Band Music Reviews
With the end of the school year fast approaching, I hope you all will have time to rest and recharge over the coming weeks. As you are taking time over the summer to begin to construct your literature for the upcoming year, the following pieces offer many teaching opportunities to polish technique, enhance listening skills and excite your audiences. I encourage you all to consider carefully the repertoire that you perform each year. The repertoire that we select becomes our curriculum, which is extremely important to the development of your students as musicians and to the maturation of your ensemble. In addition to familiarizing yourself with the new literature that is available, don’t forget those “hidden gems” that tend to get lost in the library. Here are three pieces that will help you on that journey.
Cimmaron Fanfare, by Robert Sheldon, is an ideal concert opener for your young band. Written at the Grade 1.5 level, it offers many teaching moments that solidify technique, articulation and internal pulse while presenting a beautiful lyrical melody throughout. The low voices provide a driving ostinato while the melodic material is presented in the upper brass and woodwinds. The percussion writing is challenging and accessible for students at this level. Robert Sheldon has provided us yet another wonderful work to provide our students with music they will enjoy while helping our students progress as musicians.
Shanghai, by Oscar Navarro, is not a new composition, as it was written in 2005. It is gaining popularity from the composer’s recent success with Downey Overture. Shanghai, subtitled an Asian Overture for Band, is labeled as a Grade 3 from the composer, who also publishes his own
Pat Stegall, AMEA Treasurer/Registrar
It is not too early to be thinking about our AMEA Conference in January, 2018. Just remember, you must join NAfME, and you should pre-register when pre-registration becomes available. A healthy organization is always concerned with growth and development, and the AMEA board is interested in growing our organization, and for getting all music teachers in Alabama involved in professional development through AMEA and NAfME. You can help increase our membership by communicating the benefits of membership to our colleagues. When you are joining or renewing your membership, think of
those music teachers in your area that may not be active members, and send them a message inviting them to join!
Remember to: Remind your colleagues to join, include new music teachers, invite inactive music teachers and be involved as a mentor to young music teachers. Renew your membership now at
www.nafme.org . Membership in NAfME is required for participation in state MEA sponsored events like the AMEA Conference, Elementary Music Workshop, All-State and Musical Performance Assessments. Joining NAfME secures your membership in AMEA and in your division.
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Randall Coleman
music. While from a technical standpoint, the piece could be classified as a Grade 3, the length of the piece makes me place it in the Grade 4 category. Shanghai utilizes the pentatonic scale to present the tonality that has long been associated with the rich history of music from Asia. Crisp articulation and repetitive rhythms highlight this piece that would make an excellent addition to your program for your Grade 4 ensemble.
Grace, by Brain Balmages, is a welcome addition to the repertoire at the Grade 4 level. Comprised of almost entirely original material, Grace is a beautiful lyrical work that allows your ensemble a wonderful opportunity to enhance its active listening skills, highlighting the ensemble’s ability to produce warm characteristic tones and to advance the ensembles pitch matching skills. Audiences will notice a single quote of Amazing Grace performed by Alto Saxophone soloist near the end of the piece. While the piece utilizes original material, the single quote of Amazing Grace provides an instant connection with the audience. Grace is a gorgeous lyric work that would make an incredible addition to your concert or contest performances.
Randall Coleman Wind Band Music Reviewer Associate Director of Bands The University of Alabama
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