UMD Hosts Music for All’s First Annual Mid-Atlantic Concert Band Festival

Students from Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina gather for a day of music and community building, hosted by the School of Music and Arts for All.

By TJ Wagman ‘20 

Hundreds of middle and high school band students from Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina gathered at the University of Maryland this past weekend for masterclasses, performances and more as part of Music for All’s first annual Mid-Atlantic Concert Band Festival. A national nonprofit, Music for All seeks to provide “life-changing” musical experiences while advocating for music and arts education; they hold similar regional festivals across the country. 

Led by UMD School of Music’s Associate Director of Bands Andrea Brown and Columbia, Md.’s Atholton High School Director of Bands Eric Posner, the festival featured masterclasses, feedback, clinics with nationally recognized wind band conductors as well as nearly a dozen performances held throughout the various classrooms and performance halls of The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Brown has previously been involved with Music for All’s national festival in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

The event at Maryland was presented in collaboration with the university’s Arts for All initiative, which seeks to bolster a campuswide culture of creativity and innovation, including through partnerships that foster creative and scholarly excellence among campus arts practitioners, scholars and local communities. 

“This was a wonderful opportunity to host middle and high school band students in our amazing facilities and introduce them to our faculty and students,” Brown said. 

Students split into groups based on their instruments to participate in masterclasses led by esteemed UMD faculty and graduate students—from tips on musicality to instrumental tendencies and how to produce a clear sound.

The day included performances by each school’s band, as well as a special performance by the University of Maryland Wind Ensemble. Ensembles and their directors received critiques and instruction from nationally recognized wind band conductors. Between performances and classes, students mingled with fellow musicians, talked to staff about studying music at Maryland and toured the campus.

Brown added: “We hope all of the participants had a life-changing experience, and that the attendees felt a positive sense of community surrounding their music-making as well as took away some ideas about improving their individual and ensemble performance skills.” 
 

Photo by Ken Rubin.