Podcast appearances and mentions of William D Revelli

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Michael Haithcock who is the Director of Bands at the University of Michigan. During our conversation, Michael shares his thoughts on ways to engage students in rehearsal and leading a program to musical excellence.    Topics include: - Transitioning into a program that’s strong in tradition - Maintaining excellence in a program - Bringing music to life through score study - Repertoire quality and selection - Helping students discover expressive elements of music  Links:  Michael’s University of Michigan page: https://smtd.umich.edu/about/faculty-profiles/michael-haithcock/ University of Michigan Symphony Band YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIL7RYgu4qViyVCL69F8zTg Bio:  Michael Haithcock assumed his duties as director of bands and professor of music (conducting) at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2001 following twenty-three years on the faculty of Baylor University. Following in the footsteps of William D. Revelli and H. Robert Reynolds, Professor Haithcock conducts the internationally renowned University of Michigan Symphony Band, guides the acclaimed graduate band and wind ensemble conducting program, and provides administrative leadership for all aspects of the University of Michigan’s diverse and historic band program. Ensembles under Haithcock’s guidance have received a wide array of critical acclaim for their high artistic standards of performance and repertoire. These accolades have come through concerts at national and state conventions, performances in major concert venues, and recordings on the Albany, Arsis, and Equilibrium labels. Haithcock was selected to conduct the world premiere of Daron Hagen’s Bandanna, an opera for voice and wind band, commissioned by the College Band Directors’ National Association. He is a leader in commissioning and premiering new works for concert band. Haithcock has earned the praise of both composers and conductors for his innovative approaches to developing the wind ensemble repertoire and programming. Haithcock is in constant demand as a guest conductor and as a resource person for symposiums and workshops in a variety of instructional settings as well as festival and all-state appearances throughout the country. A graduate of East Carolina University – where he received the 1996 Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Music – and Baylor University, Haithcock has done additional study at a variety of conducting workshops including the Herbert Blomstedt Orchestral Conducting Institute. The Instrumentalist, the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, the School Musician, the Southwest Music Educator, and WINDS magazine have published his articles on conducting and wind literature.  

In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Frank Battisti about his views on music and music education. Known affectionately to many of his students as “Mr. B”, Battisti has led a prolific career as an educator at Ithaca High School (NY) and the New England Conservatory. Bonus features of this episode include ideas on the importance of music to the human experience and a remarkable story of an impromptu performance featuring Benny Goodman playing a student’s clarinet.    Topics include: (03:02) Battisti talks about his life and professional background (05:19) The educational objectives of any academic institution  (07:07) The role of music in a comprehensive education  (11:32) Finding quality in repertoire selections (13:00) Getting kids to fall in love with music (21:45) Using repertoire to build and enrich audiences (24:41) Using repertoire to build lifelong consumers of music  (27:47) Getting students to bring out the expressive elements of music (30:20) Better to illuminate than to shine!  (35:41) The role of adjudications/contests in music education (46:41) Battisti shares stories from his career  (55:47) Favorite rehearsal tactics (58:25) Why do we teach music?  (01:00:26) Battisti discusses leaders that have made an impact on his life  (01:13:53) Measuring the impact educators make on students (01:05:57) Advice for music educators   Links:  Banddirector.com Interview with Battisti - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2k1giCGTlg Battisti’s lecture at TMEA 2001 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0BC9F7znSw&list=PLB2D441350229D202 New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble Recordings featuring Battisti as conductor -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inZ1bMGHucI&list=OLAK5uy_kZQaNmdXJI8xy4HbvWVdvL4LYxNQK978s https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mEOFWHilHoCi0l3nhfu07tM1HHCilIwr8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v1XCZteVts&list=OLAK5uy_kyPcTwdJzP2d39r3UuqtB-G1Lq2yAH97E   Bio:  Frank Battisti began his teaching career as an instrumental teacher in the Ithaca (New York) Public Schools in 1953. He became Director of Bands at Ithaca High School in 1955 and remained there until 1967. He also served as chairperson of the Instrumental Music Department from 1961 - 67. The Ithaca High School Band, under Battisti’s direction, achieved national recognition as one of the finest and most unique high school bands in the nation. The concert band performed at the Ithaca College School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Mid-West National Band and Orchestra Clinic (Chicago 1965), Rockefeller Center, the New York World’s Fair (1964) and at other regional and national music events. In 1997 the John Philip Sousa Foundation selected Battisti’s Ithaca High School Concert Band for their Historic Roll of Honor of High School Concert Bands, 1920-1980. Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Director of Wind Studies at North Texas State University, hails the Ithaca High School Band under the leadership of Frank Battisti “as one of the truly great achievements of instrumental music education in the twentieth century.” From 1958 - 67, the Ithaca High School Band commissioned 24 works for band. The commissioned composers included Warren Benson, David Borden, Carlos Chavez, Barney Childs, Walter Hartley, Vincent Persichetti, Armand Russell, Alec Wilder and Pulitzer Prize in Music winners Leslie Bassett, Karel Husa, Robert Ward, Gunther Schuller. Guest soloists and conductors appearing with the Ithaca High School Band from 1955-67 included Benny Goodman, Carl “Doc” Severinson, Donald Sinta, Harvey Phiillips, The New York Brass Quintet, Jimmy Burke, Vincent Persichetti, Norman Dello Joio, Thomas Beversdorf, Clyde Roller, Frederick Fennell, William D. Revelli and Walter Beeler. Battisti was conductor of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and a faculty member at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music from 1967 – 69. In 1969 President Gunther Schuller invited him to come to the New England Conservatory in Boston to start the wind ensemble. Under his 30 years of leadership the ensemble became recognized as one of the premiere ensembles of its kind in the United States and throughout the world. The ensemble recorded for Centaur and Albany records and its performances were broadcast over the National Public Radio Network (NPR) and other classical music radio stations throughout the United States and world. While at the Conservatory Battisti commission works from distinguished national and international composers such as Robert Ceely, John Harbison, Robin Holloway, Witold Lutoslawski, William Thomas McKinley, Michael Colgrass, Daniel Pinkham, Gunther Schuller, Robert Selig, and Sir Michael Tippett. When he retired from the Conservatory in 1999 he was named Conductor Emeritus of the NEC Wind Ensemble. Dr.Battisti has guest conducted numerous university, college, military, professional and high school bands and wind ensembles and served as a visiting teacher/clinician throughout the United States, England, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Scandinavia, Australia, China, Taiwan, Canada, South America, South Korea, Iceland and the former U.S.S.R. Past President of the U.S. College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Battisti is also a member of the American Bandmasters Association (ABA) and founder of the National Wind Ensemble Conference, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble (MYWE), New England College Band Association (NECBA) and the Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artists Wind Ensemble. In 1986 and 1993 Dr. Battisti was a visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England. He is the recipient of many awards and honors including an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Ithaca College in 1992 and the Ithaca College Alumni Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, the first Louis and Adrienne Krasner Excellence in Teaching Award from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1997, the Lowell Mason Award from the Massachusetts Music Educators Association in 1998, the New England College Band Association's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic's Medal of Honor in 2001 and the National Band Director’ AWAPA in 2006.

Composer/arranger Jerry Bilik, BMus ’55/MMus ’61, takes you inside the Michigan Marching Band. He’s the artist behind some of their most beloved classics. Plus he's a huge Beatles fan. Read full story at Michigan Today More on Bilik and the Band Jerry Bilik's website Michigan Marching Band William D. Revelli

Lynne Jackson has been a music teacher for over 40 years and shares some of her thoughts about music and band, and offers some tips for teachers heading back to school for the new year. Topics: Lynne's background growing up in Michigan, deciding to be a band director in the 8th grade, early mentors, and playing in William D. Revelli's band at the University of Michigan. Lynne's journey from Michigan to Texas via VanderCook University and the Midwest Clinic. Lynne's advice for teachers as they head back to school this year and the most common concern she gets from music education students before they head into the classroom. Best practices for starting beginners. Links: Lynne Jackson Persichetti: Symphony for Band Young Educator Seminar Biography: Lynne Jackson has taught forty-three years and currently teaches wind method and graduate music education classes at Southern Methodist University. Jackson also serves as a wind pedagogy specialist for the Berkner area in the Richardson Independent School District, Richardson, Texas. Jackson grew up in Michigan and attended the University of Michigan, where she studied with Clifford Lillya and Elizabeth Green and performed for four years under the baton of William D. Revelli. She received her master’s degree in music education from Vandercook College of Music. In July 2010, Jackson was awarded the “Meritorious Achievement Award” by the Texas Bandmasters Association.

Composer Frank Ticheli joins me to talk about his career, offer some advice, and remind all of us that music should be fun and our goal should be joy! My sincere apologies for the connection problems in the second half of the interview. Topics: Frank’s early experiences and an anecdote about how he started on the trumpet and not the clarinet. Being a student in Texas and the lessons about music that he learned from his high school band directors and the story of a nudge towards becoming a composer from a teacher that recognized something special in him. The story of how Frank got involved in writing music for band and the stigmatization of band music in the broader concert music community. Links: Frank Ticheli Manhattan Beach Music Ticheli: Symphony no. 3 “The Shore” Ticheli: Symphony no. 1 Biography: Frank Ticheli's music has been described as being "optimistic and thoughtful" (Los Angeles Times), "lean and muscular" (New York Times), "brilliantly effective" (Miami Herald) and "powerful, deeply felt crafted with impressive flair and an ear for striking instrumental colors" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel). Ticheli (b. 1958) joined the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in 1991, where he is Professor of Composition. From 1991 to 1998, Ticheli was Composer in Residence of the Pacific Symphony. Frank Ticheli's orchestral works have received considerable recognition in the U.S. and Europe. Orchestral performances have come from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, the radio orchestras of Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Saarbruecken, and Austria, and the orchestras of Austin, Bridgeport, Charlotte, Colorado, Haddonfield, Harrisburg, Hong Kong, Jacksonville, Lansing, Long Island, Louisville, Lubbock, Memphis, Nashville, Omaha, Phoenix, Portland, Richmond, San Antonio, San Jose, Wichita Falls, and others. Ticheli is well known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in the repertoire. In addition to composing, he has appeared as guest conductor of his music at Carnegie Hall, at many American universities and music festivals, and in cities throughout the world, including Schladming (Austria), Beijing and Shanghai, London and Manchester, Singapore, Rome, Sydney, and numerous cities in Japan. Frank Ticheli is the recipient of a 2012 "Arts and Letters Award" from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, his third award from that prestigious organization. His Symphony No. 2 was named winner of the 2006 NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. Other awards include the Walter Beeler Memorial Prize and First Prize awards in the Texas Sesquicentennial Orchestral Composition Competition, Britten-on-the-Bay Choral Composition Contest, and Virginia CBDNA Symposium for New Band Music. Ticheli was awarded national honorary membership to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, "bestowed to individuals who have significantly contributed to the cause of music in America," and the A. Austin Harding Award by the American School Band Directors Association, "given to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the school band movement in America." At USC, he has received the Virginia Ramo Award for excellence in teaching, and the Dean's Award for Professional Achievement. Frank Ticheli received his doctoral and masters degrees in composition from The University of Michigan. His works are published by Manhattan Beach, Southern, Hinshaw, and Encore Music, and are recorded on the labels of Albany, Chandos, Clarion, Equilibrium, Klavier, Koch International, Mark, Naxos, and Reference.

While at the Florida Music Educator's Conference in early January I had a chance to sit down with composer Jim Stephenson and talk about his career, his thoughts about composing, and winning the 2017 Revelli Prize.  Topics: Jim’s background as a trumpet player with the Naples Philharmonic and the decision he and his wife made to quit playing professionally and take the leap to become a professional composer. The opportunity to write for both band and orchestra and the connections that have helped Jim find success in both communities. Commissioning a work from Jim and how the personality of the performer and the needs of ensemble influence the final result. Jim’s advice for young composers and the early success that went mostly unnoticed but had a profound influence on his career. The story of Symphony No. 2 “Voices” that was written for and premiered the United States Marine Band and which won the National Band Association’s 2017 William D. Revelli Award. Links: Stephenson Music 2017 William D. Revelli Composition Contest Chicago Symphony Orchestra Commission Stephenson: Symphony No. 2 “Voices” Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Biography: Leading American orchestras, instrumentalists and wind ensembles around the world have performed the music of Chicago-based composer James M. Stephenson, both to critical acclaim and the delight of audiences.. Stephenson came late to his full-time composing career, having performed 17 seasons as a trumpeter in the Naples Philharmonic in Florida. As such, the composer is largely self-taught, making his voice truly individual and his life’s work all the more remarkable. Recent and upcoming premieres include the St. Louis and Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Cabrillo Festival, as well as the US “President’s Own” Marine Band. Over 150 orchestras and bands play his music annually. In his own words: "Since becoming a full-time composer in 2007, I have been fortunate to have had a steady stream of commissions and projects, keeping me always on task and, luckily, in demand. Stemming from my days as a professional trumpeter in the Naples (FL) Philharmonic, I have endeavored to be a “performer’s composer” – always remaining sensitive to the needs of those who are on stage making the music happen. Chicago Symphony clarinetist John Yeh has playfully called me “The Concerto King”, and I am happy to admit that my catalog does include a concerto, and sonata, for nearly every symphonic instrument, with more being added every year. A notable characteristic I try to infuse in my music is rhythmic momentum, as well as colorful scoring and orchestration, whether for instruments of the same timbre, or in mixed chamber settings. For me, this is the playground, and I absolutely love this part of the process. I will always cherish and hold in high esteem the musical giants of the past, in addition to adding my own modern sensitivities, so as to try to give my music a blend of familiarity and new discovery all at once. With this, I hope to lead audiences and performers on a journey of both anticipation and reward."