Starting out

Of course we all know that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” but writing the first blog entry seems to be a challenge. At this point in my career, there is so much I’d like to say and share. It’s difficult to narrow it down to what I feel is most important as a starting point.
So I’ll reflect for a moment on the past week.
I was very fortunate to take my NVOT Wind Symphony to Montclair State University on Friday to perform for Dr. Tom McCauley’s band festival. Like 2008, the day served as a benchmark for my students’ progress on our current repertoire. With only 5 weeks into the rehearsal cycle, bringing three works to performance level was a challenge. We performed John Philip Sousa’s Gallant Seventh March, Travis Cross’s arrangement of Be Thou My Vision, and Alfred Reed’s The Hounds of Spring. Tom’s clinic was excellent — he touched on many topics of intonation, tone, and musicianship that the players needed to hear, and about which I needed to be reminded. His schedule for the day also included an opportunity for us to hear one other band (New Paltz High School Wind Ensemble), attend master classes with MSU faculty and students, and hear both the MSU Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony. We arrived back at NVOT with enought time to reflect on the day for a few moments before the Winter Break began.
Even after 27 years of teaching, I have to say I am excited by opportunities like this. For a long time, I’ve thought that it’s a wonderful thing to be able to share ideas with other professionals, and cull ideas from the best teachers and colleagues to incorporate in my own work. I’ve been so fortuante to work with some of our country’s best teachers. Hopefully I will be able to continue this ideology as long as I conduct, teach, and play.
After the festival, on the way home, I thought about the ideas shared, and how fortunate I am to be one link in an artistic chain of inspiration. The many human connections that brought me to the day, the experiences that I gained from the day, and the inspired growth that will be outcome of the day are all points of the connection in this chain of inpiration. I know that I will want to comment on and discuss this concept more in the future.