{"id":3432,"date":"2023-03-16T09:27:34","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timcorpus.net\/?p=3432"},"modified":"2023-03-16T09:27:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:27:36","slug":"going-from-earth-to-the-moon-with-concert-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timcorpus.net\/index.php\/2023\/03\/16\/going-from-earth-to-the-moon-with-concert-band\/","title":{"rendered":"Going from Earth to the Moon with Concert Band"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So I mentioned that I Schaumburg High School (my alma mater) commissioned me to write a new piece for band for the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the writing process I was really attracted to the idea of writing a piece in two parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. From Earth to the Moon<\/em> – A movement all about the excitement and the adventure of space exploration. This was supposed to feel heroic and cinematic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Prayer for Earth<\/em> – This next section arrives with a bang and then all of a sudden all of gravity is gone. The listener is floating in space, looking back on our planet, a world that has accomplished so much but still has a lot of work to do.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The piece would be titled \u201cMoonshot\u201d because that\u2019s what it was to get to space in the 1960\u2019s, and that\u2019s what it feels like it is for us back here on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As I wrote this piece, my former band director Greg Tipps, who now conducts the Harper College Wind Symphony asked if they could have the second performance. Mr. Tipps then told me about how one of his first students in the SHS band (a clarinet player), Catherine Koerner works for NASA. Not only does Catherine work at NASA, she\u2019s the Deputy Associate Administrator, ESDMD, NASA HQ. She\u2019s literally responsible for the program that is sending astronauts to the Moon and then Mars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So I decided to take my own \u201cmoonshot\u201d and I wrote her a letter and clicked send on LinkedIn. In my letter I told her that I was writing a piece about hope and (in my own hopes) acknowledging the importance of arts and all education. She loved the idea, she wrote a lovely program note, a letter to the students, and then offered to come out with me to meet the band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Read the article covering our working with the band by Eileen Daday<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    So in February it all came together and we met for the first time and got to hear \u201cMoonshot\u201d by the Schaumburg High School band for the first time all together; our former band director Greg Tipps, Catherine, and myself all in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    (Photos by Patrick DeGeorge, Public Relations Specialist, Township High School District 211)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And now it’s time for the premiere of \u201cMoonshot\u201d by SHS on Thursday, March 16, 2023. I\u2019m extremely grateful to the band directors Vinnie & Anthony for being as excited about this project and as nerdy about space as I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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