NEWS

HEADLINES...

I've posted information on some exciting, new and favorite older courses I'll be teaching this summer here: watsonmusic.wikispaces.com. Courses are offered by Villanova University, Central Connecticut University, and Valley Forge Christian College - follow the link for contact/registration information. Of special interest are new courses on topics such as Technology for Special Learners in Music Ed, Free & Easy Web 2.0 Music Programs, and Composing and Arranging for School Bands (see video below).

I'm looking forward to sharing with students in the Master of Arts in Teaching in Music Education program at the University of the Arts (Philadelphia) on April 10. I'll be speaking/discussing the usefulness and role of technology in facilitating creativity in project-based music learning. The class has used my book, Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity, this term. Thanks to professor Beth Sokolowski for inviting me to present!

On Mon. and Tues., Feb. 27-28, I'll be in residence with East Stroudsburg Area School District (South) Bands, rehearsing a new piece commissioned for the event as well as three other of my works for concert band. The new work, When Men and Mountains Meet, will be published by Wingert-Jones and released in September 2012. My other pieces, Aesop's Fables, Magic Valley, Tu Ungane are already published by Alfred Publishing Co. I'm thrilled to be involved with the East Stroudsburg bands and honored to be part of their "Composers Series" tradition that has included Brian Balmages, Andrew Boysen, Stephen Bulla, Elliot Del Borgo, Frank Erickson, Quincy Hilliard, Jack Stamp, and others. Thanks so much to my host, Mrs. Melodie Shamp, coordinator of music for the district.

On Tues., March 6, I'll be guest conducting the PMEA District 12 Intermediate Band Festival at Radnor Township Middle School. The program will include four of my pieces: Awake the Iron, Appalachian Hoedown, Tu Ungane, and Ghosts in the Graveyard. (Also on the program is Air Force One by my good friend and fellow Alfred composer, Chris Bernotas.) I'm really looking forward to spending a day in Delaware County, PA (where I was born!) and thank tremendously my host, Mr. Roger Morgan.

I've been commissioned (jointly) by the Hollidaysburg Area School District (Hollidaysburg Area 6th Grade Band, Melissa Ott, Director) and the Derry Township School District (Hershey Middle School Band, John Gabrielle, Director) to compose a Grade 1.5 work for both bands to premiere in May, 2013.

I'll be the keynote presenter at the upcoming SoundTree Institute METOS: Spotlight on Creativity online in-service conference (Jan. 16). My address (made via interactive web conferencing) will be based on my book, Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity (Oxford University Press).

A busy season of writing! Pieces of mine accepted for publication in the coming cycle (for Fall 2012 release) include these titles:

• Alfred Publishing - Concert Band: Appalachian Folk Carol (Grade 2), Call to Valor (Grade 2), Thrills and Trills! (March, Grade 2.5), Old-Fashioned Sleigh Ride (Grade 1), and Huckleberry Hedgehog (Grade .5).
• Wingert-Jones Publishing - Concert Band: When Men and Mountains Meet (Grade 1.5), Quick 'n Easy Carols for Band (Grade 1-1.5). STRING ORCHESTRA: Dreidl Adventure (Grade 1).

My just published, Lion of Ireland for concert band (Alfred, Grade 2.5) was named to the 2011 Bandworld Top 100 list! You can hear a sound clip here.

I'll be with the fine faculty of the Lehigh Valley Performing Arts charter school in Bethlehem in the early fall presenting a half-day workshop on using Finale music notation software for music teaching.

I'll be presenting two sessions at the 2012 Ohio Music Educators Association annual conference (held jointly with TI:ME, Technology for Music Education), to be held in Columbus, OH in February 2012. The sessions are: 1) "Creative Musical Projects with Technology That are Fun, Easy and Free!" and "Finale Top 10."

I'll be conducting a LIVE webcast to discuss my new book, Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity, at banddirector.com on Tues., Aug. 16, 2011, from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Joining me for the webcast is fellow Alfred composer, band director, and friend, Chris Bernotas. Hope you can tune in!

DATELINE, July, 2011: It's finally here! My new book, Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity, has just been released by the publisher, Oxford University Press. I'm so pleased with book, the result of over two years of writing and developing. The book discusses this dynamic, offers a basis for creativity-based music learning, and provides 29 example lesson plans (adaptable for grade level and technical/musical proficiency). These are some of the most musically meaningful and aesthetically rewarding activities IÕve done with students. A companion website provides dozens of actual student project examples and downloadable resources (audio and MIDI files, charts, grading rubrics, etc.) you can use with the lessons. The book is available from at the Oxford University Press website, Amazon.com, and others. Read Chad Criswell's great review of the book at www.musicedmagic.com!

I've been asked to present two music education technology sessions (Finale and GarageBand) for the PMEA District 10 In-Service Workshop in October, 2011.

I've been commissioned by the East Stroudsburg Area School District to write a new work for their South 5th Grade Band, and will be guest conducting the district's 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th/8th grade, and High School bands, each of which will be performing one or more of my compositions (TBA) in a spring 2012 concert. ESASD has a long tradition of instrumental music excellence and it's an honor for me to be participating in this long-running commission series.

On March 6, 2012 I'll be guest conducting the PMEA District 12 "Delco BandFest" at Radnor Middle School, Wayne, PA. The program will include two of my own works (still to be determined).

Three of my new concert band pieces have been named JW Pepper Editor's Choices: Night Journey (Wingert-Jones, Grade 3-3.5), Jamaica Me Crazy (Alfred, Grade 2), and Up On the Haunted Housetop (Alfred, Grade 1.5). Other new works released summer 2011 include: Lion of Ireland (Alfred, Grade 2.5 concert band) and a new string orchestra piece, The Days and Knights of Arundel (Wingert-Jones, Grade 2).

I'll be back at Central Connecticut State University this summer to teach two courses the week of July 4-8, 2011. The a.m. class will be Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity, and the p.m. class will be, GarageBand Does It All. Then, for Villanova University (meeting off-campus at Parkland High School) I'll be teaching two weeks of the course, GarageBand Does It All (July 11-15 and July 25-29). Click here for a complete schedule of my adjunct teaching, with links to the various university websites.

Great review of Tu Ungane (Alfred) by John Villella in the PMEA News (March 2010): "Excellent melodic material and cool rhythmic grooves makes this a fun composition for musicians and audience alike."

Upcoming performances of my music include those at the 2010 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic (Chicago, IL) by the Kealing Middle School Wind Ensemble, Mark Gurgel, Director (Awake the Iron) and the 2011 PMEA State Conference (Hershey, PA) by the North Penn Elementary Wind Ensemble, Chris Thompson, Director (Awake the Iron and Ghosts in the Graveyard).

Great adjunct teaching opportunities fall 2010! I'll be teaching Applied Composition for Valley Forge Christian College and a brand new course I developed, Technology in Music Education for Special Learners, at Philadelphia Biblical University.

New concert band music under contract to be published next cycle (to be released Fall 2011) includes Night Journey (Wingert-Jones, Grade 3), Lion of Ireland (Alfred, Grade 3), Jamaica Me Crazy (Alfred, Grade 2), and Up On the Haunted Housetop (Alfred, Grade 1.5). A new string orchestra piece, The Days and Knights of Arundel (Grade 2), will be published by Wingert-Jones as well.

Upcoming in-service training workshops I'll be delivering include those for Northampton School District (October 2010 and January 2011), William Patterson University (October 2010), and Philadelphia Biblical University (TBA).

On June 24-25 I'll be serving for two days as Composer-in-Residence at Penn State University's Composer's Club day camp. The two week experience for intermediate-level instrumentalists runs during the Music at Penn's Woods Orchestra and Chamber Music Festival, giving Composer's Club participants the chance to work with professional performers.

Three new works of mine for concert band, published by Alfred - Awake the Iron (Debut Series, Grade 1.5), Tu Ungane (Challenger Series, Grade 2), and Jolly Old St. Nick (Debut Series, Grade 1), have been named a J.W. Pepper "Editor's Choice"! Click on the MUSIC link above ("School Publications") to hear sound clips.

Classes I'll be teaching this summer include "GarageBand Does It All," Central Connecticut State University (July 12-16), "Printing Music with Finale," Villanova University (at Parkland HS, June 28-July 2) and "GarageBand Does It All," (Villanova, July 5-9, and - due to demand - a second section July 19-23).

I've been asked to sign on as an exclusive composer for Alfred's "Challenger Series." I'll be guaranteed 2-3 pieces in the series each year, which I am really looking forward to writing! For the coming publication cycle (Fall 2010), I'll be contributing a fierce, exciting piece called Awake the Iron (Grade 1.5) as well as an African folk medley called Tu Ungane. Already signed for Alfred's Debut Series for 2010 is my arrangement, Jolly Old St. Nick, and for Fall 2011 a spooky-cool arrangement (with optional narrator), Up On the Haunted Housetop.

All three of my new Alfred Publications band works have been named "Editors Choice" by JW Pepper in their new fall catalog! If interested, check them out at the JW Pepper site: At the Feast of Stephen, Heavy Metal, and Magic Valley.

I just signed a contract with Oxford University Press to publish the book I am working on right now, Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity. I hope to have the manuscript delivered June 1 and the book published by Fall 2010. I'll be presenting a session entitled, "Using Technology to Unlock Creativity," at the NJMEA/TI:ME Conference in New Brunswick, NJ this March 2010.

Wingert-Jones has also accepted a string orchestra piece, Festive Intrada, for Fall 2010 publication.

I'm very excited to be teaching a new course offering, Music Technology, for Philadelphia Biblical University undergrads for the Spring 2010 semester.

Classes I'll be teaching this summer include "GarageBand Does It All," Central Connecticut State University (July 6-10), "Using Technology to Unlock Creativity," Villanova University (at Parkland HS, July 13-17), and "Printing Music with Finale," (Villanova, July 20-24).

Works under contract to be published Fall 2009 include Magic Valley (Grade 3), a beautiful tone poem commissioned by the American Composers Forum, the Magic Valley Arts Council, and the Twin Falls Municipal Band; AND two pieces for young band: At the Feast of Stephen, based on the tune "Good King Wenceslas (Grade 1.5, Alfred), and Heavy Metal, a low brass feature for beginning band. Jon Ross Music released my Silent Night, Holy Night, a beautiful setting of the famous carol, this past summer (2008).

In May I adjudicated two "Music in the Parks" concert band festivals (Dorney Park, Allentown, PA and Hershey Park, Hershey, PA). I also did an all-day in-service training for my own school district (Parkland) on electronic keyboards, GarageBand, and some other fun topics useful for classroom music teachers. In March I did an all-day in-service clinic for the Southern Lehigh Music Department (Coopersburg, PA) entitled, "Music Technology in the Classroom" and a keynote session based on my course, "Using Technology to Unlock Creativity," for the Pennsylvania TI:ME Conference at West Chester University. In November 2008 I did two music education technology in-service clinics for PMEA District 11's Professional Development Conference at Montgomery County Community College: one featuring Finale music notation software in education, the other on Podcasting for music education.

Just finished up as orchestra/performance conductor for the Parkland High School run of the of the musical, Les Miserables (student version). Great cast, great music, lots of work...glad it's over!

I received a commission to write a new work for the Blue Mountain School District (Orwigsburg, PA) Elementary Band, Joseph O'Melia, Director. Made possible by a grant from the Blue Eagle Foundation. I'll guest conduct the premiere, as well as several other of my works, on May 16, 2008.

I just launched my new Podcast, What Music Means to Me, to share reflections on the intersection of music and life. Hope you'll check it out.

A busy winter/spring begins with music technology workshops in January: first a half-day workshop at Philadelphia Biblical University; then, a special 3-hour, hands-on, session at the Michigan Music Educators Assn. conference (TI:ME annual conference) in Grand Rapids on using music notation software (Finale) in music education .

Then, I direct the premiere of a newly commissioned piece at the Lehigh County (Pennsylvania) Band Festival in March 2008. The Lehigh County Bandmasters Association commissioned me to write a celebratory work (The Golden Legacy) to commemorate their 50th Anniversary.

I will also be guest conductor in March 2008 of "Bands-in-the-Round" - the middle school band festival of the Allentown (Pennsylvania) School District. The program includes my popular Ghosts in the Graveyard.

The Massachusetts Instrumental & Choral Conducting Association (MICCA) selected me for their 2007 commission, a Grade 3 work for combined concert band and chorus. I'll conduct the Algonquin Regional High School Band & Chorus in the premiere of the new work, "Night Journey" (text by by Theodore Roethke), at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Conference, March 2007, in Boston. Past recipients of this commission include Thomas Duffy and David Holsinger.

Works under contract to be published Fall 2008 include an arrangement of Prokofiev's "Troika" from Lt. Kije Suite (Grade 2, Alfred). New publications for Fall 2007 include: Ghosts in the Graveyard (Grade 1.5 Band, Alfred), and Appalachian Hoedown (Grade 1.5, Barnhouse). You can hear audio clips under the MUSIC tab.

Celestial Sounds, a new CD by the Christy/Davila Duo (flute and harp) is released for the holidays. Includes selections from Five Carols for Flute and Piano (or Harp). Twinz Records; available for purchase from www.christydavila.com.

Watson receives commission from International Horn Society (Meir Rimon Fund), to write a work for solo horn and concert band. Premiered April 2006 by soloist Mark Syslo with the Parkland High School Symphonic Band, Jason Lerew, Director.

The TI:ME Technology Guide for Music Educators, edited by Scott Watson, is released November, 2005. Click here for more information on this vital resource for music educators.