A major award!

Okay, well maybe it wasn’t an award like an electric leg or anything, but I did receive a very nice and thoughtful gift.

 When I arrived in Ft. Jackson last October, I stopped by the 282d Army Band building to say hello and met the commander, WO1 James Bettencourt.  Long story short–the band played four of my charts for their holiday concerts in December, and I was invited to conduct one, too.  I conducted Army Bells, a piece I wrote for the US Army Europe Band that pits Jingle Bells against the Army Song to see how they’d fight it out.  It was nice to be invited, and fun to get back to doing music, if only for a few minutes.

 So in front of the band today, Mr. Bettencourt presented me with a Certificate of Appreciation and a custom Mollard baton with ‘282d Army Band’ burned into the shaft.  I was given these things in appreciation of them allowing me to be a part of their concert.  Who should be giving who gifts?  I don’t have a camera here with me, so I’ll post a picture later.

Once again, thank you so much to Mr. Bettencourt, First Sergeant Harvey, and all the members of the 282d “Victory” Band for allowing me to be a part of your concert last month!

NBA/Merrill Jones results

I haven’t written anything for a while in this forum, but there’s a very good reason for that–there’s not a whole lot to report. I’m in the purgatory of Army schooling, and it’s not a music-rich environment to say the least. But after a few very slow months, an eventful day today…

Two days ago I received notice that Black Tie Blu-bop didn’t win the NBA/Merrill Jones Band Composition Contest and that my submission would be returned under separate cover. Fine. But today I get a letter from Frank Wickes saying that the committee thought my piece was “excellent” but exceeded their Grade III/IV requirement (an accurate assessment–it’s a solid Grade V). So he forwarded the score and CD to Wingert-Jones for publication consideration even though the piece didn’t win! What a classy thing to do; I sent a quick email of thanks. W-J should have a look in a month or so. Even if it doesn’t get selected, it was a meaningful gesture from the judges not to simply throw out the piece as ineligible.

This good news led to a friendly call to Dave McKee (Virginia Tech marching band and symphony band director, and good friend), who said that Grafton High School’s performance at VMEA was fantastic. It totally slipped my mind! Hopefully Darren will come through and get that recording to me.

Though I haven’t been productive, I’m still at least trying to write. I figured I would be able to write a lot of music while I didn’t have the distractions of home during the course, but I was mistaken. I talked with my wife earlier and I think she’s right: I have the time to write, but without the immersion in and exposure to a musical environment, I’m not getting anywhere. Note to self: never apply for the Rome prize; you’ll only waste everyone’s time.

At least I am nearly done with my woodwind quintet and there will be much rejoicing when it’s finally finished. I don’t see another one in the forseeable future.