Disclaimer: I’m not a counselor nor an expert, but I talk to a lot of kids about a great many things related to their well-being. Here are some patterns of experience paired with elements of mental health that I’ve learned from pro-counselors. This is one perspective that may challenge you and that’s okay. Allow yourself to be challenged, then consider it or never think about … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – It Depends on the Room
In a really wonderful turn of events, I won a competition this past month! My very first one! It was the 2015 Canadian Band Association Composition Competition (*whew!*) and my piece for concert band “The Meeting Place” took home the prize. I really like that tune, and so do a lot of my students – more than many of my other ones, actually. The funny … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Keep on Keepin’ On
I got to spend some time in Canmore, AB (Canada) this past weekend. You know, this place: It’s a really beautiful town, but I really didn’t have a hot clue where I was going most of the time. I’m a pretty nervous driver when I’m in a place that I don’t know very well, so I was being extra observant and extra careful. Most of … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Driving Lessons
I’m trying to remember exactly when I was playing Final Fantasy X for the first time. It came out when I was in Grade 10, though I first saw it when my cousin showed it to me at my grandmother’s house in Gimli, the town where I grew up. But even still, I don’t think I started really playing it until I was university, which was … Continue reading BEAT ALL THE FINAL FANTASIES – FFX
A few years ago, two of my very good friends made a New Year’s Resolution to say yes to anyone invited them out to something, hoping to embark on some new adventures and live a little more. “Want to go out for drinks?” Yes. “Want to go snowboarding next weekend?” Yes. “Want to come to the beach in fifteen minutes?” Yes. Yes. Yes. And so on, … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – The Year of No
The following is a story about how I finally did the thing that most people I grew up with did when they were twelve. In the past sixteen years, I have started The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time four times. The first time, I only got to the Goron Village and then I had to return my friend’s Nintendo 64 because it was 1998, after … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – …Because They’re Hard
Back in Summer of 2015, I was asked by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra if I could do an arrangement of a pop song for a divisional choir and the orchestra. Every other year, the River East Transcona School Division hires out the orchestra to play with their choir. This was an enormous opportunity, so of course I said yes, then got it done on time … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – The Quest for Beer at the Orchestra
(This is part one of a two-part post. The first part will introduce the topic, while the second will address some of the skills associated with what it looks like in a classroom, at least at a rudimentary level). The CBC (our public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) ran a program this past year on its current events show about mindfulness in the classroom. It … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Fine-Thanks-And-You (Part 1)
“Demise of the Ritual” from Shadow of the Colossus, by Ko Otani Shadow of the Colossus is one of those games that I never, ever thought I would beat. I don’t know why, but I had this fear of it, like I wasn’t very good or something. I knew a ton of people who’d beaten it, but I never thought I’d be one of them… … Continue reading VGM Wednesday – “Demise of the Ritual” from Shadow of the Colossus
The Winnipeg Wind Ensemble is premiering my new work, “Icelandic Folk Song Suite,” on May 3rd and 4th! Hope you can make it out! The May 3rd premiere takes place at Gimli High School in my hometown of Gimli, MB, Canada. They will be joined by the Gimli High School Senior Concert Band, which is really crazy because that’s the band I grew up in. … Continue reading Icelandic Folk Song Suite – PREMIERE!
