During “Phase 3” of distance learning at Concord Middle School, members of the 7th and 8th Grade Bands collaborated on a virtual ensemble performance of Robert Sheldon’s “There Will Come Soft Rains.”
The motivation behind doing this was two-fold: to have a public-facing product for our students and to allow them to collaborate, albeit through audio and video recordings. I will admit that, though our band program is process-oriented, the focus here was on the completion of a product and to have a proof-of-concept for future remote learning projects.
Why this particular piece?
This work for band takes its title from both the Sara…
Just a little over two weeks ago — on Thursday, March 12 — I was breaking the news to the students in the Concord Middle School Wind Ensemble that our clinician would not be joining us for a workshop that afternoon. This was not surprising news, as cancellations had already started to ramp up significantly.
This group of students learned earlier that week that their performance trip to Quebec had been cancelled and that the MMEA Eastern District Junior Concert Festival, which many of them had been accepted to, had also been cancelled. …
Both the bands earned Gold Medals in recognition of their “superior” performances at this year’s Festival.
We are incredibly proud of this achievement. I would say it is unbelievable, but it is far from that. Consider the work that goes into preparing for this festival: hours upon hours (days upon days?) of time devoted by all of us to make this all happen. It is truly worthy of us taking the time, stepping back and marveling at the magnitude of this feat and success.
Success at MICCA is not a be-all/end-all measure of the success for our program or our own success as educators/conductors, but it is certainly welcome validation for everything that goes into making…
Concord Bands
Concord Public Schools — Concord, MA
