Dr.

William Staub
A307A A.J. Fletcher Music Center
252-328-6152 (office)
staubw@ecu.edu
https://ecu.webex.com/meet/staubw

SYMPHONIC WIND ENSEMBLE

MUSC 1735/6735, B110 A.J. Fletcher Music Center
Fall 2023
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 2:00-3:50 PM
Office Hours: TTh, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM; W, 10:00-11:00 AM

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND GOALS:

Symphonic Wind Ensemble is the flagship concert band at East Carolina University. SWE functions as a music
performance ensemble that allows its students to grow and develop as musicians while making music with others.
The literature for this group will be taken from classic wind ensemble literature all the way through premieres and
commissions. It is my expectation that each of you will use this ensemble as a tool for developing your musicianship,
your technique, your ensemble skills, and your listening skills. Although I consider our literature the curriculum, like
most courses you will take at the university, you will get out of this course what you put into it.

TECHNOLOGY POLICY:
Our world is bombarding us right now with alerts, messages, notifications, and updates. In order to keep your
attention and listening at the highest level, I am banning cell phones from the rehearsal. Do not bring your cell
phone to room. If you wish to use a tuner during rehearsal, please bring your own or borrow one from the class set.

Because the use of electronic devices in Symphonic Wind Ensemble will be prohibited during class, if you want to use
a tablet to read your music instead of printing it, you will need prior approval. This will require you to put the tablet
in airplane mode which means downloading your music to the tablet instead of reading it off Canvas.

This will be difficult for some of you, but I will also be only bringing my watch into rehearsal unless I am videoing.
The main point of this policy is to promote better quality attention and listening to each other during rehearsal.
We’ll talk about this throughout the semester.

FINE ARTS COMPETENCY:

Courses in the Fine Arts develop the knowledge and skills students required to create, critique and appreciate diverse
forms of Fine Art. These courses develop an understanding of the Fine Arts considered for their own sake and for
their social, political and other impacts. Learning to apply one or more or more methods of critical analysis is
essential to the critique of the different aspects of the fine arts. Creating, critiquing and appreciating works of visual
and performing art and engaging in the scholarly study of the history and appreciation of the Fine Arts enhances the
quality of each student’s life experience and contributes to the well-being of humanity.

The following program learning outcomes define the Fine Arts Competency.
Students who have completed the General Education Fine Arts requirements can:
1. Apply knowledge of an area in the Fine Arts to describe specific artists, works, movements and creative
processes and their significance to the human condition.
2. Analyze diverse genres, styles, and techniques in their appropriate cultural and historical context.
3. Apply discipline-specific knowledge in the Fine Arts to evaluate the relevance of the Fine Arts to cultural
and personal growth.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES:
After completing the course, students are expected to master the following Fine Arts and Course Specific student
learning outcomes:
Ø 1. Apply knowledge of the wind ensemble artistic experience to describe specific composers, band works,
artistic movements and creative processes and their significance to the human condition (FAC1)
Ø 2. Analyze wind ensemble repertoire and various techniques of the wind, brass and percussion families in their
appropriate cultural and historical context. (FAC2)
Ø 3. Apply the analysis of the wind ensemble medium through various genres, historical contexts, and
compositional settings to evaluate the relevance of the wind ensemble to cultural and personal growth
(FAC3)
Ø 4. Rehearse and PERFORM with improved musicianship, technique, and musical understanding, within a
cohesive ensemble (CSC1)
Ø 5. Understand and apply the fundamentals of wind and percussion technique such as breath control and
support, tone production, and facility. (CSC2)
Ø 6. Understand and apply the artistic aspects of the wind ensemble such as style, phrasing, and dynamic/tone
expressivity (CSC3)
Ø 7. Apply a knowledge of standard wind ensemble literature throughout history (CSC4)
Ø 8. Apply a knowledge of major composers of wind ensemble literature throughout history (CSC5)

Accountability Assessment (40% of your total grade)

How do we assess accountability when striving to get better during a creative activity?

We must be accountable to ourselves first

We must be accountable to each other
We must be accountable to our boss
We must be accountable to the community at-large

Here’s how we’re going to address each area of accountability:

1. Everyone will record and critique themselves on areas of their SWE music they need to improve upon. Those
recordings will be on selected sections of the literature we are performing this semester. Those critiques will
be in the form of Canvas journaling posts. I won’t critique your critique unless you ask me to.
2. Everyone will be assigned a Wind Ensemble “A-P” (accountability partner). This partner will not play the
same instrument as you, be the same year in school as you (if numbers allow), and/or be someone you
generally know well. The goal is to expose your playing to other members of the ensemble whom we are all
accountable to. You will exchange recordings with each other and then exchange critiques of each other’s
playing. This will again be done on Canvas and again will not be critiqued by me unless you ask.
3. Everyone will come to my office and perform excerpts of my choosing from our repertoire. These excerpts
will be critiqued and graded by me, and will be asked to be performed/executed once. This will feel like an
audition, and I will determine an “excerpt champion” by the end of the semester who will win lunch with Dr.
Staub (at a reasonably good restaurant).
4. Everyone will ask for feedback from their applied instructor (or other trusted musician in the audience if
your applied professor is unavailable) on how their performance in the concert went. Ask for general
feedback and specific feedback. Then post about these results of these conversations and about your own
impressions of the performance in Canvas.

ATTENDANCE AND GRADING POLICY:

Every member of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble is required to attend all rehearsals and performances. Rehearsal
begins promptly at 2:00 P.M. or whatever time your first assigned piece begins. It is expected that you will be in your
seat, warmed-up, with all your materials, ready to tune and rehearse when you are assigned to a piece. A rehearsal
schedule will be posted on the bulletin board just outside my office, on the band bulletin board, on Canvas AND
Emailed out to you at the beginning of the week. Please check this schedule regularly and come to rehearsal with your
music prepared in advance. Our class sessions will only go as well as I can teach and you can rehearse the music that
has been prepared before rehearsal. Rehearsal is not the time for you to learn your part – rehearsal is the time for you
to learn how your part works with everyone else’s part.

Unexcused absences and/or tardies will reduce your grade and are grounds for suspension/dismissal from the group.
The only acceptable excuses are illness, family emergency, pre-approved exceptional conflicts, and acts of God. Please
email me regarding any absences within 24 hours (if you are out of town for an emergency, please call). This will serve
as documentation for your absences.

PLEASE NOTE: Being absent from rehearsal is detrimental to the other students’ experience. Do everything you can
to stay safe and healthy, attend rehearsals and be there (literally) for each other.

Attendance Policy (and how it relates to you grade):

Any unexcused tardy to rehearsal will lower your grade by 2/3 letter (An “A” would be lowered to a “B+“). After the
second unexcused tardy, each subsequent tardy will be counted as an unexcused absence and may result in
suspension/dismissal from the group. You will be counted tardy if you are not ready to tune for your piece or have
your equipment setup for the downbeat of rehearsal.
For a first unexcused absence to rehearsal, your grade will be lowered by a letter (An “A” would be lowered to a “B”).
For a second unexcused absence to rehearsal, your grade will be lowered by 2 letters (A “B” would be lowered to a
“D“) and Dr. Staub reserves the right to dismiss you from the group.
For a third unexcused absence to rehearsal, your grade will be an “F” and you will be removed from Symphonic Wind
Ensemble.
Any unexcused tardy or absence from a performance will result in a grade of “F” and a dismissal from the group.

Grade Percentages:
Daily Participation 20%
Accountability Portfolio 40%
Concert Units 40%

CONCERT DRESS:
Performance dress will be “all black”. This uniform could include black, long sleeve button-up shirts (not polo’s);
black sports coats or blazers; black or tuxedo pants (no denim); Long (floor length or mid-calf) black skirt; black dress
meeting all specifications (no prom-type dresses); Long-sleeved black blouse; Black/off-black hose or socks; black dress
shoes; simple jewelry. Other specifications: No décolletage, bare shoulders, or necklines. No “hip” clunky shoes, open-
toed sandals only acceptable with black hose, and no bare midriffs.

MUSIC:
You are responsible for printing your own music or having a tablet that allows marking and saving. I will provide
paper folders.
COURSE ORGANIZATION: (subject to change)
CONCERT 1
Date: September 20, 2023, 7:30 PM
Location: A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall
Guest Conductor: Georgia Kate Edgerton, graduate conductor
Levi Frazier, graduate conductor

Repertory: Vaughan Williams Scherzo alla Marcia

Copley Serenade
Mozart Serenade in C Minor, mvt. 1
Hans Brass Ensemble Piece
Beethoven 2 Marches
Maslanka Husa

Rehearsals (12): 8/21, 8/23, 8/25, 8/28, 8/30, 9/1, 9/4 (Labor Day), 9/6, 9/8, 9/11, 9/13, 9/15, 9/18
(Dress Rehearsal), 9/20 (Sound Check)

CONCERT 2
Date: October 26, 2023, 7:30 PM
Location: Baldwin Auditorium, Duke University
Guest Conductor: Dr. Verena Moesenbichler-Bryant, Director of Bands, Duke University
Guest Artist: Jami Rhodes, mezzo-soprano
Guest Composer: Steven Bryant, Brittany Green

Repertory: Work TBD

Brittany Green NEW WORK
Gustav Mahler Um Mütternacht from Rückerlieder
Steven Bryant Ecstatic Waters

Rehearsals (14): 9/22, 9/25, 9/27, 9/29, 10/2, 10/4, 10/6, 10/9 (Fall Break), 10/11, 10/13, 10/16, 10/18,
10/20, 10/23, 10/25 (dress rehearsal), 10/26 (sound check at Baldwin Auditorium)

CONCERT 3
Date: November 20, 2023, 7:30 PM EST
Location: Wright Auditorium, ECU

Repertory: Grainger Lincolnshire Posy

Svanoe Steampunk Suite (Entire Suite)
Coleridge-Taylor O Ye That Love the Lord

Rehearsals (10): 10/27 (sectional), 10/30, 11/1, 11/3, 11/6, 11/8, 11/10, 11/13, 11/15, 11/17 (dress
rehearsal), 11/20 (sound check)

Conducting Symposium
Date: December 2-3, 2023
Location: AJ Fletcher Music Center
Guest Clinician: Dr. Donald McKinney, Director of Bands, UC-Boulder
MORE INFORMATION TO COME
Other University Policies
Academic Integrity Policy
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/currentfacultymanual/part6section2.pdf

Disability Services Statement

http://www.ecu.edu/accessibility/

Pirate Safety Guide

https://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/oehs/emergency/upload/16-1247-Pirate-Safety- Guide.pdf

Student Code of Conduct – Reg. 11.30.01

http://www.ecu.edu/PRR/11/30/01

Emergency Weather Statement – I will communicate with you if a situation arises that would disrupt our class meeting.

East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on
a disability must be registered with the Department for Disability Support Services located in Slay 138 ((252) 737-1016 (Voice/TTY)).
http://www.ecu.edu/accessibility/

Students are not allowed to use advanced automated tools (artificial intelligence or machine learning tools such as ChatGPT or Dall-E 2) on
assignments in this course. Each student is expected to complete each assignment without substantive assistance from others, including
automated tools.

This syllabus represents a written contractual agreement. Occasionally, it may be necessary to revise this syllabus. The Director reserves the
right to revise this syllabus if the need arises. Advance notification will be provided.