Beyond the Measure: A Podcast for Music Educators

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As the school year begins, we wanted to simply share with you all some words of encouragement. Please take them to heart as you begin and continue throughout the school year, and remember that what do matters. What you do changes lives. And therefore, what you do changes the world.
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This week, we sit down with composer Luke McMillan, who is very well-known for creating accessible marching shows for small school band programs. Luke tells us how he came to become a full-time composer and the strategies he uses to be a resource to band directors and other music educators across the country.
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Connect with Luke:
Website: https://lukemcmillanmusic.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lukemcmillan/?hl=en
Facebook: https://es-la.facebook.com/lukemcmillanmusic/
Luke McMillan is a composer, arranger, and designer for the marching arts. Luke has been writing music professionally since 2005 and has composed and arranged full-time since 2015. Luke’s music is regularly heard at numerous competitive circuits, including BOA, USBands, and multiple local and state-sanctioned events across the country. Luke’s music has been played by several state marching band finalists and medalists around the country and has been described as achievable and fun for the performers, and entertaining and engaging for the audience.

Before becoming a full-time composer/arranger, Luke was as a band director for 11 years at Wylie High School in Abilene, TX. During his time at Wylie, Luke designed the shows for and co-taught the Wylie “Pure Gold” Marching Band, which advanced to the state marching contest several times playing his music. Luke also directed the Symphonic Band which earned consistent sweepstakes awards, and the Wylie High School Jazz Band, which earned “Best in Class” awards for most jazz festivals they attended.
Luke is a 2003 graduate of The University of North Texas holding a Bachelor of Music degree. While attending UNT, he played in the marching band, concert band, and nationally recognized jazz lab bands. Luke lives and works in his hometown of Abilene, TX.

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This week, Wendy Weeks, head choral director at Abilene High School, joins us to talk about the importance of having structure in your classroom from day 1, and how it affects the rest of the teaching and learning experience for both you and your students.
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A music educator of twenty-eight years, Wendy Weeks is serving her sixth year as Director of Choirs at Abilene High School. Mrs. Weeks proudly hails from the outstanding music programs of the Abilene Independent School District, singing under the direction of Don Scargall at Madison Junior High, and Bobbie Sumerlin and Barbara Perkins at Cooper High School. While in high school, Wendy had the privilege of performing the Brahms Requiem in the 1989 TMEA Texas All-State Choir under the direction of Robert Shaw.

Mrs. Weeks earned the Bachelor of Music degree from Abilene Christian University, where she majored in Music Education and Vocal Performance. As a member of the ACU A Cappella Choir, she performed a concert at TMEA. As a vocal student of Julie Pruett, she participated in NATS competitions, opera and oratorio performances, musical theatre productions, and served as an ACU Sing Song Hostess. She was awarded the Janey Nance Hall Music Scholarship in her senior year at ACU.

In 1995, she began her teaching career at Cooper High School as Assistant Choral Director with her former choir teacher and mentor, Barbara Perkins. From 2000 to 2011, Mrs. Weeks taught elementary music at College Heights and Jackson Elementary schools. College Heights Elementary School honored Mrs. Weeks in 2002 by naming her Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Weeks furthered her music education during the summers earning her Kodaly Certification through the West Texas Kodaly Initiative in 2008.

From 2011 to 2017, Mrs. Weeks served as Choral Director at Craig Middle School, where she also acted as the Fine Arts/Electives Chairperson. Under her leadership, the choral program grew from 120 students to one that served almost 300 students. The Craig Choir annually placed many students in the TMEA Region XVI South Zone Honor Choirs, and consistently earned Sweepstakes ratings at UIL Concert & Sightreading contest each spring. In 2014 and again in 2016 respectively, the Craig Concert Boys Choir and Concert Girls Choir were selected as Invited Performing Choirs to the Texas Music Educators Association’s annual convention in San Antonio.

Mrs. Weeks currently holds memberships in ACDA, TCDA, ACDA, OAKE, TMAA, as well as TMEA, where she has served as Middle School Choir Coordinator. She is active as an adjudicator and as a clinician. Mrs. Weeks sings in the Sanctuary Choir at First Baptist Church, Abilene, and previously held the position of Children’s Choir Coordinator. Wendy and her husband, John, are proud parents of three daughters, Hayley, Whitney, and Courtney.
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Dee Romines, Director of Choral Activities at Hardin-Simmons University, joins us on this episode to discuss his time singing and studying with legendary conductors Don Neuen and Robert Shaw and the some of the biggest lessons he learned during his time with them. We also get to hear his unique perspective on teaching both band and choir, and the differences that he has observed in the culture and teaching technique required for each ensemble.
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Connect with the Hardin-Simmons choir!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hsutxchoir/
Learn more about the Hardin-Simmons School of Music!
https://www.hsutx.edu/academics/schools-colleges/college-liberal-arts/music-opportunities/
Chorus Abilene: https://chorusabilene.org/
Dee Romines earned the Bachelor of Science degree in instrumental music education from the University of Tennessee, the Master of Music in choral conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His principal teachers were Dr. Eph Ehly, Dr. W J Julian, Dr. Donald Neuen, and Dr. Charles Robinson.

At HSU, Romines teaches courses in choral music education, undergraduate and graduate conducting, supervises student teachers, directs the HSU Concert Choir and Chorale, and directs all aspects of the choral program. Prior to his appointment at HSU, Romines held similar music education positions at the University of Georgia and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. From 1987 to 1998, he was the academy choral director at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Additional experience includes teaching elementary, middle, and high school instrumental music in Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, and Missouri, as well as directing church and community choirs.

Professional affiliations: American Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and Pi Kappa Lambda.
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We are very excited to bring our first guest with an orchestral background onto the show! Mrs. Allison King is the orchestra director at L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas. Allison brings a variety of insight for directors finding their first gigs, teaching string orchestra, and coordinating with other directors to create a full orchestra experience for students.
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Check out the L.D. Bell Orchestra's website: https://www.ldbellorchestra.com/
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKMBibiEDH8IqrZ4-O1wy-Q
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ldbellhsorchestra
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ldbhsorchestra
Mrs. King became the director of orchestras at L.D. Bell High School in 2010. In her first year, she led the L.D. Bell Symphony Orchestra to its first sweepstakes performance as a varsity string organization at the UIL concert and sight reading competition and founded the L.D. Bell Full Symphony Orchestra. Since taking over the L.D. Bell Orchestra program, the program has tripled in size, and the varsity Symphony Orchestra has earned consistent sweepstakes ratings at the UIL Concert and Sight reading competition. The Symphony Orchestra has performed with many world-renowned artists, and the varsity full and varsity string orchestras have been commended and national winners of the Mark of Excellence National Orchestra Honors competition five times in the past five years. In 2017, the varsity full orchestra made its debut performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 2019, the Symphony string orchestra made the finals of the TMEA Honor Orchestra competition.

Mrs. King is now in her twenty second year of teaching. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Southern California where she studied with Ronald Leonard, the former principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also holds a Master of Music in Music Education and a Certificate in Cello Performance from the University of Texas at Arlington, where she studied with Dr. Elizabeth Morrow. She has also had the privilege of studying with Ira Lehn, former principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pamela Frame of the Eastman School, and in her early years was the stand-in soloist for Yo-Yo Ma with the World Youth Symphony where she also appeared on "60 Minutes" with Yo-Yo Ma. In 2005, Mrs. King was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honor Society. She has been a member of the American String Teachers Association for over 25 years, and is currently a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, and the Texas Orchestra Directors Association. She is also the orchestra chair for TMEA Region 31.

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