Everything Band Podcast

Michael Giannetta is the band director at Oyster Bay High School on Long Island. He has been a band director for 18 years and joins the show to talk about his program and also the Long Island Wind Ensemble.

Topics:

• Michael’s background and the program at Oyster Bay High School.
• Thoughts about switching beginners.
• Michael’s experience at the American Band College.
• Teaching music and band on Long Island as compared to other regions.

Links:

• Long Island Wind Ensemble
• Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy

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Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!

Michael Giannetta is the band director at Oyster Bay High School on Long Island. He has been a band director for 18 years and joins the show to talk about his program and also the Long Island Wind Ensemble.

Topics:

• Michael’s background and the program at Oyster Bay High School.
• Thoughts about switching beginners.
• Michael’s experience at the American Band College.
• Teaching music and band on Long Island as compared to other regions.

Links:

• Long Island Wind Ensemble
• Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy

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Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!

Susan L. Smith has taught general, choral, and instrumental music at the elementary through collegiate level in Florida, Virginia and Alabama and has served as an author, clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the United States

Topics:

• Susan’s early career and education, including the lessons she learned from her mother, who was a high school band director in Virginia.
• The importance of teaching the students who are in front of you, especially now when everything is so uncertain from the Coronavirus Pandemic.
• Servant leadership and putting others before yourself as a teacher.
• Setting goals, exercise challenges, and the importance of staying healthy so that you can be there for others.
• Susan’s work at Troy University with the music education program and the importance of moving past just checking the boxes and focusing on excellence.
• The importance of connecting with kids and finding ways to bring more kids under your influence by offering technology or guitar classes.
• Marketing your program.

Links:

• Susan Smith
• Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy

Biography:

Susan L. Smith, B.M.Ed, M.A.Ed., has taught general, choral, and instrumental music at the elementary through collegiate level in Florida, Virginia and Alabama and has served as an author, clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the United States. She is currently Director of Bands at the Saint James School in Montgomery AL. Mrs. Smith is responsible for teaching the Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Bands as well as Guitar, Jazz Band, and Music Technology. The Saint James Band consistently receives Superior ratings in Concert, Jazz and Marching band events including the Alabama Music Performance Assessment, Smokey Mountain Music Festival and Bands of America Super Regionals and Grand National Championships. She is currently the President of the Alabama Music Educators Association.

She was a Coordinating Author for Warner Bros. Publications’ Expressions Music Curriculum, a vision for a vertical, conceptual approach to teaching music. She consulted on the Elementary Music Curriculum Music Expressions and served as an author for Band Expressions, a secondary component of the curriculum. Smith has presented clinics at many state conventions including AMEA, TMEA, FMEA, IMEA, VMEA, GMEA and National and Regional NAfME conferences. She is on the Middle School Clinician team for the Music for All Summer Symposium, presenting clinics each summer to directors and pre-service college students. In addition, Mrs. Smith serves as an educational consultant for Music for All. She is responsible for the Chamber Music portion of the Music for All National Concert Band Festival.

Susan L. Smith has taught general, choral, and instrumental music at the elementary through collegiate level in Florida, Virginia and Alabama and has served as an author, clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the United States

Topics:

• Susan’s early career and education, including the lessons she learned from her mother, who was a high school band director in Virginia.
• The importance of teaching the students who are in front of you, especially now when everything is so uncertain from the Coronavirus Pandemic.
• Servant leadership and putting others before yourself as a teacher.
• Setting goals, exercise challenges, and the importance of staying healthy so that you can be there for others.
• Susan’s work at Troy University with the music education program and the importance of moving past just checking the boxes and focusing on excellence.
• The importance of connecting with kids and finding ways to bring more kids under your influence by offering technology or guitar classes.
• Marketing your program.

Links:

• Susan Smith
• Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy

Biography:

Susan L. Smith, B.M.Ed, M.A.Ed., has taught general, choral, and instrumental music at the elementary through collegiate level in Florida, Virginia and Alabama and has served as an author, clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the United States. She is currently Director of Bands at the Saint James School in Montgomery AL. Mrs. Smith is responsible for teaching the Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Bands as well as Guitar, Jazz Band, and Music Technology. The Saint James Band consistently receives Superior ratings in Concert, Jazz and Marching band events including the Alabama Music Performance Assessment, Smokey Mountain Music Festival and Bands of America Super Regionals and Grand National Championships. She is currently the President of the Alabama Music Educators Association.

She was a Coordinating Author for Warner Bros. Publications’ Expressions Music Curriculum, a vision for a vertical, conceptual approach to teaching music. She consulted on the Elementary Music Curriculum Music Expressions and served as an author for Band Expressions, a secondary component of the curriculum. Smith has presented clinics at many state conventions including AMEA, TMEA, FMEA, IMEA, VMEA, GMEA and National and Regional NAfME conferences. She is on the Middle School Clinician team for the Music for All Summer Symposium, presenting clinics each summer to directors and pre-service college students. In addition, Mrs. Smith serves as an educational consultant for Music for All. She is responsible for the Chamber Music portion of the Music for All National Concert Band Festival.

Scott Rush is the Director of Fine and Performing Arts in Dorchester School District Two in South Carolina and is the former Director of Bands at Wando High School. He is the lead author of the "Habits" series published by GIA and is an active conductor, adjudicator and clinician.

Topics:

• Scott’s background and early teaching career.
• Studying with Frank Battisti at the New England Conservatory.
• How to build a band culture, and the program at Wando High School while Scott was the director.
• The Habits series

Links:

• Scott Rush
• Habits Series
• Grainger: Irish Tune from County Derry

Biography:

Scott Rush is the Director of Fine and Performing Arts in Dorchester School District Two in South Carolina and is the former Director of Bands at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant, SC. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as conductor of the Charleston Wind Symphony, a semi-professional ensemble in Charleston, South Carolina.

Under his direction, the Wando Symphonic Band performed at the 2007 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and were recipients of the 2007 Sudler Flag of Honor administered by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. His marching bands were two-time BOA Grand National finalist and won the South Carolina State 5A marching band championships nine consecutive years.

Mr. Rush is active as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States and Canada. He is lead writer for the Habits series and has authored or co-authored ten highly touted books: Habits of A Successful Band Director, Habits of A Successful Musician, Habits of a Successful Middle School Musician, The Evolution of A Successful Band Director, Habits of A Successful Middle School Band Director, Habits of A Successful String Musician, Habits of a Successful Middle Level String Musician, Quality of Life Habits of A Successful Band Director, Habits of a Successful Choir Director, and Habits of a Significant Band Director for GIA Publications. Mr. Rush has served as President of the South Carolina Band Directors Association and is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Band Association. In 2010, Mr. Rush was elected into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association and in 2011 was awarded the Bandworld “Legion of Honor.” In 2015, he was elected into the South Carolina Band Directors Association Hall of Fame and in 2016 was awarded the Edwin Franko Goldman Award by the ASBDA for contributions to music education.

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Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!

Nicholas Williams is an Associate Professor of Music, Music Director and Conductor of the Wind Symphony and Concert Band at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He joins the show to talk about growing up and starting his career in Texas and his recent move to Australia.

Topics:

• Nick’s origin story growing up in Texas, the role of the church in his early musical development, and why his Mom wouldn’t let him play the clarinet.
• Going to the University of North Texas as an undergraduate and Nick’s first teaching job.
• Teaching only 9th and 10th graders at Clark High School in Plano, Texas.
• The story of how Nick ended up in Australia and his early observations about the differences between his experience there versus his experiences in Texas.

Links:

• Nicholas Williams
• Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
• Persichetti: Symphony no. 6 for Band
• Barnes: Symphony no. 3, Lento

Biography:

Dr Nicholas Enrico Williams is an Associate Professor of Music, Music Director and Conductor of the Wind Symphony and Concert Band at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne, Australia. Before moving to Melbourne, for sixteen years Dr Williams was the Assistant Director of Wind Studies, Conductor of the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and the Director of Athletic Bands at the University of North Texas.

For a decade, he was the Conductor of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony. In addition, he is a frequent guest conductor for the Dallas Winds (formerly Dallas Wind Symphony).

As an advocate of chamber music, Dr Williams was the founder and conductor of the East Plano Brass and was the principal guest conductor for the Harmoniemusik chamber ensemble. In the wind band world, he has been a guest conductor with the United States Air Force Band; Dallas Wind Symphony; Lone Star Wind Orchestra; at the annual Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois; the College Band Directors National Association regional conference; the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention; and the Texas Music Educators Association Annual Clinic in San Antonio, Texas.

Dr Williams is active in the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe, and Southeast Asia as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, consultant, and arranger; his arrangements and transcriptions for wind band, percussion ensembles, drum corps, and school pagentry ensembles are performed by outstanding organizations throughout the world.

Dr Williams is a sought-after recording session producer, associate producer, and editor, having been involved with numerous CDs and DVDs on the Klavier, Mark Records, GIA labels, as well as UNT projects. In addition to his work in the recording arts, he has written several conductor study guides that are published in the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. He is a primary consultant of Women of Influence in Contemporary Music and is an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity. His professional affiliations include the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors National Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Phi Beta Mu, an international bandmasters fraternity.

Curtis Gaesser has been the band director at Folsom High School in Sacramento, one of the most successful jazz programs in the country, for the past 37 years.

Topics:

• Curtis’ background growing up in Hawai’i and the story of how he ended up at Folsom High School
• The importance of good administrators.
• The band program at Folsom High School, particularly the jazz ensembles and choir.
• What do you do with 51 saxophones?
• Teaching improvisation.
• Building a jazz program.

Links:

• Folsom High School Music
• Folsom Jazz Ensemble at the Monterey Jazz Festival
• Rehearsing the Jazz Band
• Woody Herman: Caldonia

Biography:

Curtis Gaesser has been teaching in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District since 1984, and at Folsom High School since 1987. He currently teaches Marching Band, 2 Orchestras, Jazz Choir, 3 Jazz Bands, Concert Band, Color Guard, and Drum Line for grade levels 9-12.

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Mr. Gaesser was honored as 1995's "Most Outstanding Music Educator" by the California Association for Music Education and was "California State Jazz Educator of the Year" in 2003. In 2017, the California Association for Music Education Capitol Section honored Mr. Gaesser as the "Music Educator of the Year".

In 2008, he was awarded the "Annual National Achievement Award in Jazz Education" by DownBeat Magazine and the "Music Achievement Award" by Sacramento News & Review.

The City of Folsom presented Mr. Gaesser with the "Man of the Year" award in 2001 and the Folsom Chamber of Commerce awarded him the "Outstanding Educator of the Year" title in 2016. He also received the Folsom Cordova Unified School District's "Teacher of the Year" award in 1990 and again in 2011.

But the most important accolade at Folsom High School is the winning philosophy that musical participation presents students some of life's greatest lessons.

To quote Curtis Gaesser, "I don't think there is anything more rewarding than to see kids perform at their best after a lot of hard work. I don't care if we win or lose; I just want these kids to do their best."

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Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!

Mike Howard is the band director at Vandegrift High School in Austin, Texas. Under his direction, the Vandegrift Band has won numerous awards and honors and most recently was the 2019 BOA Grand National Champion.

Topics:

• Mike’s background in Texas and his early career, including the story of how he opened Vandegrift High School.
• Advice from Eddie Green as a young band director.
• Teaching jazz.
• Advice for those who are looking to build their programs.

Links:

• Mike Howard & the Vandegrift Band
• Green: On Teaching Band
• Floyd: The Artistry of Teaching and Making Music
• Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy

Biography:

Mr. Howard is currently in his 11th year at Vandegrift High School and in his 17th year of teaching h igh school band. He was one of the founding directors of the band when VHS opened in 2009 and became Head Band Director in the Fall of 2014. While at Vandegrift, Mr. Howard’s bands have been consistent UIL Concert Competition Sweepstakes Award Winners. He has also been instrumental in several marching band high honors such as BOA Regional Champion, BOA Super Regional Finalist, BOA Super Regional Class Champion, multiple invitational marching contest championships, UIL State Marching Contest Finalist, 6A UIL State Marching Contest Bronze Medalist, 5A UIL State Marching Contest Silver Medalist and 4A UIL State Marching Contest Champion. At Vandegrift, Mr. Howard is the director of the Viper Marching Band, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band.

Aside from being the Director of Bands at VHS, Mr. Howard is an active Leadership Consultant and Workshop Presenter. He has been a facilitator for SASI for the last 11 years. In this time, Mr. Howard has had the opportunity to work with thousands of students and directors from around the United States. As a lead facilitator for SASI, he is heavily involved with the operations of all Drum Major camps as well

as teaching several site-based workshops throughout the summer.

Before coming to Vandegrift, Mr. Howard taught at James E. Taylor High School in Katy, Texas. As Associate Director of the JE Taylor HS Band his responsibilities included directing the Jazz Program, assisting with the marching band, conducting the Concert Band, and coordinating and teaching the drumline. Mr. Howard, a native of Hondo, TX, started his teaching career at Morton Ranch High School,

where he was a band director and helped open the school in 2004. At Morton Ranch, he taught the Concert Band, Jazz Band, assisted with the marching band. Before teaching at Morton Ranch, Mr. Howard was an instructor for the Cedar Park High School Band in Cedar Park, Texas and an instructor for the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps from Madison, Wisconsin. As a performer, Mr. Howard has

performed with the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Austin Lyric Opera and several bands around the Austin/San Antonio area. Mr. Howard graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos, Suma Cum Laude, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. He lives in Leander with his wife Amber, his daughter, Madison and his son, Justin.

Daniel Morrison is the Director of Bands at Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas where he and the the bands under his direction have performed at the Midwest Clinic, marched in both the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rose Parade, and been consistent Bands of America Regional, Super Regional and Grand National Finalists.

Topics:

• Daniel’s background growing up in suburban Chicago as the son of a very successful high school band director.
• The story of how Dan ended up graduating from the University of Illinois and getting a band director position in Texas right out of school.
• The differences between teaching band in Chicago and Texas.
• The hugely successful band program at Ronald Reagan High School.
• Happy, not Satisfied.

Links:

• Daniel Morrison
• Happy, Not Satisfied
• Hindemith: Symphony in B-flat

Biography:

Daniel Morrison is currently the Director of Bands at Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, TX where he manages and teaches the Marching Band and conducts the Wind Ensemble. In addition, he assists with the Symphonic Band, Concert Band and various chamber ensembles. In his time at Reagan, the concert bands have received superior ratings at the UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest, and the Marching Band has been a consistent Bands of America Regional, Super Regional and Grand National Finalist as well as a UIL State Marching Contest finalist. Under Mr. Morrison’s direction, the Marching Band is a multiple time BOA Regional Champion and was selected to march in the 2018 Rose Parade and the 2019 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Marching Band was also named the 2019 BOA San Antonio Super Regional champion. The Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the 2018 Midwest Clinic and has been named a TMEA State Honor Band Finalist as well as a Mark of Excellence National Winner. In 2020, Mr. Morrison was selected as the Texas Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity “Outstanding Young Bandmaster.” Mr. Morrison graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Music Education. Dan currently resides in San Antonio with his beautiful wife Ellie and their dog Pudge.

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Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!

Scott Edgar is a music education professor and band director at Lake Forest College and the author of Music Education and Social Emotional Learning.

Topics:

• Scott’s background, education, and early teaching positions.
• The basics of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
• The application of SEL concepts at each level of band teaching.
• Using SEL to teach equity and justice.
• Creating a safe space for all students in the band room.
• Scott’s book and other resources for further study in SEL.

Links:

• Scott Edgar at Lake Forest College
• Music Education and Social Emotional Learning
• Edutopia
• Music for All
• CASEL
• Smith: The Inferno

Biography:

Dr. Scott N. Edgar is Associate Professor of Music, Music Education Chair, and Director of Bands at Lake Forest College. He received his Doctorate of Philosophy in Music Education from the University of Michigan, his Masters degree in Education from the University of Dayton, and his Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree from Bowling Green State University.

His previous teaching experience in higher education includes work at Adrian College and Concordia College Ann Arbor. Prior to his work in higher education, he taught K-12 instrumental music in Ohio and Michigan. Dr. Edgar is the author of Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: The Heart of Teaching Music and is an internationally sought-after clinician on the topic. In addition to clinics, he also teaches graduate courses on Musical Social Emotional Learning at VanderCook College of Music. He is an active clinician and adjudicator for both concert band and marching band and regularly presents at professional development and research conferences. Dr. Edgar is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the American Educational Research Association, the College Music Society, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity and Kappa Kappa Psi Band fraternity. He lives in Lake Forest with his wife Steph, their son Nathan, and their cats Elsa and Wolfie.