Special Message to Students from Tim Lautzenheiser

Tim Lautzenheiser, Chief Education Development Officer & Vice President of Education for Conn-Selmer Inc., shares his thoughts and advice on staying positive and continuing to nurture your love of music during these uncertain times brought on by COVID-19.

We are all embarking into uncharted waters and Conn-Selmer's Division of Education wants to help. Above is a meaningful message from Dr. Tim designed to share with music students young and old. As we all undertake this new online virtual journey together, it is refreshing to remember that we are never too far away for a vast musical community of teachers, students, and professional artists ready to actively engage our world.

Conn-Selmer and our Division of Education stand ready and willing to navigate this new musical landscape and have already begun partnering with music companies and educators to ensure your musical journey may not only survive, but thrive! As musicians and creative thinkers, we already know how to come up with an unlimited number of ways to leverage our new online reality. Here are a few tips from Tim to help catapult us into a new and exciting online musical landscape:

1. Now is the Time to Practice! - Take advantage of this amazing environment where we all now have the thing we couldn't find before within our busy schedules - TIME TO PRACTICE!

2. Create a Virtual Band Room - Nobody is around to interrupt your plans and your music-making ideas. Get on the phone and begin talking about ways to keep your musical community connected and engaged.

3. Bring People Together - We have the opportunity to create a virtual classroom as big as the world around us. Now is the time to connect with people you haven't seen in a while, friends from another country, or even artists who you want to learn from.

3. Listen - Take the time to lesson to music that brings you joy and even play along with the recording!

4. Play a Recital - Record yourself and share your gifts with your friends, parents, and relatives. Share the gift of music with people who are important to you.

5. Have Sectional Meeting - Begin planning for the future and what the band, orchestra, or choir may do when you get back into the music room.

6. Write a Note - How cool would it be to write a handwritten letter to your music teacher or the top 3 people who have influenced your musical journey. Put a stamp on it and send it in the mail!

7. Evaluate Your Musical Journey - Take stock of where you and where you want to go! Remember, draw up the blueprint. Be what you want to be!

8. Create a Message to Your "Musical Hero" - Reflect on the connections you have made in the music room and reach out to those people to express how they have influenced your musical growth. This message could be a phone call, video, or a recorded song...you decide and send it their way!

9. Do Something New and Different - Go outside and play your music on the porch, backyard, or for your next-door neighbor.

10. Be an Exemplary Role Model - Band, orchestra, and choir are different than our other classroom subjects. We are all on the varsity team together from day one. Together, through music, we can change the world!