Barb Bowker attended the 2011 conference of the Great Lakes chapter of The College Music Society, held at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, on April 1-2.
Department of Music Chair, Greg Clemons, was an adjudicator and clinician for the Illinois High School Association Large Ensemble Festival on Saturday, April 15. The Festival was held at Thornwood Township High School in South Holland, Illinois. 57 high school bands, orchestras, and jazz bands from throughout the greater Chicago area participated. Greg also served as a guest conductor and clinician at Glenbrook South High School on Saturday, March 26.
Tom Stauch attended the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Chicago, IL, March 9 – March 12, 2011.
The good sunshine and high daytime temperatures over the last weeks have led to total ripeness and great concentration. In both the wineries in Pessac-Leognan and the Médoc, he has already observed good extraction of colour and good alcohol content (13.5°).
"The vines are in good health, that's the main thing. We've started the harvesting step by step but it's pretty unhurried. Things will speed up a bit this week", said Mau.
Harvesting started at Château Brown on September 15, beginning with the old Merlots (the ripest), he picked 50% within a week. The other plots of Merlot then the Petit Verdot will be picked this week.
Hand-picking into trays, and the double sorting operation (on the vine then at the winery, where a team of 10 people select them) is "exactly the right way to go about this vintage with its mixed quality of grapes, some of which are nice on the eye, less so in the vat," said Mau.
This week will see the proper start for Château Preuillac, where a team of 30 harvesters plus six people sorting will be hard at work (for the moment only the young vines and part of the merlot have been picked). The northern plateau has been targeted as the priority. The sorting tables are located directly in the vineyard. Mau reports that Nathalie Billard, the young cellar-master at this estate overlooking the estuary, is scrupulously tasting the grapes as each day passes, waiting for the best moment.
These links are offered as a convenience to AHS members. With the exception of AHS-produced materials, these resources are not verified, recommended or endorsed by AHS, Inc.
This site is very comprehensive and covers all the basics very thoroughly, although a bit dryly. There are Tutorials, Exercises, References and Articles (interesting and again, comprehensive, including all kinds of historical content through contemporary music).
A Teacher's guidance is basically needed and there is a Teacher's Manual. It could be manageable for self-taught adult harpists, although might be slow and involved, due to its depth. Overall, this is a very informative and productive curriculum.
Practica Musica has a free online textbook as well as many, many areas of musical study. This website has a good overview: http://ars-nova.com/pm6info/pm6features.html
Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory - http://www.alfred.com/emt - includes books to purchase; online subscriptions ($129.99 for a Teacher's annual subscription; $19.99 for the Student's annual subscription), Ear Training, games such as musical Bingo and interactive software. There is a good description of all it has to offer on the home page. The complete Book of Essentials of Music Theory is a spiral bound book that covers books 1 -3, plus CDs. Its cost is $34.99.
This site is very useful and accessible. All that one needs to do is click on: "Lessons" or "Trainer" or "Utilities". From there, there is a world of education and training available.
This is a very comprehensive exam based education in all aspects of music, including music theory, music technique, aural skills, and music performance of the repertoire particular to a pre-determined ABRSM level. The Wikipedia link gives an excellent and thorough description.
The syllabus is available to all teachers. One does not have be a member of the Music Teacher Association of California to use the syllabus. Membership is required if you wish to participate in the Certificate of Merit Evaluation Program.
Go to http://mtac.org. Click on Store link on upper right hand corner. Scroll down for the harp syllabus. The syllabus is a comprehensive guide for what to teach students from pre-readers to pre-professional players. It includes suggested topics for technique, theory, ear training and music history, along with lists of graded repertoire for each level.
download practice work (and answer sheets!) on scales, intervals, triads, figured bass, harmonization of melodies, and much more.
Resources for harp music of the 18th & 19th centuries, including biographies of composers and downloadable facsimiles of manuscripts and rare editions.
http://www.cpmusic.com/tradmus.html - a collection of (mostly) traditional music to look at, listen to, or download at your convenience
Reigning Harps http://www.reigningharps.com/ a harp club in Seattle, offering new arrangements or original free sheet music for Celtic harp posted quarterly. The older posts are also archived, and include some arrangements for harp ensemble.
https://urresearch.rochester.edu/viewInstitutionalCollection.action?collectionId=63 Downloadable scores and books from the Sibley Music Library that are in the public domain, many of which are unique to this collection.
Listen to more than 130 songs and tunes, in Scots and Gaelic, and learn about the long and rich tradition of Scottish music. You can learn about traditional songs and music, understand themes in Scottish music and find out more about Scotland's instruments, like the bagpipes and the clarsach. There’s a short introduction to each song or tune, along with song lyrics and the musical notation for almost every tune.
Harplist - http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/harplist/ - a list devoted to the discussion of any and all topics related to folk, historical and pedal harps
www.wirestrungharp.com, a resource for dependable information and a place where people can engage, question and participate as scholars, enthusiasts and students of the wire–strung harp.
A Harp in the School: A Guide for School Ensemble Directors and Harpists (2006), edited by Chelcy Bowles. (Currently unavailable.)
ABRSM: the exam board of the Royal Schools of Music, Harp Exams: http://us.abrsm.org/en/our-exams/other-instruments/harp-exams/
Education Project 2000 - a listing of published harp parts for school ensembles (grades 1-12); Harp in orchestra; Harp in band.
A personal collection of Edna Phillips Rosenbaum, principal harpist of The Philadelphia Orchestra (1930-46), harpist for the Fantasia soundtrack, and the first woman to hold a principal position with a major American symphony orchestra. She and her husband Samuel Rosenbaum commissioned some of the most significant works in the harp repertoire, such as the Ginastera Harp Concerto. Acquired in 2004 by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Collection was donated to Illinois by her daughter Joan Solaun.
http://onlinephdprogram.org/university-libraries/ A listing of 101 great university library sites, including many of the nation's best academic libraries from private universities, state schools, and liberal arts colleges.
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