Bless your heart. The Texas Classroom Teachers’ Association TRIED to help celebrate Music In Our Schools month (MIOSM). It just didn’t quite work. Here is the story of the MIOSM Sax Fail of 2015.   The post Whoever was tasked with sourcing that image for MIOSM was clearly never a band kid. Nor was the […]

In this episode of Marketing Music Education, I speak with Tim Hinton. He is one of the hosts of the Marching Roundtable podcast, which I’ve listened to and enjoyed for years. Hi background as an educator is readily apparent, as he schools me about the benefits of hiring an arranger, the pitfalls of burnout, and […]

Gary Doherty is spearheading a conversation that is long overdue, particularly in the field of music education. We were introduced at Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic by mutual friend Cam Stasa (who gets an associate producer credit for this episode). After just a few moments with him, I knew that Gary Doherty could speak with […]

If you want to learn something quickly, practice that thing S-L-O-W-L-Y. Because your brain is like a fresh snowdrift. Obviously. Listen to find out why musicians should practice slowly. Here’s the Lifehacker article that inspired this podcast, and the piece by Dick Hensold that inspired the article. From Daniel Coyle’s Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for […]

In my travels to Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December, I sat in on a session presented by Christopher Bill, a YouTube artist who recently hit it big with his cover of Pharrell Williams‘ Happy. He agreed to talk with me about his background, how he approached his college education and why he wouldn’t recommend […]

Cam Stasa is one of my favorite people on the planet. And if you’ve met her, as so many music educators have, I’d bet she’s one of yours, too. In this conversation, we talk about: her role at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago how students and their families should approach applying to college the […]

About Marc Whitt For 32 years, Marc Whitt has devoted his professional career to nonprofit public relations and marketing, and has long been an active advocate for education, economic development and the performing arts. Marc’s work has achieved measurable results, garnering over 40 honors. In 2012, he was the recipient of CASE Kentucky’s prestigious Beth […]

I was thrilled to have a chance to speak with Christopher Woodside of the National Association for Music Education, otherwise known as NAfME. In a nutshell, he makes sure that everyone inside the Beltway knows how powerful music education is. I was blown away by his knowledge of the inner workings of government, and more importantly, […]

In this impromptu “inbetweenisode,” I’m recording from the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. I’m joined by former band director and current band parent Maria Dripps-Paulson, who you might remember from episode 5. Because this gift guide episode is so time-sensitive, I’ve done minimal editing so that I can bring it to you before you finish your […]

This episode of Promoting Your Music Program will be the last for this season. For forever and ever, really. That’s because when we come back after the holidays, the podcast will have a new name. To learn the details, join my email list here. Also, I’ll be at Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic December 17-20 […]