Upper School students in band got a treat on Tuesday when local brass musician and educator Bryan Finley led a technique workshop.
Finley is a Brass Instrumental Specialist who works with students on technique fundamentals. As an educator, he teaches private brass lessons and provides brass workshops for school bands and directors.
“Hosting a workshop like this communicates and demonstrates alternative pedagogy to our students that is invaluable for their ongoing developing skills,” Middle and Upper School Instrumental Music Director DoraThea Kastanas said. “Learning new tools from other professional musicians is exciting; sometimes we are able to discover new approaches that may help us strive for excellence in our growth and progress.”
The technique workshop is part of a big week in band as the Middle School Fall Term Percussion Ensemble is set to perform this week for their summative.
“These percussion students have never performed on these instruments or as an ensemble before. Creating this Term class for our our 7/8 students has given them a new creative art to explore,” Kastanas said. “These students have learned much about music notation, composition and performance this term through pitched and non-pitched Percussion instruments. They worked steadily and with great focus and dedication on achieving their goal to perform as an ensemble.”
The percussion ensemble performed Tuesday for a Lower School audience and will perform Thursday in the Dining Hall during Middle School lunch.