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​Five points to keep in mind when choosing repertoire for both community and educationally based ensembles.

10/7/2017

1 Comment

 
The choosing of educationally and artistically appropriate repertoire for our ensembles can, at times seem a difficult and daunting task.  I offer for your consideration the following points when selecting your repertoire.  Work toward choosing works that will:
​
  1. Provide ample opportunities for the nurturing of musical creativity, expression and inspiration and lie within the technical capabilities of your ensemble.  
  2. Provide for the necessary connections that allow for the transferal of both technical facility and musical concepts introduced and developed in the warm-up and training portion of your rehearsals.  
  3. Provide for the ‘all-important’ motivation, which should lead our ensembles toward the perfecting of manual dexterity, rhythmic vocabulary, articulations and expressive interpretation.  
  4. Provide possibilities for exploring the wide range of human emotion through the exposure to and engagement with significant art music. 
  5. Provide opportunities for your ensemble to experience a balanced range of works that includes: original, serious 20th & 21st century compositions; faithful transcriptions, or arrangements of significant works and composers that retain the composer's original intent, and finally include well-crafted works drawn from the popular/contemporary genre.
 
And for further thought:
 
All of our repertoire choices generally pass through the following filters:

  • Our personal aesthetic criterion
  • Our personal tastes
  • Our musical & extra-musical values, including our overall music education philosophy
 
Therefore, it is important to regularly examine our own understanding of what constitutes quality, significant music, and to commit ourselves to maintaining our listening through consistent exposure to significant musical performances.
1 Comment
Tom Huelsmann link
11/7/2017 11:55:45 pm

Transcriptions -Yes!! I learned classical music from playing the Army Band Journal transcriptions of Wagner, Weber, and a host of others. Music with hair o its chest!

Great article, Monte!

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    Mr. Mumford holds an international reputation as a conductor, adjudicator and clinician, contributing regularly to the field of music education and performance studies through conference presentations, publications, professional development offerings, and master classes. He is highly regarded for his musical experience, expertise, passion and effective teaching style. He is in demand as a guest conductor, music education consultant, and adjudicator, providing performance strategies and professional development for music educators, administrators and students alike. From 2015 -2017 Mr. Mumford was engaged as Advisor and Lead Educator for the Melbourne Youth Orchestra Teacher Professional Development Programme. ​  

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