Why You Should Attend The Next Fredericksburg Brass Institute

"[E]veryone deserves the experience of being surrounded by world-class, inspirational music making." - Austin Boyer (read more)

It's no surprise that the 2nd Annual Fredericksburg Brass Institute - founded by directors Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler - had a 100% retention rate from the 1st year to the 2nd year (that's right, every participant from the first year returned for the second year), or that the number of participating members nearly tripled in that single year's time. I had the pleasure of devoting a week of my summer to this Institute, and I highly recommend it to any and all brass students - from middle school through college - who are looking for a high-energy experience saturated with great music and the possibility to build lifelong friends and connections in the business.

About the Fredericksburg Brass Institute
All over the world, summer brass institutes, festivals, conferences, and competitions are held where passionate musicians gather together and share unforgettable experiences with each other and create lifelong memories while learning valuable lessons about music and about themselves. In order for someone in Virginia to attend one of these events - most of which last anywhere from 3 to 7 days - this musician would likely pay an excess of $1,000 between tuition, plane tickets or other travel expenses, and many other hidden expenses to travel out of state for this experience.

As veteran participants of many of these events, Austin and Buddy thought there should be a viable alternative for brass musicians in and around Fredericksburg who deserve to share the same experiences. As a result, they have managed to produce much (if not all) of the same high-quality experiences at a dramatically reduced price. This summer, the 6-day experience - complete with 7 faculty members, 5 world-class guest artists and ensembles, and the valuable opportunity of meeting and working with peers who share the same passions - was shared with participants for the tuition price of only $300, with early registration bringing the price to as low as $250!

I've certainly been to some of these other brass-related seminars and conferences, but I have tremendous respect for the careful attention to detail and high level of commitment the directors of Fredericksburg Brass put into making this the best experience it could be. Many of these other events have taken place for many, many years, and needed quite some time to develop into the wonderful experiences they are today. The Fredericksburg Brass Institute, on the other hand, has just finished its second year, and the experiences are already world-class and rapidly growing. In addition, Fredericksburg Brass focuses on what I quite strongly believe to be the most musically enriching type of ensemble: the small ensemble, also known as the chamber ensemble (come back to my blog later this summer, and I'll explain in detail why I have felt this way for years).

Keep the Fredericksburg Brass Institute on your radar. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to follow their updates and prepare for next year. If you're a college student, your collegiate chamber brass ensemble may be able to attend the Institute free of tuition as the "ensemble in residence". If you're a high school or middle school student, you can dramatically enhance your experience by preparing a high quality recording of your playing and sending it to them with an early registration discount and possibly some other incentives as the Institute continues to grow rapidly. Know what that means? Start preparing for next year NOW. You'll have a blast.

Marcus Grant
Teacher, Composer, Trumpeter
http://www.msgrantmusic.org
http://www.facebook.com/msgrantmusic
http://www.soundcloud.com/msgrantmusic

Previous blog post: Making the World A Better Place: Why Music Education?

Making the World a Better Place: Why Music Education?

I want to be clear about something before going any further: this is not a post defending my profession, as you will often see around social media these days. I believe that music is such a strong integral part of our lives that it doesn't need to be justified; it's simply a way of life. This is simply a post about why I LOVE what I do, and how - even though I am headed to graduate school for another 2 years before I settle into a band program to call my own - I already know that there's nowhere else in the world that I'd rather be and nothing else I'd rather do than dedicate my life to the fulfillment of those in the younger generation who - as composer Aaron Copland once pointed out - are also the future of our nation.

From a 5th grader at my Elementary School Student Teaching

I was one of the lucky ones to realize fairly early in my life that my main purpose and greatest desire in this world is to do the best I can to make a difference in the lives of others. Wherever we are and whatever we do, every human being should be able to leave the world better than he or she found it by chasing after their dreams while helping others along the way. It may be true - perhaps a simple act of kindness for one person can’t change the entire world - but I’m a firm believer that a simple act of kindness can change the entire world for one person. That gesture could be the very gesture that serves as inspiration or motivation to catalyze a turning point in that person’s life, that he or she may be put in a position further down the road to do the same for others.

Now - look at the job of a high school band director, for example: the band director has the unique privilege and luxury of being a part of the life of hundreds of adolescents every year during perhaps the most critical point in those adolescents' lives: the often-times awkward, rough, and jagged journey from childhood to adulthood where their identities are changing every minute, and it can be difficult to find comfort in who they are, or to even understand WHAT they are. In music, they can find an uplifting and supporting community that sadly doesn't exist in many places in this world anymore. Thus, a high school band director has as many as 4 years to not only change the world for one person, but to change the world for thousands of people in that director's career at a time where those people probably need it most. Now how cool is that?

From the students at my High School Student Teaching Placement

Music educators have a selfless job of endless spiritual fulfillment. Conductor Benjamin Zander of the Boston Philharmonic said it best when he underlined the fact that the conductor of a band or orchestra doesn't make a sound. Rather, a conductor's power depends solely on the ability to make other people powerful. That's a music educator's purpose: to awaken possibility in other people. Tell me: why would anyone NOT want to be a part of that?

http://www.msgrantmusic.org