A Thank You Note

I would like to say "Thank You" to Dr. Conrad, my former Indianapolis Youth Wind Ensemble director. I would like to thank him for educating me on nearly EVERY John Phillip Sousa march out there, and also for making me play them all once a year. Because of Dr. Conrad, I have most of these marches nearly memorized and could tell you quite a bit about them.

I was especially thankful for this last night at rehearsal for Wasatch Winds. We are preparing for our Freedom Festival concert in Provo the week of the 4th of July. Can you guess who the star composer is? I suppose it wouldn 't be the 4th of July without a heaping handful of Sousa marches.

It's really a shame that it annoys me to play these marches. After all, John Phillip Sousa's marches are probably some of the most recognized pieces out there. It mostly annoys me when we play 3 or more in once concert, which is what typically happened in IYWE, and of course, is what is happening this concert. Maybe I'm the only one out there, but the marches get harder to play the more of them we rehearse. Not harder technically, but it seems as if gradually each one is getting slower and slower and takes longer to get through. Yes, I said "get through."

Just FYI: we are playing five or six sousa marches on our next concert. That's more than half of the performance. Ugh.

Also, I love listening to these marches, and I'm a big fan of John Phillip Sousa. I have a nice award from high school with his picture right on it! I've just been over-exposed to these marches, I think. :)