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A SUCCESSFUL WOODWIND QUINTET PROCRAM
A Successful Woodwind Quintet Program

Elizabeth Rusch Fetters Forest Hill, Maryland
y woodwind quintet, Quintuor Winds is based in Harford County, Maryland and is made up of public school music teachers and Army band musicians. (We have Aberdeen Proving Grounds nearby, as well as many of the Washington D.C. area bases.) We have recently created a successful children's program which may be of interest to other woodwind quintets. We call our program "Story Time with Quintuor Winds" and the program includes: The Sorcerer's Apprentice Paul Dukas arranged by James Christensen Kendor Music, Inc. Winnie the Pooh Suite Gwen Parry-Jones Phylloscopus Publications Peter and the Wolf Prokofieff arranged by Trevor Cramer TrevCo Music Carnival of the Animals Saint-Saens arranged by Bill Holcombe Musicians Publications What makes this program special is that we add narration to each piece. The Winnie the Pooh edition came with performance instructions and suggested passages from the book Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne. Peter and the Wo//also came with narration by Trevor Cramer. Trevor's edition is so helpful to the musician, because all the solos are in their original keys. He reduced the narration and the whole thing works beautifully. American poet Odgen Nash wrote a collection of poems for Carnival of the Animals, originally published in The New Yorker in 1950. It can easily be found online or in The Best ofOgden Nash, edited by Linell Nash Smith. His poems are entertaining and each animal is only a few lines, making a nice
introduction to each movement. Tile narration can be divided between members of the ensemble, or, even better, offered to a president, administrator, mayor or other public figure. This small act can attract people to your performance, increase administration's support of the arts or simply be a goodwill gesture. We have performed this program for schools and at our local Barnes and Noble. It can be used to support the arts, to support reading and to support the interaction and cross-curriculum between music and other disciplines. If you play in a woodwind quintet not associated with a school, we encourage you to reach out to the music teachers in your public school system and offer a program like this. As music teachers, we cannot emphasis enough the important of having community support for our music programs and for students to see their teachers and other adults playing music because they love it. This program is not set in stone. Other fun additions would be movements from Milhaud's Cheminee du Roi Rene or Sea Shanties by Malcolm Arnold. Perhaps you know of other woodwind quintet pieces that would be appropriate additions. Just remember that children's attention spans are short. Alternating between the narration and the music helps them enjoy the performance. Don't forget to save a few minutes to introduce each instrument in the woodwind quintet and encourage the children to play your instrument in their school band program. +
Elizabeth Rusch Fetters earned her music degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Kent State University, Her bassoon teachers include David Borst and David DeBolt. She currently teaches middle school general music and chorus for Harford County Public Schools, Maryland and teaches bassoon and oboe privately from her home. She is a frequently contributor to The Double Reed and The Instrumentalist and has presented at Maryland Music Educators'Conferences. This year Mrs. Fetters is a candidate for National Board Teacher Certification. She plays locally with the Quintuor Winds Woodwind Quintet.
he music that during the last dinary array o ing from traditional ap adventurous and expe broad in terms of its te upon the performer. A career has been conc mental and often tech spectrum, and so, wor number of composers o considerable portfolio push the boundaries o instrument (see some Oboe Music articles in t pushing is not because their job but rather that search activities and in some occasions to speci sought to explore variou potential). I am interes only the developing tech traordinary range of sou available. Many of whic 'avant-garde' only categ very wide expressive vo today's composers and While learning and talking to composers a many questions have be search, indeed, to such a able to follow though ma as detailed or focused a w perennial problem many to follow up interesting a same time trying to pay friends about this tensio to apply for an AHRC search Council) Research sue some of this research I was awarded a fellows based at the Royal Acade

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A SUCCESSFUL WOODWIND QUINTET PROCRAM

A Successful Woodwind Quintet Program

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