Talented Students Attend Band Conferences

Talented Students Attend Band Conferences

BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff
April 22, 1999

Four members of the Rice Symphonic Band were selected to participate in national
or international symphonic band events. The students are Sarah Betz, Maureen
Craig, Sarah Rodgerson and Ben Serebrin. All four musicians play clarinet; Rodgerson
plays bass clarinet. The Rice Symphonic Band is conducted by Robert Cesario,
director of bands at Rice.

Craig and Serebrin attended the College Band Directors’ National Association
(CBDNA) Conference, held in Austin at the end of February. At the conference,
they performed as members of the first-ever "Small College Intercollegiate
Band." Other conference performers included the United States Marine Band.

Craig, Betz and Rodgerson will attend the July 5-11 World Association of Symphonic
Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) Conference, to be held in San Luis Obispo, Calif.,
and perform as members of the International Youth Wind Orchestra, an ensemble
of about 50 outstanding musicians from around the world. The group will be directed
by internationally-renowned conductors.

Says Cesario, "The fact that they were selected for these groups speaks
very highly of their musical accomplishments. They’re outstanding students who’ve
been really dedicated musicians. They set a real good example, both academically
and musically."

Betz is a Jones College freshman; Craig, a Wiess College senior; Rodgerson,
a Baker College sophomore; and Serebrin, a Wiess College senior.

Serebrin, a recent Phi Beta Kappa initiate, says he enjoyed and benefited from
the CBDNA conference where the Small College Intercollegiate Band practiced
as much as five or six hours a day. Serebrin, who performed a solo for the band,
credits Cesario with raising the quality of music in the Rice band program.

"He came in the middle of the summer and in little time did a really good
job with both the MOB and Rice Symphonic Band," says Serebrin, a member
of both groups. "He’s really into getting musicality back into both bands
and got us to sound a lot better. He also has a really good sense of humor and
has had fun with the MOB."

Serebrin also notes that Trish Leggett, the new band program coordinator, has
been enthusiastically supportive of the Rice band program in numerous ways,
which would include her playing tambourine for the MOB.