June 2007 - volume 8 - issue 4
Danny Prado
Panel Includes:
Richard Lovelace
Michael Brashear
Asa Burk
Greg Countryman
Dennis Fisher
Mike Brown
How do "they" work? What do "they" do?
Why did "they" do that??? Who is "they"??
The PML Committee brings up visions of late night clandestine meetings, invisible ink, communiqus in code, trench coats, secret drops, dictatorial edits, etc. doesnt it? I am sorry to disappoint you, but the PML Committee is none of these things. The PML committee is a group of music educators, just like you, that is charged with an impossible jobselecting curriculum and pleasing all of the band directors in the state of Texas. I would like to share with you some of the deep, dark secrets of the PML Committee in this article (the rights for the movie script are being negotiated as I write this).
The Prescribed Music List Committee is made up of eight music educators diverse in background, school classification, expertise and most certainly, opinion! The other members of the committee are:
- Dennis Fisher, University of North Texas
- Greg Countryman, Fort Settlement MS, Fort Bend ISD
- Richard Lovelace, New Boston HS, New Boston ISD
- Mike Brashear, Richardson ISD
- Diane Gorzyski, Austin ISD
- Asa Burk, Cross Timbers MS, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
- Mike Brown, Shadow Ridge MS, Lewisvillle ISD
My sincere thanks to them! They are without a doubt the brightest, most hard working people I have ever been around.
Why and how are these people selected? At the end of each PML term, Richard Floyd (Director of UIL Music Activities) is charged with forming a committee to select new music for the next four years and solicits recommendations from the elected leadership of TMEA and ATTSB. (If you are interested in serving on this committee, Mr. Floyd would encourage you to contact him and offer your services to this project.) At the end of each term, a previous member is retained and becomes the chair of the new committee. This person, along with Mr. Floyd, reviews and discusses possible committee members, contacts those candidates, and the committee is formed. The first meeting of this committee took place in January 2006. At that time, philosophies, formats, meeting dates, processes, etc. are mapped out and the work begins.
One of the most pressing concerns is the criteria used for evaluating a piece of music. Some of the key points are: Does the composition have some shape and design and is it consistent in quality throughout the various sections? Does the composition reflect good scoring and how active are the parts? How predictable are the probable musical goals and does the piece contain a musical result, which moves above just historical worth and a good teaching piece.
After the January meeting, music publishers receive a letter from Mr. Floyd describing the submission process and boxes of scores and CDs begin arriving at our residences. Through emails and spreadsheets, I am able to keep track of who has received what and when in order to ensure that we are all on the same page and time line of listening. At the next meeting in June 2006, committee members were instructed to bring to the meeting two packages. In one package are the scores and recordings that they feel are outstanding and are a MUST for the new list. The other package contained scores and CDs they feel may have merit. Other scores were left at home.
At the meeting, each publishers score was reviewed with this action taken:
- not accepted
- placed in the review stack, or
- added to the New PML template.
At this time, we have added these scores to the PML: Grade 1 - 30; Grade 2 - 27; Grade 3 - 36; Grade 4 - 27; Grade 5 - 41 (Some of the Grade 5 additions are currently on the list, but new editions have been made available.)
You may be asking... aren't there many pieces (new and old) that might be worthwhile additions that the committee did not review? Of course! New music is being composed every day! We can only review what publishers send, hence the submission process. If you are not familiar with that process, go to the UIL Music web site and click on the Prescribed Music List tab and open the PDF document titled Band Music Substitution Form.
The Solo and Ensemble additions/changes/deletions operate a bit differently. Each PML Committee member is responsible for his or her fair share of the S & E list. Those members either review and/or form a sub committee to add/delete the music that is submitted. All of the S & E music is sent to the chair who is responsible for organizing the music to hand over to the respective committee member for review.
This articles intention is to provide you with a short introduction to the PML Committee and its process. For a more in depth look and information on the committee, please join us in a Clinic/Panel at the TBA Convention/Clinic on Friday, July 20 at 1:30 PM in Convention Center Room 217. We look forward to seeing you!
Danny Prado is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin University and received his Masters of Music from Texas Womens University. Mr. Prado retired from public school education in 2005 after 33 years with stints in Jacksonville ISD for one year and Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD for seventeen years and most recently fifteen with the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD.
He has served on numerous occasions as a guest clinician for percussion workshops, honor concert and jazz bands, and is an active adjudicator for invitational and UIL contests. Mr. Prado is a member of the National Band Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors National Association, Percussive Arts Society and the International Association of Jazz Educators. He has served as the Texas Music Educators Association Region 24 chairman and served on this organizations State Board for several years. He is also a member of the University Interscholastic League Prescribed Music Committee, serving an 8-year term and will chair the committee 2007 through 2011.
Mr. Prado resides in Grapevine with his wife Kathy, a high school Language Arts/World History teacher in the Carroll ISD. He has two children: Michael recently completed a second tour with the 4th Infantry Division, 110 Cavalry Scout Unit as a Combat Medic in the Baghdad, Iraq theater and is currently Active Reserve. Daughter Danielle is a student and Longhorn Band section leader at The University of Texas at Austin.
Richard Lovelace
Richard Lovelace
Richard Lovelace earned his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees from East Texas State University in Commerce. He has taught in Texas public schools for twenty-seven years: one year in Jacksonville ISD, thirteen years in Longview ISD, five years in DeKalb ISD, and eight years in New Boston ISD as Director of Bands at New Boston High School.
His bands have consistently earned UIL Sweepstakes Awards and have been chosen Best in Class at Four States , Gilmer, and NAMMB marching competitions. In 1986 his Judson Middle School Band was fifth runner-up in TMEA Class C Honor Band competition. His New Boston High School Band was a TMEA Honor Band finalist in 2000, and his bands have two selections on the ATSSB Outstanding Performance Series.
Lovelace is former president of TMEA region IV and former president of the National Association of Military Marching Bands. Lovelace is a current member of TMEA, Four States Bandmasters Association, TBA, NAMMB , ATSSB, and Phi Beta Mu International Bandmaster Fraternity. He is currently serving on the PML selection committee for UIL.
Michael Brashear
Michael Brashear
Michael Brashear recently completed his second year as Director of Fine Arts for the Richardson ISD. He was responsible for the entire fine arts program which includes Secondary Band, Choir, Orchestra, Theatre, and Elementary Music. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Brashear completed his thirtieth year as a band director and his thirteenth year as Director of Bands and Chairman of the Fine Arts Department at L.V. Berkner High School in Richardson. Before moving to Richardson, Mr. Brashear taught in the Cypress-Fairbanks, Spring Branch, and Irving public schools. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Tarleton State University and a Master of Music Education degree from the University of North Texas.
Bands under Mr. Brashear's leadership have won many awards, including selection as "Best in Class" at numerous festivals, selection as finalist in the Texas Music Educators State Honor Band competitions, and selection as finalist in the Texas State Marching Contest. In December 2000, the Berkner Band performed at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago.
In 1998, Mr. Brashear was one of fifteen teachers in Texas to win the UIL-Southwestern Bell Sponsor Excellence Award, and one of eight Richardson ISD teachers awarded the RISE Foundation "Excellence in Teaching" award. He is an active member of the Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Mu. In 2004, he was honored by being elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. In 2006, Mr. Brashear was presented the Meritorious Achievement Award by the Texas Bandmasters Association in recognition of an outstanding career as a band director.
Active in the professional community, Mr. Brashear served for seven years on the board of directors of the Texas Bandmasters Association and was president of that organization in 2003. He is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association and served that organization as a region officer. Mr. Brashear is active in the Southwest as a band clinician and guest conductor. He frequently serves as an adjudicator and is a member of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association. He is currently serving on the UIL Prescribed Music List Committee. Michael and his wife Priscilla will be moving to San Antonio this summer where he will begin his new position as Executive Director of the Texas Bandmasters Association following this year's convention. Their daughter Sarah will enter 8th grade, and son Robert will be a sophomore at Sam Houston State University.
Asa Burk
Asa Burk
Asa Burk is the director of bands at Cross Timbers Middle School in Grapevine. He began his fifteen year career in Springtown ISD where he taught both high school and middle school. Later he taught at Harwood Junior High in Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD and most recently at Huffines Middle School in Lewisville ISD.
He received his Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude from Howard Payne University where he studied with Jonathan Hooper and Dr. George Baker. He later earned his Master of Music Education from the University of North Texas. He is a low brass specialist with emphasis on trombone.
During the 2000-2001 school year, Mr. Burk was named "Teacher of the Year" at Huffines Middle School. He has served as the TMEA Region 24 Middle School Band Chairman. Mr. Burk has collaborated with David Maslanka, Timothy Broege, and James Bonney to commission new compositions. Mr. Burk is an active clinician and adjudicator throughout Texas and works with several summer band camps.
Over the years, his bands have consistently received UIL Sweepstakes Awards, many Best in Class designations at various festivals, and was a state participant in the 2004 TMEA Honor Band selection process. Mr. Burk is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He also maintains active membership in the Texas Music Educator's Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association. He and his wife, Alicia, reside in Fort Worth.
Greg Countryman
Greg Countryman
Greg Countryman is beginning his fourth year as Director of Bands at Fort Settlement Middle School in the Fort Bend ISD. During the inaugural year of the school, the FSMS Band was a state finalist in the TMEA Honor Band Competition. Prior to opening Fort Settlement Middle School, Countryman was Director of Bands at Quail Valley Middle School where the band was chosen to perform at the 2000 Midwest Clinic in Chicago and also selected as the 2001 Texas Music Educators Association CCC Honor Band for the state of Texas. Bands under his direction have consistently received superior ratings at the annual UIL Concert & Sight Reading Contest and they have also been selected "Best in Class" at the Spring/Splashtown Band Contest and the Director's Choice Festival held in The Woodlands.
Mr. Countryman received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Louisiana State University where he studied with Frank Wickes and his Master of Music Education degree from the University of Houston where he studied with Eddie Green. He is a recipient of the TMEA Leadership and Achievement Award and the NBA Citation of Excellence. He is an active clinician and adjudicator throughout the state of Texas and is a member of Phi Beta Mu, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, TMAA, TBA, and TMEA.
Dennis Fisher
Dennis Fisher
Dennis Fisher is the Conductor of the Symphonic Band and Associate Director of Wind Studies at the University of North Texas. As Professor of Music in Conducting and Ensembles, Mr. Fisher is integrally involved with the conducting and music education programs at the University. A Kansas native, he holds degrees from Emporia State University and Fort Hays State University.
Mr. Fisher brings to his position a wide variety of experience and expertise as a conductor, arranger, clinician, educator, and consultant. Mr Fisher is very active as an arranger for all wind mediums, including symphonic band, marching band, and chamber music. His arrangements and transcriptions are frequently performed by major wind groups and military bands around the world. He regularly serves as a clinician, conductor, and adjudicator throughout the country having lectured, conducted and performed in Thailand, Japan, Great Britain, Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, and throughout the United States.
Mr. Fisher has recorded extensively on the Mark, Eurosound, and Klavier labels with the University of North Texas Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony. He serves as recording and editing producer of the "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band" series compact disc recordings, and "Teaching Music Through Performance in Beginning Band" compact disc recording, published and distributed by G.I.A. Publications. He is the author of "Improved Score Study" and "Focused Listening Techniques for the Conductor" (2002) and is co-author of "Contemporary Warm-up Studies and Techniques for Band."
Mr Fisher holds professional memberships in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, National Band Association, and the College Band Directors National Association. He has also been honored with invited membership in Phi Beta Mu, National Band Fraternity. Other honors include, twice being named "Top Prof" by the Mortarboard Society at the University of North Texas and the University of North Texas Community Award.
Mike Brown
Mike Brown
Mike Brown began his teaching career in 1993 in the Lewisville Independent School District. Mr. Brown is currently serving as the Director of Bands at Shadow Ridge Middle School. During his tenure in the Lewisville ISD, Mike has also held the positions of Director of Bands at Flower Mound HS and Chair of the Fine Arts Department, Associate Director of Bands at Marcus High School and Associate Director of Bands at Lewisville HS.
Mr. Brown’s ensembles have consistently earned the UIL Sweepstake Award and have been named "Best in Class" at numerous festivals. While serving as the Director of Bands at Flower Mound High School, the Flower Mound High School Wind Symphony was invited to perform at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and was also a state Honor Band finalist
During Flower Mound High School’s inaugural year, Mike was selected as the Teacher of the Year. In 2003, Mr. Brown was chosen as the Phi Beta Mu "Outstanding Young Bandmaster". In the same year, Mike appeared as the October 2003 cover story of the School Band and Orchestra Magazine titled "Mike Brown: Keeping the Competitive Edge". Mike has also been named to "Who’s Who Among America's Teachers".
Mike Brown serves as an active clinician an adjudicator throughout the state of Texas.
Mr. Brown’s professional affiliations include:
- Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA)
- Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA)
- Phi Beta Mu (an International School Bandmaster Fraternity)
- Kappa Kappa Psi (a National Band Service Fraternity).
Mike resides in Flower Mound, Texas with his wife Elizabeth and his two sons, Cameron and Weston.
