Somerset Canyons Wrap Up

Somerset Canyons wrap up. Monday, June 2nd, was my final day as the music director at Somerset Academy Canyons. This post highlights my thoughts on those 9 years.

The 2016 condition of the program

The Canyons music program was heading into its 4th year in 2016. The band program was failing…literally. They had received F ratings on the stage at the Florida Bandmaster’s Association Concert Assessment and they had a terrible reputation in the county.

I knew that the students would need to relearn everything. And, I mean everything:

• How do we enter the room?
• How do we set up the room?
• How do we tear down and leave the room?
• How do we rehearse?
• How do we sit, breathe, blow, articulate, hold the instrument, etc

But, this was only part of the challenges of taking on this assignment.

Head games

You can’t succeed if you don’t have the right attitude. And the 2016 attitude was TERRIBLE!

Specifically, the high school band students were a mess. They were having a great time, but they sounded awful. They were running wild and free during rehearsals…and performances.

I was told that a student played the John Cena theme song during a performance the previous year. I didn’t want to believe it, but based on some of the other things the kids were doing in class, I became convinced.

For those who don’t know the John Cena theme song:

We spent a lot of time talking. And, yes, I spent some time yelling. I needed them to change the way they thought about band.

I was able to win a few over and the rest graduated. You can’t win ’em all.

Realistic goals

It was obvious to me that this wouldn’t be a world class music school.

• We had $0 budgeted to the program
• The music room was located on the second floor
  • When I mentioned that it was strange to have a band room on a second floor, an administrator said, “No, it isn’t.” That comment stuck with me for 9 years!
• We had 1 director to run what would typically be the work of 4 directors
  • High school band
  • Middle school band
  • High school chorus
  • Middle school chorus
• We had no auditorium, or stage on campus
• There was no place for a marching band to practice

I decided early on that we needed to develop a program that taught solid fundamentals. I’d focus on middle school technique in particular.

We took the middle school band to the Florida Bandmaster’s Association district concert MPA in 2017 and received a “C”. It was like getting an “A” rating.

Concerts

We settled into a rhythm of giving 3 concerts each year. I had the students focus on preparing 3 pieces of music for each of these performances.

We pushed quality flyers to advertise these performances to developed a “concert” culture.

Everyone knew we were giving a Holiday Concert, a Spring Concert and an End of the Year Concert. Each concert had a type of music.

The Holiday Concert was obviously holiday music. The Spring Concert was more serious with more difficult music. The End of the Year Concert was focused on musicals, movies and pop, “Fun” music.

This was a great success.

Overview

I didn’t build a spectacular program. But, I left behind a bunch of students with excellent fundamentals.

• They know how to rehearse
• They understand the value of a warm up
• They know how to enter/exit and set up a room properly
• They know how to perform for an audience
• They know how to make music together
• They have great attitudes

We didn’t

• have a marching band
• have a lot of after school practices
• routinely go to performance assessments
• fundraise. (We did 1 fundraiser in 9 years.)
• play for basketball games
• charge high fees to the kids and parents
• charge for concerts

2025 – 2026

The next director doesn’t have a mess to clean up. They can take the program in any direction that they would like.

The engine is tuned up, the tires are in good shape, the oil is changed and everything is running well.

I wish the next director well!

For more on Somerset Academy Canyons, click here.