We at Central Music had a wonderful opportunity to help the Chatterton MS 8th grade band recently. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the band would not be attending the District MSBOA band festival this year. Their director, Adam Busuttil was disappointed but he was determined to find a way to reward the students for their awesome work. He reached out to us here at Central music wondering if we had any suggestions for a learning experience that would also be fun for this special group of students.

We threw some ideas against the wall and came up with an idea for a clinic/concert. This would be a way for the students to play their music for another teacher and get some feedback to improve their performance. Much like they would get if they had attended the MSBOA festival. We called on a friend of ours, Dr. Marty Marks, director of bands at Adrian College and he was able to clear his schedule to come work the band.

The 8th grade Chatterton band students were excited to be able to show their skills to Dr. Marks and he helped the band with some great tips suggesting that students of their ability should be able to take responsibility for their own pitch and not wait for their director to tell them to adjust.

The concert also honored Mr. Brian Roelandt, the Fitzgerald HS director, by asking him to conduct one of the pieces. Mr. Roelandt will be retiring at the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

This event left a lot of smiling faces and happy hearts at the end of the evenings performance.

The Band presented Dr. Marks, and Central Music with plaques, suitable for display in office or store.