our combined elementary recorders plus elem, jh, and hs bands. Lots of fun! #musedchat
I’m working on a commission with Ben and the rest of the Blue Dot Collective on a suite of 5 Grade 1 pieces in compound meter for beginning band and orchestra. #musedchat
A3: Students only really get to see the end product. They seem to enjoy learning about the process. Our 8th graders were really curious about how music goes from idea to published when talking with @CBernotas. #musedchat
A3: In how many other subject areas do kids get to interact with the creator of a primary source? There's value in learning about interpretation from the person who wrote something. #musedchat
Q4: Describe your experiences with skype rehearsals/in person clinics. How approachable was the composer? How did your kids respond long term? #musedchat
A4: As a student I've rehearsed with Morten Lauridsen and Marilyn Shrude in rehearsals; both super great people and very knowledgable about their craft. They were very approachable and had great insights to not only their music, but music as a whole. #musedchat
One of the most fun pieces we did this year was a piece a director in Iowa had written for her middle schoolers. Into The Dragon's Keep by Sarah A. Smith. #musedchat
A4: Mentioned him already, but really enjoyed the perspective @cbernotas brought to the Skype chat as an educator. Have referenced something he said about importance of every member's contribution, including those playing 2nd & 3rd parts many times this yr. #musedchat
A4: Frank Ticheli, John Mackey, and Carter Pann all did residencies when I was in college. *Everybody* brought their absolute best to every rehearsal, and it kept going for awhile after the concerts as well #musedchat
A4: my love for new music starts @MusicISU with our Contemporary Music Festival. Got to meet Karl Husa and that experience drives me to@give my kids the same #musedchat
A5: @LStaniszewski1's students from @SCHSBands compose chamber pieces for my kids to play. When schedules have permitted in the past, the composers have come to work with the MS students playing their music. #musedchat
That sounds like an amazing experience for all involved. What sort of parameters are the HS students given? Do they get any sort of theory/orchestration instruction beforehand? #musedchat
In reply to
@AmyLynnRever, @LStaniszewski1, @SCHSBands
We do an Ensemble Project at the end of each year where students get to pick the music they want to perform in a small group of 2-6. We have a senior this year that has composed her own music nearly every year for this project. #musedchat
Lauren works on theory with them prior to composing. They're also given parameters to make the music playable for my students (ranges, keys, etc.) #musedchat
