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WIU Director of Bands Mike Fansler is pictured conducting the Chatswood High School Wind Orchestra.
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WIU Director of Bands Completes Fourth Australian Tour

September 8, 2014

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MACOMB, IL – Western Illinois University Director of Bands Mike Fansler spent two weeks of the 2014 summer break conducting clinics with high school and university wind bands in Sydney, Australia. The tour included a visit to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he rehearsed with Australia's premier wind band.

The trip was sponsored by Chatswood High School, which invited Fansler to conduct its wind orchestra in a weeklong retreat and concert performance. The visit was also an opportunity for Fansler, a WIU professor of music, to share his 20 years of experience training future educators with Australian directors.

"Australian directors are eager to employ the techniques we use at WIU to achieve performance success as a byproduct of classroom efforts to understand music making at a deep level," Fansler said. "Building strong ensembles isn't achieved by mastering a singular program of music for a concert, but rather by learning conceptual techniques that will serve students well the beyond the concert."

The trip was Fansler's fourth invitation by an Australian band and his third collaboration with the Chatswood Wind Orchestra in Sydney. He also worked with the ensemble during its United States tour in 2012.

"Mike is an excellent teacher and musician who inspires my students to play at a higher standard," said Gavin Staines, director of the Chatswood Wind Orchestra. "He has seen the growth of our program in recent years and has been happy to play a part in the development of music at our school."

Over the course of his four-year relationship with Chatswood High School, Fansler's involvement with the Australian band movement has evolved into an opportunity to positively influence music education in the country. He has partnered with Russell Hammond, founder and long-time director of the Australian Winds, the most widely renowned wind band in Australia's history, to mentor young directors who have the facility and passion to change the wind band culture.

"Since 1983 I have been bringing to Australia a cross-section of band conductors, composers, and people whose main focus is on being a good teacher, while at the same time doing either, or both of the other things," said Hammond, an honorary member of The American Bandmasters Association. "Mike Fansler is one of a small number whose teaching and conducting skills are perfectly suited to the situation we have here now."

Music is an extracurricular activity in Australia's primary and secondary education system, so most school bands rehearse for only one hour each week, either before or after school. That gives directors little time to hone fundamentals and techniques. Hammond believes the country's biggest challenge to wind band development, however, rests in how future band directors are trained.

"There has never been a course in a university or other institution of higher education that has taught future music teachers what they need to know to be able to set up and run a program and take it to a high standard," Hammond said. "That is an area in which Dr. Fansler's experience can have a tremendous impact."

Fansler held clinics during rehearsals at Newington College, St. Aloysius' College and Manly Selective High School. He and Hammond also rehearsed with the Sydney Youth Orchestra's Symphonic Wind Orchestra in preparation to perform as a clinic band for a music leadership seminar, hosted by the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors' Association (ABODA).

"I saw Dr. Fansler in action when he kindly directed the rehearsal of Newington College's Symphonic Winds," said Luke Gilmour, director of Bands. "It was great to see a guest clinician take the time to actually impart teaching and skills into the lives of young players rather than just conduct for a session."

Fansler's engagement in Australia's wind band movement isn't limited to periodic tours and doesn't stall when he returns to the WIU campus. He continues to support Hammond's cause by consulting with directors like Gilmour as they work to build a network of equally motivated educators.

"Dr. Fansler's insight into organizational development has been invaluable to the ongoing growth of the New South Wales (NSW) branch of the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors' Association," said Gilmour, president of ABODA NSW, a support organization for school and community band and orchestra directors.

"Each time I have the opportunity to work with Australian students and directors, I feel a stronger connection to their mission and personal interest in their success," Fansler said.

Fansler is planning a return visit to Sydney in 2017 during which he will continue his collaboration with students and directors in high schools and universities.

For more information on the WIU band program, visit wiu.edu/bands.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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