Sibelius in the Classroom

The town of Watertown, Wisconsinsits on the banks of the Rock River, and at Watertown High School, music teacher DeWayne Roberson looks over the shoulders of students in the computer lab as they find new ways to explore music using the Sibelius notation and composition software programs.

Budding artists throughout the Watertown High music program can be found using Sibelius in ways you might expect: the choir director uses it to create accompaniment CDs for individual vocal practice and independent study students use it for composition and arranging. But it's in the school's innovative one-semester music and technology class, "Soundscapes," that the software really comes to life.

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Vermont Midi Project Celebrates 10th Anniversary and Opus 11 Concert

Student Compositions Played by Members of Vermont Symphony Orchestra

It is the tenth anniversary of the Vermont MIDI Project, and on May 17, the Opus 11 concert featuring members of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra will perform 22 student compositions selected from this year’s program.

Rehearsal with musicians and composers from the 2004 Opus 10 Concert

With compositions for string ensemble and woodwind quintet, over 70 pieces were submitted online during the selection process with 22 compositions chosen to be performed at the Opus 11 concert. This year, students hail from school districts across the state of Vermont in grades 5 through 12. To view and hear the 22 selections, visit Vermont MIDI Opus11
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2005 TI:ME Summer Workshop Schedule - Now Available!

The 2005 TI:ME Summer Workshop Schedule is now available online.

Sibelius is proud to be a corporate member of TI:ME (Technology Institute for Music Educators), an organization dedicated to furthering the use of technology in music education.  

TI:ME offers a number of benefits to music educators, and we encourage you to visit their website and become a member – which will give you access to a multitude of resources including: lesson plans, articles on using technology in music instruction, summer certification courses (see below) and much more.
Visit TI:ME online: www.ti-me.org

TI:ME is currently listing 88 courses at 43 locations in 18 states and in Singapore for 2005. There is the opportunity to take 1B-Digital Media in a distance learning format, offered online through Auburn University (AL).

This summer includes our first course offerings in Florida, Nebraska, New Hampshire & Vermont! In Nebraska, Dana College, in Blair, NE (just north of Omaha) is offering both 1A & 1B. In Florida, SoundTree is offering 1A at Apopka High School, Apopka, FL, (in Orange County--Central Florida, near Orlando). The MIDI Schoolhouse (based in New Hampshire) is offering its first course in that state - 1A at the Timberlane Performing Arts Center in Plaistow (on the NH/Mass border).

In Vermont, 1A will be offered by the Vermont MIDI Project at the University of Vermont in Burlington. TI:ME courses will also be offered at six new sites this summer - VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, IL; Big Bear Middle School, Big Bear Lake, CA (east of San Diego & Los Angeles); and four new Massachusetts sites - Milton High; Van Sickle Middle School, Springfield; West Bridgewater Middle/Senior High School; and Wellesley High (Wellesley courses were formerly held at Wellesley Middle).

Look for additional courses to be added throughout the spring. Click here to browse the 2005 Course Offerings

Sibelius and ASCAP Foundation Sponsor First Edition “JaZzcap”

Event Showcases Up-and-Coming Young Jazz Musicians

The ASCAP Foundation, with support from Sibelius Software, presented the debut of JaZzcap, a musical showcase featuring the work of young jazz composers and performers, April 25, at The Cutting Room in New York City. Performers included The LeBoeuf Brothers Band, The Sherisse Rogers Group and The Bob Reynolds Quartet.

In the April issue of School Band & Orchestra, Editor Christian Wissmuller spoke with Daniel Levin, music teacher at New Haven’s Amistad Academy. A flagship school for Achievement First—an enterprise which aims to help urban students achieve academic and personal excellence—Levin is using Sibelius to (among other things) create customized practice tools for his students to take home and work with.

“I also use Sibelius during class when we are learning a new part,” states Levin. “I hook my computer up to a keyboard amp and play the arrangement and the kids play along with the computer. I can do it lots of ways, such as under tempo, over tempo, et cetera. I try turning the computer down as the students are playing, like how a parent takes their hand off a bike seat when teaching their daughter or son to ride by themselves; they start with the computer, then I wean them off of it.”

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Hints & Tips for Sibelius Users

Managing Bar Numbers in Sibelius 3 (New this Month!)

By Bruce C. Munson

Bar numbers appear automatically in Sibelius 3. By default, they appear at the beginning of each system in both scores and extracted parts. This default frequency can be changed to your preference. For example, what if you wanted the bar numbers in the score to appear centered in every bar? What if you also wanted the bar numbers to appear in the piccolo staff (for the winds) the timpani staff (for the percussion) and the first violin staff (for the strings)? Let’s do one more thing: let’s place the bar numbers below the bottom of the bottom staff as well. This tutorial will take you through the steps to do just that (and more), and by doing so, you will understand the techniques of bar number customization in Sibelius 3.

To download this indispensable new Hints & Tips tutorial and others from our on-line archive please Click here

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