My work with the New Horizons Band started before I knew about this field experience. A colleague of mine worked with them last year and the year before. I had always heard her stories and experiences with them and thought that it would be a great experience to get to work with this group. Knowing this, she contacted me at the beginning of this semester and asked if I was interested in working with them, happily, I agreed. Throughout this semester, I wasn't the only student conductor. I was joined by two other colleagues, Keith Brown and Sophie Harrison. It was a great experience getting to work with them and this awesome group. The New Horizons Band (NHB) is a group of musicians in the harrisonburg community that are picking up their instruments again after a long time, or learning a new one for this ensemble. These folks are primarily above the age of 50 or 60. The band, under the direction of Dr. Will Dabback, is a very cohesive group that has fun, while still challenging themselves with their music. This semester with the New Horizons Band, I got to teach and conduct a total of three pieces. Two of which I got to choose myself, and would rehearse bits and pieces of each piece at every weekly rehearsal. The third one was chosen by me as well, but from a list of options for the Holiday Concert in December. I got to rehearse this piece for a total of three weeks, and got the chance to conduct it at the concert. Throughout this class, we have learned about adaptation and the more practical side of what it’s like to be an educator. There are many times that one needs to adapt to certain situations with the NHB. The ensemble is relatively small, but most of the time, all music parts are covered. However, there have been times where an important melodic line or solo is in an instrument that we don’t have in the ensemble. In that instance, I would have to think about it as I prepared the lesson, to give a part to someone to cover on a different instrument. I feel that I grew tremendously throughout my time with the NHB this semester. I learned a lot about the difference between trusting an ensemble, (with a fast tempo at first, for example) and sequencing instruction to the point where an ensemble can’t get it wrong (starting with a slower tempo). We discussed this exact question in our MUED class, actually. There isn’t a solid answer to this question, but we mainly concluded that it depends on the situation. With the NHB, I found that they are very capable of many things, and that I need to trust them when making music together! Myself, Sophie, and Keith after the New Horizons Band's holiday concert!
Comments are closed.
|
EricaWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2019
Categories |