University of Nebraska Kearney

UNK submissions to NU Foundation for consideration.
No decisions will be made on this until summer, 2006.

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKAFOUNDATION GRANT PROPOSAL
University of Nebraska at Kearney
Department of Music and Performing Arts

REPLACEMENT OF OUTDATED AND IRREPARABLE BRASS, WOODWIND, PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
FOR TECHNIQUES CLASSES AND ENSEMBLES

Amount Requested: $100,331

Dr. Valerie Cisler, Professor and Chair
Department of Music and Performing Arts

Background and Rationale

Through an upgrade of Brass, Woodwind, and Percussion instruments, the department strives to maintain national accreditation with the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM); to enrich the quality of instruction and performance activities for participating music majors and non-majors; to attract and retain talented students to the UNK campus; and to enhance the performance quality of a large number of campus-wide public performances including Commencement and Marching Band/Pep Band appearances, recruitment venues such as the annual Honor Band and Choral Clinic, and frequent concert performances of the university’s major instrumental ensembles including Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, the Kearney Area Symphony Orchestra and various chamber ensembles.

The Department of Music and Performing Arts holds an inventory of band and orchestral instruments for two basic purposes: 1) Instructional Activities and 2) Performance Activities. 

Instructional Activities: For accreditation purposes, we are obliged to provide technical instruction on each family of instruments—woodwinds, brass, percussion and strings. Students must learn to perform with proficiency on several instruments within each family. To this end, the department offers a series of “Techniques” courses, designed to provide performance/pedagogical instruction in a group venue rather than through one-on-one instruction. As such, the department must provide enough instruments for all students enrolled (required of music education majors, composition majors, instrumental performance majors and as electives for all music business, performance and liberal arts degree majors). 

Performance Activities: In addition, the department’s instrument holdings support ensemble participation of music majors and minors and non-majors who elect to contribute their talents to these campus-wide groups. Ensembles such as the Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz/Rock Ensemble, Kearney Area Symphony Orchestra, Pep Band, and the Marching Band routinely use these instruments (which are checked out to students during the semester of participation) for outreach performances. Although many students own instruments that they bring to campus, we do not ask that students subject their instruments to weather and travel wear and tear, particularly for Marching Band and Pep Band. In addition, students often play instruments other than their major instrument as necessary for proper score rendition, such as a clarinet major performing on bass clarinet or a tuba major playing a sousaphone for marching band.

Instrument Replacement Cost and Priority Levels

The following instrument replacement costs are prioritized into four basic levels: 1) Marching Band Brass; 2) Concert Band Brass; 3) Instrumental Techniques Classes (Brass and Woodwinds only); 4) Marching Band Percussion. String instruments are not included in this proposal.

1) Marching Band Brass

2) Concert Band Brass

3) Instrumental Techniques Classes—Brass and Woodwinds

4) Marching Band Percussion