Guest Conductors

[RickF]

Sometimes we get the opportunity to play with well known guest conductors. I thought this might be a good topic for discussion.
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This was supposed to be the Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches' third year playing with Maestro Loras Schissel (director of Virginia Grand Military Band and Cleveland Winds (works in the Library of Congress music dept as well). He had to cancel numerous engagements due to illness. M. Schissel is an excellent conductor, clinician and arranger. We hope and pray he will recover soon.

We were fortunate enough to get Commander Allen Beck (U.S. Navy Band retired) to step in and take his place. What a treat it was to play under Cdr. Beck. We had our first concert with Cdr. Beck on Saturday May 5th, and our last concert of the season on May 12, 2007.

I have to tell you - for several years, I've played Carmen Dragon's arrangement of "America the Beautiful"... as we all have. Cdr. Beck really redefined the term 'rubato'. It was the first piece he wanted to rehearse with us last Friday night before our concert. We didn't get more than 3 measures before he stopped and asked the band for softer entrances. He said, "I hesitate to tell you this but, please don't use any tongue on your entrance. This needs to be molto legatto". It was the best we ever played this piece. Usually we play this piece as an encore, but for this concert, "Hollywood Salutes Our Military", it was actually listed on our program. After playing this piece, Cdr Beck asked the audience if anyone still had a dry eye? -- said if there is one dry eye in the audience after that piece, we haven't done our job. Great concert!

The first half of our concert was conducted by our own director, George Sullivan... a fine conductor in his own right.
Star Spangled Banner (arr. Jack Stamp)
The Patton March (Jerry Goldsmith)
Finale - from New World Symphony (Anton Dvorák)
What a Wonderful World (arr. Richard Saucedo)
The Strategic Air Commend (Clifton Williams)
The U.S. Army March (Capt. Thomas Darcy, Jr)
Theme from "Schindler's List" (John Williams)(clar soloist, Jim St. Clair)Cdr Beck directed us for the following pieces:
Armed Forces Salute (arr. Bob Lowden)
Midway March (John Williams)
Chester (William Schuman)
The March From "1941" (John Williams)
America the Beautiful (arr. Carmen Dragon)
Colonel Bogey (Kenneth Alford)
Midway March (John Williams) conducted by Cdr. Allen Beck

America the Beautiful (arr. Carmen Dragon)
I almost didn't want to share this link because of some intonation issues I hear (darn those mics picking up that stuff, LOL)... clarinet squeaks and trumpet intonation issues. And why is it when the trumpets see fff, (in the last few measures) they lose all self control?

[bearphonium]

Guest Conductors

Sounds like an awesome concert!

My only experience playing for guest conductors was in college pushing 30 years ago. Our band (Southern Oregon State College) played at a national music educators conference. We did the west coast premier of Alfred Reed's Amenian Dances Part II, and Dr. Reed came and guest conducted. We also had two commisioned pieces by a German composer and a French composer (I sort of remember the names, but will not butcher the spelling) one of whom conducted the piece (again, don't remember which. I think in was the French woman). It was an incredible experience, and one which I have treasured for a long time.

As an aside, that conference was the same weekend as the softball team's first tournament. When I told the coach that I would not be playing in the tournament, he told me I would not be playing on the team. Funny thing, the tourny got rained out (it IS Oregon, after all!) and although it tore me up at the time, it was the best thing for me. I still played softball for 4 years, and ended up playing on a better team for a better coach.

[uieuph]

Guest Conductors

I had an opportunity a year ago to follow Henry Charles Smith at a Low Brass Day in Cedar Rapids. Over a hundred tubas, euphoniums, baritones, and trombones under a trombone legend was a pretty cool experience.

[EHenshaw]

Guest Conductors

I'm very sad to hear that Mr. Schissel is ill. I had the honor of having Loras Schissel guest conduct my high school's band earlier this year. It was such a great experience being under his direction. He has such a fun and energetic style of conducting, a great change from most of the conductors that I've encountered (during rehearsal, while we were playing he would even walk around the band, start singing certain parts, and even simulate striking the bass drum). The band really seemed to respond to it and you could hear all of the nuances of the piece that weren't there before.

[RickF]

Guest Conductors

I added a link to my original post above where you can listen to an mp3 file of "Midway March" (conducted by Cdr. Allen Beck). I thought the flutes did an excellent job!

[RickF]

Guest Conductors

I added another link to my original post above to listen to our playing of Carmen Dragon's arrangement of "America the Beautiful" under guest conductor Cdr. Allen Beck.

[Tim]

Guest Conductors

Great work and thanks for posting the music, especially right before July 4th. Really gets you in the mood.

Yes the trumpets may have gotten a little excited there.

Tim

[daruby]

Guest Conductors

Rick,

Very nice! When I was about 16 years old, Carmen Dragon was the guest conductor at our county Honor Band in Modesto, California. I had the opportunity to play this arrangement under Carmen Dragon, himself.

I have probably played it at least 75 times since then as it is customary to end each concert here in New England with America the Beautiful and Stars and Stripes. (both of which I play from memory). Unfortunatly, it is usually played at the end of a concert when chops are tired and control issues abound.

Notwithstanding a squeak and a little sharpness in the trumpets, Carmen Dragon would have been proud of your band's rendition. Goo job!

Doug

[RickF]

Guest Conductors

Thanks Tim and Doug,

I think Carmen Dragon's arrangement is the best there is for a wind band. Seems like all of the Military bands play this arrangement too.

[bearphonium]

Guest Conductors

I have to chime in with another story. Shortly after my first post on this thread, I got a note from Scott McKee, who is the son of my college band director, Max McKee. Some folks will know them from The American Band College, which Max founded, and has been going strong for 10+ years. Scott was putting together a surprise "retirement" party for Max, who will never retire from the music business, but never had a formal retirement when he left Southern Oregon in 1994.

The call went out to ABC graduates, as well as anyone who played for Max in college. All in all, about 150 people showed up, about 30 of us college alumni (to include my elementary school band director, and my high school co-director as SOSC grads, and my nephew's middle school band director as an ABC grad).

We did four rehearsals and a performance, which was a TOTAL surprise for Max. The "big" gift was a piece commissioned in honor of Max and his contribution to music composed by Jan Van Der Roost--who came and conducted the piece, and is a close friend of Max. Because he was teaching at ABC, I got to sit in the tuba section with Pat Sheridan, which was a thrill for me. There were three people from my graduating class there, and none of us had been a music major--we had a career firefighter, a career police officer, and an insurance guy. That was, in my opinion, Max's real gift. To inspire people who wanted music as a career, and to have room for those of us who love music, and had a different life path.