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Time:

Wednesday
December, 14, 2016
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Location:

Meeting Room W184

Clinician(s)

Benjamin Das

Benjamin Das

[email protected]

“Hai!”: Practical Application of Japanese Band Methods in Urban Schools

Clinic Synopsis:

For decades, musicians have admired the high level of performance typical of the common Japanese school band. At the same time, many directors have dismissed their pedagogy as “too foreign” or “not practical” for the American band room. Mr. Das will share some systems, techniques and strategies that are standard for Japanese bands, but often overlooked in the states. Students from Pritzker College Prep, a Title I school, will be on hand for live demonstration.

Benjamin Das - Biographical Information

Benjamin Das is the band director at Pritzker College Prep in Chicago, IL. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2003, Mr. Das worked in the Boston Public Schools for three years, and then moved to Chicago with his wife. He founded the music program at Pritzker College Prep in 2007, and today over half of Pritzker’s 900 students are in either band or choir. Although the majority of his students enter high school with no musical experience, they enjoy great results in local, regional and national competition. In 2007, Mr. Das was awarded Fidelity’s Inspire the Future Award, which was presented onstage by Keith Lockhart during a Boston Pops Performance. Then in 2010, he was awarded The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation Award, which was presented onstage at Carnegie Hall by Richard Dreyfuss during a New York Pops concert. Most recently, Das was a 2015 top-ten finalist for the Fishman Prize; an award not reserved for music teachers, but educators from all disciplines. All three awards are specific to Title I schools.

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