Reflecting on the Music Performance Assessment.

Singularity:

1.The state, fact, quality, or condition of being singular.

Seeking singularity is the ultimate goal of musicians performing in concert. We aim to collectively perform with musical intent. We strive to play every note with characteristic tone blended as one throughout each section. We attempt to place every note in balance not only in regard to melody and accompaniment but within the constructs of harmonies to create a sonorous sound. We endeavor to set in motion each rhythm as articulate, deliberately weighted and synchronized precisely in time. We make concerted effort to design and shape each phrase with the rise and fall of intensity to transfer emotion to our listener. We constantly strive to express music passionately, ever stretching our range of abilities spanning from tender subtlety to great power. We desire to accomplish this with the discipline, care and poise of a highly skilled artist. We focus to listen intently while playing to constantly evaluate our performance to steer our refinement of technique to more effectively communicate music.

This is what a Superior at Music Performance Assessment aims to signify for an ensemble. Not a badge or prize of perfection, but a remarkable level of consistency in achieving singularity in music performance. It is an affirmation that the direction we are headed in with this collaborative journey is one that is true to the intrinsic beauty of music.

An Excellent rating is evidence of this. It means that an ensemble wavers some from this singularity during the performance.

A Good rating may show glimpse of this while the performers generally play elements on the page, yet without a unified approach=lacking singularity.

Fair=no perceivable singularity and obvious errors.

Poor=unrecognizable.

I wrote this to help explain the MPA rubric to my students. It is meant to show where we are and that we will continue to capitalize on the efforts made to achieve at MPA. These concepts do not end with MPA or a rating, this is always the new beginning…

The purpose of this post is to begin sketching out the many ideas that have floated in and out thought for some time. Admittedly, this post will be self-serving to park these ideas somewhere to later revisit when I have the time to dedicate a full post. They are wide-ranging from existing longterm projects to professional topics and personal aspirations. I hope to write about the progress of these pursuits, share some stories, and provide some insight and suggestions for teaching. In the meantime, please forgive the scattered nature of what you will find below.

1.Partnership with FKCC to utilize their dorm facilities to house senior education interns for placement in Keys schools, all subject areas. This will potentially provide a pipeline of trained educators for our school system that so desperately needs teachers. It will also provide direct connections to and influence from major universities throughout the state. We are more than 100 miles from the nearest university and have virtually no connection to these institutions of higher learning. This will also provide FKCC with revenue to support their facilities.

2. Key West High School Auditorium Acoustics: 2.5 years ago, the acoustics in the auditorium were destroyed by a well-intentioned renovation that involved 1.4 million dollars in work and new sound and light equipment. $100,000 worth of sound absorption panels were added at the recommendation of a powered sound system company that had no background or work in designing or retrofitting acoustic concert halls. This resulted in making the original purpose of the concert hall’s design null and void, three-story ceilings and angled reflection walls that make it possible for acoustic ensembles to be heard through the properties of the acoustic design that creates resonance. What we have now is a giant movie theater that is exceptionally dry (no resonance). Powered sound through speakers wants nothing to do with natural acoustics as this environment is difficult to control for these systems. Our largest instrument, the auditorium, was effectively muted by this project. Choirs cannot be heard beyond the first section of seats and the sound of bands/orchestras never envelops the listener. Performers have a difficult time hearing each other on stage as there are standing waves on portions of the stage produce strange echoes, yet what the audience hears is raw sound that is not blended whatsoever. My intention is to correct this by bringing in a certified acoustician and company that can remedy this situation. Unfortunately, this will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

3. Restrooms for the band, choir, guitar and steel pan students in building 3. Plans for restrooms for our building’s band and choir rooms have not made it to the 5 year district building plan after 3 consecutive attempts.
Over the past 8 years I have spoken with district officials about the possibility of adding accessible restrooms to Building 3. It is largely seen as an oversight in the original construction to not have public restrooms in this part of the building. We could also benefit from having a large basin sink to clean instruments in etc. Mr. **** suggested a few years back that I submit to scale drawings to possibly have it placed on the 5 year plan. Please pass this information along as appropriate. The attached proposal is just one of many possible configurations, however, the inserted restrooms are ADA 2010 compliant and close to scale inlayed on top of the blueprints for Building 3. Feasibility would depend on plumbing infrastructure and how easy it would be to rearrange the current layout.

Rationale/issues:

· The nearest restroom is about 350 ft away in Building 4 past the cafeteria.  Travel time and distance are unreasonable for emergencies and those who are handicapped in addition to class time missed.  20% of the school comes through these two classrooms each day.  This will keep students in the building thus cutting down on supervision needs.

· We have many after school hour functions in this building and students/staff/parents do not have access to other restrooms elsewhere on campus as they are often locked.  This includes coming and going from field trips before/after school hours, rehearsals, and other functions/meetings.

· The closest official staff/adult restroom is in the front office.  The boys dressing room restroom is currently used by staff but is not available when functions are held in the auditorium both during and after school hours. 

· The auditorium dressing room restrooms are not a viable option for students due to the same reasons above and would create discipline and security issues with unrestricted access to the unsupervised corridor between the stage and changing rooms-this is especially the case during school hours.  The only access to the girls dressing room would be from the outside as well with no overhead walkway cover.  These restrooms are also unavailable when the auditorium facility is rented out to outside adult groups etc.

· Having access to these restrooms via the hallway where security cameras are located will help with any possible issues.  In addition, they can be kept locked and use of a class key can keep unauthorized traffic down.

· See Marathon Middle/High School Band room for their 3 restrooms/configuration etc.

· Outside groups using the facilities also require additional restroom facilities. Over 100 South Florida Symphony members were challenged with utilizing only two toilets backstage.

4. Campus Enhancement Ideas:

• Covered walkway for the only access to the auditorium for students during the school day, double wide. Oversite in the original construction.
• Outdoor stage in courtyard.
• Sunshade sails in courtyard, see park at Higgs Beach.
• Old Adult Ed converted into black box theater.
• Concreteable (portable classroom) for auxiliary music classroom/storage. The guitar and steel pan program do not have their own classroom/facilities and take place in the auditorium storage/paint room.

5. Band method book: I started my 16th year of teaching last month and this has been on the to-do list since my first year. Time to bring together all of the strategies, methods, and resources together in a comprehensive method book. Thoughts include a digital approach relying heavily on Google Classroom.

6. All-County Band Concert with the SWAT Team: reflections on a surreal day in 2018.

7. Irma… a collection of ghastly experiences.

8. How to get new marching band uniforms in under 18 years.

9. Metaphors, similes, and analogies in the music classroom.

10. Visualizing physical and stylistic articulations, mechanics and sound structures.

11. Aural awareness through acoustics driven music classroom arrangement.

12. Creating a culture of intrinsic motivation in an environment laden with motivation through fear and extrinsic reward.

13. How to keep the boat off the flats and in the channel with one screw.

14. Teaching instrumental resonance through singing.

15. Being direct without being mean.

16. What’s next? A guide to instantaneous informal assessment in the music classroom.

17. Turning battles into tangos.

18. Instilling a passion for performance in the face of an anxiety epidemic.

19. Navigating complex social issues with care.

20. Cognitive bias in Music Performance Assessment preparation.

21. Cognitive bias in adjudicating Music Performance Assessments.

22. Skull in a box: a 6th grade band story.

23. The Balanced Program: Art/Entertainment and Education/Activity