6th grade band performs special musical composition
Dr. Matt Schoendorff conducting Luther C. Klager Elementary School’s 6th grade band playing Volcano! which he had composed years before.
Tuesday evening, audience members at the Klager Elementary 5th and 6th grade spring band concert were treated to a spectacular performance by the 6th grade band of a very special arrangement titled Volcano! which had been composed for a Manchester Middle School band almost 20 years earlier. And when it came time to perform, band director Ed Schoendorff stepped down and the composer of the piece, his younger brother Dr. Matt Schoendorff, stepped up to conduct it.
Ed Schoendorff is the eldest of four brothers. They all played in band in high school and all studied privately with a mentor, James Lee, who was the head of the music department at Mott Community College in Flint, played bass trombone in the Flint Symphony and conducted the wind ensemble at the Flint Institute of Music. And all of the brothers went on to study music for a time in college. Ed and his brother Matt both did their undergraduate work at Western Michigan University. They lived together for a time and were always working on musical and other media projects together.
So when Ed began working as a band director and music teacher for Manchester Community Schools in 1999, it was not unusual for Matt to occasionally visit band rehearsals. One day the brothers were visiting a large sheet music store. Ed explained what happened next: “I was lamenting the fact that I couldn’t find a piece of music that really fit my 7th grade band. Matt told me he’d write a piece for us. At the time I thought he was joking but he came to rehearsals, got to know the way that our 7th graders played and then began writing Volcano! for that group of young musicians in Manchester.” Volcano was well received and Matt continued to write a new piece of music for the 7th grade band every year for the next ten years, until eventually the district restructured and Ed’s teaching position changed.
Matt went on to earn his DMA in music theory and composition and now teaches at Wayne State University. Many of those pieces have gone on to be published. All pieces available for commercial sale have a dedication to Manchester 7th grade students printed at the top of the page!
Ed described the legacy these Manchester 7th grade bands have left through Matt’s compositions. “Matt’s music has always been quite challenging and many of his pieces that were premiered by our 7th graders have gone on to be popular with advanced middle school and even high school bands,” he said. The goal was to always stretch our students and challenge them musically and Matt’s work definitely does that–but with an wonderful musical payoff. Students are challenged by his writing, but also find it very fun to play once they master it.”
Because of grade redistribution among buildings this school year, Ed was made director of the 5th and 6th grade bands. The 6th grade band students, who had Ed as a music teacher through elementary school, knew that their now band director has a brother Matt who is a composer. Several students decided to research some of his music. Ed stated, “The 6th graders thought it would be cool to play one of Matt’s tunes and asked me about it. I told them that his style of music is challenging even for 7th graders and beyond, and that it might not be the best choice for them at this stage in their musical development. I was afraid that it would just frustrate them. Still, they persisted and so I distributed Volcano! to the 6th grade band so that they could at least give it a try.”
Those first rehearsals were filled with challenges: they had to learn new notes, rhythms, a new key signature and be able to switch styles all within the same piece. Ed continued, “I told the students that it would take a lot of personal effort and that it would be very challenging but that if they REALLY wanted to make a go of it, we could try programming it for the spring concert. The excitement of playing Volcano! as a 6th grade band soon began to wane as the rubber hit the road. Putting this together meant that our 6th graders needed to focus and be as mature–musically, academically and even socially–as they possibly could. The work that the students put into this piece was really quite something. It came about through sweat, grit and musical determination.”
The pressure was on when the students found out Matt would be coming in to hear them play at rehearsal. “They ratcheted their efforts up even more. When Matt stepped onto the podium to work with the band in rehearsals, the students really seemed work well with him,” Ed stated. When Ed casually threw the idea of having Matt guest conduct out to the students about three weeks before the concert, they were very enthusiastic.
When it was finally time to perform the piece in public Tuesday night, Dr. Matt Schoendorff attended and guest conducted. After decades, the two brothers and the current 6th grade band vividly brought this piece of music to life and back to the Manchester community. At the end of the piece, the audience leaped up in a long standing ovation.
In honor of this occasion, Ed Schoendorff presented the students with the Volcano! sheet music they played at the concert, which was from his personal collection. He stated, “I am profoundly proud of our 6th grade band students and of my brother! We’ve got great students here in Manchester who can–and will–do amazing things!”
For more information on Dr. Matt Schoendorff’s compositions visit http://matthewschoendorff.com.
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