Q and A with Dr. Erik Janners, part 1

I promised some questions and answers with the new Music Director of the Knightwind Ensemble. Here are the first 5 questions and their answers. The next 5 will be posted next week.

Milwaukee Community Music: How did you first get involved with music?

Dr. Erik Janners: My mom and dad enrolled me in Suzuki violin at the age of 4 or 5 - I don't remember my exact age. I did violin, guitar, and piano on and off before finally deciding on percussion in about grade 8.



MCM: What convinced you that music was a calling and not a hobby?

EJ: I loved to play, I loved to perform, I was never bored by it, and I was continually challenged by music. That last point, really, is what is still true today - there is always something new, something more to learn or to get out of a piece. I also really enjoy the interpersonal aspect of music making - as a player I much prefer chamber music to solo work, and as a conductor I love the interaction between the ensemble and the conductor. The special dynamic that it brings to what we do is a constant source of energy and fascination for me.



MCM: What music other than "symphonic" or "classical" are you especially interested in, and why?

EJ: Jazz music or rock music up until 1990. I find much of what is played on the radio today as "pop" or "rock" to be utterly vacuous - the performers did not even write their own lyrics or their own music, and they are sampling someone else's guitar riff or something - usually from that time in the 1970's or 1980's when hard rock music had melody (Queen, Van Halen, etc.). I find much of the current pop music unlistenable for that very reason. Jazz, of course, is an art form all its own, and is a lot of fun to play and to direct as a conductor. Jazz is one of those musical styles where the more you know about the style, the more you like it. Of course, for many people who know nothing about jazz, they like it less.



MCM: What is on your iPod or CD Player?

EJ: Van Halen, Queen, Led Zepplin, Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck, Miles Davis (Sketches of Spain album is a must have for every musician), Charles Mingus, John Coltrane. Unless I'm listening to wind band music - I have a collection of over 2500 CDs of wind band music.



MCM: Things sometimes go wrong at concerts. Can you share an interesting or amusing "something gone wrong"?

EJ: For one that involves me personally, I remember a time when I was still an undergraduate and we were at the dress rehearsal for a concert. I think we were doing the 1st, 4th, and 5th movements of something and the 5th movement was the slow movement. So at the dress the conductor told us to be ready to perform the movements in the order 1/5/4 so we would end on a fast movement rather than a slow. At the concert we finished the 1st movement and all of us percussionists continued to sit quietly in the back as the 5th movement was next and involved no percussion - all of us that is except for the young lady playing cymbals. She got up and walked to the cymbals. None of us noticed right away - well, the 4th movement if it HAD been next, began with an ff cymbal crash, and so this girl picks up the cymbals and WHAM!!!!! Plays the loudest solo cymbal crash ever to start a slow and lyrical movement. We all forgot to tell her about the switch - she had missed the dress rehearsal. The conductor, to his everlasting credit, did not stop and kept right on going with the slow movement. He was, however, turning purple - not from anger but rather from trying to hold back his laughter, as we all were as well. The young lady, to her credit, stood there holding the cymbals high in the air, letting the sound die away, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and the composer had written his slow movement that way. Needless to say, the rest of us percussionists got an earful from that cymbal player after the concert, for forgetting to tell her about that change.



Questions 6 to 10 are next week.

Summer Concert Series - The Racine Concert Band

Sunday July 11 is the first in a series of Sunday evening concerts presented by the Racine Concert Band under the direction of Mark Eichner. Concerts begin at 7:30 in July and at 7:00 in August. All concerts will be at the amphitheater on the grounds of the Racine Zoo on Main Street. While the Zoo does charge admission during the normal hours, admission to only the concert is free (starting at about 30 minutes before the concert).

The Racine Band has a long history of free concerts and quality performances. They were a key part of the centennial celebration for the City of Racine, and they were awarded the Sudler Silver Scroll by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation. And, as a person who has seen many performances by the group, they are very enjoyable.

This Sunday's performance (the 11th) includes a trumpet solo by the Director Mark Eichner, a clarinet duet, and the ever popular Light Cavalry Overture. And, of course, every concert ends with a march by John Phillip Sousa.

So, for the rest of the summer, you have another option instead of reruns on TV or housework. Enjoy the summer concert series by the Racine Concert Band.

UPDATE July 12: Here is a list of the guests that will perform with the Racine Concert Band this summer:

July 18 - Greg Berg from WGDT radio will sing an aria from The Marriage of Figaro as well as some popular songs.

July 25 - Featuring a saxophone quartet and an oboe soloist

August 1 - The annual children's concert featuring Michael Snider narrating Casey At the Bat

August 8 - Featuring flute and alto sax soloists

August 15 - Mezzo soprano Allison Hull from UW-Parkside will sing some Gershwin standards

August 22 - Will feature the music of the Big Bands

August 29 - Soprano Aimee Miller will sing a number of selections and another saxophone feature

Happy Independence Day

Community Bands everywhere are busy today and tomorrow. Be sure to enjoy the parades and concerts in and around your area. What a great way to celebrate our independence by attending a concert in the park performed by your friends and neighbors!

For those of you near Greenfield, you may want to take in their 4th of July Parade. Their parade line up includes the Wisconsin Badger Band. While it's not the entire group, the Badgers will be there with the best pep band music in the world. And to top it off, at the end of the parade in Konkel Park, about 1:30, the Badgers will perform the famous 5th Quarter. So join in the fun, clap along, and maybe even do the Chicken Dance!

For those of you in and around Racine, the Racine Concert Band begins their summer concert series on the 4th. More information on that series soon.

Knightwind Ensemble Announces a New Music Director

At their March 21st concert, the Knightwind Ensemble announced the appointment of a new Music Director: Dr. Erik Janners, Director of Music at Marquette University. Dr. Janners begins his duties with the Knightwind Ensemble in the fall of 2010.

Dr. Janners comes to Milwaukee from St. Xavier University in Chicago, and the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. At both of those Universities, he created conducting workshops to provide further conducting training opportunities to high school teachers and music students. In Canada and at Marquette, he expanded the band programs to two bands and founded University Wind Ensembles. And if that isn't enough, while in Saskatchewan, he created a television show entitled For The Love Of Music, which featured the music of concert bands and wind ensembles.

At Marquette, Dr. Janners conducts the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and Pep Band, all the while supervising the overall Music Program. He also teaches courses in the University's Music Minor program, including music theory, conducting, and music history. He is a published author and has served as a featured clinician, not only at state music conferences, but also the Midwest Clinic.

In a future post, I'll do a Q and A session with Dr. Janners. If you have questions you'd like to ask, send them to the blog email address: milwaukeecommunitymusic@yahoo.com. I'll add them to my questions, and we can inundate Dr. Janners together!

Milwaukee Tradition Continues

The Milwaukee American Legion Band has performed summer concerts in Humboldt park as long as I can remember. They will perform again this year on Tuesday June 29 at 6:30 PM at the Chalet stage in Humboldt Park.

The concert begins with a small Dance Band performing standards, just to get you in the mood for an old fashioned band concert in the park. Then the entire concert band will perform one of their traditional patriotic concerts. No one follows that formula of programming more than the Milwaukee American Legion Band.

The concert is a part of the Chill On The Hill series, sponsored by the Bay View Neighborhood Association. Food vendors will be there for your snacking enjoyment. Their series is always a nice way to spend a pleasant summer evening.

So, pack your lawn chairs and your cooler and come to Humboldt Park, in Milwaukee's Bay View Neighborhood to hear a Milwaukee tradition: a summer concert by the Milwaukee American Legion Band. See you there on the 29th.

Shorewood Concert Band Summer Schedule

The Shorewood Concert Band will perform 4 concerts this year, including the Shorewood Men's Club Chicken Bar-be-cue Saturday the 12th (yesterday, and it was a great concert...and the chicken was great, too). Here are the other dates:

• June 24, 7 PM at Atwater Park featuring Music from the Movies
• July 4 at 6:30 PM as a part of the Shorewood 4th of July Celebration, A Red White and Blue Spectacular
• July 15 at 7 PM at Atwater Park featuring a Salute to the Music of the Big Bands

Atwater Park is just north of Capitol Drive on Lake Drive. Street parking can sometimes fill up, so best to get there a little bit early and have your pick of the lawn. Remember to bring a chair or blanket for a comfortable seat.

If there is music you would like the Shorewood Concert Band to play, send your request to this email address: shorewoodcncrtband@sbcglobal.net. And for more information, you can also check the blog of the President of the Shorewood Concert Band at this link for more information: http://capnfrank.blogspot.com/. He tells me that his blog will include pictures, videos, and previews of upcoming concerts, so check it out!

Hartland Community Band Summer Schedule

I received a nice note from the folks at the Hartland Community Band with their summer schedule. For those of you not familiar with the group, the Hartland Band performs a summer series of concert in and around the Hartland area, as well as a Christmas Concert every year at Holy Hill. Here is the schedule for this year's summer series.

• June 25 - The first summer concert at Nixon Park in Hartland at 7 PM
• June 27 - The band performs on a bandwagon through Hartland beginning at 1 PM
• July 12 - A joint concert with the Fort Atkinson Community Band at the band shell in Barrie Park in Fort Atkinson at 7:30
• August 18 - A special performance at the Band Shell in Oconomowoc at 8 PM
• August 19 - The final summer concert at Nixon Park in Hartland at 7 PM

If you are in the area, be sure to look them up this summer. Sounds like a lot of fun.

And for those who like to plan ahead, the Hartland Community Band Christmas Concert at Holy Hill is set for December 5 at 3 PM.