Progressive Music Blog - Mark Despotakis

Create and Judge Marching Shows Online

Progressive Music — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:35:00 +0000

Check out http://www.micromarching.com/ You can design your own marching band drill (without music) and judge other shows and leave comments.

Might be good practice for you aspiring drill designers.

The Beat Goes On: Gibson Sues "Rock Band" Game Creators

Progressive Music — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 01:22:00 +0000

From the MMR E-Mail Newsletter

On Mar. 21 Gibson Guitar filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Viacom's MTV networks, Harmonix, and Electronic Arts relating to the "Rock Band" video game and Harmonix's previously developed game, "Guitar Hero."

The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Tennessee, relates to the same patent involved in another suit Gibson filed earlier against mass-merchant retailers of "Guitar Hero," including Wal-Mart and Target (MMR Update, Mar. 21.)

Gibson claims the games violate a 1999 Gibson patent for technology to simulate a musical performance.

Harmonix developed the first "Guitar Hero" game and was later bought by MTV. Electronic Arts publishes "Rock Band" and another company, Activision Inc.,{doesn't make sense} and the retailers either develop, distribute, or sell one or more of the games in the "Guitar Hero" series.

As reported in MMR Update on Mar. 14, Activision responded to Gibson's complaint by filing a preemptive suit against Gibson. Contrary to myriad online reports, however, Gibson has not filed a lawsuit against Activision on the 1999 patent claim.

The Activision lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for Central California to declare Gibson's patent invalid and to bar it from seeking damages.

Gibson has been a high-profile partner in the "Guitar Hero" games. Activision licensed the rights to model its guitar-shaped video controllers on Gibson models and to use their likenesses in the game.

Activision has said that by waiting three years to raise its claim, Gibson had granted an implied license for any technology.

Pittsburgh Pictures

Progressive Music — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:26:00 +0000

I just came across this site - http://pittsburghskyline.com/

Some amazing pictures of Pittsburgh. It will make you fall in love with the skyline all over again.

Guitar Hero No More?

Progressive Music — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:39:00 +0000

Gibson Files Suit Over "Guitar Hero"
Gibson has told Activision Inc that its popular "Guitar Hero" video games infringe one of Gibson's patents. Gibson said the game violates a 1999 patent for technology to simulate a musical performance. A copy of Gibson's patent included in the court filing showed a method for simulating a live performance using a musical instrument, a 3D headset with stereo speakers, and a pre-recorded concert.

"Based on our preliminary analysis, the 'Guitar Hero' software (including any expansion packs) and the guitar controller provided by Activision being used as a musical instrument (packaged with the software or sold standalone) are covered by the ... patent," Gibson's law firm said in its January 7 letter. "Gibson requests that Activision obtain a license under Gibson's ... patent or halt sales of any version of the 'Guitar Hero' game software."

On Tuesday, Activision filed a lawsuit asking the U.S. District Court for Central California to declare Gibson's patent invalid and to bar it from seeking damages.

Gibson made its claims in a letter sent to Activision in January, a copy of which was included in Activision's lawsuit. Gibson has been a high-profile partner in the "Guitar Hero" games, with Activision licensing the rights to model its controllers on Gibson guitar models and to use their likenesses in the game.

"Gibson is a good partner, and we have a great deal of respect for them. We disagree with the applicability of their patent and would like a legal determination on this," Activision general counsel George Rose said in a statement.

Activision said its games did not infringe Gibson's patent, and that by waiting three years to raise its claim, the guitar maker had granted an implied license for any technology.

(Source: Reuters)

Ticking package strikes a bad chord at Duquesne U.

Progressive Music — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:27:00 +0000

Friday, March 14, 2008
By Anya Sostek, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A ticking care package shut down a Duquesne University building for several hours this morning.

A Pittsburgh Police bomb squad investigation revealed the culprit to be a metronome, which turned on as the package was transported. The package also contained food and medicine, said university spokeswoman Bridget Fare.

The building, Rockwell Hall, houses the campus mailroom along with the School of Business, various computing and technology operations and other offices.

A mailroom employee noticed the ticking sound around 7:30 a.m. and evacuated the building, said Ms. Fare. No classes were in session that early in the morning, she said.

Police gave the all-clear to re-open Rockwell Hall around 10 a.m., she said.

First published on March 14, 2008 at 10:47 am

How rockin' is your high school marching band?

Progressive Music — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:07:00 +0000

I stole this from the YEA! website - wouldn’t it be great to have a Western PA band on this show?
Is your high school marching band rockin' enough for MTV?
The network's producers want to know!
MTV News & Docs is casting a new show which will chronicle the inner workings and outside lives of a high school marching band. The chosen band will share their experiences of rehearsals, half-time performances, competitions and fundraisers all the while balancing the normal pressures of high school. The network is looking for outgoing, interesting, diverse band members to share their lives with them… and a proud, dedicated school that’s willing to open up their doors to its producers.
Interested parties should contact Claresa Mandola, Casting Director, to discuss making a video application: (212) 654-4871 or mailto:castingspring08@mtvstaff.com.

TV News Attitude

Progressive Music — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:22:00 +0000

This is a riot - good thing TV people don’t have big egos...

And The Band Played Badly

Progressive Music — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:24:00 +0000

I’m an avid New York Times reader and love the Sunday Times. The Op-Ed page this week took one small break from politics and had this article. There is this movement known as “Recreational Music Making.” So many in the school music world push for “perfection” in music. It’s great to see people who enjoy making music - just for the sake of making music. This piece is an example of that - and these folks don’t strive for perfection at all - just for fun.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
And the Band Played Badly

By ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH
Published: March 9, 2008

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the forthcoming novel “The Miracle at Speedy Motors.”

MySpace

Progressive Music — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:01:00 +0000

Based on some advice from a colleague who uses MySpace as an additional web presence for their store, Progressive Music now has a MySpace. You can visit it at www.myspace.com/progressive_music It's very basic and boring now - but I promise - as I begin to figure out how to use MySpace - you will see the page grow. Please add us as a MySpace friend.

Standardized Music Test in Florida

Progressive Music — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:41:00 +0000

Yes, I have not blogged in a long time. I am going to attempt to start correcting that. Take a look at the article below. Once of the things that music advocates always look for are facts. There has been no national study of access and cause/effect with regard to music. While there was some sense we would see that just a few months ago when we saw Sens. Dodd and Alexander call for a national study on arts education access. The study would have helped lawmakers make crucial decision regarding No Child Left Behind. Speaking of NCLB - haven't heard much about education policy on the campaign trail have we? Let's hope the subject does come up.

Interesting article below - regular blogging to begin again soon.

First results from Florida's first standardized music test (yes, you heard that right, music test)
posted by LesliePostal on Feb 25, 2008 6:24:00 AM
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More than two years ago, the Florida Music Educators' Association devised a 30-minute standardized test for fourth graders. Last spring, association members gave it to nearly 10,000 kids. Last week, they shared the results from this first pilot session.

The major ones:

--Kids who take music class at school know more about music than kids who do not (hardly surprising, but music teachers say it shows that if you want kids to learn about music, well, you need to send them to music class).

-- students who do well on the music test also do well on FCAT

-- minority students, as a group, do not lag as far behind white classmates on the music test as they do on FCAT reading, math and writing exams.

"One subject -- music -- gives students a greater chance to succeed, regardless of ethnicity," the group said.

The Florida Music Assessment, or FMA, was given at 106 schools in 42 counties. The test has students answer questions, sometimes after listening to snippets of music. This pilot project was paid for with state money, but it is not clear yet if the state will fund more or bigger administrations, said James Perry, executive director of the music association.

That question likely will be answered in the coming session of the Florida Legislature. Meanwhile, the association is working to develop middle and high school music exams, too.

The group devised the test as a way to spur improvements in music education and to highlight its importance in public schools. It comes as some schools, feeling pressure to improve students showing in more academic fields, have cut back on music education.

In the 106 pilot schools, some students had no music classes and a few at a magnet school had daily instruction. The average was about 38 minutes a week.

Students who took music and took it more often did better on the test than those who had the class less often or not a all. So, Perry said, "it would certainly be unreasonable to start lessening the time you have in music."

Good scores on the FMA also correlated with good scores on FCAT, suggesting that improving one might improve the other, the association said.

The so-called achievement gap between minority and white students was smaller on the music test than on FCAT, confirming national studies that also show music lessons "reach across all ethnic and socio-economic boundaries" in a way some other subjects do not, Perry said.

The art of education must include the arts

Progressive Music — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 03:37:00 +0000

The art of education must include the arts

Barbara Hall
is a freelance journalist

who writes on education

His name is Andrew, and we nearly lost him.

Around 2000, Andrew was a 12-year-old, at-risk student at Harding Elementary School in Erie. He was saved from dropping out, his teachers believe, by an all-community arts-education program focusing on opera. The program, an ambitious and successful effort, thrives today.

Erie has received a $15 million, five-year math-and-science grant from General Electric. Thinking creatively, Erie administrators are directing a portion of this to Harding's school opera program. As a result, a resident visual artist, poet and dancer will work with students on this year's production.

Arts education in Erie is flourishing.

Not so in Philadelphia. School district administrators confirm there are literally no music or art teachers in the city's middle and high schools - even though music and art are core curriculum subjects with minimum standards for instruction.

Those who care about arts learning in Philly schools are hoping that the School Reform Commission's new CEO, Sandra Dungee Glenn, will include art and music in her priorities.

For now, organizations such as the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership and the National Endowment for the Arts are picking up some of the slack. The NEA's 2007 Learning in the Arts for Children & Youth grants total five. They cover an Asian youth folk-arts festival, a Latino youth artist program, a young playwrights project titled "Exploring Ourselves and Our Cultures," a youth mural project, and an advanced study program at the Settlement Music School of Philadelphia.

Such help, though, cannot compensate for the arts-teacher vacuum in city schools.

Why does arts education matter?

A recent survey by Target Corp. polled millions of American parents over age 18. Ninety-four percent said they consider arts education important to their child's intellectual development. And more than half said they feel their music and art school programs were underfunded.

"Arts have traditionally been the first programs to go when there are tight budget constraints," says Philip Horn, executive director of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. At the same time, he adds, "Pennsylvania does pretty well by comparison to other states."

What can parents do for their children and the arts?

Join parent organizations and advocate, urge Horn and Michael Faison, program head at the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

"A school can only be as strong as its families," counsels Dennis Creedon, administrator for creative and performing arts in Philadelphia schools. "Help offset school cuts in arts education by doing your part. That way, school will never be out!"

Take full advantage of culture around the state. There's the Barnes Museum (for now) of Merion, the Brandywine in Chester County, and, of course, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Philadelphia Orchestra, led by conductor and artistic director Charles Dutoit, has a spectrum of year-round cultural events.

As former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige observed, "From music and dance to painting and sculpture, the arts allow us to explore new worlds."

Conn-Selmer to Close Kenosha Woodwind Facility

Progressive Music — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:35:00 +0000

Conn-Selmer to Close Kenosha Woodwind Facility
On Dec. 4, the Conn-Selmer subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. announced it will be closing its woodwind manufacturing operations in Kenosha, Wis. The production of the 95,000-square-foot plant will be transferred to the company’s woodwind facility in Elkhart. Conn-Selmer reports it has sufficient inventory to meet customer needs during the transition of production, which is expected to be completed over the next 12 months.

The closing marks the end of an era in Kenosha, where the late Vito Pascucci founded G. Leblanc Corp. in 1946 and built it into a leader in the band instrument field. Conn-Selmer acquired Leblanc in August 2004 for $36.8 million. The acquisition also included the Holton brass instrument factory in nearby Elkhorn, Wis., which is not expected to be directly affected by the closing of the Kenosha woodwind facility.

John Stoner, president of Conn-Selmer, commented, "We have achieved a high level of expertise at our Elkhart facility through the team’s steady commitment to continuous improvement. This consolidation will help us gain efficiencies and remain a viable U.S. manufacturer in the student clarinet and flute categories."

As a result of the Kenosha plant closure, which will affect approximately 100 active employees, the company expects to incur charges of $800,000 to $1 million over the next few quarters. The charges include severance costs, make-ready costs to prepare the Elkhart plant, and costs for the relocation of machinery and inventory from Kenosha. In addition, the company expects to incur expenses associated with terminating the use of certain capital equipment and real estate assets.

Dana Messina, CEO of Steinway Musical Instruments, explained, "This very difficult decision regarding Kenosha reinforces our commitment to remain a profitable U.S. manufacturer of band instruments. We are confident that our strategy will improve profitability and allow us to compete with lower-cost offshore manufacturers."

September is Nuts

Progressive Music — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 02:55:00 +0000

Lots going for us in September - school is back so we're really up and running and getting instruments etc. out the door.

Not going into a ton of detail right now - but check this link.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Apparently, there is some new sitcom about tv news and the PG did an interview with some local tv anchors. Sally Wiggin is just one of my favorite people so it's worth it for that alone.

Saving The Oboe From Extinction

Progressive Music — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 23:56:00 +0000

The oboe has been listed as one of five classical instruments on a national "endangered species" list because too few people play it and orchestras have struggled to recruit members to their woodwind sections, according to a recent report released in London. Now, the T.W. Howard Co., Sussex, England oboe maker is attempting to address the problem with a "child friendly" mini-oboe. The company's education coordinator, William Ring said, "the problem has always been the oboes are too heavy for children to play so they take up another instrument instead. the new mini-oboe has been designed to replicate the full-sized instrument as closely as possible." the mini-oboes and mini-bassoons are being introduced to pupils at schools in Sussex as part of the government's Wider Opportunities scheme. It aims to allow every school-age child to have a year of free tuition on an orchestral instrument.

--Source - The Music Trades, Sept. 2007

Steeler Nation

Progressive Music — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:27:00 +0000

Ok - so I am far from a sports fan - don't watch many sports at all - however, this video was recommended to me and it's worth seeing. ESPN did a show profiling how Pittsburgh's culture is shaped so much by the Steelers.

Some well known Pittsburghers are seen in the video - including Sally Wiggin.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1527321414

Be Glad You're Not From South Carolina

Progressive Music — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:40:00 +0000

Take a look at this - http://www.maniacworld.com/what-is-she-talking-about.html

From what I understand, this took place this past Friday in the Miss Teen USA pageant.

I'd say it speaks for itself. Wonder if she can find the US on a map?

Where I've Been...

Progressive Music — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:55:00 +0000

Haven't blogged in a long time...

Just finished two weeks of band camp. See highlights of our band camp and my current venture back into journalism at www.bwschools.net/patron/music

It's fun to do the "Notes From The Field" segment. It's using my old tv reporting skills and we're playing it a little off of what DCI and the Cadets have done throughout the drum corps season.

Speaking of drum corps, we got to head out to the live broadcast of DCI quarterfinals last week. The story of the night... the Cadets coming on the field then leaving the field due to a line painting issue. I think it was the right decision for safety reasons, but those Cadets and George Hopkins haters out there used it as another reason to hate The Cadets and Hopkins. Que sera sera.

School starts soon - so that means we're gearing up for that - busy time of the year now!

Boys and Girls Clubs

Progressive Music — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:32:00 +0000

This morning I was able to spend about an hour at the McKeesport Boys and Girls club. How cool!

I was up there because NAMM has created an after-school program with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America as a way to create more music makers.

I was there to talk a bit about the Music Makers program, but I was blown away by what goes on there everyday. I had no clue! There were probably about 70 kids there - which is more than I expected and there were volunteers there today who were from as far away as Rhode Island and Wisconsin. How cool to see these kids in an environment where they are having fun and learning at the same time.

And from what I could tell, it's not all about sports - there is also lots of focus on learning. But, it's the great kid of learning that happens when the kids don't even realize that they are learning.

--

In other news, I just found out last night that a friend from high school is leaving tomorrow for six months in Paris. Can you imagine that you would HAVE to go to Paris for your job?

Some National Advocacy News

Progressive Music — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:27:00 +0000

Louisiana Adds Music/Arts Mandate - Massachusetts goes the other way

Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana just signed into law Act 175 mandating the visual and performing arts for all schools. Full implementation of the law is scheduled for the 2010/2011 school year and will require all students to have music and the arts as a part of their basic education. The Louisiana law was largely based on the Arkansas legislation that mandated music and art instruction for all children starting with the 2005/2006 school year. Louisiana is now the first state to replicate the Arkansas legislation. Music for All worked closely with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee along with music and arts advocates to pass the model legislation.

In Massachusetts, arts advocates are pushing the state Department of Education to make arts education a bigger part of recommended high school graduation requirements, which list music, art and related subjects as electives. The recommendations, which the state Board of Education plans to vote on this fall, include four credits each of English and math, three credits each of history and a lab-based science, two credits in the same foreign language and six credits in a chosen elective. Electives may include visual and performing arts, career and technical education, technology or additional courses in other academic subjects. Advocates would like to see students required to take at least one credit of art.

Source: Music for All

Cows Milk Quality Improved By Music

Progressive Music — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 15:46:00 +0000

Do you want to improve your cows' milk quality? Play them Mozart
05/23/2007

In an orderly fashion 700 cows queue up for milking, with no fuss, no stress and very little mooing. The sharps and flats, bass and alto of Mozart's music have been found to be the perfect mix of tonality.

The Chirigota farm on the outskirts of Madrid is using an innovative system to produce the best quality milk possible from its milking cows.

The bovines are treated like VIP's at this Spanish farm with the help of accessories such as waterbeds, electronic brushes and sprinklers that have turned the complex into a five-star hotel for pampered cows.

However, the biggest influence on milk quality, according to the farm owners, is the use of music. It is not any old music though, but that of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The placid harmonies of the Austrian composer's concerto for flute and harp in D major is played continually at milking time. The music soothes the nerves of the Friesians.

"It only happens with Mozart and although it was discovered by monks in Brittany, the idea is being used mainly in Israel. We in fact have specialists come over from Israel to explain to us new concepts of production. And it was them that told us to use Mozart," said Nicolas Sieber, the head of marketing for the milking farm and company.

In an orderly fashion the 700 cows on the farm queue up for milking, with no fuss, no stress and very little mooing. The sharps and flats, bass and alto of Mozart's music have been found to be the perfect mix of tonality: enough to get the cows to relax but not too soothing that they fall asleep.

"It is relaxing music for them but at the same time it is dynamic, it keeps the cows active. The trick is not to have music too relaxing, " added Nicolas Sieber. What the music does for cows is passed onto the milk both in the quality and quantity of the milk they are producing. Any other cow on a normal farm would normally produce 29 litres daily, these cows yield is between 30 to 35 litres per day.

The milk, which is marketed exclusively under the farm's own brand name of Priegola, also has higher levels of healthy fats and proteins.

An ELementary School Based Around Music

Progressive Music — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 18:17:00 +0000

First, violin
At this charter school, music is the primary tool for teaching
By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff | May 30, 2007
Ten-year-old Isaiah Simmons of Roxbury is the picture of concentration as he carefully makes his way through a solo violin version of the venerable folk song "Old Joe Clark."
His classmate Bernard White, however, is eager to play along on his own violin. So Bernard politely asks his teacher, Mona Rashad, "Can I try to play the harmony to it?" She shakes her head in a firm no. But Bernard, a 10-year-old from Roslindale, is not defeated: He tucks his chin to his chest and proceeds to play air violin, pantomiming the bow strokes along with Isaiah.
Literally and figuratively, music is in the air at the Conservatory Lab Charter School -- and in the curriculum, too.
Plenty of elementary schools teach music, but how many require students to attend a 45-minute music class every day, and to take half-hour violin lessons twice a week, and to practice every night? How many issue a violin to each student in first grade, which he or she gets to keep until graduating fifth grade? How many organize the entire educational experience around music?
"At most schools, you don't get to learn how to play an instrument," Bernard says a few minutes after he completes his own solo. "You just do one thing. But music and math kind of go together." Adds Isaiah: "Music helps me do other things."
Researchers -- and parents -- tend to agree. Maybe that's why there's a waiting list of more than 600 for a spot in the Conservatory Lab Charter School, a racially and ethnically mixed elementary school in Brighton for mostly low-income Boston youngsters. Tomorrow afternoon , all 132 students will take the stage at Jordan Hall for a year-end concert during which they will showcase the kind of learning that can't be measured by a standardized test.
At a time when some schools are cutting back on performing-arts education, this school has decided that music is the best way to animate the study of seemingly unrelated subjects. Jonathan Rappaport, the school's executive director , is a longtime music educator and musician who describes the organizing principle of the school's curriculum as "learning through music." The goal is not to produce musicians, he says, but rather "to use music as a way of educating kids in a very comprehensive way."
At this moment on a recent weekday, that interdisciplinary approach is on display in a classroom not far from where the young violinists are playing. More than a dozen students -- black, white, Latino, Asian-American -- are swaying in a chorus line, their young voices raised in their own version of a protest song.
They wrote the lyrics and the music as part of a "co-teaching project" overseen by their music and social studies teachers. The idea is to connect music with their study of the civil rights movement. Their words poignantly combine youthful idealism with a sense of the world's struggles: "Let good be your guidance/ Stop doing violence/ We should all get along/ Try not to do wrong/ Don't discriminate, it only makes hate." The refrain is punctuated by rap interludes that allude to Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and the mid-1970s busing crisis in Boston.
"Every time there's a ready connection to be made, we make it," says Katherine Hakim, 27, the music teacher, who accompanied the students on the piano. "We'll say [to other teachers], 'What are you doing in the classroom, and how can we enhance it with music?' " The teachers also draw from the world of music to impart other lessons. During the violin exercise, Rashad exhorts the students to practice, noting: "Anne-Sophie Mutter, a famous violinist, practices her pieces two years before she performs them." Malcolm Doremus Cuetara, a 10-year-old fourth grader, is impressed. "Wow, she's dedicated!" he exclaims.
The school was founded in 1999 by administrators and faculty members at the New England Conservatory who thought a music-centered curriculum fit logically within the state mandate that charter schools strive to be laboratories of innovation. (As the performance scheduled for tomorrow at NEC's Jordan Hall suggests, the school retains a close relationship with the conservatory . )
"What is different here is that music is taught as a daily core curriculum subject," says Rappaport. "The development of critical-thinking skills is so important, and a lot of that comes out of the music." He points out that music has a mathematical basis, with phrases divided into measures and measures divided into beats. "Music has a very profound effect on the cognitive development of young people," he says. "I think we're proving it here."
Rappaport admits, though, that it has been a struggle to raise the MCAS scores of the students. With such a small student body, the sample size for standardized tests is relatively miniscule. Last year the school finished below the state average in a number of categories. However, it improved from the previous year, prompting the state Department of Education to say the school had achieved "adequate yearly progress" in math and English language arts. Rappaport says he expects further improvement this year.
The ratio of students to teachers at the school is 9 to 1. The student body is a broad cross section of Boston: Nearly 40 percent of the students are African-American, 30 percent are Hispanic or Latino, 20 percent are white, and 4.5 percent are Asian-American. More than 70 percent of the students come from low-income families; for more than one-third of the students, English is not their first language.
Young as they are, the students seem to have grasped that the time they spend rehearsing and performing music may help them master the three R's. "You have to be patient," Bernard says. "You can't just pick up a violin and play a song you haven't learned yet." Malcolm adds: "Sometimes I use music to do my math. I'll think of adding quarter-notes, half-notes. I put my notes together as math." Beyond such pragmatism, of course, lies the pure joy of performing music. "It has a lot of emotion," says Yarimar Muniz, 11, a fourth-grader from Roxbury, though she admits "it's a little bit complicated when you first learn a new song."
Back in the classroom, the students are running through their song one last time. Hakim offers praise, advice, and something more. "The harmony, I want you guys to keep the pitch up, be a little stronger," she says, while a roomful of young strivers listens attentively. "With the melody, you have that nice soaring melody."
"That's what I want from you," she says. "Soar."
Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin @globe.com.

Community Bands in the PA Spotlight

Progressive Music — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 22:26:00 +0000

There just aren't enough community bands out there, but Pennsylvania is rich in community bands. The famous Allentown band is one for example. Our state house has proclaimed July as Community Band month in PA. Wouldn't it be great to have some type of great community band festival in PA to celebrate?

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

No. 341 Session of 2007

INTRODUCED BY MENSCH, HUTCHINSON, BAKER, BARRAR, BEAR,
BENNINGHOFF, BEYER, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, CONKLIN, COSTA,
CREIGHTON, DiGIROLAMO, J. EVANS, EVERETT, FABRIZIO,
FAIRCHILD, FLECK, FREEMAN, GABIG, GEIST, GEORGE, GIBBONS,
GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, HARHART, HARKINS, HENNESSEY,
HERSHEY, HESS, KILLION, KIRKLAND, KORTZ, KOTIK, KULA, MAJOR,
MANN, MANTZ, MARSHALL, MILLARD, MILNE, MOYER, MURT, MUSTIO,
NAILOR, O'NEILL, PALLONE, PASHINSKI, PERZEL, PETRONE,
PHILLIPS, PYLE, QUIGLEY, RAPP, READSHAW, REICHLEY, ROHRER,
ROSS, SAINATO, SAMUELSON, SAYLOR, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, SONNEY,
R. STEVENSON, SWANGER, R. TAYLOR, THOMAS, TRUE, VEREB,
VULAKOVICH AND WALKO, JUNE 21, 2007
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 21, 2007
A RESOLUTION

1 Designating the month of July 2007 as "Community Band Month" in
2 Pennsylvania.

3 WHEREAS, This country and this Commonwealth in particular
4 have a long and rich tradition of supporting community bands;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, Community bands have a variety of origins, including
7 as militia and military bands; and
8 WHEREAS, Community bands have been celebrated in musical and
9 theatrical performances; and
10 WHEREAS, Community bands perform an important role in our
11 communities; and
12 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania is home to some of the oldest and most

1 renowned community bands, including the Allentown Band, in
2 continuous existence since 1828, the Franklin Silver Cornet
3 Band, in continuous existence since 1856, and the Red Hill Band,
4 which has performed summer concerts each year since 1900; and
5 WHEREAS, These community treasures have continued through the
6 tireless efforts of volunteer musicians and organizers;
7 therefore be it
8 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the
9 month of July 2007 as "Community Band Month" in Pennsylvania
10 with thanks for the immeasurable contributions of community
11 bands and band members to the betterment of this Commonwealth.

Old WTAE Promo

Progressive Music — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:15:00 +0000

I was looking around YouTube. Look at this old WTAE promo...

Is that the Cadets drumming in there? So cool to see music so involved in a promo.

Long Time No Post

Progressive Music — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:23:00 +0000

I have not posted here in quite some time - mainly because I don't have much to post about.

Now that school is out, business here has slowed up a bit. That's typical for our summer months. It's a good for us to take these next two months to get ready for the very busy fall season when school starts back up again.

We've also added a new member to the Progressive Music team - Suzi Bernard. You'll see her bio go up soon in the about us section.

If you were not at the drum corps show at Baldwin last week, you missed a great show and some great corps. You have one more chance to see some great corps this Thursday at Elizabeth Forward High School. The show starts at seven. It's the last local show of the summer. And I'm the emcee - so it's worth it to go for that reason as well.

You also want to head to the show to make sure you enter to win two free tickets to the DCI Eastern Classic on July 7-8. All you have to do is stop by the Progressive Music table sign up for our e-mail newsletter and you will be entered to win.

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As I've mentioned before, I have been transferring my old video tapes to DVD's. Every once in a while I'm posting some items to YouTube. Here's a clip from a show I watched when I was in high school - Breakfast Time on fX.

You might recognize Tom Bergeron - he hosts something on tv now - not sure what. And Laurie Hibberd works for CBS. You may even recognize some of the others you see as well.

Band is back up in full swing for me as well. We're preparing for the 4th of July parade now. That's about it.

Duquesne High School to Close

Progressive Music — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 13:26:00 +0000

Perhaps you heard the story about Duquesne High School closing. Here is a WTAE report about it.

I don't know that it's a done deal - but I did take note that one of the reasons that they have cited to close is it lack of music classes and activities. It's good to hear that is a rational for a solid high school education.