Well, last night ended up being a lot shorter than I had anticipated. It's amazing how HGTV and the Discovery channel can steal a person off to
the Dreaming so efficiently. Couch + television = unconscious. I am my father's son, it appears...
TMEA was a great time this year. My first at my new job in Waller - which is nice because I can now determine budget allotments (meaning that everything was paid for this year by the district - a nice touch) - as well as my first taking a student to perform in an All-State ensemble (our wunderkind - Cameron Kubos - in the Jazz Ensemble).
The journey began on Valentine's Day - after a few periods of listening to the singing telegrams delivered by the Waller HS choir students (some more entertaining than others) - we boarded the district's Excursion and off we went. Several hours, and KFC, later - we stopped at a non-descript truck stop to be greeted with
the largest truck I have ever seen - a Ford F650. Ridiculously ginormous.
As I snapped this photo, Cameron commented that it was "very John Mackey" of me to take pictures of such things, which I took as the highest of compliments.Continuing on to San Antonio we listened to one of the great bands of the 80's: Journey, some UT Jazz Ensemble recordings (which woke me out of a dead sleep due to all the uncharacteristic sounds in the performance), Pines of Rome ( which woke me up for the same reason at UT Jazz did, sadly), the UH wind ensemble, and (per Cameron's request) the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack... which is quite good, actually.
Arrival in San Antonio and the first night were quite uneventful. I was getting over the flu (which made me sound like
Estelle from Friends - my apologies to everyone I talked to... I am sure it was entertaining, though) and my compatriots were tired as well, so we fell asleep in the suite and were all-together rather uninteresting. I managed to catch a few minutes of "Lost" before I drifted off, which did nothing to help me understand that already convoluted plot line. Looks like I will be purchasing season 3 and watching it this summer... because, unlike "West Wing" after season 4, "Lost" has not yet jumped the shark...
But I digress.
Thursday was a day of making the rounds in the exhibit halls, attending clinics, and a catching few concerts. Had the opportunity to say hello to all my friends at
Bands of America, the
Cavaliers,
Fred J. Miller,
McCormick's,
VisAudio Designs, and my alma mater -
VanderCook. Also had the chance to check out TCU's concert. While not as mind-blowingly impressive as University of Houston's last year (a wind ensemble playing
Feste Romane as well as U of H plays orchestral transcriptions... it doesn't come much better) it
did include "
Turning" a new work by the aforementioned John Mackey. I, personally, love this piece - it is emotive without being saccharine, and makes use of quite a few good instrumental colors (especially trombone -
very effective). I really do wish more ensembles down here would play new music for winds. Don't get me wrong, transcriptions have great musical value, but new blood must be integrated else things become stagnant and turgid. I would love to hear "
Chunk" or "
Radiant Joy" performed by UH's bands. Those would be remarkable performances...
Also on Thursday the Waller staff had a chance to sit down and discuss our Fall 2007 production with our design team - Kevin Nix, Daniel Cuevas, and
Daniel Montoya. I am very excited about the show they are creating for us, and definitely think it will fit our students well. Combined with the recent approval of our
new uniforms, this is shaping up to be a very exciting year for the Waller Bands!
Later that evening,
Sarah made her way to San Antonio - unfortunately to the wrong hotel (since Holiday Inn Express must think it funny to put
two of the
same hotel on the
same street in a city built around
conventions... Sarah and I both found this a little less than humorous.) With my phone sadly dead, I was less than helpful - but once we had everything squared away everyone was happily off to Swig for some adult beverages.
After staking out a section of bar (very near the wait-stations, much to the staff's chagrin) we were joined shortly by
Jonathan Newman and
John Mackey - who I last had the chance to talk to at Midwest this year -
wicked intelligent gents, both and excellent conversation... when you could hear over the
Blues Traveler send-up in the next room. We were also joined, in short order, by
Dr. Jeff Gershman and
Mr. Brian Zator from Texas A&M - Commerce. Dr. Gershman knew Sarah from her appearances on Mackey's blog (which is quickly becoming a strong candidate for a "six-degrees-of" style game) and Brian noticed my gears from my years in the Cavaliers (where he also marched) - the world just continues to get smaller. Also met "The Jennifers" -
Jennifer Stokes and
Jennifer Alcocer both of Keller ISD - where I was first employed in Texas. Though it was freezing outside, we stayed quite warm and comfortable inside wondering at the people who made it a point to sit on the patio... being a northerner and growing up in the bitter cold, I guess I just relish the fact I can be warm in February. C'est la vie...
Friday dawned much the same as Thursday - later than we wanted to get up, but earlier than we should have. Went to a fantastically... interesting "Oboe Band" clinic with Newman (I will never listen to Gordon Jacob the same way again...) and then lunch with Mackey and Newman both. From there I was off to hear Coppell North MS from DFW -
great concert - and Sarah and Newman went to investigate the Alamo.
As you can see, the Alamo is a little less grand than one might expect from a landmark so central to the Texan ideology, but it is a pilgrimage one must make whilst in Texas. Next stop, I think, should be the Shiner Brewery.Later that evening Sarah and I attended the Langham Creek HS 5A Honor Band concert. I have always had the greatest of respect for Scott McAdow and Gloria Ramirez, but that respect is increased ten-fold after their concert. The group was
simply amazing. Probably the best performance of "
Equus" I have ever heard, live or recorded, from any group. The fact that a high school ensemble can play that piece and a transcription of "Pines of Rome" in the same concert is mind boggling. Again, simply
amazing performance. Kudos to the LCHS staff and students.
Friday night is the traditional Cavaliers hang, this year at the Cadillac Bar - off the beaten path of the Riverwalk. Getting out of the cab, we were greeted by a police officer who asked whether or not we were with the Cavaliers. He directed us to the back of the bar, and as we walked in it became apparent as to why we were politely accosted at the front door - there was a full-blown Mexican wedding reception going on. Absolutely crazy. By the time we left there were 2 cruisers and 4 cops investigating what looked like a fist-fight by the front door. Very surreal...
After catching up with many of my Cavaliers friends - including
Jeff, Bales,
Jason Dimiceli, Tony Cimino,
Dre,
George Hester, Thomas Turpin, Mike Pickrell, and
Bryan Harmsen to name a few, Sarah and I headed back to the Riverwalk (on foot, mind you!) to visit with some other friends. After meeting up with
Nick Nett and
Beth Doctor at Pat O'Brien's (which I called everything from Kitty O'Shea's to Darby O'Gill's throughout the weekend... not good with the names...) we met up with Newman, Mackey, the Jennifers, Dr. Gershman, Brian Zator, and (seemingly) half the band world to close out the night. As is customary for TMEA, a discussion of UIL arose (and the cursed 8 hour rule... all I would ask for is 10 hours/week and 1 weekend rehearsal a month - though it
does make us more efficient... again, digression) as did the Apollo/Dionysus debate of technical facility vs. musicianship that is so central to the music education scene here in Texas. There really is nothing like placing highly intelligent people in a room together and watching what develops... quite a nice way to spend an evening.
Saturday was the day of concerts. After watching a fantastic Cameron Kubos perform with the equally talented All-State Jazz Ensemble, it was off to visit with the Bands of America people. We said our goodbyes to Cam Stasa, and met up with Newman to see the 5A All-State Concert Band, conducted by
Gary Hill, perform "
Turbine". While the rest of the concert was well done (though Lincolnshire Posy with 150+ people on stage had its interesting moments...) Mackey's piece was by far the best performed piece on the program.
From there, it was a quick lunch at the Rivercenter food court, and back for the 5A All-State Symphonic Band, conducted by
Larry Livingston, who all performed well. After that concert, it was back in line for the Philharmonic Orchestra - who were performing Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra" and Dvorak's "Carnival Overture". High School students... performing Bartok and Dvorak... after 2.5 days of rehearsal. What an amazing state Texas is.
The concert was quite good - though long. All the All-State students I had a chance to hear performed exceedingly well, and it reaffirmed my faith in the quality of music education here in my adopted home. Now comes the task of getting more of Waller's students into those ensembles...
After the final concert, it was off to dinner with Newman at
La Hacienda in north San Antonio... incredible fajitas. They truly are the best in the city - as usual Sarah has immaculate taste. From there, we bid our farewells to Jonathan, and John Mackey through him, and headed off for the night. After some time in Kevin Nix's hot tub, we slept like babies. Well-hydrated babies...
A shot of the new HS in North East ISD - home to Ronald Reagan HS and Winston Churchill HS among others... this thing is massive...Sunday was a day of good conversation, Le Peep, and the trek back to Houston. Had the chance to stop at Buc-ees in
Luling... uniquely Texan, and uniquely a zoo. Not for the faint of heart. Also followed, for a while, an amusing license plate on a Corvette... I thought it blog-worthy:
All I could think of was the Snicker's commercial...
This picture below, I think, captures the essence of car travel in Texas - at least with Sarah and I. You need a good sense of humor in a state where a "short" drive is 3 hours, and it takes 12+ hours to cross the entire state... in any direction...
All in all, a very good convention - and I couldn't have asked for a better convention-mate than Sarah. We do conventions well.
Oh, and one more thing.
The video below was taken waiting in line for the Philharmonic Orchestra concert... the music you hear is an Army Jazz combo providing entertainment for the people waiting in line... which apparently is what this woman was doing as well... the gentleman you hear talking is an usher who is an apparent avid cyclist... and the last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to the fact I was filming this incredibly strange event happening down the line... so I played along. It's a large file, so it may take a bit to buffer - but it is very much worth it. Enjoy and have a great Saturday!
Our acquatic charge enjoys romance, candle-lit dinners, long walks on the beach, and his UT Longhorns mirror... narcissist that he is. 
