Mark Fonder, of Ithaca College, organized a session on the final morning of the conference that made 8:30 worth waking up in time for. Following a day of discussion around the need for better repertoire for less experienced musicians, Dr. Fonder added his own perspective and presented the attendees with a number of works of quality that are appropriate at earlier stages of musical development.
He began the session by comparing the role of a music educator to that of an English teacher. He reminded us that children learn to love to read through Dr. Seuss not Dickens. Quality literature with simpler plots and fewer syllables teach young readers the basic concepts of language that can be applied to gradually more complex literature as they develop. In this way, Fonder argues, the occasional formulaic composition at an early age serves to teach the basic structures so that when more complex repertoire plays with the conventions, the students have a reference point. He reminds us though that a steady diet of these formulaic works does nothing to develop the student beyond the absolute basics.
From these introductory remarks, a seventh-grade band from Taipei Zhong-Zheng Junior High School took the stage under the batons of Mark Heron, Yo Goto and Dr. Fonder to present ten contrasting quality works with limited technical and musical demands. Mr. Heron excerpted three works from the UK: Fergal Carroll's Dance of the Fir Darrig, Peter Meecham's Lift Off!, and Adam Gorb's Bridgewater Breeze. Carroll's piece offers an energetic depiction of a red leprechaun and offers the musicians an opportunity to work in 7/8. Bridgewater Breeze is a more substantial work in five contrasting movements that are full of life and character.
Yo Goto explained that there was little repertoire written for less experienced musicians. Consequently, his repertoire choices came from a more European perspective. He began with a very simple piece of his own entitled Zui Zui. Despite the works limited number of pitches and short length, it does serve to introduce the chromatic scale. A simple melody and energetic rhythms should make this as fun to play as it is to listen to. I particularly enjoyed the Four Sketches for Band by Marco Pütz. I am a big fan of Pütz's writing for more advanced musicians and I truly felt that many of the qualities that I enjoy about his writing were not lost in an attempt to limit the technical demands on the players. It is essential that we, as educators of developing musicians, ensure that our students are getting a complete perspective of music history and style and this means that we must teach composers who have not written for band through transcription. One of the most consistent transcribers of music for band is James Curnow. He has a way of reducing the technical demands of a piece without losing site of the essential qualities of the original. Tchaikovsky's Album for the Young, Op. 39 was presented in Curnow's transcription as a stellar example.
Fonder returned to the stage to present four of his own selections: Hugh Stuart's Hymn for Band, Brian Balmages's Rain, Timothy Broege's Train Heading West and Christopher Tucker's Animal Krackers.
This was a much needed session at the conference. Although the prime reason, it seems, for many to come to a WASBE conference is to be inspired by quality repertoire performed by outstanding ensembles, repertoire session such as Jim Cochran's and Mark Fonder's this week certainly provide a practical and valuable service. Thank you to all involved.