Oh wow, where to begin with all this...
It's been quite some time since I've written on this thing, let alone update my site. I attribute this to the several upheavals that have occurred in my life since graduating with my Masters last May. I moved back to Kansas City, hoping to find some sort of teaching gig and build up a percussion/composition teaching studio again. The teaching gigs did eventually happen...somewhat. I got a job teaching and writing for Blue Valley Southwest's Front Ensemble, which also indirectly led to being hired as a Special Education Para at the same school.
Why the shift in subject? A lack of options was one factor; I really, REALLY needed a job in order to move out of my parents' house and other jobs I applied for simply did not cut it. It also turns out that due to my previous private teaching experience that I was more than qualified to be a para, who acts as a teaching assistant to students in need of extra help. The specific program I was attached to was called Navigators, which primarily aided students on the autism spectrum.
I was more than a little intimidated at first with my job, considering just a few month's prior I was intensely involved with a music theory pedagogy class and knew next to nothing about education outside of music. But as the weeks went by a strange thing happened: I discovered I was somewhat...GOOD at what I was doing! I really liked interacting with and aiding the students I was assigned to, and combining the day job with the marching band activities in the evenings gave me quite a fun (albeit busy) fall. In fact, I started considering going back to school, getting a Masters in Special Ed., and becoming a certified teacher.
Please don't consider this a case of me throwing in the towel on my musical career. I was still planning on doing my regular composing/instructing/performing schtick, but having a decently-paying day job (with medical benefits!) was a big bonus, compared to the somewhat long amount of time it would take to achieve a similar pay- and benefit structure in higher education. At the end of October, however, these plans got uprooted by a phone call.
Specifically, I was called by Cort McClaren, owner of C. Alan Publications, about a job offer. They needed someone who could act not only as a music editor, but also as an audio specialist to make sure our website had proper recordings for new pieces. Considering the tangental career shift I was previously about to make, the opportunity to work the "private sector" of music was too good to pass up. I finished the fall semester in the Blue Valley Schools, then packed my car with as much as I could and moved to Greensboro, North Carolina.
That was six months ago. The acclimation process to my newest job took much less time than the para job did, which wasn't much of a surprise considering my previous musical training. Still, I've gotten much better not only in the realm of editing music for publication, but also making mock-ups of pieces using orchestral sample libraries. Both of these areas were ones I had done before, but not really as part of a class of any sort. However, if anything this past year has taught me, it's that learning also takes place in the wild lands of real life as well as in institutions.
So what's next for me? Now that I'm settled in, expect me to post much more often and also expand my social media presence elsewhere, particularly on FaceBook and Twitter. My FaceBook page has already been set up at www.facebook.com/bcraigmusic and the Twitter will be forthcoming. My website has been updated with my latest pieces and recordings, and I will likely be posting an update on my current projects next week.
In conclusion, it's awesome to be back in music "full-time" after a rather long period of upheaval and uncertainty. Now the challenge is to keep the music momentum going!
It's been quite some time since I've written on this thing, let alone update my site. I attribute this to the several upheavals that have occurred in my life since graduating with my Masters last May. I moved back to Kansas City, hoping to find some sort of teaching gig and build up a percussion/composition teaching studio again. The teaching gigs did eventually happen...somewhat. I got a job teaching and writing for Blue Valley Southwest's Front Ensemble, which also indirectly led to being hired as a Special Education Para at the same school.
Why the shift in subject? A lack of options was one factor; I really, REALLY needed a job in order to move out of my parents' house and other jobs I applied for simply did not cut it. It also turns out that due to my previous private teaching experience that I was more than qualified to be a para, who acts as a teaching assistant to students in need of extra help. The specific program I was attached to was called Navigators, which primarily aided students on the autism spectrum.
I was more than a little intimidated at first with my job, considering just a few month's prior I was intensely involved with a music theory pedagogy class and knew next to nothing about education outside of music. But as the weeks went by a strange thing happened: I discovered I was somewhat...GOOD at what I was doing! I really liked interacting with and aiding the students I was assigned to, and combining the day job with the marching band activities in the evenings gave me quite a fun (albeit busy) fall. In fact, I started considering going back to school, getting a Masters in Special Ed., and becoming a certified teacher.
Please don't consider this a case of me throwing in the towel on my musical career. I was still planning on doing my regular composing/instructing/performing schtick, but having a decently-paying day job (with medical benefits!) was a big bonus, compared to the somewhat long amount of time it would take to achieve a similar pay- and benefit structure in higher education. At the end of October, however, these plans got uprooted by a phone call.
Specifically, I was called by Cort McClaren, owner of C. Alan Publications, about a job offer. They needed someone who could act not only as a music editor, but also as an audio specialist to make sure our website had proper recordings for new pieces. Considering the tangental career shift I was previously about to make, the opportunity to work the "private sector" of music was too good to pass up. I finished the fall semester in the Blue Valley Schools, then packed my car with as much as I could and moved to Greensboro, North Carolina.
That was six months ago. The acclimation process to my newest job took much less time than the para job did, which wasn't much of a surprise considering my previous musical training. Still, I've gotten much better not only in the realm of editing music for publication, but also making mock-ups of pieces using orchestral sample libraries. Both of these areas were ones I had done before, but not really as part of a class of any sort. However, if anything this past year has taught me, it's that learning also takes place in the wild lands of real life as well as in institutions.
So what's next for me? Now that I'm settled in, expect me to post much more often and also expand my social media presence elsewhere, particularly on FaceBook and Twitter. My FaceBook page has already been set up at www.facebook.com/bcraigmusic and the Twitter will be forthcoming. My website has been updated with my latest pieces and recordings, and I will likely be posting an update on my current projects next week.
In conclusion, it's awesome to be back in music "full-time" after a rather long period of upheaval and uncertainty. Now the challenge is to keep the music momentum going!