Concert and Jazz Bands

While teaching at Mount Vernon High School, my experience with concert bands allowed me to direct and co-direct three levels of concert bands.

Our freshman group was 30-35 students initially, but reached nearly 80 students at it’s peak several years after I began when it was co-directed.

The symphonic band was our intermediate group and consistently received superior ratings at region festivals, often performing music as or nearly as difficult as the advanced bands in many schools.

The flagship wind ensemble was one of the strongest groups north of Seattle. Led by my co-director, I was fortunate to regularly conduct and teach this group, including during our trip to the National Band & Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall, thanks to his insistence on my position as co-director, rather than assistant.

Our jazz groups maintained a high interest, and at one point required three levels of jazz bands scheduled during the school day to adequately balance classes. Before the a new auditorium was built, these groups performed with mariachi at the historic downtown theater. Performances were always of a high caliber and were attended by a broad audience that included many residents with no children or grandchildren in our bands.

The past four years in Mexico I more than doubled the band program in only two short years, and it now enjoys the participation of nearly one third of the student body. What began with only a handful of students - only seven in my smallest group - performing almost exclusively music written for beginners, is now one of the highlights of our middle school.

The videos and recording below include full concerts, including groups directed by others, but are appropriately timestamped at highlights of my groups.