Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Fall 2023 17 Cducting my life as I was able to put aside past negative experiences and feel the music how I wanted to feel it — not how anyone else told me it should go. After lunch, we started the afternoon with lectures by Dr. Lynch and Dr. Ambrose. We learned about the ideal band sound, maximizing rehearsal efficiency, score study, and improving pulse and rhythmic accuracy. We also diverged into group discussion at several points, where respectful disagreement was encouraged. Some important notes from these lectures include: • Force and resistance must balance to achieve the most resonant tone on an instrument. • Don't stop an ensemble in rehearsal without telling them why. • Only about 60% of music is notate-able – the rest is up for interpretation. • Record your ensemble and slow the recording down by 20% - you will quickly discover if they are actually playing in time. • Think deeply about the music and how you want it to sound before ever stepping in front of the ensemble. For the second afternoon session, we broke up into two smaller groups for flex band excerpt conducting. This was something I hadn't done at a symposium before, but I liked that it gave me the opportunity to work on more specific technical aspects of conducting without having to deal with an entire piece of music. It was also very valuable to have three more chances to work one-on-one with the clinicians. I chose to conduct excerpts from movement 5 of Persichetti's Divertimento for Band and movement 4 of Gounod's Petite Symphonie, which allowed me to work on gestures of syncopation and conducting in a light style with dynamic contrast. On Friday, we ended with a final discussion instead of flex excerpts. Dr. Ambrose and Dr. Lynch answered our outstanding questions from the week and left us with inspiring parting words.. Before we left, Dr. Ambrose encouraged us to say goodbye to each other – no one should leave without talking to every other person in the room. While we could have done this quickly and went on our way, every single person stayed and had a meaningful conversation with every other person. Over an hour after the official ending, many of us were still there talking about band and life. I sometimes feel like I'm not taken seriously because I'm still a fairly new teacher, a woman, I teach in a small school, I teach beginners, or any number of other reasons; none of those things mattered throughout the week and I am so appreciative of the way we all grew together despite our differences. The group of fellows, auditors, and clinicians was so collaborative and non-judgmental, and this was the perfect way for us to end our time together. My flight was on Saturday night, giving me a day to explore Atlanta before going home. It was a very hot day (106° heat index at times!), but that just gave me the full "Georgia in summer" experience. I walked nearly 12 miles while visiting Martin Luther King, Jr.'s childhood home and church, the Sweet Auburn Municipal Market (where I had some quintessential Georgia peaches), Piedmont Park, and the neighborhoods around those areas. I finally arrived home shortly before 2am on July 2 – just in time to get a little bit of sleep before starting Independence Day gigs with my community bands! Advice • Apply for an SAI Professional Development Grant! It may not cover everything, but can help make your experience more financially manageable. • Join the Instrumental Conducting Workshops group on Facebook to find out about conducting symposium opportunities around the world (for both band and orchestra). • Get to know the other participants. You can learn just as much from them as you do from the clinicians. Many clinicians will tell you that they are still good friends and close colleagues with people they met at symposia earlier in their career. I have stayed in touch with Dr. Ambrose and one of the other band fellows since ASCI ended, and we have had some great discussion that has helped me find more meaning in beginning band music and will subsequently help my youngest students have a better band experience when I see them again in the fall. • Find out what the playing opportunities are in addition to conducting. I personally prefer attending symposia where the conductors play in the ensemble when it's not their turn to conduct. I have an easier time paying attention during long conducting rounds, and I feel that I learn more when my playing is personally affected by the person on the box rather than just watching it from afar. • If you're going to a city you've never been to before, build in some time to explore. I scheduled my flight to Atlanta a day early and stayed a day late so I could find out what the city was like beyond the GSU campus. I was able to see Centennial Olympic Park, the Georgia Aquarium, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, the outdoor sculptures at the Woodruff Center for the Arts, and explore the Downtown, Sweet Auburn, Midtown, Piedmont, and Buckhead neighborhoods. • Just do it, even if it scares you. You can't grow without being a little bit uncomfortable. In my experience, the clinicians have always been extremely compassionate and excellent at meeting the participants where they are and building them from there. You don't need to be the world's best conductor, you just need to have a desire to get better and a willingness to accept feedback. Braeden Weyhrich is an alumna of the Iota Alpha Chapter of SAI at Oklahoma State University. She currently serves as the 5-12 Band Director at Hinton Community School in northwest Iowa. Conducting Conducting Sheltering Sky Sheltering Sky and receiving feedback and receiving feedback from Dr. Robert Ambrose from Dr. Robert Ambrose

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