Today’s educational performing ensemble encounters many barriers prohibiting organic and meaningful engagement with concert audiences. This session will provide an overview of these long-standing performance practices and issues in an effort to invite directors to reimagine the concert experience as a way to more deeply connect with their greater concert-going community and ensemble musicians alike. By discussing topics ranging from thematic programming to exploration of venue space and participatory audience interaction, the session presenters will guide attendees to brainstorm relevant ways to heighten audience engagement and impact, starting with their very next concert cycle. Hands-on demonstrations of real life examples will give directors of any grade level and ensemble type inspiration to make their next concert offering exceedingly unboring!
Target Audience
Ensemble Directors
Additional Notes
Clinician Info
Kaitlin Bove
Diablo Valley College
Dr. Kaitlin Bove is Director of Bands and an Assistant Professor of Music at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California. She also serves as Artistic Director and Conductor for the Blue Devils Wind Symphony and the Oakland Municipal Band. In addition, she is a board member of California Band Directors Association where she coordinates the annual Social Impact Consortium and commissions new works for the California All-State Bands. Kaitlin holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from University of Kentucky and a Masters and Bachelors of Music in Education from University of the Pacific. Kaitlin is founder of the And We Were Heard initiative, a volunteer non-profit that matches underrepresented composers of wind band literature with ensembles, generating quality recordings of the music of diverse compositional voices. She is also co-founder of Girls Who Conduct, a mentorship program that supports gender parity on the conducting podium.
Jeffrey Malecki
University of San Diego
Dr. Jeffrey Malecki, originally from Sterling Heights, Michigan, holds degrees in music education and conducting from Central Michigan University, VanderCook College of Music, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He began his teaching career at Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix and later conducted the UNLV Wind Orchestra, Las Vegas Youth Wind Orchestra, and Community Band, including performances in Ireland and Italy. Mentored by noted educators and by John R. Bourgeois, Dr. Malecki developed a strong focus on conducting, teaching, and programming. After serving at Saint Xavier University, he founded the formal band program at University of San Diego in 2014, growing it into a comprehensive program that includes Wind Ensemble, Pep Band, Drumline, and a Music Education degree.