CREATING BRASS MUSIC TODAY

FAYE-ELLEN SILVERMAN

This panel discussion will introduce you to the four composers who have been commissioned to create new brass works for this conference. Each composer will describe her current compositional style, including specifics about the newly commissioned composition. There will also be a general discussion of the challenges faced by composers in writing brass music today, followed by a question-and-answer period.

 

USING YOUR CREATIVITY TO MAKE IT IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS

LISA ARGIRIS

Lisa Argiris started International Musical Suppliers, now located at 681 Graceland Avenue in Des Plaines, IL in her Northwestern University dorm, selling clarinet accessories to fellow students. The company is now a Multi-million dollar mail order operation with more than 79,000 customers worldwide and is a top 200 retailer nationwide.
In 1991, Argiris added a new company to the mix, Music Starts Here also at the same Des Plaines location. Music Starts Here is a retail outlet and supplier of band and orchestra rental instruments and musical accessories to schools. Many of the 27 employees who work for both
companies are musicians. Says Argiris, "While musicians may not be schooled in the finer points of business and selling, they know what the customers need musically. They can match client's needs with the right instrument, allowing us to successfully compete with others in the industry who typically use price as their only differentiation."
Argiris herself is an accomplished free-lance clarinetist who performs regularly with "The Pilgrim Chamber Players" in Highland Park, Illinois, and can be heard on Chicago's classical radio station WFMT. Her other interests include many civic organizations as NAWBO, The National Association of Women Business Owners, the Musician's Club of Women, Women's Business Development Center as well as having served on a panel for the Federal Reserve to help steer policy makers towards better ways to fund small business in the US. Additionally Argiris teaches a music business career development class at De Paul University where she started the first ever music business job fair and serves on the advisory board for the School of Music.
In April of 2002 Argiris was the recipient of the National Association of Women Business Owners known as NAWBO (Chicago Chapter) "2002 Woman Business Owner of the Year." The NAWBO Chicago Chapter is the largest in the USA and does over one billion dollars of business.
International Musical Suppliers Inc. can be reached at 1.800.762.1116 and Music Starts Here Inc. can be reached at 888-762-1116.

FREE LIPS & FLOATING ARMS: PLAY MORE COMFORTABLY WITH THE ANAT BANIEL METHOD OF FELDENKRAIS®

MAGGIE MILES

Instructor: Maggie Miles, G.C.F.P./A.B.M.P.
Your lips can feel free and your arms float effortlessly while you play. Discover how through this dynamic and fun workshop. For decades, musicians world-wide have found the Feldenkrais Method® has given them both the immediate & long-term solutions they need to play comfortably, prevent injuries, and prolong their careers. A refined evolution of the Feldenkrais Method®, the Anat Baniel Method(TM) offers the professional brass musician an opportunity to regain the dynamic, spontaneous capacity of her skeleton so that the highly complex actions of music-making can be supported. Through Transformational Movement Lessons(TM) and experiential demonstrations, you will learn how to incorporate these potent movement exercises into your existing practice and performance routines. Prolong your playing career. Experience a level of comfort you thought impossible. Prevent career-threatening injuries. Learn how to more spontaneously generate your creative spirit. With this workshop, open the door to an amazing world of possibility for your playing, your performance, your life.
Bring a towel, a blanket or mat, and your instrument, if possible.
A former brass player (French Horn), Maggie Miles has a special commitment to supporting professional musicians in discovering effective solutions for their performance-related challenges. Certified in both the Feldenkrais Method® and the Anat Baniel Method(TM), Ms. Miles maintains private practices in Chicago and Morehead, Kentucky where she is Director of the Feldenkrais® Center of Appalachia, Inc. Besides musicians, Ms. Miles is known for her work with children and adults who are seeking better solutions from functional challenges caused by neurological disorders, spinal injuries, joint replacements, birth-trauma, and learning disabilities. Currently she serves as an assistant to the ABM Professional Training in Chicago. Constant discomfort while playing and difficulty mastering the complex technical & visual demands of music-making contributed to Ms. Miles finally (and sadly) putting down her horn in college. Now trained as a FM/ABM practitioner, Ms. Miles has transformed this personal history into a professional commitment to helping musicians find the answers they need to overcome injuries, prolong their careers, and re-discover the joy of playing.

ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE FOR BRASS PLAYERS: PLAYING WITH LESS TENSION

ROBIN KEARTON

Robin Kearton was certified to teach the Alexander Technique in 1996. Since then she has instructed numerous instrumentalists and dancers in overcoming physical overuse and misuse problems or improving coordination in their performances. She has given clinics on the Alexander Technique for the American Choral Directors' Association, American Guild of Organists, various intellectual interest groups, and several studio classes at the University of Illinois and surrounding areas. She has published articles on string performance and the Alexander Technique in The Scroll, (Illinois String Teachers' journal) and in the International Women's Brass Conference Newsletter. Ms. Kearton is also an active performer on violin and viola, and has performed regularly with local and regional professional orchestras in Illinois and Florida since 1983. In addition to her orchestral performance she enjoys playing in baroque chamber music groups and has also performed with popular ensembles specializing in Argentinean tango, Parisian café music, and bluegrass.

MUSIC AND FITNESS: USING MUSICAL SKILLS TO FIND SUCCESS IN THE WORLD OF FITNESS

CAROLYN SANDERS AND MARVIN STAMM

Carolyn Sanders is currently Associate Professor of Music at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She joined the faculty in 1990 upon completion of the Doctor of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from Florida State University. She received her Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California, Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of New Mexico.
Active as a recitalist and clinician throughout the South, Sanders is also a member of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, which specializes in the performance of music on period instruments. She is a 1998 recipient of the UAH Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching, and holds memberships in Pi Kappa Lambda Honorary Society, College Music Society, International Trumpet Guild, International Women's Brass Conference and the Historic Brass Society.
Sanders has studied with noted performers including Boyde Hood and Rob Roy McGregor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Betty Scott of University of Missouri-Columbia, and Bryan Goff of Florida State University. Maintaining a particular interest in Baroque music, she has also studied Baroque trumpet with Edward Tarr of Basil, Switzerland. As a result of her musical travels to Europe, which most recently included a solo recital at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London, performance at the 2002 International Trumpet Guild Conference in Manchester, and research at the British and Oxford libraries, Sanders has edited a number of Baroque compositions, published by Musica Rara of Monteux, France, and Breitkopf & Härtel of Wiesbaden, Germany.
In the realm of physical fitness, Sanders worked for three years as a behavior therapist at a medically-oriented obesity clinic after completing her counseling degree, focusing on the psychology of nutritional and exercise issues. In terms of her personal interest in fitness, she was inspired to become involved in the sport of triathlon four years ago, despite the fact that she hated to run. Her endeavors last summer were relatively fruitful, with Sanders finally inching away from the "to finish is to win" category to actually finishing and winning, with the award of first place in her age group in the final two triathlons of the season. She still hates to run!

TUBA MASTER CLASS

JOANNA HERSEY

Joanna Ross Hersey, a native Vermonter, is an active freelance musician and Principal Tubist with the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra. Joanna studied with Dan Perantoni at Arizona State University, before returning to New England to become Principal Tuba with the United States Coast Guard Band. As a member of one of the nation's premiere service bands, Joanna has performed throughout the country and overseas, and has become a familiar face at low brass conferences working as a clinician and soloist throughout North America. Performing with her Tuba-Euphonium Quartet, Alchemy, Joanna can be heard on their recent compact disc Village Dances. Joanna received a Master of Music degree in Tuba Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with Chester Schmitz, and has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in progress at the Hartt School of Music. An energetic teacher, Joanna has recently been appointed Instructor of Tuba and Euphonium at the Hartt School, bringing her unique experience and outlook to a new generation of low brass musicians.

 

ORCHESTRAL REPERTOIRE MASTER CLASS

This master class will be focused on section playing, diplomacy, leadership, intonation and blend, being a woman in a brass section, winning positions, and performing in orchestral positions overseas. The list of panel members for the Orchestral Master Class is : Lauraine Carpenter, Rebecca Cherian, Julia McIntyre, Donna Parkes, Judith Saxton, and Susan Slaughter.

TRUMPET ENSEMBLE READING SESSION

CONDUCTED BY MARIE SPEZIALE

This session offers conference participants the opportunity to read trumpet ensemble music. Bring your trumpet!

BRASS CHOIR READING SESSION

CONDUCTED BY SARAH RECKMEYER

This session offers conference participants the opportunity to read brass choir music. Bring your instrument!
Ms. Reckmeyer holds degrees from Illinois State University and Northwestern University. She has been the band director at Ottawa Township High School for fourteen years, and her bands have won the IHSA State Music Sweepstakes eight times.