More on spontaneous music making...

I'm fascinated by the concept of spontaneous public art, when you encounter a performance in a suprising place outside of the theater or concert hall or a work of art outside of a museum. This is a topic I've written about before here and here. I just ran across another video that shows how "ordinary" people can be involved in such a pursuit. It's a piece called "Ring the Keys" by composer Rusty Banks.

A scene from one of my favorite movies fits in perfectly here. Dancing flash mobs have been popular for the past few years, but if we go back to 1980, we can see an early version of an impromptu urban choreographic happening:

The DHS Bands are on Facebook!

Well, kind of, anyway. I put up a organizational page where I can make announcements and post links, pictures, and photos. Comments are currently blocked until I decide exactly how I want to use it. It's a small step for now, but feel free to like it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of members of the DHS Band Family (which includes all of my past and current students, their parents, siblings, and relatives as well as colleagues and friends of the band), I wish you a happy, safe, and healthy Thanksgiving! Here's what I'm thankful for:

My parents, who introduced me to music, got me my saxophone, paid for lessons, and drove me to hundreds of rehearsals and performances. They've probably seen more DHS band concerts than just about anybody, from the first Bandorama in 1988 to the 2011 Fall Band Concert.

My wife, who as a retired band director, understands why I spend so much time at school and grading papers and playing tests.

My three musical children (who variously play horn, acoustic and electric bass, piano, and tuba in addition to singing in choirs) who continually make me proud.

My wonderful colleagues at DHS in the R107 office complex: Ron Velleuer, Kevin Burrow, and Susan Gorman. I'm lucky to work with such great educators and friends.

My administration who supports the arts and really understands what it takes to have a thriving fine arts department.

The music of Charlie Parker, Igor Stravinsky, Paul Simon, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Muddy Waters, Percy Grainger, Steely Dan, R.E.M., and countless other musical heroes who have inspired me over the years.

My DHS band alumni who stop by or write to say hello and keep in touch.

And finally, my 150 band and music theory students who give me 150 reasons to come to school each day. Thanks for all of your hard work, curiosity, and love of music!

See you in December!

Greg Spero, DHS Band Alum

I have been fortunate to teach a number of very talented students over the last quarter of a century, kids who have gone on to become a professional violinist, a film composer (two of them actually), a jazz saxophonist, and someone who created an entire robotic rock band. There are a number of music teachers among my alums, others who still perform for fun or professionally, and many who just love music and are passing on that passion to the next generation. I feel truly honored to have been a part of their musical upbringing.

Today I'd like to highlight Greg Spero, a jazz pianist and composer from the class of 2003, who is really making a name for himself around town and in wider circles. He has three albums to his credit, including his latest titled Acoustic, that show him to be a versatile musician who is equally comfortable in straight-ahead and fusion settings. He is also very keen on using his music to spread peace in the world, connecting us all in a universal jam session. Greg does a ton of informal recording and is very generous with posting videos and mp3s, so check out his website, subscribe to his newsletter, and see what a former how far your DHS music education (and a ton of talent and hard work) can take you!

My Musical Weekend

On Saturday, I accompanied ten DHS students to New Trier High School for the IMEA District VII festival. We had three vocalists in the choir, two violinists and a trumpeter in the orchestra, and four band members. They worked with guest conductors from Augustana College, University of Iowa, and Western Illinois University, performing in large honor ensembles. The concert at the end of the day was just wonderful. The 200+ voice choir sounded great, especially on an improvised version of "Down to the River," which they created that morning in rehearsal. The orchestra performed the very tuneful Polovetsian Dances by Borodin, and the band was played one of my all-time favorites, Four Scottish Dances by British composer Malcolm Arnold and arranged by my mentor at Northwestern, John Paynter. I enjoyed hearing Dr. Fansler's interpretation and remembering how Mr. Paynter used to do it. All in all, the students did a fine job.

Today, I took my son, who is a horn player, to a concert of the Northshore Concert Band at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston. They had a special promotion for music students and their parents--$5 tickets! I saw a couple of other DHS students there as well. The programming was exceptional. The opener was Toccata Marziale by my favorite composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The DHS Wind Ensemble performed this several years ago. It's a great, brassy, contrapuntal work that doesn't sound like the rest of RVW's band pieces--there's not a folk song to be heard. They then played Rest by Frank Ticheli, a memorial piece in honor of two of their members who had passed. Next up was the main reason we came, Schumann's tour de force for four horns, Konzertstuck. NU professor and former CSO hornist Gail Williams and three of her masters students were the featured soloists, in addition to the nine section horns in the band. The technique, range, and sound they displayed were outstanding.

The second half featured a new piece by student composer Ben Hjertmann, called Catclaw Mimosa. It was an engaging, post-modern work that blended spiky modernist melodic fragments with rock rhythms in a very natural manner. The concert closed with Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, featuring all of Bernstein's memorable tunes. What a way to finish the afternoon.

So for me that makes four concerts in six days, after last week's band concert and the choir concert for which I was a supervisor. Coming up on Saturday we have the IMEA Jazz Festival at Evanston Township High School, where I'll be working with the vocal jazz combo and cheering on our two Deerfield participants. Then there'll be the impromptu marching band performance for Grandparents Day and a relaxing Thanksgiving break. This year, I won't be typing frantically on my dissertation, so I'll have time to enjoy my extended family. My hope for all of my students is a similarly homework-free break!

What we talked about in Music Theory today...

Whilst discussing voice leading by root movement of a third, art songs, fugues, and sonata form (it was a busy class!), a number of random topics came up. Here are some of them:

Animusic - a cool series of animated musical machines and robots

Pat Metheny's Orchestrion project - Animusic in real life.

Steve Reich's early minimalist piece, Drumming.

Bach's crab canons. This a piece that one player performs from top left to bottom right while the other performs backwards, from bottom right to top left--a retrograde canon. Because Bach was a genius, the two parts work together perfectly. I tried to find a good version of his "mirror" or "table" canons, where the players sit across from each other and play the music simultaneously right side up and upside down--a retrograde inversion canon--but I was unsuccessful. Sorry!

I also told my legendary Bach joke. I'm not posting it here; you had to be there...

I really love teaching music theory--I get to cover everything from parallel fifths to serialism and Bollywood to The Clash with a bunch of students who are just as passionate about music as I am!

Fall Band Concert

The Deerfield High School band program will present their annual Fall Band Concert on Tuesday, November 8, at 7:00pm in the DHS auditorium. Featured will be the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Band. The program will include traditional and contemporary band music from 20th-century American composers Vincent Persichetti and Peter Mennin. Lending an international flavor will be a work by Australian composer Percy Grainger and transcriptions of French piano music by Impressionists Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. The Jazz Band will play a pair of classic hard-bop tunes by Wes Montgomery and Miles Davis and a recent hit by Roy Hargrove, “Strasbourg/St. Denis.” There will also be a selection performed by a combined band of DHS students and 8th graders from Bannockburn, Caruso, Holy Cross, and Shepard Schools. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.