Inspire Arts and Music forms partnership with NESBA

[Musicman1084]

3 hours ago, craiga said:

 

Lastly,  a fact: there is not a single competitive high school marching band in ANY of the high schools in the city of Boston.

I think the closest we've come to this happening is Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, which fielded a very successful concert percussion ensemble competing in WGI as Roland Hayes School of Music. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Musicman1084

[craiga]

8 hours ago, ECJ94 said:

My alma matter (Malden) has become focused more on orchestral band rather than marching after the latest change in directorship.

Back in the late 80's, they were one of the top marching bands in the state and now they don't even exist as a marching band......

When Malden was a marching powerhouse in the state, there were a large number of direct ties to DCI - from members also participating in the Diplomats/Ambassadors, ECJ, the Citations, the Spartans, 27th and Boston - and staff being involved in all of them plus 27th, it is a sad state to see.

They had a real resurgence in the early 2000's through the combined efforts of Jim Lutz (Northstar member, Spartans staff) and Matt Tavares (Spartans member, Citations staff) but now Matt is running a middle school program in the city (with a NESBA percussion ensemble) and the high school has an orchestral based director (as well as the band parent association losing most of their ability to provide financial support due to the smoking ban killing bingo).

I don't think that we will ever see a real resurgence in Malden again for marching band due to the lack of financial support mainly, but I also believe that a number of other programs are facing the same pressures.

But, while all of that is happening in Malden, there has also been a resurgence in a number of other cities - Medford has built their program, Quincy/North Quincy is building a nice program. Look at how far Everett came within 20 years under Gene O'Brien and Charley Poole.....

It just shows, if towns are willing to invest, it is possible. BUT, the town/school district has to be more heavily involved than they used to be and provide funding. They can't rely on outside organizations providing all/most of the funding like they used to.

I like this move for NESBA/IAM. There are a LOT of synergies in this. From the major players involved in both organizations to the additional revenue stream that it can provide IAM, to the tie-ins that IAM can leverage with Great East. 

I am hopeful that this works out for everyone. It is more promising on the surface than the attempted tie-in that was tried with US Bands by NESBA to keep the "Big Boys" happy. That felt like a bad G7 type move......

Now comes the question though.... how do you increase NESBA participation amongst the bands that are historically more MICCA and MAC based? A lot of them like the stars system and the lower costs for MICCA vs. NESBA. Also, can you attract more of the MAC members from Connecticut and New York to make the circuit more truly regional? Only time will tell.

This is a great post. Also, if memory serves, a few years ago our friends in Concord, CA made overtures about purchasing NESBA.   That prompted a call from the Inspire BOD directly to Mr. Gibbs.  I can't speak to what was said, other than I was told it was a blunt conversation. 

[fsthnds]

15 hours ago, ECJ94 said:

My alma matter (Malden) has become focused more on orchestral band rather than marching after the latest change in directorship.

Back in the late 80's, they were one of the top marching bands in the state and now they don't even exist as a marching band......

When Malden was a marching powerhouse in the state, there were a large number of direct ties to DCI - from members also participating in the Diplomats/Ambassadors, ECJ, the Citations, the Spartans, 27th and Boston - and staff being involved in all of them plus 27th, it is a sad state to see.

They had a real resurgence in the early 2000's through the combined efforts of Jim Lutz (Northstar member, Spartans staff) and Matt Tavares (Spartans member, Citations staff) but now Matt is running a middle school program in the city (with a NESBA percussion ensemble) and the high school has an orchestral based director (as well as the band parent association losing most of their ability to provide financial support due to the smoking ban killing bingo).

I don't think that we will ever see a real resurgence in Malden again for marching band due to the lack of financial support mainly, but I also believe that a number of other programs are facing the same pressures.

But, while all of that is happening in Malden, there has also been a resurgence in a number of other cities - Medford has built their program, Quincy/North Quincy is building a nice program. Look at how far Everett came within 20 years under Gene O'Brien and Charley Poole.....

It just shows, if towns are willing to invest, it is possible. BUT, the town/school district has to be more heavily involved than they used to be and provide funding. They can't rely on outside organizations providing all/most of the funding like they used to.

I like this move for NESBA/IAM. There are a LOT of synergies in this. From the major players involved in both organizations to the additional revenue stream that it can provide IAM, to the tie-ins that IAM can leverage with Great East. 

I am hopeful that this works out for everyone. It is more promising on the surface than the attempted tie-in that was tried with US Bands by NESBA to keep the "Big Boys" happy. That felt like a bad G7 type move......

Now comes the question though.... how do you increase NESBA participation amongst the bands that are historically more MICCA and MAC based? A lot of them like the stars system and the lower costs for MICCA vs. NESBA. Also, can you attract more of the MAC members from Connecticut and New York to make the circuit more truly regional? Only time will tell.

MAC no longer host any fall band shows. The competitive schools do US Band shows.

This could be a good opportunity to expand NESBA beyond Ma. Nh. and Me. for both fall and winter seasons

[fsthnds]

6 hours ago, craiga said:

This is a great post. Also, if memory serves, a few years ago our friends in Concord, CA made overtures about purchasing NESBA.   That prompted a call from the Inspire BOD directly to Mr. Gibbs.  I can't speak to what was said, other than I was told it was a blunt conversation. 

I do not think BD actually seriously looked at NESBA. I know Hopkins was very interested in NESBA when he was starting US Bands Winter Guard and Percussion competitions. Part of that plan had Tony DiCarlo taking over and managing the US Bands program.