Spang plans to post the judges' written comments at Folly Quarter so students, parents and teachers can read them.
"We spend several lessons playing the comment recording back, where the kids will have their music in front of them ... pencils in hand," Spang said.
The recordings are particularly helpful because students can hear the orchestra in the background as the judges make suggestions. Because they are not performing while they listen to the tapes, students' "ears are more open to what the judges are talking about," Spang said.
Spang said the adjudications give him and students a chance to hear other musicians and their teachers. "It's wonderful in Howard County because there are so many top notch teachers that it really doesn't allow you to get complacent. You always have to strive to really push your kids," he said.
Spang, a former private music teacher and faculty member at what is now McDaniel College, has been teaching in Howard County for nine years. A fellow music teacher submitted his name for the Maryland Music Educators Association award. Parents and colleagues wrote recommendation letters and "collected a lot of artifacts from my teaching, from my performing career, from my composing and arranging career," Spang said. "It's very moving to read, to be reminded of how much of an impact you have on people."
Patrick Walls is the orchestra director at Folly Quarter and co-conducts the school's chamber symphony with Spang. He said Spang is "very deserving" of the MMEA award. "He does so much. Every day there's something going" with after-school music programs.
Folly Quarter band parent Betsy Brown said her two children "really like his humor and they like the challenge, because he does create a challenge. ... He keeps raising the bar and the students keep meeting it. It's amazing."
After the performance last week, Spang learned that his students earned an "I" - the top rating - from all three judges.
Said White: "What we find in the arts is ... it's hard fun. When you have that hard work, but it's fun, then you're doing the right thing."
lshovan@comcast.net
More Dates
Here are the dates for coming county music adjudications:
Tuesday, Wednesday: Howard County middle school band adjudication, Hammond High School.
April 4-5: Howard County high school band adjudication, Glenelg High School.
April 9-10: Howard County middle and high school concert choir adjudication, Howard High School.
