In this rehearsal lab, Jennifer Drake will demonstrate rehearsal strategies and concepts with an emphasis on practical pedagogy that you can implement in your ensemble rehearsals as early as tomorrow. The shared strategies are as equally applicable to a group “firing on all pistons” as they are to an ensemble in a rebuilding situation, and while some ideas are “tried and true,” others may open new avenues on ways to help your students better understand their role in music-making. The rehearsal lab will feature the wonderful musicians of Kyle Weirich at Elkhart High School (Indiana).
Jennifer Drake
- Biographical Information
The most enthusiastic musician you will ever meet, Jennifer Drake is known for her versatility, humor, and energy. Jennifer is a conductor, violist, teacher, clinician, and camp director. Jennifer is the Music Director of the Serenata Orchestra, has served as the assistant conductor and principal violist for the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival and is Music Director of the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. She has been a guest conductor for the Idaho State Civic Symphony, the Boise Philharmonic and Opera Idaho.Jennifer is a highly sought after teacher and clinician. As a clinician, she is known forher infectious energy and ability to engage with ensembles of all levels. In 2023, she will be the conductor for the Texas All State Orchestra, and South Carolina All State. Recent clinics and honor groups have been held in Indiana, Montana, Utah, Oregon, Texas, Nevada, and Idaho. She is also a lecturer for the Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning, where she is in the middle of a Beethoven Quartet cycle lecture recital series that was supposed to conclude in 2020, but we all know what happened there. Jennifer is the principal violist for the Boise Baroque Orchestra, as well as a section violist for the Boise Philharmonic. Jennifer has enjoyed an international chamber music career, performing at the 33rd International Viola Congress in Reykjavik, Iceland and the International Bass Clarinet Convention in Rotterdam, Holland. She has performed concerts in Iceland, Holland, Denmark, Romania, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Canada. Jennifer is the founder of Idaho Viola Camp. She is also the co-artistic directorand founder of the Idaho Orchestra Institute. Both camps provide students with unique outdoor experiences, in addition to high quality musical engagement.Recent awards and honors include winning the 2018 International Conductor’s Workshop and Competition, receiving an Alexa Rose Foundation grant, and receiving a fellowship with the Allentown Symphony for the 2017-18 season. She has also been the cover girl for HerLife magazine. When she is not living the obviously glamorous lifestyle that being a conductor and cover girl must afford, she is cruising around in her 1985 Volkswagen camper van, calling the vet for her not-exactly-Corgis Fergus and Cameron, thinking of how to avoid grocery shopping, and planning trips with her husband, Chad Marvin. Jen and Chad climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2016.
Kyle Weirich is in his 30th year of teaching instrumental music in the public school system. He is currently the Music Coordinator for Elkhart Community Schools and Director of Orchestras at Elkhart High School in Elkhart, Indiana. Elkhart Community Schools was recently named a Best Community for Music Education for the third consecutive year. Since Mr. Weirich’s arrival in 2006, the Elkhart HS Symphony Orchestra has been an ISSMA state finalist nine times. The Symphony Orchestra has also performed at the IMEA Professional Development Conference and as a previous clinic ensemble at the Midwest Clinic. Kyle and his wife, Tracey, started a United Sound Program five years ago, which has given numerous performances and received local and national recognition. Kyle received the Teacher of the Year Award at Elkhart HS in 2015, and was named the 2019 High School Orchestra Teacher of the Year by the Indiana chapter of the American String Teachers Association. Mr. Weirich earned the Bachelor of Music degree from Western Michigan University and the Master of Music Education Degree from VanderCook College of Music. He has also been chosen as a presenter at Indiana Music Educators Association Professional Development Conferences and the Conn-Selmer Institute.