Addis Ababa Community Band

When I first was asked to work here at ICS, my principal proposed the idea of a community band during my interview process. If you know me this was music to my ears (no pun intended!) It has always been a dream of mine to have my own symphony orchestra or build a professional community wind and percussion ensemble. Last year was a challenge all on its own with building a secondary music program and getting adjusted to life in Ethiopia. We made some excellent opportunities for our kids and parents which, like all music educators, did not leave me with much time to create another ensemble.
This year I found a way to make it work.

I sent out emails to as many embassies and schools that I could. I really did not know what to expect for the first rehearsal. I did have many responses saying that they would be there, but I try not to get my hopes up too often. When I arrived, an hour and a half before the rehearsal, two students were waited for me from after school. (Talk about dedicated kids; I am so proud) They put up signs showing the direction to the band room on campus and set up the room. These guys are great – and of course they are from my low brass section.

Much my amazement, 27 people of staff, community members, and my students showed up. It was amazing. I was enthused that there was so much interest in wind band here in addis. I ended up with 3 clarinets, 6 flutes, 3 saxes, 1 cello, 2 bassoons, 1 trombone, 2 tubas, 1 euphonium, 6 trumpets and 4 percussionists. It was a fun time. Now, you have to understand that community ensembles have a wide variety of talent levels, it takes time to get everyone on the same page. I have one trumpet player who played horn in the Swedish Army Band and also played trumpet in a Ska Band in London. We also have players who played in high school and have not played since. It is absolutely wonderful to see a group of people with such a high level of multifariousness and our cultures together playing in band.

We have had three rehearsals so far and this last one was a great music making experience. We read down Russian Christmas Music by Alfred Reed and the ensemble got a kick out of it. We are going to attempt to put a concert together in December, but if that does not pan out, we will try one in February. I will keep you posted on the premiere of the Addis Ababa Community Band.

What a blessing

Nairobi and the GRE

Last week I traveled to the beautiful Nairobi, Kenya . I will do my best to describe what I saw, however, most of the time I was finding myself in awe and my understanding ineffable. Nairobi is like a smaller version of New York City. The many tall buildings coupled with historic architecture produced a city skyline that was very familiar to me. The streets were clean, people drive on the left side of the road, and no one urinates onto the streets. It was great!


I also noticed that the Kenyans who I ran into introduced themselves with English names. This is interesting, yet probably due to the British occupation of Kenya for a significant amount of time. One of my taxi drivers’ name was Kabugi, but he introduced himself as Bob. I hope this is not disrespectful, but I thought that this guy speaking English with a heavy Kenyan accent telling me that his name was Bob was very humorous to me.


The currency in Kenya is shillings. The ratio from Kenyan shillings to the USD is 65:1. So going out to eat for one person would generally cost you 10-15 dollars. That would be 650-975 shillings. A short distance taxi ride would be about 500 shillings. So even though it seems expensive, it really is not.

The purpose for this trip was to attend a teachers conference call ASIA (Association of Schools in Africa). I generally would not attend this conference due to the lack of music education clinics, however, it gave me an opportunity to see a new country, meet new people, attempt to do some kind of professional development, and (most importantly) take my GRE.



As most of you know, I started my masters program at ABC in Ashland, OR this summer. I also wrote my first book as well. You can view it or purchase it at lulu.com under the search of horn or French horn. I will be writing my next project on the study of the oboe which should be completed by January. Anyway, to continue on I need to pass my GRE and apply to Southern Oregon University before I can continue with my second summer of ABC.


I arrived on Saturday and had a beautiful and quiet hotel to stay in. So I began studying. The first three days in Kenya was eating, sleeping, and studying (and a drink here and there). On Tuesday was my exam. I was driven to the westlands area of Nairobi where the Frese Holdings building was located. The exam room was hot and the sun was blaring in my face. It was annoying. The cool thing is that since I took the exam on the computer, I found out my scores instantly.


I PASSED!!!

I will find out if I completely passed in 3 weeks when I find out my scores for the analytical writing portion, which I felt I did a decent job with.


The following day I moved to a hotel which was closer to the hotel that the conference was being held. It was definitely a step down. It was in the cheaper side of downtown Nairobi, but it served its purpose. It had a bed.


The rest of the trip I spent my time attending clinics in the daytime and getting to know colleagues in the evening. I got to know 3 other colleagues more intimately than the rest. This was my Nairobi crew. Bret from Australia teaches kindergarten at the school. This is his first year at ICS and, from what I hear, has left quite an impact on the students, staff, and parents in is short 8 weeks of being in Ethiopia. He is definitely a fun guy and great to chat with. We have hung out of a couple of occasions previous to the Kenya trip. Unlike Derek who I really did not get a chance to chat with since he moved here with his family this year. He is originally from Canada. Regardless of the short amount of time we have chatted, we definitely made up for it in Nairobi. He is our new elementary guidance counselor and the optimal match director. Derek is one of the most outgoing, funny individuals you will ever meet. He will just open up and make you feel right at home. He is a great guy.


And then there is Yidagachew Hailu. I never knew what to expect from Yidagatchew, but he blew my mind. This cat had me crackin’ up the whole trip. He was born in Ethiopia, but has not lived there for 18 years? Something like that. He now teaches math at the secondary level and coaches futbol. He will traveling to South Africa next week with his kids for the International Schools Eastern and Southern Africa futbol and volleyball tournament. I know they will do great.


Those last four days with these guys were great. They were my Nairobi crew. We went out to a variety of places creating tons of fun memories. One place we went to had a live band playing popular Kenyan music. They were the army band and they were awesome! The band leader came up to us and chatted. We eventually got to me being a percussionist and he invited me to play some congas the following night. I did and it was great…so great that I came on Saturday night as well.

I really had a blast with these guys . They made this trip memorable with an intense amount of good times. This is definitely the beginning of a beautiful friendship.