"You shouldn't have to justify your work" - Judy Chicago

I just got back from my first conference in a long time. It was, I'm sad to say, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.

For those that don't know - Midwest is HUGE, taking up two entire hotels in Chicago, and providing a forum for directors to share ideas - or at least, that is the idea. I found it a bit commercial and a little distasteful. But I didn't stay long - I literally only had a day I could spare in btween finals (another gripe that I have with it is the scheduling).

My purpose in attending was as part of a composers roundtable - I wasn't there to talk compostion, but technology (I didn't get to talk in either session - a colossal waste of $$ on my part). I was dumbfounded by some of the things I heard the student composers say about composition.

First, they (rightly) claimed that Wind Ensemble was a better ensemble to compose for than the Orchestra. While none of them said it in so many words, the relative lack of hundreds of years of tradition is less limiting than composing for Orchestra. Also, with many decent Wind Bands in the schools, performances are more likely to happen.

Now for the fun part. The first composer (I'll keep this anonymous), "Bob", said that his melody come to him in a dream. The second, "Andy" claimed to have written his piece at the age of 17. "Frank" had his melody come to him while walking down the street (and those of you who know me know that I use this EXACT example of a compositional falsehood - it just doesn't happen that way - I guess I was wrong!). Finally, "Jason" wrote his 20 minute long piece in about one month - but I liked his the best in the end.

The best part of the trip, by far, was Berghoff's. Thanks for the great beer, Dario!