Now that the dust has settled and the final concert of the year is in the books, I can sit back and enjoy what was truly a great night for the entire DHS band program. First, I must say that I was deeply honored and humbled by the special alumni/student ensemble that gathered to celebrate my 25 years here at Deerfield. Thanks to my colleague Ron Velleuer and senior trumpeter Mitchell Steindler, we had a band of about 50 or 60 made up of students from all three current bands along with graduates going back to the class of 1999. There were a couple of band directors, a teacher, college students, and others who performed Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, conducted by Herr Velleuer. Then he spoke and said many nice things before turning the baton over to me. I got to conduct two of my favorite band works: a transcription of an old Russian chorale, "Salvation is Created," by Pavel Chesnokov, and a classic Sousa march, "King Cotton." What a joy it was to have all my "kids" back on stage, playing together.
The rest of the concert was successful as well. I was so proud of the Concert Band; they played very well, avoiding the frosh mistakes that tend to plague the typical CB. I received many compliments on their behalf, especially on the fine flute playing. Symphonic Band took on a program of epic proportions, tackling a pair of grade 4 works and making a lot of great music. Wind Ensemble also had their work cut out for them, with the 11-minute Sketches on a Tudor Psalm, a grade 5 piece that really challenged everybody's counting and expressive skills. It was the first time I had ever conducted it, and I enjoyed the experience immensely. I spent a lot of time practicing and studying it, and it was quite rewarding.
The final group of the evening was the Jazz Band. Highlighting the set was our own take on "A Night in Tunisia." Since we have a bassist who is precociously well-versed in playing Arabic music on the oud (an Arabic lute), I asked him to find a traditional Tunisian melody to teach us. He transcribed a malouf and played it along with flute, accompanied by drums, tenor, bass, and darbukka (an Arabic hand drum). We did an accelerando and segued directly into the well-known Dizzy Gillespie bass line. Then the horns came in for a mini-big band arrangement of the bebop classic. Of course, we had to end with a crowd-pleasing, sustained scream chord at the end to make sure the audience got their money's worth.
And then, at 9:27, three minutes shy of two hours, it was over. Another year of great music and memories is coming to an end. We still have a couple of less formal jazz performances to do, and the Warrior Marching Band will once again be part of the Memorial Day ceremonies here in town. The annual awards dinner is Monday night, so I still have a ton on my plate, but after such a memorable evening, things feel like they are lightening up and drawing to a close. It's hard to believe that it's been a quarter of a century since my first one-day band camp in the fall of 1988, back when the entire program numbered 45 students. I can't think of any other place I would rather be, and I am grateful to have had this opportunity. I look forward to several more years of teaching and conducting my beloved Warrior band students!
