 | | | Johnny Johnson conducting the Campolindo Symphonic Band Photo Kathi Torres | | | | | | Before dawn on a recent Saturday morning, the Campolindo Symphonic Band and their music director Johnny Johnson boarded buses headed for San Jose State University. Their destination was a workshop for the Bay Section of California Music Educators who had gathered to hone their craft and gain new skills.
As the Campo students took their places with instruments in hand, music teachers from throughout the Bay Area sat behind them on stage to watch and learn. Dr. Eric Hammer introduced "The Art of Teaching from the Podium," designed to impart effective ways of developing musicianship within the structure of large student ensembles. Campolindo Symphonic Band was happy to serve as the test subjects when two young music instructors took the podium to learn how (and how not) to teach music.
During two mini-rehearsal sessions, teachers were coached on effective utilization of skills and behaviors. Then Johnny Johnson showed them all how it's done, concluding the morning by conducting a movement from Ticheli's "Four Shaker Songs."
As anyone who has witnessed a fledgling musician learn to play an instrument can attest, it takes a special kind of person to teach music. It requires much more than conveying the right note at the right time. Teachers must encourage, inspire, and promote cooperation and synergy among a diverse group of kids, with the goal of preparing their students for a lifetime of music.
Lamorindans are notably supportive of the arts and our children are often the lucky benefactors of that commitment, as Campo's performance for the Music Educators' workshop proved. The public is invited to hear their outstanding musicianship for themselves at two upcoming concerts: Strings Orchestra on Wednesday, Feb. 13, and the Symphonic Band on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the Campolindo Performing Arts Center. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA