Artists You Should Know

There are many music artisit out in the world today. There are some you know, and some you might not know. I'm here to tell you a little bit about the artists you might not know about.

First off, I'll start with The 1975. The 1975 has one album, but one album is all you need to be drawn into their music. Songs like Pressure, Robbers, and Settle Down tend to be my favorites to listen to. Pressure kind of a slow paced song that is very soothing to listen to. Robbers is a love song with very nice guitar riffs in it. Settle Down is a song that makes me want to get up and dance because it has a really nice beat.

Next, I'll talk about Vance Joy. You may know his song Riptide because it had played on the radio. Even though that song is very nice, Vance Joy also has lovely songs called Georgia and We All Die Trying to Get It Right. Georgia is a slow love song that can make you think of that special someone in your life. I listen to it as I'm relaxing. We All Die Trying to Get It Right is a song that can make you think about life and how to live it. It's a great song that I listen to when I'm going through rough times in my own life.

Lastly, I'll talk about a singer by the name of Andrew Belle. Andrew Belle hasn't had any songs played on the radio, but he's had his songs featured on TV shows like Grey's Anatomy and Pretty Little Liars. My two favorites by Andrew Belle would have to be Add It Up and My Oldest Friend. When I head the song Add It Up, I think of life lessons. The song makes me think of all the lessons I've learned from the mistakes I've made in my life, and how I apply them to future actions. My Oldest Friend makes me think of my childhood best friend. We've known each other since we were babies, so I consider her my oldest friend

As you can see, these are three artists that have effected the way I listen to music. I think you should listen to some songs by these artists because the songs they have are all wonderful.

Van Buren High School Band and Choir: The Year in Review

This year was my second year as a high school band and choir student. It's been an amazing year for me, musically. I recieved a superior rating on my vocal solo, an excellant rating on my snare drum solo, and an excellant rating in my percussion ensemble. Along with that, I got accected in to the District 3 Honors Choir, along with the Hancock County Honors Choir. All of these events were extremely fun to be a part of.
Along with individual stuff I did this year, I was also part of the marching band this past fall. Our competition show was titled Under Pressure. In that show we performed the songs Pressure by Billy Joel, Creep by Radiohead, and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. We made it to state competition with this show and ended up being the only Class C band in the state to get a superior rating at state competition. I was also involved with the Mixed Chorus. We also went to state competition and recieved a superior rating. At the spring concert this year, I got to sing a solo in our song called City Called Heaven. Mr. Michael Moyseenko, or student director, was the director for that piece.
As you can see ths year was great for me along with many others. It has also been a fun year. It's sad to see it all come to an end so quickly, but I know great things will come along next year.

All Types of Music

People call me weird because I enjoy listening to many types of music including Classical, Classic Rock, and Pop. I tend to ignore them because I don't think anyone should be limited to listen and enjoy one music type. What I do is listen to one type per day. Like today for example; today feels like the kind of day to rock out to some Journey or Kansas.

I think people should be open to all kinds of music. Each individual song tells it's own story. Some songs have an important message/lesson in them that can be learned. Different types of music can also make you feel different emotions. For example; if your listening to a slow contemporary song, you may feel relaxed. If you're listening to an upbeat rock song, it might make you want to dance.

As you can see, liking all different types of music is okay. If people make fun of you for it, oh well. They don't know what they're missing.

Time For Modern Composers: Eric Whitacre & Ola Gjelio

Lately, I've been getting into music that involves stuff such as choirs, concert bands, and orchestras. This type of music is called Classical music. I'm attracted to this type of music because a lot of different things can go on in these pieces of music. My favorite composers are Eric Whitacre and Ola Gjelio and here's why.

I'll talk about Eric Whitacre first. I absolutely love every single piece I have heard by Eric Whitacre from The Seal Lullaby to Lux Aurumque. His choral pieces take me to that happy place inside of my mind. You can really tell that he takes pride in his music by how he writes it. Singing a piece written by Eric Whitacre would make me fell honored as performer because he is highly respected in the Choral industry. I would do anything in my power to sing one of his pieces perfectly.

Next, I'll talk about Ola Gjelio. I got the opportunity to perform one of his pieces at an honors festival last year. The piece was called The Ground. It was my favorite piece that we sang out of our five selections. It was the song that brought out my inner emotions and made me tear up at how beautiful it was. When I sang this song, you could tell I was singing it with everything I had in me.

As you can tell, both Eric Whitacre and Ola Gjelio have a big impact on my choral career. If I ever got the chance to meet one or both of them, I would let them know how much they have impacted my life. They are part of the reason I want to become a music educator when I get older.

The Seal Lullaby - Eric Whitacre

"Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,
And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us,
At rest in the hollows that rustled between. 

Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow,
Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease.
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
Asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas!"

         -Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936

The Seal Lullaby is originally a poem written by Rudyard Kipling. It was used in the story The White Seal from The Jungle Book. Later on in 2010, a composer named Eric Whitacre used the words from the poem and created a beautiful choral piece called The Seal Lullaby. This piece is my favorite from Eric Whitacre by far. The mix of voice, piano, and string instruments is amazingly beautiful. I hope to one day perform this piece just because I want to experience how it feels to sing it. Performing this piece would definitely make me happy because Eric Whitacre is a big inspiration of mine.

Latin Jazz Music

Latin jazz is jazz with Latin American rhythms. Although musicians continually expand its parameters, the term Latin jazz is generally understood to have a more specific meaning than simply jazz from Latin America. Some Latin Jazz typically employs rhythms that either have a direct analog in Africa, or exhibit an African influence. The two main categories of Latin jazz are:

Afro-Cuban jazz—jazz rhythmically based on clave, often with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns from Cuban popular dance music.

Afro-Brazilian jazz—includes bossa nova and jazz samba.

The Van Buren concert band used an example of Afro- Cuban jazz in their selection Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in their winter concert. 

Barber Shop Quartets

Most of you may or may not know what a barber shop quartet is. They became to be in the revival era (1930's), in the United State, United Kingdom, Scandinavia, New Zealand, and Australia. They sing A Capella music, or music that in unaccompanied by a piano, characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. Each of the four parts has its own role: generally, the lead sings the melody, the tenor harmonizes above the melody, the bass sings the lowest harmonizing notes, and the baritone completes the chord, usually below the lead. The melody is not usually sung by the tenor or baritone, except for an infrequent note or two to avoid awkward voice leading, in tags or codas, or when some appropriate embellishment can be created. Occasional passages may be sung by fewer than four voice parts.Source

Music in Schools: Peer Point of View

Most students in school are most interested in academics, athletics, or both at the same time. If there are any of you out there like me, you're more into music programs. Music in schools is a great thing to have. They say that kids who take music classes in school have an easier time with multitasking. I also talked to a few teachers (some of them are sports coaches, some are music teachers, some are just regular teachers) to get their input of music in schools.



Mr. Vaughn: Music is a important part to the "whole' person. There are outlets by which we need to express ourselves and music is a big one just like visual art, speech, theater/ drama. and music tends to accompany a lot of element that the arts provide.




Mr. Procyk: Teaches important life skills. Ex. hard work, persistence, getting along with others. We all seem to connect with music in a way that some people can't even explain, and that is an awesome thing. Seeing music in schools makes me feel honored as a director.







Mr. Vennekotter: It's incredibly important. It makes students well rounded and gives them opportunities to express themselves, whether it's instrumentally, vocally, or just being in an art class.






Mr. Rader: I think it is important because some people might not realize its something they like until they're in it. Another reason is you have to practice and that shows hard work, and they also say there is a relationship between music and math, counting and such. Because of that study it shows that music can help with your studies.





Miss Edinger (student choir teacher): I don't think it's just important,  It's essential for all ages because when you study music you practice critical thinking ongoing assessment and emoting. Plus it's really fun. It's learning and understanding a whole other language. It serves as an outlet. By studying music you can make better connections in class. I also believe that everyone wants to learn how to sing or play an instrument. Deep down music connects to everyone.

Solo and Ensemble

It's almost that time of year again. Time for young musicians to show what they can do, and get judged on their performance. Solo and Ensemble is upon us. Students who participate can perform a vocal solo, instrumental solo, vocal ensemble, and/or instrumental ensemble. I, along with more Van Buren students, will be participating in this, both vocally and instrumentally. I will be doing a vocal solo, percussion solo, and percussion ensemble. It takes a lot preparation for this if you want to perfect it. When you are judged, you receive a rating as to how well you performed, I (superior) being the highest and V (poor) being the lowest. Solo and Ensemble is a great way to challenge yourself as a musician. It's also very fun.