PRESIDENT ELECT - Steve Schofield
Bringing Music to Life . . . a Lifelong Skill
H
ello music friends and colleagues! Welcome to winter (although I think it set in during October), and I hope you are gearing up for our
Wyoming Music Educators Professional Development Conference! Tere is some cool stuff on the schedule and definitely some “can’t miss” sessions. Look through the rest of the Windsong for more information on that!
As I’m driving (well, actually my wife is driving) to Casper for my daughter’s gymnastics meet, I’m looking out the window at the scenery going by and thinking about the fact that she is almost finished with gymnastics. Almost 15 years old, she is a level six participant and has about seven years invested in building that awesome skill. Her body is starting to show signs of breaking down, and the end, unfortunately, is in sight. Sure, she can coach later in life, and I would like to see her do that and use these skills the rest of her life, but her life as a gymnast is winding down.
Te thing about music is that we can do this for the rest of our lives. Sure, maybe our playing or singing high point was during high school or college, but we can find opportunities to continue to perform as long as we want to. Tere is no deadline!
I love showing up to community band on Tuesday night and seeing all of the adults who show up every week and love to play. Before this group formed six years ago, some of them had not played their instruments for many years. Tey picked them back up and started playing again. I encourage my current students to join as well so that they can see that music truly is a lifelong skill. Tey are in there with old mentors of mine, former students, and people from all walks of life and employment in the community and, of course, many music teachers. I also have teamed up with three other music teachers to conduct the group this year. Two of them are elementary teachers and are in their second year in the district. Tis gives them a chance to work with a band that can play some challenging material. Te third one is in charge of a very small program and this gives her an opportunity to work with a band of around 55 musicians.
Continued on Page 13 12 Wyoming Windsong
I’m sure most of you who have a community group have very similar stories. And if you don’t have a community group - be it a choir, orchestra, band, jazz band - then start one! I know I didn’t need to add one more item to my list, but it is a big thing for those in our community who like to play. Sometimes it is hard to get motivated to be ready for practice, but I try to keep the players in mind who have this is as their only musical outlet, and that is enough to get me there with a smile and ready to work with them!
In Gillette, we have the Chamber Singers and Powder River Symphony, both are audition groups. Ten we have the community band, a new community choir that has just recently started, the Powder River Playhouse that focuses on musicals, and in the jazz realm we have the Big Horn Big Band and the
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