John Detwiler wrote:

>Maybe this has to do with the fact that I live in Indiana- one of the
>premier Marching Band states.  But still, with four large schools, each
>with a Band director and Assistant, none of those eight show a passion for
>classical.  I came to CM because of my previous band director...  whenever
>he would play music in his Theory/History class, he knew every piece, the
>melody, how to conduct it, and so I figured there must be something to it,
>so I picked out a few CD's from the library and tried them.  While this
>would not happen for many people, good teachers are still role models, and
>I think that a band director with a passion for CM could really influence
>his classes.

While my interest in CM developed before I got to high school, my main
musical activity in high school was as a trombonist in the band (this was
also in Indiana--Indianapolis, in particular).  When the football season
was over (thankfully, it didn't last forever!) we moved into our concert
season, during which we played quite a few transcriptions of classical
pieces.  (I became quite used to hearing clarinets as violins.) I don't
recall that our audiences objected to having to hear this "high-brow"
stuff, so I think that we not only educated ourselves in classical music,
but also the audience.  But this was (as I have said) approximately in
the late Bronze Age, so I don't know how common this kind of band concert
activity is in today's high schools.  I guess I should make a practice
of attending some concerts and find out for myself.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]