I had a chance to meet Steven at the Colorado ASTA Conference this summer. He is a very interesting composer and teacher who currently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University.

In this podcast, Steven and I have a conversation about some of the following topics:

- Why writing the ending (and beginning) of a song is difficult

- Why he wishes he would have earned his doctorate sooner

- The importance of the 31st Proverb in a marriage (and in composition)

- Why "waiting to be inspired" is a myth

- AND MORE

Download a catalog of Steven's music HERE.

Contact Steven for a commission or guest appearance HERE.

Listen to clips on SoundCloud.

Purchase his arrangements at Ludwig Masters.

Purchase his CD on CD Baby.

Meet him at the Ludwig Master's booth at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.

Connect with Steven on Facebook.

Are schools allowed to have Christmas concerts?

Can you wish your students "Merry Christmas?"

Can one put up a nativity scene or Christmas tree on public property?

These are all questions answered in today's podcast.

You might also check out Episode 10, Why I Don't Do Christmas Concerts.

Join me as I interview Travis J Weller. Travis is a middle/high school band director AND a composer. In this interview we talk about a lot of things, including Travis' biggest mistake and biggest triumph. He has been at his school almost 20 years!

What does Michael Jordan have to do with music education? How important is it to obtain a master's and doctorate degrees? How Brian Balmages - another composer - influenced Travis, and how he was influenced by Beethoven too. You don't want to miss three pieces of advice for those interested in composing. You may be surprised!

Check out Travis' website or follow him on twitter @travisjweller. You can also order his music on JW Pepper.

Have you been offered a job teaching band but it includes a guitar and orchestra class? Do you feel unqualified to teach the class? I did too! Listen to the podcast and learn how you can teach guitar and orchestra and how I came to enjoy it. I am in my tenth year of teaching those classes.

The Guitar Manufacturing Association sponsors several Teaching Guitar Workshops all across the country. The one week workshop is a great hands on experience that will get you started.

I also joined the American String Teacher's Association and the Colorado chapter of ASTA. I met many helpful people through that organization and had the chance to take classes like "Violin Boot Camp."

The learning one obtains as part of a master's program can be so important. Scott McKee's father Max McKee developed the American Band College program (known by many as ABC) many years ago. In addition to an affordable master's degree, ABC offers many resources to help band directors. The 3 year master's features 25 faculty each year - names such as Doc Severinsen and Eugene Rousseau - so students experience 75 teachers in their three years. Find the resources and more info about the program at www.bandworld.org.  - See more at: http://www.themusicedpodcast.com/the_music_ed_podcast/episode_32_interview_with_scott_mckee_why_a_masters_degree_can_be_important_part_2/#sthash.jGi21CTL.dpuf

A master's degree is important for the learning one acquires, and it can be obtained much quicker and at a lower cost than one might imagine.

Dr. Steve Ambrose took a band program from 19 students to over 100, then became head of music in a large district. Find out his biggest regret and greatest triumph. Invite Steve to clinic or guest conduct your next event. Find him at www.2forfunband.com and www.billdealsband.com. 

You too can start a band website for your school band. Can you create documents in Word with photos and formatting? Then you have the skills to create a website.

Do you wish you had more tubas and low brass? Do you have an abundance of flutes and no clarinets? In this episode, I share some tips on how you can obtain better instrumentation in your bands.

Remember the car crash dummies? They taught car manufacturers a lot about how to make cars safer. You too can learn a lot by watching the "dummies" in your life.

Musicians have a high emotional IQ. We feel things more deeply. We work hard for success, really hard. And if we're not careful, we can easily burn out doing a great job, and then what good are we? Listen to these tips and DO THE OPPOSITE to have a long and successful career teaching band, touching many lives.

Naysayers. Complainers. Blamers. We all fave them. To be successful, we can't let them affect us.

The title of this podcast is an actual statement from a parent of one of my band students. Does it hurt? Yes! Is it true? No!

A bake sale can be a great way to raise funds for your band, and it takes very little of your time if you have parents do most of the work.

We all have the same number of hours in a day, but many of those hours get wasted. James shares ten tips that can help you regain 5-10 hours a week of your time so you can do more of what you REALLY want.

The Music Ed Podcast will be on summer hiatus. Check back in August for new episodes. Go to the blog at www.themusicedpodcast.com for helpful articles through the summer.

10 tips that will make your school concert even MORE successful.

In this episode, I interview Andrew Yaracs, retired music educator and author of Travel 101: A Band Director's Guide for Planning Student Travel. Get your softcover or ebook today at www.authorhouse.com; Softcover ISBN 978-1-4918-6310-7  $14.95; E-book ISBN 978-1-4918-6309-1  $3.99. Also available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble

We often lose great ideas because we don't have a way to capture them. Here are several tips to help you capture your ideas.

Need some tips on what you can do (or not do) during your upcoming break? You get five of them here. Don't worry, they don't involve work (or only slightly).

Directors are always looking for ways to make warm-ups engaging and still learn music skills. Start by calling it "Ensemble Sensitivity Training" instead. Get 30+ ideas in this 12 minute podcast. Also find a link to download a pdf at www.themusicedpodcast.com. 

James talks about how to help your band sax section sound better. He covers reeds, embouchure, mouthpieces, high/low tones (free worksheet included), recruiting and what to do with beginners.

In this episode, I interview Dr. Mark Montemayor of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley during a break from the Colorado Music Educator's Conference.

One of my band students was disappointed last year when he was rejected for the talent show as an instrumentalist while singers who sang poorly were accepted. He mentioned his disappointment to the event organizer, who told him the audience wanted singers, not instrumentalists. He mentioned to me that we should hold our own talent show, thus was born Coffee & Talent Night, an event for students run by students where they show off their musical talents. The amazing display of talent - songwriting, singing - that I saw made me cry, and it didn't take any work on my part. The students did it all!

One of the hardest things to do as musicians is setting boundaries, especially around our personal lives and with our time. In this podcast, you will learn strategies to help you be better about setting boundaries so you can have success not only in music, but in your personal life too.

These four things - if left unchecked - can be poison to your career, health and emotions.

In this episode, we discuss how to make the most of your conference.

Download a free chart in the show notes at www.themusicedpodcast.com. 

Living a balanced life. See show notes at www.themusicedpodcast.com for additional resources.

Importance of longevity.

See the show notes at www.themusicedpodcast.com for additional resources.

In this episode, I interview director extraordinaire Dr. Ed Cannava.

See links for other resources at www.themusicedpodcast.com. 

We all have a shortage of time. In this podcast, you get tips for how to use your time more effectively to get more done.