Double Reed Day (TX)

5/2019

During my year teaching in San Antonio, my friend Meridith Wright (fellow private bassoon teacher and colleague from IU) and I hosted a successful first Double Reed Day for middle school students in San Antonio. The event was held at Church Hill Middle School and sponsored by Music and Arts, with lunch donated by Little Caesar's Pizza. We had 40 students attend to learn reed making, play in this unique ensemble, and participate in fun games to win prizes donated from Music and Arts!

Students learned how to tie/wire and adjust their own reeds.

Student groups put together hilarious commercials for new inventions that would make playing their instrument easier. Here we have mini bassoons (boboes), for when your bassoon gets too heavy! (There were many cracked reed remedies haha)

Oboe sectional! I also performed the English horn solo from New World, which was the first time many of them heard it (and the EH) before. Many of these students were my fledglings!

As an icebreaker activity we played a rondo. We had the students introduce themselves, then walk around the circle to someone new during the main theme.

A small portion of what was donated from Music and Arts! The winners of our scale competition bracket received an etude book and metronome/tuner, but every student went home with prizes.

Lunch Time!

We dusted off our high school drum major "skills" to conduct this large double reed ensemble for our end of the day parent concert!