My morning began at the improvisation clinic given by Stephen C. Massey with the visiting Eleanor Roosevelt High School Wind Ensemble from Greenbelt, MD. Massey highlighted a number of excellent and accessible improvisation techniques for concert bands. My personal favorite was his use of themes from their existing concert music, in this case Persichetti’s Pageant.

There followed a session titled “What Would Make You Play In College” featuring a panel of musicians from both the Roosevelt band and the Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School Band from just across the green in New Haven. We were all shown a short video designed to alert incoming college students to the availability of band in their lives no matter the major. Then the high school students were asked questions about their intentions to play in college, and what might sway them in either direction. This being a panel of accomplished high school musicians, nearly all of them expressed not just an interest but a commitment to continue playing in their college years. Resources were raised as a major issue that might interfere. But perhaps the most salient issue was diversity and representation. One panelist said, without qualification, that if his college band looked like the Yale Band (i.e., no black faces), he would not participate. His appeared to be the extreme position, but others among the panelists did dwell on the subject of representation in the CBDNA video and the issue of tokenism. It was a fascinating discussion that served to highlight the work that CBDNA (mostly a bunch of white guys like me) needs to do to create the most welcoming environment for the next, more diverse generation of college students in our bands.

After lunch, we returned another rehearsal clinic, this time with the Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School Band and their directors Patrick Smith and Rachel Antonucci. They walked us through their warmup program, known as “the scales,” which they touted (with the help of student testimonials) as educationally progressive, flexible, accessible to any student, foundational to great playing, and conducive to creative musicianship. They demonstrated several exercises and did some playing, notably Jaime Texidor’s Amparito Roca and a solo clarinet piece written by a student.

Jared Chase led a great discussion of chamber music for small band programs. (Full disclosure: my Hartwick program was one that he highlighted in the presentation). He compiled a substantial list of pieces that meet some of the instrumentation challenges faced by small colleges, including a lack of double reeds and the need for flexible or adaptable instrumentations. Some of the works he highlighted include:

Six Sonatas, Wq 184 – CPE Bach

Symphonies for Winds no. 1-6 – JC Bach

Sextet in E-flat – Franz Danzi

Nocturne no. 1 and 2 – Ferdinand Ries

Preludio et Fughetta, op. 40 – Gabriel Pierne

Pastoral Variee – Gabriel Pierne

Canzonetta, op. 62a – Jean Sibelius, arr. Igor Stravinsky

Sextet in B-flat, op. 271 – Carl Reinecke

Symphony no. 17 (Symphony for Metal Instruments) – Alan Hovhaness

Drei Lustige Marsche, op. 44 – Ernst Krenek

Alcott Songs – Steve Danyew

Winter Ricercar – Kevin Walczyk

ONIHIME – Shuhei Tamura

There followed an expedition into the Yale Library special editions, where we were treated to a tour of some Charles Ives manuscripts, ranging from his very first fragmentary sketch (“Schoolboy March Op 1 arr. Band”), made when he was 12, to pages from his manuscript for “The Fourth of July.”

The evening’s concert featured the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble directed by Timothy Paul.

One for All – Robert Litton

Symphony no. 6 – Vincent Persichetti

Postlude in F – Charles Ives, arr. Kenneth Singleton

“Floyd’s Fantastic Five-Alarm Foxy Frolic” from Richard and Renée – Carter Pann

Prayers for a Troubled Nation – Jack Stamp

“Woodcutter’s Fandango” from Bodas de Sangre – David Martynuik

“Pigalle” from Paris Sketches – Martin Ellerby

It was wonderful to hear the Persichetti in this space (another moment of full disclosure: I performed this piece in this space with the Columbia Wind Ensemble in 2007, and I’m working on it with the Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble right now). Woolsey Hall did especially great justice to the very last chord of the piece. All 12 pitch classes sparkled in their lengthy resonance, perfectly tuned relative to each other by this band. I waited for the Pann to deliver five fortes, and was not disappointed in the final bars, when the trumpets (and others, but I’m a trumpet player so that’s what I noticed) stood up and splattered the room with Five-Alarm declamations in every direction. The Stamp featured projected images of the American flag and the Statue of Liberty and refugees. The message was clear – we should live up to our promise as a nation and welcome refugees in. The Ellerby was a very nice, lyrical closer. While I greatly enjoyed this program, its variety, and the obvious artistry of everyone on stage, I was a bit puzzled by the number of single movements pulled out of larger pieces. I would love to pick Tim Paul’s brain on this subject.

Tomorrow is our last day, packed with performances, which should be amazing!