Attending ITEC Denver
Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 11:49 am
Dear TUBENET,
I read TUBENET more often than most would think because I like to get a pulse of what is going on for many in our tuba world. If I managed my time better, I would probably comment on more topics than I have, but I genuinely appreciate alot of the thought than many people contribute to this forum and others. I have read alot of the comments regarding the upcoming conference in Denver and need to contribute one myself which, by the way, is completely unsolicited. I have no idea where attendance figures are at this point. All I know is, it is in less than a month.
If you can attend, do!!
Just the list of topics to be covered at this convention is formidable. As an amateur or a hobbyist, getting to hear Tommy Johnson and Alan Baer talk about practicing and the new technologies that help practicing out would be fantastic! To get an idea of how to make a musical statement work "out front" from the likes of Warren Deck or Marty Erickson is practically worth the price of admission by itself. Then, to have two great world-class tuba players WHO HAVE BEEN THERE, DONE THAT demonstrate the team-teaching and learning aspects for all players promises to be an incredible resource for everybody.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of this conference. For myself (and I know I speak for other participants in this conference as well), we have already been putting in oodles of time, thought, efforts, and practice into this conference and its mission statement, "The Pedagogy of Great Musicianship." As in most of the great things in life, a year or two after the conference ends you will probably not remember what the registration fee exactly was. What you WILL remember is hearing a great teaching idea from Floyd Cooley, an amusing observation about the weather from Tommy Johnson when he was driving to the first day of recording for the movie, "Jaws", and you will probably run into people who you will remain in contact with for the rest of your lives. What will you remember best? It is not in the schedule. It will be the totally unexpected: a conversation you will have with someone at the final barbeque, a moment of clarity when you trying out instruments, an idea that might solve a playing problem that you have had for years that you might have gotten from Roger Bobo who just happens to be sitting next to you in the hall waiting for a recital to begin. How do I know this? These are the kinds of things that happened to me in 1973 when, more as an accident, I attended the First International Tuba Euphonium Symposium in Bloomington. Those four days made more of difference and gave me more good memories and inspiration than many things in life. I don't remember how much it cost me....but I remember how much it paid me in terms of the things I learned, the appreciation I felt for what I was learning at home in LA, the level of the "live" playing that was going on worldwide at the time, the undescribable commoraderie that exists between all of us that take an interest in tubas and the life-long friends I made from that came out of that all-to-brief time.
If you can attend, do. Respectfully, Gene Pokorny (aka "Northern")
I read TUBENET more often than most would think because I like to get a pulse of what is going on for many in our tuba world. If I managed my time better, I would probably comment on more topics than I have, but I genuinely appreciate alot of the thought than many people contribute to this forum and others. I have read alot of the comments regarding the upcoming conference in Denver and need to contribute one myself which, by the way, is completely unsolicited. I have no idea where attendance figures are at this point. All I know is, it is in less than a month.
If you can attend, do!!
Just the list of topics to be covered at this convention is formidable. As an amateur or a hobbyist, getting to hear Tommy Johnson and Alan Baer talk about practicing and the new technologies that help practicing out would be fantastic! To get an idea of how to make a musical statement work "out front" from the likes of Warren Deck or Marty Erickson is practically worth the price of admission by itself. Then, to have two great world-class tuba players WHO HAVE BEEN THERE, DONE THAT demonstrate the team-teaching and learning aspects for all players promises to be an incredible resource for everybody.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of this conference. For myself (and I know I speak for other participants in this conference as well), we have already been putting in oodles of time, thought, efforts, and practice into this conference and its mission statement, "The Pedagogy of Great Musicianship." As in most of the great things in life, a year or two after the conference ends you will probably not remember what the registration fee exactly was. What you WILL remember is hearing a great teaching idea from Floyd Cooley, an amusing observation about the weather from Tommy Johnson when he was driving to the first day of recording for the movie, "Jaws", and you will probably run into people who you will remain in contact with for the rest of your lives. What will you remember best? It is not in the schedule. It will be the totally unexpected: a conversation you will have with someone at the final barbeque, a moment of clarity when you trying out instruments, an idea that might solve a playing problem that you have had for years that you might have gotten from Roger Bobo who just happens to be sitting next to you in the hall waiting for a recital to begin. How do I know this? These are the kinds of things that happened to me in 1973 when, more as an accident, I attended the First International Tuba Euphonium Symposium in Bloomington. Those four days made more of difference and gave me more good memories and inspiration than many things in life. I don't remember how much it cost me....but I remember how much it paid me in terms of the things I learned, the appreciation I felt for what I was learning at home in LA, the level of the "live" playing that was going on worldwide at the time, the undescribable commoraderie that exists between all of us that take an interest in tubas and the life-long friends I made from that came out of that all-to-brief time.
If you can attend, do. Respectfully, Gene Pokorny (aka "Northern")
