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We do an occasional joint concert with the local middle school. Our community band rehearses in the middle school band room and the kids are always invited. They come and sit in only rarely.

Seem like kids have far more activities than they have time for. I guess it's difficult for them (and their parents) choose music over sports, etc.

The Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches did a similar thing recently. We rehearse in the Lake Worth High School band room. The LWHS band has been trying to raise funds to purchase new uniforms. This past February we held a joint concert and donated our time and efforts to help raise money for this endeavor. The first part of the program the LWHS band performed while we sat in the audience, then we played a short concert. Then both bands took the stage and we performed together with the HS band director conducting. I heard they raised $3300 that night. Not bad for only a half-filled auditorium. Hopefully we can do more of these in the future.

We just recorded our first CD with all proceeds going to an "instrument donation" program for area schools. The arts are always the first item to get cut during budget constraints so we try to help.

You can listen to a couple of excerpts of the CD here:

"El Relicario" — Jose Padilla, Arr. Robert Longfield
"March Slav" — Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Arr. L.P. Laurendeau

The local small town HIgh School Band has 2 9th graders playing tuba. The lead tuba (now 64 years old) from the local community band was asked and did play with them just to help the instrumentation for the band. More help in the future of music.

I believe that playing with students is EXTREMELY important. Especially younger, more inexperienced ones. Your sound gives them something onto which to grasp in terms of both concept and intonation. I frequently play with my Maryland Conservatory students as well as demonstrate passages while the student is listening and not playing. I had the priviledge of studying with Warren Deck for two years. Warren always had his tuba close at hand and would play in my lessons. I found this most helpful. For a young student to develop a good sound and musical concept, he or she must hear a good sound and musical concept that can be auditorially assimilated.

The music director at the small high school in the town where I work (Creswell, OR) invited several members from various local groups to sit in with her HS band last year. There were members from the Eugene Symphony, the Eugene Symphonic band, the Springfield Community Concert Band and the Oregon Tuba Ensemble (guess who...) It was a fun experience for the kids, who got to sit in a band with more than 20 members.

We (municipal band) have a program where every 3 months 1 kid from each of the 5 High Schools in town sits in at all the rehearsals and plays the indoor concert (I believe they also collect the same pay as the adults). It rotates every three months when 5 new kids start. We also have auditions for $200 scholarships and have the winners (15 Middle School and 15 HS) sit in at separate summer concerts. I've been impressed by these kids - both by how they play and how they conduct themselves.

Brian,
I couldn't agree with you more. One of the best experiences I ever had as a teacher happened when I was teaching Middle School in Philadelphia. I invited a band comprised only of retired people (a number were retired professional musicians) to perform at my school. The band, called Alte Kamaraden (Old Comrades), performed several numbers of their own with my kids sitting in and doing their best to keep up. (We actually had copies of the music a couple weeks ahead of time.) Then we all played stuff that my kids had been rehearsing. The kids were talking about this event for the rest of the year and at the beginning of the next term asked if we were going to do it again. (we did) This had a wonderful, positive effect on my kids and even encouraged a half dozen or so new kids to sign up. Looking at these wide-eyed kids sitting next to 70 year old "big kids" having just as much fun as they were , made me remember why I became a teacher.

Pete