ABC

For the past three weeks I was working on my first year masters degree at The American Band College at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR. It was a great experience. I have never seen so many band directors cramped in a dorm studing so diligently on every aspect of music education.

I have had more discussions on bassoon fingerings and oboe fingerings than I have had my entire life. We did not have a day off. Once you start you don't stop until July 10th. However, this program, in essence, is absolutely amazing. The program is geared towards your personal weakness and provides you with information that you can apply directly to your music program. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.


The entrance exam was killer! We stayed in that one room for 4 hours. The reason was mainly due to the new computerized test we were taking. But I did land only 6 weakness areas. I hear that the average is in between 12-15. I just hope I did well on the exit exam.


Max has built this amazing program for us. It is unlike anything that you will encounter in graduate education. Max McKee's retirement began last year and his son Scott wanted to throw him a farewell concert. So he put together a 130-ish person ensemble made up of ABC alumni and current students to play. Scott came up with some great ideas. However, the best one was flying in Jan Van Der Roost from Belgium to conduct a commissioned piece he wrote for Max McKee. It was entitled "Dublin Dances" based on Irish folk melodies. Of coarse the piece was phenominal and we premeired it. I bought the parts and Jan signed the score for me. That was an amazing night. Not only for the accomplishments of an amazing man, but also the opportunity to play a variety of great music conducted by great music educators.



I would have to say that the best part about this program is the family atmosphere. The staff do not give the specifics on waht needs to be done on a day to day basis andof coarse the long-term research. So many questions are raised, especially by the first years.


But, everyone comes together to help each other. We ask each other questions while buliding a community of friendship. I have shared and listened to so many stories from people all over the states...what works....what doesn't work. We have learned so much from each other. It is really a great experience.



Of the many things that I will take with me, I will take with me a feeling I have never had. For composers this may be easy, however, to me its brand new. I arranged the Ethiopian National Anthem that our 200 piece director's performed at the Fireworks show on the 4th. During the first rehearsal I was asked to give a little history and sing the anthem in its native tongue. You know, when I first wrote the piece I wrote it for my kids to play at our International day in November. I never thought that I would actually be singing the words. So, I did it...in Amharic. Crazy stuff! But anyway, at this concert there is a flag ceremony with candidates and guest carrying their state or country flag. Also the 4 flags of our armed forces were represented as well. David Holsinger (composer) was holding the ABC banner with Ray Cramer(retired IU director) I stood right next to holsinger holding the the ethiopian flag while the band was playing my piece behind me beautifully. During the piece David said, "Wow, you probably had to did to find this piece." And I said, " I arranged it". Talk about an interesting moment in my life. After the piece was over he said, " That was quite a national anthem" I really do not know how to take that statement, but it was quite a feeling to have this world reknown composer say that to me. Crazy stuff.