Programming A Band’s Curriculum
10/02/2008
The impression audiences often
receive when attending a concert is that the conductor has
picked three or four, or eight, pieces randomly and put on a concert.
Ah, if it were that simple
– and uninteresting!
Conductors often think years in advance when considering programming.
James Levine,
conductor of the Boston Symphony, could give you his program for the Nov. 2nd
concert of 2011
if you asked him today. That’s the process.
Why? As programmers, we think of the
trajectory over time. It is, “Where are we today?
Where do we want to be at the end of the year? What about two years from now?
Where are our
groups going?” It’s all geared
toward future growth.
If you are in October 2009 where you
were in 2008, you aren’t progressing. As a program we
must continually aspire to get better. Programming is a big part of that.
When we program we think of several things:
*What is the group capable of today?
*What will it be capable of three months from now?
*How can we program today in a way that will set us up for the future?
*What to we want to teach – in technique and history?
*What do our audiences and students expect, like and need?
*How do our strengths meet what we would like to play?
I had that happen recently with the Wind Symphony. We had started work on Alfred
Reed’s
“Russian Christmas Music,” a piece I love and have always wanted to
do at Cape. We got a
few rehearsals into the piece and my gut is screaming, “This piece
isn’t the right fit for the
strengths of this group.” I was
heartbroken – and so were a few of the kids – but I have learned
to listen when the gut screams.
I’m always cognizant of what the kids feel. After all, they are the ones
who have to perform
what is selected. And it is respectful to consider carefully what they feel. On
the other hand,
some great pieces just take time to grow on you. Often performers will
initially gravitate to
ephemera and later understand and appreciate a piece they had initially
dismissed. That, too,
is part of the process.
Okay, so Levine and the pros think of it this way. Do we do that at Cape?
Absolutely!
In the
Spring before the Fall jazz season, Terry White will typically receive a call
from me: “T, I’ve
been thinking about the Fall. Here’s what I’d like to do with the
Wednesday Band.” His response:
“I’ve been listening to a few things, and I really like this piece.”
We will meet later in the Spring,
but generally this initial give-and-take gives us a great blueprint. It
really helps that he knows the
players.
Our conversation generally ends with me saying, “T, I know we have this one in
pretty good shape,
but I have been thinking about the next year…”
I’d bet TW is on the other end of the line shaking
his head and smiling. I’d also bet the two of us are thinking about your
freshman son or daughter…
and what they will be playing as a senior. Nothing is ever left to chance.