Waynesburg University’s Music Program will host its 14th Annual Conducting Symposium, “Building a Successful Band Program in the 21st Century,” during two days in the University’s Marsh Center. The first day of the symposium will be held Friday, Jan. 26, from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and the second day will be held Saturday, Jan. 27, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Len Lavelle, Director of Bands and Music Department Curriculum Leader at North Hills High School in Pittsburgh, will serve as the guest clinician.
Participants of the symposium will have the opportunity to workshop rehearsal techniques, learn recruitment strategies for growing band programs and develop methods on how to inspire engagement in music with young people at a high level.
Musicians can participate in the Conducting Symposium in three ways: as a Conducting Fellow, an Adult Observer or a High School Observer.
As a Conducting Fellow, participants will have the opportunity to conduct Waynesburg University’s Symphonic Band, receive coaching from Lavelle and leave the clinic with a professionally recorded video of his or her sessions with the band. The cost for two days as a Conducting Fellow is $120.
Adult Observers will have the chance to play in the band and observe all sessions and lectures. The cost for an Adult Observer is $40 for one day or $60 for two days. A High School Observer can participate in the band and attend all sessions. The cost for a High School Observer is $10 for one day or $20 for two days.
Participants can register online at waynesburg.edu/conducting-symposium-registration.
Lavelle has taught instrumental music from elementary through college levels and served as conductor of Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra Wind Symphony.
Since 2011, his bands have been featured five times at the PMEA All-State Convention, five times at the NAfME All-East Convention and at the National Concert Band Festival. In his first five years at North Hills, enrollment in the marching band and orchestra programs nearly doubled, reaching their largest numbers in school history while overall school enrollment was at a historic low.
During Lavelle’s tenure as Music Department Curriculum Leader at North Hills, the district was recognized for the first time as one of NAMM’s “Best Communities for Music Education” and became one of only six schools in the nation to be accredited by The Middle States Association (MSA) as a “Program of Distinction.” The MSA now uses North Hills as a case study for other aspiring school districts.
