Midwest Wrap Up

As I sit sipping coffee at the Corner Bakery down the street from my hotel, waiting for my wife to arrive to Chicago for the rest of the weekend, I have some time to sit and reflect about Midwest. Recently, a colleague had asked me to start blogging again. Jes even mentioned it when I mentioned that I had a few free hours here. Finding a place to jump back in, especially after taking a new post in a new state, had been difficult. This does seem like the perfect situation. I apologize in advance for my return post being a “stream of conscious”

I hadn’t been to the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic since before grad school. I basically went to meet with a few professors in hopes of finding a mentor for grad school and I wasn’t able to through the conference. Some of the people I met seemed completely uninterested in music, but were more focused on looking through me, desperate to find someone to talk that held more stature than I. I don’t think I had a full understanding of what Midwest was about until I learned from Dr. Booth. I wish he would’ve been here, to share this with all week.

I went to a few clinics that were worth a listen, but the best experiences were hearing students perform great music! High school kids (word at 720 South was that the MS kids were killing it too) that were passionate about music, collaboration and performing. Teachers that were passionate about teaching and that had found a way to get their school and community to value art. Now, that’s inspiring!

I went to hear Owasso’s Wind Ensemble, thinking I would discover something I’d like to program for my band. I made it a personal mission at this conference to listen to new things so I can keep expanding my love for the repertoire. You never know where the perfect piece will reveal itself to you, right? What I discovered was passion for music making. This experience was repeated by The Woodlands and Marcus. I guess Midwest South is dominating!

The only thing that surpassed these experiences musically, was Leonard Slatkin conducting the Lonestar Wind Orchestra. I mean the Pines of Rome with 30 or so additional  antiphonal brass players!?! It was inspiring.

There were some good non-performance moments too. I listened to Frank Battisti have a casual interview with Dr. Tim. I felt like part of history. Battisti, at age 82, has more life in him when talking about music than anyone I've ever seen. I heard the stories of the Ithaca HS Band. The room was packed as we hung on his ever word and laughed with him. It was great to experience that with one of my mentors, Shelley Jagow. Truly a once in a lifetime event. I'm so glad Dr. Booth had made sure I had taken "with-it-ness 101" during grad school.

As I sat back to write this, I had a wonderful interruption. One of my friends and colleagues, maybe the person in the field I've known the longest, Justin Davis happened to walk by the window. I was so glad he recognized me and came in to chat. We talked for a few hours. It was the most musically in-depth conversation I had the whole week. I was very thankful for the talk and the rekindling of a friendship.

The conference was all about thanking our mentors which means I owe some people some emails and calls. What a great career it's been so far, I can't wait to see what's in store in 2013.

Tell Someone How You Feel

I feel like I'm emotionally stunted sometimes. My colleague at RIHS comments about how not much gets to me. She feels like she gets ruffled and I just don't. I attribute some of that to the calm, respectful teachers that I have had. I always seemed to work harder for the professors who didn't scream at me. As an educator, I am creating a persona based on those I work with and observe. The good and the bad, I have an uncanny ability to absorb traits I want and expell the ones that don't fit my personal style.

During marching band I'm tough, I have expectations, but my voice comes over the soundsystem in low, calm voice. I speak slowly with purpose and thought. In concert ensemble rehearsals, I can wait on a group to settle even during ISAT week when they're burned out. I am slowly teaching them how to get ready without anyone shouting. I'm firm in my policies, but not exactly empathetic. I'm probably need to work on that.

So in an effort to be a little less emotionally closed off I saw an opportunity today and took it. I leave my Facebook and Twitter pages up in the background most of the time. I like the opportunity to read what other teachers(and my music theater friends) are doing throughout the day.

Today I noticed a friend from college was on FB chat. We weren't the closest, but he's always been someone I respected. He's currently at Indiana University getting a Master's in the Horn Performance and auditioning for pro gigs. I think that's incredibly cool. I had a class to get to, but I left him this message, "just thought I'd tell you. You're one of the coolest guys I know. I haven't been real impressed with a lot people I went to school with, but you're awesome.That is all." Didn't want to be too heavy you know.

He replied, "haha thanks kyle, that really means a lot. you're a good guy, and I can tell you're going to succeed in music ed." It made me feel good to actually try to communicate with someone, not for school or theater or work. Just to tell someone that they're doing things right. I think I just grew a little bit, emotionally, now if I could figure out how to get a little taller too...