Matching Items (2)
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- All Subjects: Bands (Music)
- Creators: Hill, Gary W.
Description
The North Park Middle School Band, in Pico Rivera, California, is an exemplary model of a band program grounded in the principles of social justice. Three facets guide the program: Social Outreach, Cultural Outreach, and Kids Helping Kids. This qualitative study explores what led the director to create this program, its current structure as well as its historical development, and the impact the program is having on the students involved and the community to which they reach. Between the months of September and December 2012, I spent a total of three weeks with the students, parents, and the director of the North Park Band, Ron Wakefield. In that time, the students were observed during band rehearsals on typical school days. Additionally, I traveled with the band to three separate outreach concerts at the Los Angeles Veterans Healthcare Facility, nursing homes and assisted living centers, as well as the Isaiah House, a homeless shelter for women and children. I observed the students and their interactions with the residents of those facilities, and took detailed observation notes. In addition, a survey was distributed to students in the top two bands, interviews were conducted with current students and a former student, a parent and a former parent, and the director. The North Park Band program structure leads students to develop an unusually high level of responsibility. Students gain an understanding of current issues in society and demonstrate compassion towards other human beings. In many cases, the students discover a sense of life purpose through the program and feel that they have a responsibility to help their community. While a central focus of the program is on humanistic values, it is evident that the students also receive a quality music education.
ContributorsPawelski, Carrie (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Schmidt, Margaret E (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Russell, Timothy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Formed in 1999, BCM International, comprised of composers Eric Whitacre, Jonathan Newman, Steven Bryant, and James (Jim) Bonney dedicated itself to publishing repertoire in the wind band medium. This project focuses on the work of these four composers, who, at the beginning of the “digital age,” joined together to create a new entrepreneurial and self-published entity. This paper aims to discuss their contribution to the wind band medium, thereby adding to the genre’s body of research.
Similarly to previous investigations of this sort, the author will: 1) offer a biographical sketch through the lens of each individual composer; 2) discuss the establishment of BCM International; 3) track the individual output for wind band of each of the four composers through performance data found in the College Band Directors National Association’s Report; and 4) discuss the composer reported influence of John Corigliano, their teacher, on their compositional process.
Similarly to previous investigations of this sort, the author will: 1) offer a biographical sketch through the lens of each individual composer; 2) discuss the establishment of BCM International; 3) track the individual output for wind band of each of the four composers through performance data found in the College Band Directors National Association’s Report; and 4) discuss the composer reported influence of John Corigliano, their teacher, on their compositional process.
ContributorsBlanco, Charlie G., III (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Caslor, Jason (Committee member) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016