beyond ArtLess

Send us Fan Mail This week’s guest aligns perfectly with the conclusion of the 77th Midwest Clinic held in Chicago. Our guest is the amazing educator, tubist, father, leader, human, friend, and fish catcher, Dr. Paul Budde. His Midwest presentation with co-presenter Erin Holmes (Season 1, Episode 10), called “Why Teach, Why Now”,  inspires music educators to reconnect with their why. This talk is...

Send us Fan Mail Today we have the honor of learning from the renowned Dr. Ward Miller, a musical luminary whose influence reaches far beyond the podium. He shares insights into the profound impact of his mentor, Myron Welch, on his music journey. Commuters will gain valuable perspectives on the importance of mentorship and why Dr. Miller has never been to Idaho! The conversation often takes a hum...

Send us Fan Mail In an effort to improve the quality of this podcast we have not one but two amazing guests with us this week. Adam and Kate Hardt are an amazing music education couple. Our conversation with them covers their busy lives as parents and music educators, mentors Fred Sturm and Mallory Thompson, jazz improvisation tips, reflections of amazing students, upcoming challenges, the importa...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s guest is like a rare gem; she is multifaceted and priceless! Alex Shapiro is an amazing composer, photographer, speaker, author, activist, naturalist, former python breeder, and member of the herpetological society. (Read that last part again.) This is the only music podcast that contains a “Snake Q & A Session.” Not only will you learn about what snakes eat, but y...

Send us Fan Mail Finally.  A guest that delivers some honest and thoughtful feedback about improving the podcast.  One would think that our hosts would be able to operate a stopwatch, but apparently not.  This operates under the assumption that our hosts are interested in making improvements.  Or intelligent enough to make improvements to the podcast.  What exactly does improvement mean? Well, our...

Send us Fan Mail Finally, an episode that has it all.  Phil finally has some articulate questions, but is ridiculed anyways.  Three Disney All-American College Band alumni at once.  Mystery corn sprouting from the fields of Lake Geneva.  The wife/husband team of Beth and Steve Peterson have educated countless band students at both the University of Illinois and Ithaca College.  Beth has two books...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, we chat with Wisconsin legend Glenn Hayes. Glenn is in his 37th year as Director of Bands at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. We had the opportunity to learn more about his start in music, current educational changes, influential mentors, his amazing family, what he does to unwind, and an unbelievable story regarding COVID and Carnegie Hall. Glenn&a...

Send us Fan Mail Commuters, the answers to your teaching and learning conundrums are in this episode.  Without a doubt our guest has more brain power that Peter, Phil and Chris combined.  Hear guest Molly Gebrian quickly debunk Chris’ myths about the brain in a tight 20 seconds.  Peter and Phil’s collective brains were always a myth anyways.  Molly Gebrian is professor of viola and chamber music a...

Send us Fan Mail Just in time for Halloween, this episode is sure to both scare and surprise you. Have you ever wondered what it might be like to transition from a profession like music education to let’s say, the state patrol? Well, this week you get to find out as our guest is the one and only Tony Mazzone. Tony not only shares about his career and current gigs as a professional drummer, but als...

Send us Fan Mail This week we gather 'round for tales and insights from a musical maestro, Allen Vizzutti. A man who swam with sharks, danced through the weird and twisted world of professional music, and even dodged Hollywood's most eccentric moments. He's never been in prison or parachuted from a plane, but he's leapt headfirst into a life filled with melodies and harmonies t...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we find Phil BACK in the closet, Peter hiding in his Mother-in-law's bedroom, and Chris relegated to the kitchen where someone continued to make food throughout the podcast…what else would you expect? The only good news is we visited with the amazing, young, and award-winning composer Kelijah Dunton about non-traditional paths through music, passion projects, and c...

Send us Fan Mail Our guest this week is the GOAT and he also has goats. Matt Tiller, instrumental music educator at Bloomer, joins us to talk about his goats named Johnnie and Otis. Ok, we cover more than just goats but you will be impressed by the amount of time we explore this topic. We eventually move on to talk about his journey that led him to Bloomer and what it is like teaching in a small,...

Send us Fan Mail Is it possible to do this show with just one host? The answer is yes. Did it help to produce a better show. The answer is no. Why? For most of the episode it was just Chris. To be honest, our guest this week didn’t even need a host. He brought with him energy, wit, wisdom, and passion. Scott Lang is an entrepreneur, author, educator, and speaker. We discussed teacher burnout, glut...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s guest is our dear friend Dr. John Stewart, Director of Bands at UW-Eau Claire. It is only fitting that the person missing from this discussion is his colleague, Phil Ostrander. The result? One of our best episodes brimming with rich, deep, meaningful conversation.  Learn about John’s approach to repertoire, the archival project he is working on, Frank Ticheli coming to...

Send us Fan Mail Finally. The episode that everyone has been waiting for. Poor young adult Christmas Tree decisions, narrating tuba duets with rutabaga filled sousaphones, green jello, mouth clapping and more. There are no preludes or postludes, just pure music teaching mastery and comedic genius. When you are a middle schooler at heart, it’s not really teaching, it’s just spending time with peopl...

Send us Fan Mail One of the world's brilliant young composers, Viet Cuong stops in for a few minutes to chat. We cover some ground beginning with one of his first band compositions, Sound and Smoke and concluding with his new work for young band called Inland Oceans . We talk composition style, “wet” orchestration, texture, and supper clubs. That’s right….supper clubs. Viet shares his experie...

Send us Fan Mail How to account for continued lack of sophistication from Peter, Chris and Phil? Of course, our guests Ashley and Kyle Siegrist attempt to outnumber and certainly outsmart the hosts. Considering Chris occasional disappearance from parts of the show, season two is really moving in positive directions. Chris works hard to work a “stinger” into the conversation, Peter turns a six seco...

Send us Fan Mail Hold onto your baton, folks, because we're back with a splash of sophistication (the guest of course) and a whole lot of crazy in our second season opener! We've wrangled none other than the extraordinary music educator Dr. Scott Jones from The Ohio State University to join our oblivious hosts Chris, Phil, and Peter. Never fear, Chris still cannot figure out how to use t...

Send us Fan Mail Talk about how to wrap up a season; this week, Lt. Col. Jason Fettig, 28th Director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band drops in for a chat. What did we discuss? Growing up in a "fish bowl" in New Hampshire, I early teachers and mentors, auditioning for the Marine Band on a whim, the American Wind Symphony with Bob Boudreau, and the "barge band,"...

Send us Fan Mail Peter and Chris try to make do without Phil for a portion of the podcast in our penultimate show of this first season. Thankfully we have the excellent Dr. Shanti Simon as a guest. We discussed her unique path, including positions with the United States Air Force Band and the United States Air Force Academy Band, which ultimately led her to be the Director of Bands at the Universi...

Send us Fan Mail It is summer so we decided to provide you with the longest Beyond ArtLess podcast to date! What better way to fill your precious time during than the summer than 70 minutes of Beyond ArtLess! Well...the good news is that most of it is spent with the magnificent Dr. Arris Golden,  Michigan State University Assistant Professor of Music, Assistant Director of Bands, and Associate Dir...

Send us Fan Mail Phil, Peter, and Chris reflect on the UWEC Centennial Band Celebration for a few minutes prior to Peter introducing his surprise guests, and it doesn't get much better than this! Prof. Craig Kirchhoff and Dr. Elizabeth Jackson Kirchhoff join us this week to talk about retirement, sailing, horses, mentors, teaching and life. You will not want to miss the "back row story&q...

Send us Fan Mail Short and sweet episode! Actually, the only thing sweet is our guest, UWEC music education major and expert button pusher, Aleah Vincent. Enjoy a quick glimpse into this year's festival. Many thanks to the volunteers, staff, clinicians, teachers, and nearly 4,000 students who attended! Registration for the 2024 BTN Festival takes place this Thursday, June 1st at 8:00 PM (CDT)...

Send us Fan Mail Who else do you have as a guest on Mother's Day but your mothers? And in this case, all three of our mothers! We first talk about fruit and then stories about Sweet Jimmy as an introverted child. Sweet Mama Habs also talks about driving, moving the hassock, mailboxes, dogs, and an experience with a train trestle bridge. Phil's momma, Carrie, talks about him only wanting...

Send us Fan Mail On this week's show we have Phil's close friend, best man at his wedding, and amazing music educator Jeremy Kondrat. When we were not roasting Phil (and I'd say 90% of the podcast IS the roasting) we talk about Eastman, music education in Texas, Cudahy, teaching creativity, mentoring young teachers, "Developing Musicianship Through Improvisation" by Chris...