A Visit From A Bloomfield Composer

The Mt. Pleasant Elementary Band officially has a spring tradition. Each of the last four years they have a performed a piece by composer Patrick Burns in  the spring concert and he has come to work with them. 

From Bloomfield, Burns has seen his work  performed by elementary, middle, high school, college and professional bands throughout the world. During his hour-long session with the group, he worked on the piece, "Tribal Legend,"emphasizing the need for patience and concentration on tempo. 

Taking some time out from rehearsal, he gave them some background on how he wrote the piece and the folk tale that inspired it. "The younger the players are, the shorter their attention span," he explained later. "You have to give them a break."

But, while working with  grade school kids can be a challenge, it has its rewards. "It's fun to take them from where they are to a new level," he said. "They make music because it's fun."

And there's nothing like the little ego boost one gets when the session is over and everyone rushes in to have you autograph their score.