Florida MPA and College Band Programming in 2016-2017

Over the past 60 years the repertoires of high school and college bands have diverged over the course of time. This research evaluates current trends in wind band programming by looking at these two groups. Both groups typically programmed transcriptions and marches during the 1920s through the 1940s. They did not just perform concerts but also provided music for various functions such as athletic competitions. The founding of the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1952 led to an increase of original works for wind band in the United States. CBDNA and its members has stressed the development of new compositions throughout most of its existence and has commissioned works from some of the best composers in the country. Contrary to this, many high school bands perform music published by companies focused on playing ability. The contest model, starting in the 1920s, still continues regionally for high school bands in the United States, often times requiring each group to perform a march and at least one selection from an approved list. The philosophical differences between the two groups have led to different repertoire choices. Kish (2005) discovered there were 53 core repertoire pieces based on a replication of Holvik’s (1970) study. The most performed works from this group of pieces include First Suite in Eb by Holst (116), Second Suite in F by Holst (109), and Chester Overture by Schuman (113). Miller (2013), researching Grade III and IV pieces, found only one piece out of 32 were found to be known by all middle school band directors (n=189) but 19 of the 32 pieces were known by all of the college band directors in the study. The Florida MPA List has grown from 1274 pieces in 1998 to 1567 for the 2019-2020 school year. This research looks at works performed at Florida MPA in 2016-2017 and works performed by college bands, as submitted to the CBDNA Report for the same academic year. For the 2016-2017 school year the most performed pieces at Florida MPA included Cumberland Cross by Strommen, Nettleton by Vinson, and Nathan Hale Trilogy by Curnow. Two of these works weren’t performed by any CBDNA bands and Cumberland Cross was performed by just one group. The most performed works by CBDNA during the 2016-2017 school year included First Suite in Eb by Holst, Lincolnshire Posy by Grainger, and Second Suite in F by Holst. It was found there were 17 composers who had more than 10 performances by both Florida bands at MPA and by college bands. Of the 53 pieces in the Kish study there were only 121 performances (6.57%) at Florida MPA.