Time, Teachers, and Music Direct

Time: It is the measure of music and the measure of life. Those short on time, view it as a very precious commodity. In 1993, Music Direct was founded on the premise that educators are short on time.  It remains true today.

 

Our Goal: Saving You Time

One of Music Direct's goal is to save educators time by providing a musical outlet offering the best band music available, quickly and conveniently.

 

Selecting quality music no longer requires visiting a store, browsing endless titles, and evaluating music.  Rather, Music Direct evaluates new music, selects the highest quality titles, records these titles, and provides this recording free of charge to educators. Teachers save time and know they are getting top quality, educational music.

 

Music is delivered directly to your school.

 

The Music Direct Selection Process

Most teachers know how to select music; it's just that they may be unable to afford the time it takes to do it properly.

 

Each year, one of the most important things we do for our customers is spend time selecting new titles.  We listen to titles repeatedly, seeking quality music.  The best titles are presented in an annual CD of Select Concert Band Music.

 

The selection process ensures we are in touch with every new piece of music released each year, thereby keeping us on top of what is going on in the print music industry.

 

The Music Direct Select CD

Music Direct has produced seventeen CD’s, one for every year of business. 

The CD's we produce serve two valuable purposes:

 

1 - A selection tool:

Educators can quickly peruse new titles, selecting pieces that suit their specific needs.  Teachers can listen to approximately 40 titles rather than sort through 500.

 

2 - An educational tool:

The CD can be played for the students, aiding in the instruction process of the piece at hand and assisting students to form strong concepts of musicality, including tone production, balance, blend, phrasing, and more.

 

We could save time and money by not producing a recording but there would be no lasting reusable tool.

 

Our Web Page

Easy to use.  A collection of all CDs  in one convenient location.  A wonderful resource for directors when choosing music.   A useful aid for students to access recordings of music chosen by the director.  Missing some of our CDs?  Find them on our web page.

 

The Importance of a Good Fit

Selecting good music for your group is a key aspect to a successful performances.

 

A certain composition may be wonderful, but if it is not a proper fit for your group, even a good band can deliver a poor performance. Ensuring the music matches the strengths of your players is paramount to a successful concert. Educators strive to highlight strong sections and minimize the weaker sections while challenging everyone. No easy task!

 

Repertoire; the most important part of the curriculum.  Selecting repertoire, one of the most important jobs of the director.  Good repertoire consistently chosen with a specific group in mind can really boost a program and add to everyone's success. It's an ongoing process that is best done throughout the year because your students will change, adapt, and grow (yeah!), and the music should always be chosen to meet their developing needs.

 

Bang for your Buck

Financially we put time and money into finding good music so teachers can get the most bang for their buck from the budget. Using the budget properly on quality materials that can be re-used is important. We can provide confidence that your dollars are spent on quality educational music.

 

New Music/Reading Sessions

Where we release our new music.  Currently Music Direct offers four sessions in Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, and Saskatoon held just prior to the start of the school year. 

 

The Value of Music and Education

Music Direct understands the importance and value of instrumental music education. Our service is one way we assist teachers that work in this wonderful field. We thank our past customers for their support over the last seventeen years and look forward to helping teachers in the future. It is an honour to have our services help in the instruction of the young people under your guidance.

 

Sincerely,

Don Closson

Music Direct Ltd.

 

Got Time?

We encourage any teacher wishing to listen to demo recordings to contact us for complete demo recordings from publishers.

 

Special/Rush Orders - We deal with all publishers and special order titles with delivery to meet your time requirements. Rush orders accepted.

 

Choral

We stock choral music, and reference material for choral directors.

 

Join our mailing list

To receive our annual new music selections, catalogue and other offerings please join our mailing list.  Periodically you will also be updated e-mail on music reviews, new products, sales, current happenings in the band music world.  Send an email to musicdir@telus.net to sign up.

 

About Don Closson – Owner of Music Direct

Don Closson earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Saskatchewan.  Here, he studied privately and played in wind orchestras, jazz ensembles and chamber ensembles.  He has been a member of the Ceremonial Guard Band on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, performing for prime ministers, dignitaries, and the Royal Family.  He has performed with various wind orchestras and jazz ensembles in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

 

Twenty four years in the educational music industry, nineteen of them in his own music business (Music Direct Ltd.) are part of Don's experience offered to educators. Don can help teachers with experience gained from "both sides of the fence" as he has taught concert and jazz band from grades five to twelve in Saskatchewan and Alberta in public and separate school boards. He continues to play and remains an active saxophone clinician in Calgary and Banff. 

 

Don is  a member of the Saskatchewan Band Association, the Alberta Band Association and regularly attends conferences by those associations.  He is also a member of the Canadian Band Association.  He is a member of the Retail Print Music Dealers Association and a regular attendee of their conference, most recently in Boston, Salt Lake, Oklahoma, and Tampa.  The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) also has Don as a member.

 

Don has been selected as a member of The Presidential Who's Who Among Business and Professional Achievers - a recognition shared by those who have reached a distinguished level of success in their profession. The Stanford Who’s Who has honored him as a member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and achievement in their occupation, and industry.

 

The Phi Beta Mu International School Bandmaster Fraternity has recently appointed Don an honorary member.

 

 

 

About Greg Sadlier

Greg has worked with Music Direct for 2.5 years.  He has recently completed his practicum towards a bachelor of music degree in voice performance from Rocky Mountain College in Calgary.  Greg is an active musician with Centre Street Church, and the New West Chorus and Symphony.