Palen Music Center Quick Note

Monday, May 5, 2014

Palen Music Center is dedicated to helping children experience excellence, personal growth, and joy through involvement in music. We carry out this mission by supporting area band directors through weekly service, support, educational programs, and quality products. This weekly Quick Note newsletter strives to highlight topics that are immediately helpful in the classroom. Comments, suggestions, ideas, and articles are always welcome.

Looking for help on a particular topic? Be sure to check out our Quick Note Catalog of back issues!

A Little Inspiration

Editor's Note: Paul Warnex passed along this video link and the summary below. This video is well worth the time to watch. You can just drink in the joy from this story.

As we wind down from the rigors of the contest season, "Joy In The Congo" is a great video to remind us why we have chosen music as our occupation. I believe we sometimes get so caught up in the nuts and bolts of our profession that we lose sight of the magic of music and how it can move people. When I saw this on "60 Minutes", it really hit home about the joy and the escape from everyday life that music brings, even to the poorest of people around the world. The people in Kinshasa, Congo, one of the poorest cities in the world, went from no formal musical training or instruments to forming a symphony orchestra and performing "Carmina Burana" and Beethoven's "9th Symphony".

-- Paul Warnex

Click the image below to watch a beautiful story about the power of music and the joy it brings to the participants and audiences alike.

Survey - Your Feedback Is Needed

Hello Fellow Directors,

I am working on a project and have a few quick questions for anyone who would be willing to answer them.

• If you could watch one current/active middle school, junior high, or high school band director run a rehearsal, who would it be? Why?
• If that question were extended to university directors, who would you want to watch? Why?
• I am really asking in regards to rehearsal methods and quality of instruction. Who do you feel really has it figured out?
• Who could we learn the most from watching?

Please send responses to: [email protected]. Thank you!

Drew Morris
Berryville, Arkansas