Gearing up for Round Two

It's a while since I added to this blog, but that's only because I have been busy with "regular school" stuff. No matter how hard you try to organize and plan, the end of the school year always sneaks up and jumps out in front of you without warning.

So, what have I been doing?

Well, "end of the year" for most music teachers also means "concert mania", so I've been preparing for our spring concerts. In our school district, each teacher has at least one spring concert with individual schools, but we also have an All-District strings concert. I am not the one in charge (that is reserved for the high school orchestra instructor), but I do have to confer with the other middle school orchestra teacher to select two numbers for our combined groups and make certain that all of my students (elementary and middle) know all of the ensemble numbers.

If you've ever seen a Suzuki concert, you'll have a pretty good idea of how this concert works. All elementary students play every song they have learned, from Hot Cross Buns to Bach Minuet 1; as we reach the more difficult songs, younger students sit down until the only ones left are the 6th graders who have had two or three years of playing experience (and have covered everything in the repertoire).

Then the middle school and high school orchestras play combined numbers (usually something that was initially presented at Large Ensemble festival ), and the entire group finishes with Twinkle, Twinkle (with variations), and a piece called Happy Fiddlin'. Even parents of seniors in high school seem to enjoy the last two numbers - any time you get 300+ students all playing together, it can be a neat thing.

That's one concert. Our middle school spring concert takes place one week later. I try to avoid duplicating our performance music (it's not much fun to sit through two renditions of the same piece, one with fewer players than the other), so my spring concert tends to have fewer large ensemble numbers, but I do allow interested students to apply to perform in solos and small ensembles. This year, we had a cello solo, one violin duo, and three mixed trios, all of whom did quite well for middle school students.

Now I have the usual end-of-the-semester grades to finish - solos and practice records from each of my orchestra students, and report presentations (on musical instruments) and a quarter test that finishes the unit for my general music classes.

Then I have stuff to pack - I am changing rooms again, and since I won't be here for much of the summer, I have to label everything that must be moved. (I can't complain too much - my predecessor had to teach in the school cafeteria. At least I've been able to maintain my own classroom, and a secure storage area for instruments, and this will hopefully be the last move for the immediate future.)

End of the school year - another indication that time is passing.