Sibelius in the Classroom

Pilot Composition Program at Bellevue Leads to Success at Performance Level

Located in the Seattle, Wash. area, the Bellevue School District has a track record of high standards and notable achievement – college placement rates hover near 90 percent, and its high schools have been listed by Newsweek among the best in the nation. When curriculum planners in its music department decided that students needed a grounding in composition to reach their potential as performers, they turned to Sibelius to power a pilot program.

Beginning in April, 22 students in Sammamish High School and 120 students in Tyee Middle School worked in 30-station computer labs equipped with the Sibelius Education Suite, using site licenses funded by the school district in part through a community-approved technology levy. To kick off the program, district technology and music experts wrote and printed their own instructional booklet incorporating the program goals and the use of Sibelius.

Despite instructors’ initial wariness about pushing their regular performance schedule back two weeks, says district Technology Curriculum Coach Jack Halm, “The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.” And the reaction among students? “What’s another word besides excited?”

To read the entire article click here.

Downey Marches to Success with Sibelius Software

Wayne Downey

Wayne Downey is Music Director of the eleven-time Drum Corps International (DCI) Champion Concord Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps. Under his supervision as arranger and teacher, the Blue Devils’ brass section has been awarded the Jim Ott Memorial Trophy for “Excellence in Brass Performance” a record-setting 20 times – more than any other brass sections in the history of DCI.

One of the finest brass clinicians and arrangers in the world, Downey enjoys an active teaching schedule as arranger and musical consultant with the Tony® and Emmy® Award-winning show Blast, the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Champions the Syracuse Brigadiers, as well as many other high school and college programs. As a program consultant, he has guided the Lassiter (Ga.) High School Band and the Westfield (Texas) H.S. Band to the Bands of America Grand National Championship.

A key component of his success is Sibelius 4 notation software. “Sibelius 4 is the best notation software available in the world,” says Downey. “It’s really helped me creatively as both an arranger and composer.”

To read the entire article click here.

Sibelius Student Edition Wins Silver Award from Parents’ Choice Foundation

Sibelius Software Ltd. was honored this summer by the Parents’ Choice Foundation, garnering a Silver Award for the Sibelius Student Edition music notation software program. Fewer than 15 percent of products submitted receive this prestigious commendation.

The Parents’ Choice Awards Program identifies the best products for children of various ages, backgrounds, skills and interests. Awards are given to those products that meet and exceed standards set by educators, scientists, performing artists and children. The awards committee looks for products that entertain and teach with flair, stimulate imagination and inspire creativity.

Created specifically for students in fourth grade through college, the Sibelius Student Edition eliminates the handwritten notation process completely. All notes, rests, accidentals, articulations, triplets and staves are provided for the user by the program. With the click of a mouse, children can add notes and play them back to see how they work. By using the playback function, young musicians can develop an understanding of how different notes sound and interact with one another. This process enhances ear training and helps students refine their work, ultimately making them stronger musicians.

To read the entire article click here.

Pat Metheny sports one of the busiest schedules of any human being I’ve ever met, and yet he dedicated one of his very infrequent days off to help out with a student recording project aboard the John Lennon Educational Touring Bus in NYC. Pat not only contributed his guidance and encouragement, but also a guitar solo to the song “How she does it,” which was performed by Wagner College students Tom Vendettelli and Anthony Babino (who composed the tune). Both Tom and Anthony study with guitarist, teacher and Sibelius trainer Ernie Jackson, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this track turns up on the radio sometime soon.

The session also featured the driving drum work of Jonny Cragg (of the 22s and Spacehog) and the engineering of Steve Miller (no, not that Steve Miller).  In typical John Lennon Bus fashion, the entire project was recorded, videotaped, mixed and edited in a single day, and can be viewed at the JLSC website by clicking on the following link and scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page: http://media.jlsc.com/schedule/2005/

After providing the two young musicians with enough inspiration to last the duration of their artistic careers, Metheny generously spared some additional time to talk with us about his use of Sibelius and his thoughts on the impact of technology on music education.  We hope to have the videotaped conversation ready for the next issue of Gracenotes. Stay tuned! 

By the way, the Pat Metheny Trio (and Quartet) are currently touring with an amazing set; I was fortunate enough to catch them at one of their stops in California and can’t recommend this current lineup highly enough – it includes Christian McBride, who is absolutely on fire these days, along with Antonio Sanchez and (on most dates) David Sanchez.  If talent carried the physical property of weight, there wouldn’t be a stage that could hold these guys.  Details of the tour can be found here: http://www.patmethenygroup.com/travels.cfm  If you can’t catch them live, keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming album – which they just recorded this past week.

Yamaha’s “Day of Saxophones”

Phil Woods

On Saturday, October 8, approximately 70 people attended “Day of Saxophones” sponsored by Yamaha Corporation of America and held at Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. in New York City. The day-long event began with open instrument testing, and Sibelius was invited to participate and demonstrate Sibelius 4.

Following the testing, the Capitol Quartet and Phil Woods held clinics and concerts. Jazz legend Woods is an avid Sibelius user; when asked how technology has changed his writing process, he replied, “Sibelius 4 is the best. I downloaded and fell in love with Sibelius 1. But I’m a tinkerer. I’m always changing my arrangements. Sibelius 4’s Dynamic Parts is magnificent. It’s going to save me hours of work. I’m a firm believer in the new tools, especially Sibelius 4.”

To learn more about one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time, please visit: http://www.philwoods.com/  Phil not only keeps his busy touring schedule updated on his website, but also has a great assortment of lead sheets and big band charts which he makes available using Sibelius Scorch.  After all this time, Phil is still on the cutting edge

Hints & Tips

Hints & Tips for Sibelius Users

Check out our on-line archive for a variety of Sibelius Hints & Tips created by Robin Hodson and Bruce Munson, U.S. Eastern and Western Regional Managers for Sibelius. To download these free resources, please click here.

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