The Band Room Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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We’re kicking off our return with a very special guest—Dr. Donald Buell, retired professor of conducting and trumpet, former director of the MUN Concert Band, and one of Dylan’s predecessors at Memorial University. Dr. Buell taught at Memorial University for 26 years and was a recipient of the prestigious President’s Award for Teaching during his time at MUN.

In this episode, Don and Dylan discuss his journey to Newfoundland & Labrador, his research on what makes an engaging rehearsals, mentorship, the importance of uplifting all students—not just the most talented ones—career highlights, and much more.

Help support the Band Room Podcast by becoming a patron through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bandroompod

Help support the Band Room Podcast by getting your merch at the BRP Store http://www.bandroompod.com/store

Music used in this episode
BRP Theme Music: Skyline by EKR Hammell
Performing Ensemble: University of Toronto Wind Ensemble
Dr. Gillian MacKay – Conductor

Chasing Sunlight (Piano Version) by Cait Nishimura
Arranged and performed by Brian Barber

Episode Links

Memorial University | School of Music

https://www.mun.ca/music/

"What Student's Say About Our Rehearsals" by Donald Buell

https://www.bandroompod.com/_files/ugd/5421b7_eeb22340ef144952a3e40e3432cc1d9f.pdf

Effective rehearsing with the instrumental music ensemble: A case study

https://www.bandroompod.com/_files/ugd/5421b7_0412b68c2cdb428c9100f1cba632d6d7.pdf

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The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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Band Room Podcast Update!

After four amazing years of co-hosting The Band Room Podcast, Cait has made the difficult decision to step away from the podcast to pursue the many exciting opportunities ahead of her, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see what she accomplishes next! She has been the most incredible co-host—bringing thoughtful questions, meaningful discussions, and an ability to connect with our guests and listeners.

While Cait’s voice will be missed on the podcast, Dylan is glad to have a best friend and colleague to collaborate with in new ways throughout our careers. Thank you for everything you’ve done for The Band Room, Cait!

As for The Band Room Podcast, the journey continues! Dylan is excited to keep bringing you conversations with inspiring musicians, educators, and artists. Stay tuned for what’s next!

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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Dylan and Cait have been reunited once more! We had a fantastic time recording the first episode of Season 6. Discussing a wide range of topics, including upcoming projects, favourite pizza toppings, valuable tips for freelancers, newly discovered repertoire, the eternal Star Trek or Star Wars debate, and much more!

Help support the Band Room Podcast by becoming a patron through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bandroompod

Help support the Band Room Podcast by getting your merch at the BRP Store http://www.bandroompod.com/store

Music used in this episode
BRP Theme Music: Skyline by EKR Hammell
Performing Ensemble: University of Toronto Wind Ensemble
Dr. Gillian MacKay – Conductor

Episode Links
BRP Consortium Project
https://www.bandroompod.com/consortium

Ontario Music Education Association Conference
https://omea.on.ca/events/synergy2023/

Celestial Rise by Jennifer Rose
https://www.composerose.com/celestial-rise

Astra by Katahj Copley
https://www.katahjcopleymusic.com/asta-fanfare

Earthshine by Aaron Perrine
https://aaronperrine.com/work/earthshine/

Only Light by Aaron Perrine
https://aaronperrine.com/work/only-light/

Breath of the Mountains by Cait Nishimura
https://caitnishimura.com/products/breath-of-the-mountains

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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Jonathan Dagenais is a Canadian composer, conductor, music educator and one of Dylan's favourite colleagues to work with. Jonathan sits down with Dylan to discuss his musical upbringing, musical influences, compositional process, conducting career, what he looks for as an adjudicator and much more!

Help Support the Band Room Podcast by Becoming a Patron Through Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/bandroompod

BRP Store
http://www.bandroompod.com/store

Music used in this episode
Mouvement Frénétique by Jonathan Dagenis, Anthony J. Maiello - Conductor

About Jonathan
Jonathan Dagenais (b. 1978) holds a Master’s degree in Conducting from McGill University and a Bachelor’s degree in Composition from the Université de Montréal.

In addition to teaching in cegep and university, (music theory, composition, analysis, ear training, musicianship and conducting), Mr. Dagenais enjoys an active career as a composer and arranger for wind orchestra. His works, that have been performed repeatedly by numerous Canadian university and high school ensembles, also appear on several professional recordings. His compositions are included in many North American concert band music festival syllabuses and are currently published worldwide by Alfred Music, Hafabra Music and Eighth Note Publications.​

Jonathan Dagenais is also a sought after conductor. He is the conductor and artistic director of the Orchestre à Vents Non Identifié (OVNI), a Montreal wind orchestra he co-founded in 2005. OVNI is an ensemble dedicated to collaborative and active listening, tone quality, refined interpretation as well as humour. In 2010 and 2017, he was appointed conductor of the McGill Wind Orchestra. In 2012 he was a guest conductor for the Montreal Pop Symphony Orchestra (OSPM). Jonathan Dagenais is also the conductor of the Cercle Philharmonique de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (CPSJ), a position he has held since September 2012. In September 2015, he was named conductor of the Orchestre de jeux vidéo -OJV (Montreal Video Game Orchestra), an ensemble dedicated to video game soundtracks. A longtime fan of video games and their music, this was a natural marriage of two of his passions. Most recently in 2019, he was appointed principal conductor of  the Ottawa Pops Orchestra (OPO).

Mr. Dagenais has been invited to adjudicate and/or give clinics at more than 25 North American music competitions and festivals. In 2017, he became the artistic director of Musicfest Quebec. Jonathan Dagenais is regularly hired as an orchestra, band and chamber music conductor in Canadian summer music camps. He has been a guest conductor for many Canadian honour bands including The National Youth Band of Canada (NYB) in 2013, the most prestigious honour band in the country. Well known educator and public speaker, he is a Yamaha Canada Master Artist Educator, a guest conductor and clinician for Twigg Musique and the Fédération des Harmonies and Quebec Symphony Orchestras (FHOSQ) in addition of being the artistic director of MusicFest Québec.

Episode Links
Jonathan Dagenais Website
https://www.jonathandagenais.com/

Jonathan Dagenais Suggested

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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Dylan is going solo amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Your band can play the notes! Your band can play the rhythms! There’s even a crescendo! Now what? Join Dylan as he gives ideas to get your band playing beyond the notes on the page, improving their musicality through a mindset of focus and intent. This episode begins our new featured composer segment, this month featuring EKR Hammell. 

Help Support the Band Room Podcast by Becoming a Patron Through Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/bandroompod

BRP Store
http://www.bandroompod.com/store

Music used in this episode
Skyline by E.K.R Hammell
Performing ensemble: University of Toronto Wind Ensemble
Dr. Gillian MacKay, Conductor

O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Laurdisen, Trans. H. Robert Reynolds 
Performing ensemble: Columbus State University Wind Ensemble
Robert Rumbelow, Conductor

Symphony No. 1, Mov. 4 by Johannes Brahms 
Performing ensemble: University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Schubert, Conductor

Episode Links
EKR Hammell’s Website
https://ekrhammell.com/

Mindfulness by Dr. Ellen Langer
https://www.amazon.ca/Mindfulness-25th-anniversary-Ellen-Langer/dp/0738217999

The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
https://www.amazon.ca/Art-Possibility-Transforming-Professional-Personal/dp/0142001104

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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First episode of 2020! Join Dylan as he and Linda Wharton discuss growing up in London, Ontario, attending Western University, teaching at Central Secondary School, adjudicating, how music helped through trying times and coming full circle now teaching at Western University.

Help Support the Band Room Podcast by Becoming a Patron Through Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/bandroompod

BRP Store
http://www.bandroompod.com/store

Music used in this episode
William Byrd Suite: I. The Earle of Oxford's Marche by Gordon Jacob
Performing Ensemble: Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, Frederick Fennell - Conductor

About Linda
Linda Wharton is a UWO Faculty of Music grad and an Althouse College grad. She taught at Central Elgin Collegiate Institute for five years and at Central Secondary School in London for almost three decades. Her Concert Bands, Wind Ensembles and Jazz Ensembles won many awards locally, regionally, provincially and nationally. 

Linda has won many teaching awards, including the Award of Distinction from the Thames Valley District School Board and the Dennis Brown Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jack Richardson Music Awards. 

Linda currently teaches Instrumental Conducting Techniques at Western and she adjudicates at music festivals around the province.

Episode Links
Linda Wharton
https://music.uwo.ca/faculty/bios/linda-wharton.html

Western University, Don Wright Faculty of Music
https://music.uwo.ca/

Donate to Rowbust Dragon Boat Team
https://www.rowbustdragonboat.com/

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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We welcome Director of Wind Ensembles at Arizona State University, Dr. Jason Caslor to the Band Room Podcast! Join Dylan as he and Jason discuss his formative years growing up in Saskatchewan, his time at University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba and Arizona State University, studying with Dale Lonis and Gary Hill, his time with the Thunder Bay Symphony, Memorial University and how he made his way back to Arizona. 

Help Support the Band Room Podcast by Becoming a Patron Through Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/bandroompod

Help support the Band Room Podcast by getting your merch at the BRP Store http://www.bandroompod.com/store

Music Used in this episode
The "Gum-Suckers" March by Percy Grainger
Performing Ensemble: United States Marine Band, Colonel Michael J. Colburn, Director

About Jason
Jason Caslor is an associate professor of music and director of wind ensembles at Arizona State University. In addition to directing the ensemble, he also mentors graduate conducting students, and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting courses. Caslor is an educational clinician for Conn-Selmer.

From 2015-2019, Caslor served as assistant professor and associate director of bands and orchestras and Arizona State University. From 2010-2015, Caslor served as assistant professor of instrumental conducting at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada where he conducted the wind ensemble and oversaw the undergraduate and graduate instrumental conducting programs. Prior to that, he spent three seasons as resident conductor with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO). During his tenure with the TBSO, he conducted more than 75 concerts (including a CBC Radio national broadcast) and recorded a full-length, internationally distributed CD with Canadian blues artist Rita Chiarelli. Recipient of an “Excellence in Teaching” Award from Memorial University’s Students’ Union in 2012, Caslor also spent several years teaching in the public school system as an instrumental and choral instructor.

In addition to numerous regional engagements, Caslor has conducted the National Youth Band of Canada, the South Dakota All State Band, the South Dakota Intercollegiate Band, and the Alberta Wind Symphony. As a researcher, he has presented his work at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the WASBE International Conference, and the CBDNA National Conference.

Caslor’s current research interests include developing a user-friendly iPad application that will allow for the transmission of high-quality audio over the internet for the purposes of internet-based rehearsals/clinics and spontaneous improvisation as it pertains to both conducting pedagogy and large ensembles.

Episode Links
Jason Caslor
https://herbergerinstitute.asu.edu/profile/jason-caslor

Arizona State University
https://music.asu.edu/degree-programs

Ontario Provincial Honour Band
https://onband.ca/OPHB/

OMEA
https://www.omea.on.ca

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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We welcome award-winning music educator, Sharon Fitzsimmins to the Band Room Podcast! Join Dylan as he and Sharon discuss her formative years, rebuilding a band program, her involvement in the OMEA, what adjudicators are looking for, involvement with Music Fest Canada and many words of wisdom for music educators.

Help Support the Band Room Podcast by Becoming a Patron Through Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/bandroompod

BRP Store
http://www.bandroompod.com/store

Music used in this episode
Second Suite for Military Band, Op.28 No.2, Fantasia on the "Dargason" by Gustav Holst Performing Ensemble: The Air Combat Command (ACC) Heritage of America Band

About Sharon
Sharon Fitzsimmins, Mus. Bac., B.Ed, is a respected educator, international adjudicator, clinician and conductor. She is past president of The Ontario Music Educators’ Association (OMEA) and was co-editor of The Recorder for 8 years, examiner for The Royal Conservatory of Music and a conductor at the National Music Camp of Canada . She has received numerous teaching, professional development and leadership awards including Teacher of the Year. In November 2006, Sharon received the highest award from the OMEA, an Honorary Life Membership. In Feb. 2019 Sharon also received an Honorary Life Membership from the Ontario Band Association (OBA).Sharon is currently the Chair of the Concert Band Division for MusicFest Canada. Sharon is proud to have taught for thirty years at Barrie North Collegiate where she conducted award winning bands and choirs. She has written three teacher resources and a collection of stories called It Made Me Laugh, It Made Me cry. Stories From the Music Room.

Episode Links
Sharon Fitzsimmins
https://musicfest.ca/about/directors/sharon-fitzsimmins/

OMEA
https://www.omea.on.ca/

Music Fest Canada
https://musicfest.ca/

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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Season 2 has begun! We welcome composer, Cait Nishimura to the Band Room Podcast! Join Dylan and Cait as they discuss her formative years, finding her path as a musician, her compositional process, fighting self-doubt and why she does what she does.

Help Support the Band Room Podcast by Becoming a Patron Through Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/bandroompod

BRP Store
http://www.bandroompod.com/store

Music used in this episode
PUKASKWA (from LAKE SUPERIOR SUITE) by Cait Nishimura
Performing Ensemble: University of Toronto Wind Ensemble – Conductor Dr. Gillian MacKay

About Cait
Cait Nishimura is a Canadian composer, songwriter, and music educator based in Toronto, Ontario. Described as having a "refreshing buoyancy", her music uses minimalist patterns, simple yet lush harmonies, and themes that linger in listeners' minds, drawing inspiration from the beauty of the natural world. With a special focus on wind band and choral music, Nishimura strives to present contemporary concert music that is accessible and enjoyable by musicians of all levels. Her work for wind band, Chasing Sunlight, was selected as the winner of the 2017 Canadian Band Association Composition Competition, and has since been added to regional and national wind band syllabi. Nishimura holds undergraduate degrees in music and education from the University of Toronto. Her work is regularly programmed and commissioned by ensembles across North America, where she is in demand as a visiting composer and educator.

Outside of her work in the "classical" realm, Cait is currently writing her first musical and has released her first pop single: https://smarturl.it/c2uh8y

Episode Links
Cait Nishimura
https://caitnishimura.com/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/caitnishimuramusic/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/composer_cait/?hl=en

Twitter
https://twitter.com/composer_cait

University of Toronto Faculty of Music 
https://music.utoronto.ca/

Canadian Band Association - Howard Cable Prize
https://www.canadianband.org/howard-cable-prize-in-composition

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/

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The Band Room is back after a long break! In Ep. 6 Dylan brings you music of Migration, featuring works inspired by travel in some way. Works by David Maslanka, Kelly-Marie Murphy and Adam Schoenberg show us the different forms migration might take. This episode features performances by the Texas A&M University Wind Symphony and Dr. Timothy B. Rhea, The Hannaford Street Silver Band with Alain Trudel and the University of Texas Wind Ensemble with Jerry Junkin.Big thanks to Mark Records, Hannaford Street Silver Band and the University of Texas for the use of the recordings used on today's episode.--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bandroompod/message

Support the show

The Band Room Podcast is proudly supported by Kaleidoscope Adventures! To learn more, visit: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-band-room-podcast/