What makes a performance memorable and how do we develop those skills so that our performances have a lasting impact on both the students and our audiences? This session will include other artistic mediums to understand how we can create and teach our students to have more inspiring and engaging performances that go beyond the notes and rhythms on the page. Tools for implementing creativity and imagination in the rehearsal, and finding a personal connection to audiences will be explored.
Stephen Meyer
- Biographical Information
Stephen Meyer is currently the director of bands and assistant professor of music at Northern Arizona University. He previously served as interim director of bands at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and interim assistant director of bands at the University of South Carolina. As director of bands at Clear Creek High School, the Clear Creek Wind Ensemble was a featured performer at the 2013 Midwest Clinic, was a three-time National Winner in the National Wind Band Honors project, a two-time national finalist for American Prize in Wind Ensemble Performance, and the Grand Champion of the 2013 Dallas Wind Symphony Invitational. Prior to Clear Creek, Dr. Meyer taught at Harrison High School in Cobb County, Georgia, where he assisted with performances at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, the Georgia Music Educators Association, and the University of Georgia. As co-director of the marching band, the ensemble was a consistent Bands of America Regional and Super-Regional Finalist, a Bands of America Grand National Finalist in 2007, and a featured ensemble in the 2009 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Dr. Meyer graduated magna cum laude from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with a bachelor of music education degree and earned both a master's and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. He is the author of Rehearsing the High School Band, Rehearsing the Middle School Band, Rehearsing the Marching Band, and Rehearsing the Middle School Band.