Posted by glennled on August 1, 2016
I’ve been to College Place Middle School (CPMS) in Lynnwood before but never for a band concert until, on 16 June, I went to hear my 27th trumpet student play in the 8th Grade Wind Ensemble, under Kate Labiak, Director, College Place Bands. What a treat! My student has been taking private trumpet lessons with me since last February (see my blog
7th Grade Concert Band (L) and Orchestra (R), College Place Middle School, Lynnwood
post of 21 February 2016). But soon she’ll be moving again to enter 9th grade in the high school at Orting, southeast of Tacoma. Incidentally, her younger sister also plays trumpet.
Performing were the 7th and 8th Grade Orchestras, Concert Choir, 66-member 7th Grade Concert Band, and the 55-member 8th Grade Wind Ensemble. The latter played three pieces, highlighted (to me) by Procession of the Nobles, by Rimsky-Korsakov, arranged by
The two “Students’ Choice: Outstanding Musician Award” winners, trumpeters, 7th Grade Band (L) and Jazz Band (R)
Balent. Three students performed as Guest Conductors.
Two male trumpeters won the “Students’ Choice—Outstanding Musician” awards: one in the Concert Band and one in the Jazz Ensemble. Way to go, boys, very impressive!
Click on any photo to enlarge it.
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: award, band, College Place Middle School, concert, jazz, Kate Labiak, lessons, musician, trumpet, trumpeters, wind ensemble | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on July 25, 2016
WMS Concert Band, Ms. Kelly Barr-Clingan introduces Mr. Trimis, Guest Conductor
On 14 June, the Senior Ensembles Spring Concert by Washington Middle School (WMS) drew an enthusiastic, standing-room only crowd at the Quincy Jones Performance Center at Garfield High School in Seattle. It took about two and a half hours, but the enthusiasm never waned, and the concert ended with the grateful audience giving a standing ovation to the outgoing Director of Bands and Jazz, Kelly Barr-Clingan.
Farewell, beloved Kelly Barr-Clingan
In the past 8 years, I’ve attended many school concerts at numerous places in the Greater Seattle area, and for me, this concert format was unique. In between the major choir, orchestra, and band performances, different student ensembles played and/or sang. Each one was called a “Jazz/Fidd Cornerstone Group,” apparently playing music of its choice. What a unique way of getting lots of students personally involved and willing to perform for the public! Imagine the many more practice sessions they would have, compared to the lesser amount of practice they would do for a more conventional concert. Imagine the friendships that develop from working together in small groups. Fun!
Another unique feature of this concert was the involvement of Banda Vagos, playing music from Mexico with the combined choir, band and orchestra early in the program. Please see https://www.facebook.com/BANDA.VAGOS.
How did I know about this concert? Why did I go? Because one of the 12 trumpet players in the Concert Band takes private lessons from me. I posted a story about him on 13 April 2016.
WMS’s enrollment is exceeds 1,100 students, and “more than half of the school’s population is enrolled in a music ensemble.” To learn more about the music program, please see:
The new Director of Bands and Jazz is Jared Sessink, a trumpeter of renown. He was the only American finalist in the 2013 International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition. Elizabeth Fortune is Director of Orchestras and Eclectic Strings. Blake Saunders is Director of Choirs.
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Featuring Banda Vagos singer
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Kelly Barr-Clingan conducts combined band and orchestra and Banda Vagos
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Choir
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String Quartet
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Student conducts orchestra
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Student conductor
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Kelly Barr-Clingan introduces Mr. Trimis, UW intern, to conduct Concert Band
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Concert Band
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Trumpet soloist-1
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Trumpet soloist-2
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Lights out for “Star Wars”
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WMS combined band and orchestra
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: band, Banda Vagos, ensemble, Garfield High School, Kelly Barr Clingan, lessons, music, orchestra, Quincy Jones, trumpet, trumpeter, Washington Middle School | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on July 24, 2016
Photo by Nancy MacDonald
Three students performed at the 7th Annual Trumpet Recital in our home in Edmonds on 18 June, and three more were unable to attend. Of the performers, two are going into 8th grade next fall, and one is going into 9th grade. One began private trumpet lessons with me in December 2013, another in September 2014, and the third in February 2016. Selections included music by Elton John, Tim Rice, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, John Williams, Pat Ballard, Francoise Couperin, and John Kander. Popular pieces were Hedwig’s Theme, Cabaret, and When I’m 64.
After the performances, I gave a brief clinic and demonstration of the Herald Trumpet, English Bugle, Getzen Field Trumpet, Cornet, and Trumpet, so that the parents, relatives and friends in the audience could better appreciate the history and complexity of these instruments, as well as the difficulties which students must learn to control in order to master them. Refreshments were served after the recital.
Posted in Musical Events at Home, Recitals | Tagged: bugle, Caberet, clinic, cornet, English, Getzen, Hedwig's Theme, herald, instruments, lessons, recital, trumpet, When I'm 64 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on July 22, 2016
“Echo Taps” partners, Memorial Day, 2016. Photo by Gary Walderman.
He’s only a seventh grader, going into eighth this fall, but he plays the trumpet with confidence and accuracy. So I asked him to play “Echo Taps” with me at the Memorial Day ceremony on 30 May at Veterans Park in Lynnwood. Other students of mine have played the “echo” part with me there, but they were all older and in high school. Also, those other students had all taken private trumpet lessons with me. This trumpeter, however, was my student when he was in the beginning bands at Skyview Jr. High School in Bothell. He’s doing well in the 7th grade band and jazz band at SJHS now.
“Echo Taps,” Glenn Ledbetter, VFW Post 1040 Bugler. Photo by Janelle Squires.
The weather this year was the best ever in my five years as VFW Post 1040 Bugler. On Memorial Day, I get to sound three bugle calls: “Assembly” (to open the ceremony), “Echo Taps” (to conclude the ceremony), and “To the Color” (when the flag is hoisted from half- to full-mast at noon). Attendance at this half-hour ceremony and the one on Veterans Day (11 November) is growing.
My Getzen bugle has two tuning slides. I use the G slide for “Tattoo,” “Taps,” and “Funeral March,” and the Bb slide for all other bugle calls. Love that horn!
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Lynnwood Police, faithful attendees of this annual Memorial Day ceremony. Photo by Nancy MacDonald.
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Northwest Junior Pipe Band leads the opening parade. Photo by Janelle Squires.
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Northwest Junior Pipe Band. Photo by Nancy MacDonald.
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Color Guard, Nile Shriners, Mountlake Terrace. Photo by Janelle Squires.
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VFW Post 1040 Honor Guard, Lynnwood. Photo by Nancy MacDonald.
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Nile Shriners, Mountlake Terrace. Photo by Nancy MacDonald.
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Northwest Junior Pipe Band. Photo by Nancy MacDonald.
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VFW Post 1040 Honor Guard, Lynnwood. Photo by Gary Walderman.
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“Echo Taps,” Glenn Ledbetter, VFW Post 1040 Bugler. Photo by Janelle Squires.
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Three Bricks–Herb, Mac, and Glenn. Photo by Janelle Squires.
Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations | Tagged: Assembly, band, bugle, bugler, echo taps, Funeral March, Getzen, horn, jazz, lessons, Taps, Tattoo, To the Color, trumpet, trumpeter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on July 20, 2016
Memorial Day is the annual holiday when America honors its war dead. Raelynn Ricarte came to Edmonds, WA from Hood River, OR in the Columbia River Gorge area to deliver the keynote message of this year’s Memorial Day ceremony on 25 May at Edmonds Community College—“Be an American Worth Dying For.” Her son, U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jesse Atay, deployed five times in both Iraq and Afghanistan during nearly 13 years in military service, first as a platoon leader and then as the lead on a combat assault team. The horror of September 11, 2001, sent Atay to war.
Raelyn Ricarte, The Gorge Heroes Club and author, “Living the Oath: Warriors Take It, Families Endure It”
Ricarte has earned the right to deliver that message. She vowed to take care of her son’s “dudes” through action, not just lip service. She started sending care packages to troops in the Middle East, using small amounts of donated funds. That eventually grew so much that she founded The Gorge Heroes Club, a non-profit pro-troop group that now sends the troops thousands of care packages. Please see http://gorgeheroesclub.blogspot.com/.
When you hear or read her stories about the agonies of loss and trials of grief which the families of America’s war dead go through, you understand how she can say to all our citizens, “Be an American Worth Dying For.”
To me and others I know, it was the best Memorial Day ceremony held at Edmonds Community College so far. Everyone on the program spoke from the heart and told their own personal stories. You got their messages. And after the wreath-laying ceremony outside on campus and after Kyle Gaul, Northwest Junior Pipe Band, played “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes, I had the privilege of sounding “Taps” one more time on my golden bugle, fading into silence at the end, concluding the program.
Please click on any photo to enlarge it. Outdoor photos courtesy of Veterans Resource Center, ECC.
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James Blossey, Commander, Edmonds VFW Post 8870, U.S Navy, Ret.
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Art Ceniza, Asst City Administrator, Lynnwood, speaking of his late father, who at 103, was one of the last survivors of the infamous 60-mile Bataan Death March in the Philippines in 1942 during WWII
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Steve Pennington, alumnus, Edmonds CC Foundation, Board of Directors, U.S. Air Force, Ret.
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Dr. Jean Hernandez, speaking about her recently deceased father, a WWII Veteran
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Presentation to Dr. Jean Hernandez, posthumously honoring her father, a WWII Veteran
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Chris Szarek, Veterans Resource Center, ECC, speaking to Dr. Jean Hernandez, President, Edmonds Community College
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Eric Christensen, reading “Just A Common Soldier,” a poem by A. Lawrence Vaincourt (1987)
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Monica McNeal, American Gold Star Mothers
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Laying of the Wreath, Chris Szarek and Monica McNeal, at the Boots to Books Memorial, ECC campus
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“Taps,” VFW Post 140 Honor Guard, Lynnwood
Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations | Tagged: bagpipes, bugle, Chris Szarek, Dr. Jean Hernandez, Edmonds Community Club, Living the Oath, Northwest Junior Pipe Band, Peter Al, Taps, The Gorge Heroes Club | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on July 19, 2016
Photo by Carol Sheldon
Pacific Little League Day, 23 April, gave me the opportunity to show off my Getzen Field Trumpet again when I sounded the bugle call, “To the Color,” as Boy Scout Troop 49 presented the colors before a large crowd of parents, relatives and friends at Lynndale Park in Lynnwood.
I love that horn! I should let the trumpet students to whom I give private lessons play it. Bet they’d be amazed.
This is my fifth year in a row sounding this bugle call immediately before the singing of the National Anthem. For more in-depth articles and photos of Pacific Little League (www.pacificlittleleague.com) and this special ceremony, please see my blog posts of:
- 22 May 2012
- 26 May 2013
- 7 June 2014
- 4 May 2015
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Photo by Nancy MacDonald
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Photo by Carol Sheldon
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Photo by Nancy MacDonald
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Color Guard, Boy Scout Troop 49, Lynnwood, preparing to “Present the Colors.” Photo by K.J. Squires.
Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations, Uncategorized | Tagged: Boy Scout Troop 49, bugle, Getzen, horn, lessons, Pacific Little League, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on April 13, 2016
My 28th trumpet student is a cohort—in fact, a Highly Capable Cohort. He lives in West Seattle, but he commutes to Washington Middle School (WMS) on Jackson Street in the Central District, where he is among other cohorts (i.e., friends, colleagues, companions, associates). HCC was formerly known as APP (Accelerated Progress Program). HCC students have achievement test scores at or above the 95th percentile and cognitive test scores at or above the 98th percentile. Wow, I’m impressed!
We started his trumpet lessons on the last day of February in this Leap Year. We meet at a practice studio at Ted Brown Music in the University District (see http://www.tedbrownmusic.com). He’s been playing since 4th grade and is now a 7th grader. He’s also in his third year of piano lessons. Trumpet is his primary instrument, but when the family inherited a piano, he started playing it out of curiosity and for pleasure. And he takes piano lessons, too. Obviously, he enjoys learning.
What attracted him to the trumpet? Its power, he says. It sounds triumphant. But it also can sound sweet, and it can scream. And finally, it has only 3 buttons! Now that he’s been playing for four years, he wants to improve his range, tone, and articulation, as well as improve his all-around playing ability. His trumpet is a Getzen Model 700S Eterna II, manufactured in 2012 (see http://www.getzen.com/trumpet/). He plans to attend Garfield High School, which is renowned nationally for it music program, and he wants to play throughout high school and college. He often wears University of Washington shirts, and the WMS school mascot is the Junior Husky. (Someday, we might end up playing trumpet together in the Husky Alumni Band.)
At WMS (grades 6-8), there are four concert bands, conducted by Kelly Barr-Clingan, Director of Bands and Jazz and an active trombonist and vocalist. Please see http://washingtonmsmusic.com/wmsmusic.com/Welcome.html. My student plays in the Senior Band, and he enjoys movie sound tracks, especially Star Wars. Last year, he was a member of the All-City Junior Band. Last summer, he marched in three community parades: Renton River Days, West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival, and Queen Anne Days.
On 26-28 May this year, the Senior Band, Senior Choir, and Senior Orchestra are giving four performances in the Vancouver, B.C. Heritage Festival. The trip is organized through Worldstrides, a leader in educational trips for students (see https://worldstrides.com/itineraries/vancouver-heritage-festival/). On 14 June, WMS will present its Spring Concert at Garfield High School, featuring all the senior groups. More than half of the school’s population is enrolled in the 13 daily music ensembles. In addition, there are four after-school music offerings. Wow, I’m impressed!
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: band, concert, ensemble, Garfield High School, Getzen, jazz, Kelly Barr Clingan, lesson, music, Ted Brown Music, trumpet, Washington Middle School, Worldstrides | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on March 22, 2016
As far as I know, I might have been the only trumpeter who attended the Spring Recital hosted by Lessons In Your Home (LIYH) on 20 May at the Woodland Park Presbyterian Church in Seattle. That’s because of the approximately 38 student musicians who played their instruments in front of about 150 audience members, four played the violin, four played the guitar, and 30 played the piano. Next year, those missing trumpet students had better show up! 😉
There were eight of us music teachers present—we’re all part of the LIYH staff, and I’m one of the trumpet tutors among the Seattle group. LIYH is led by Jay Maurice of Atlanta, GA, who founded it in 1997. Jay emceed the Sunday afternoon recital.
Today, he operates his business in nine cities, including Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Orlando, Miami/South Florida, and Atlanta. Lessons in Your Home has more than 250 teachers nationwide, teaching music to more than 1,000 students in their own homes. Jay personally interviewed and selected us teachers. See http://www.lessonsinyourhome.net.
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Jay Maurice, founder of Lessons in Your Home
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Posted in Recitals | Tagged: lessons, Lessons in Your Home, music, recital, teacher, trumpet, trumpeter, tutor | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on February 22, 2016
NSD 6th-grade Honors Orchestra and Choir, 2016
Three hundred and thirty-three students from the Northshore School District made the Honors Orchestra, Choir and Band this year and played a concert for their parents, relatives, teachers, and friends at Northshore Jr. High School in Bothell on 9 February. And among them, three (~1%) are my students in elementary band at Skyview Jr. High—one trumpeter, one baritonist, and one trombonist. I’m in my fifth year as a para-professional teacher of beginning brass for fifth and sixth graders who come to Skyview from Crystal Springs, Canyon Creek, and Fernwood elementary schools for classes each week.
Guest conductors were Eileen Treusch (orchestra), Darcy Morrissey (choir), and Frank Halferty (band). The program allotted four pieces to the orchestra, five to the choir, and three to the band. If this were a contest instead of a concert and if I were an adjudicator, I would give the “Best Performance Award” to Darcy Morrissey and her choir. The orchestra was 111 members strong, but the choir was even larger: 128! And the band was 96; that’s a big band, too. I wonder what percentage of the band students are taking private lessons—20%, 10%, 5%? That’s how you “Become your Best” (my motto). And that’s how you eventually make Washington State Band in high school.
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Honors Orchestra (L)
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Honors Orchestra (R)
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Honors Choir
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Ted Christensen (R), NSD Music Coordinator
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Music Directors from five NSD junior high schools
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Honors Band
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Honors Band (L)
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Honors Band (R)
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Trumpeters
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Trumpeters
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Trumpeters
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Trumpeters and Baritonists
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Baritonist from Canyon Creek Elementary School
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Baritonist from Canyon Creek Elem School
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Trombonists
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Trombonist from Crystal Springs Elementary School
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Trombonist from Crystal Springs Elem School
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Trumpeter from Crystal Springs Elementary School
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Trumpeter (R) from Crystal Springs Elem School
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Tenor Saxophonist from Canyon Creek Elementary School
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Charlie Fix, Orchestra and Band Director, Skyview Jr. High School
Posted in School Concerts, Skyview Junior High, Student Competitions, Honors & Awards | Tagged: band, baritonist, brass, choir, honors, lessons, Northshore School District, orchestra, Skyview Jr. High, teacher, trombonist, trumpet, trumpeter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on February 21, 2016
Every one of my trumpet students is serious about playing trumpet—after all, they’re paying for private lessons. But some are more serious than others, and my 27th student is one of those. She started in fifth grade band but due to circumstances beyond her control, she had to drop out for two years. Now in the eighth grade, she has moved to downtown Edmonds from Des Moines, Washington, and is now in the trumpet section of the Wind Ensemble at College Place Middle School.
She likes the fact that the trumpet has only three keys. That, and its light weight and smaller size compared to a tuba, for instance, are what first attracted her (and me) to the trumpet when we were in the fifth grade. It looks deceptively simple, compared to a bassoon, flute, saxophone, or clarinet, where you must use all fingers on both hands. Then the band teacher starts using the French word, “embouchure,” and suddenly, it’s not so simple any more. You find out you must hold your lips just right to buzz into the mouthpiece correctly, and every note has its own unique slot, and to sound different notes, your facial muscles must be set just right, and the aperture must be just the right size for a given note, and your lips must be flexible to make a good, solid tone, and if you aren’t doing all this just right, your tone will be out of tune (sharp or flat), and you must breathe out of the sides of your mouth using your diaphragm, and to play the different notes in a song, you must learn the music alphabet and symbols so that you can read the music language, and there are a bunch of Italian words you must learn, and to play a song, you must change your fingering and your embouchure precisely at the same instant, and to play fast, you must have trained your fingers and embouchure so well that they can change correctly and quickly on sight, automatically, without thought, and to play high notes softly is not easy, and you must simultaneously watch the conductor, read the music, listen to the other musicians, and play, all the time, and it’s hard to play solo under all that pressure because you and the conductor and the audience want you to play perfectly and beautifully…and so forth.
So, although anyone can learn to play trumpet, you have to get serious about it sometime in order to reach your full potential and “Become Your Best!” Fortunately, my 27th trumpet student is serious. Seeing that quality in her daughter, her mom is very happy to support her with private lessons. And seeing the same in her, I am very happy she chose me as her trumpet tutor. She wants to be ready for high school band at Edmonds-Woodway next fall. Our first lesson was on 6 February. We’re starting to plow into the exercise book, I Recommend (1985) by James D. Ployhar. Here we go!
Please click on any image to enlarge it.
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: band, buzz, embouchure, ensemble, I Recommend, lessons, solo, trumpet, tutor | Leave a Comment »
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 