It was a relatively quiet summer, with one big trip and a couple of local appearances. It began right here in Oneonta on June 24, when I led the Oneonta Community Concert Band in an outdoor concert at Wilber Park, featuring the following repertoire:

King Cotton – John Philip Sousa

Blue Tango – Leroy Anderson

Down a Country Lane – Aaron Copland, arr. Patterson

Second Suite in F – Gustav Holst

March of the Belgian Paratroopers – Pierre Leemans, ed. Wiley

Amparito Roca – Jaime Texidor

Somewhere – Leonard Bernstein, arr. Brown

Sea Songs – Ralph Vaughan Williams

Hobbits – Johan de Meij

Folk Dances – Dmitri Shostakovich, arr. Reynolds

America the Beautiful – Samuel Augustus Ward, arr. Dragon

In July, I attended the IGEB 2018 conference in Wadgassen, Germany. I was thrilled to be able to present a session on Internet Resources for the 21st Century Global Band Conductor. Much of the material featured in that session can be found at the Other Resources page here. That conference also featured several outstanding concerts, a wealth of other sessions, and my first trip to both Germany and Luxembourg.

I was in Albany, NY from August 12-14 for the New York State Summer Music Conference. As 3rd Vice President of the New York State Band Directors’ Association (NYSBDA), I had the honor of organizing the Directors’ Band for this conference, as well as the many sessions that took place on the NYSBDA end. The Directors’ Band, led by the amazing Gary W. Hill, played the following:

Selections from the Danserye – Tielman Susato, arr. Dunnigan

This Cruel Moon – John Mackey

Variations on America – Charles Ives, arr. Schuman/Rhoads

Foshay Tower (Washington Memorial) – John Philip Sousa

I also led a reading session of music suited for small bands, including:

Acrostic Song from Final Alice – David Del Tredici, arr. Spede

Brooklyn Air – Michael Markowski

Chasing Sunlight – Cait Nishimura

Dance the Joy Alive – Nicole Piunno

The Diplomat – John Philip Sousa (Marine Band edition)

Journey Through Orion – Julie Giroux

Mother Earth – David Maslanka

New Wade ‘N Water – Adolphus Hailstork

Play! – Carl Holmquist

Polly Oliver – Thomas Root

Songs from the Catskills – Johan de Meij

Songs of Paradise – Kevin Walczyk

Spring Festival – Chen Yi

It was an outstanding adventure all around. Now onto the fall!