Brandon Ferrell conducted the Creekview High School Wind Ensemble as his senior project. He researched the benefits of music education and discovered it can increase standardized test scores by 30%. He gained experience assisting the middle school and high school bands. For his project, he chose to conduct the piece "River of Life" with the Wind Ensemble. He encountered some issues with his facilitator and performance dates, but was able to overcome them. Through the project, he learned conducting skills but decided against pursuing a career in music education due to lack of value placed on the field.

1. Brandon Ferrell
Mrs. Tillery
AP Literature
April 18, 2012
Senior Project Speech
My name is Brandon Ferrell and for my Senior Project, I conducted a piece of music with
the Creekview High School Wind Ensemble. What if I told you that you could raise your child’s
standardized test scores by almost 30 percent? With music, this is a completely valid goal and
even a reality for manyband students. I believe that music has had a similar effect and an even
more intrinsic role in my high school career, and that is why I decided on this as my Senior
Project.
In my research paper, I discovered and discussed many different aspects of both music
education and music as a whole and its effects on children and their learning capabilities. I also
discovered other uses for music such as music therapy, which is used to treat many diverse
medical cases, including clinical depression. This topic relates to my project because I gained
serious insight into the life of a band director, the experience of conducting an ensemble, and
also several technical aspects of music literature.
The creation of my product was a fairly simple process. I chose a performance to be my
product because of my lifelong love for music and the band programs at Creekland Middle
School and Creekview High School. My final product would be a video performance of me
conducting the Wind Ensemble. This process began in late 2011 when I started attending and
assisting Mr. Carter, my facilitator, at eighth grade band rehearsals. I also gained a lot of
expertise through my position in the Creekview Marching Band. This past season I held the

2. leadership position of Saxophone Captain, a job that entails the oversight of the entire saxophone
section. During our three practices per week, I would conduct music for them while they played
it back to me, and also assist them in correcting flaws in their playing. This is a large part of what
Mr. Opitz does in our very own band classes every day, so this proved to be a very helpful
experience.
After marching season ended and my time at eighth grade band rehearsals was done, I
began my practice with various members of the high school band. In lieu of requiring practice
logs, we were required to have weekly sectionals to practice our concert music. Sectionals in the
Wind Ensemble are where each instrument (saxophone, clarinet, etc) divides into groups and
practices their specific parts of a piece they are having trouble with. I took it upon myself to
make this yet another learning experience by running the rehearsals for the saxophones and
helping them with all of their needs and musical inquiries. These sectionals proved to be doubly
helpful because they not only furthered my conducting abilities but also helped me to become
more proficient on my own horn as well.
After two months of this, I began to consider various pieces of music in our library as
potential literature to conduct for my final product. I had trouble deciding on a piece that would
both be within my capabilities as a conductor and also challenge the Wind Ensemble or at least
be interesting to play, because they are such an advanced group. In the end, and with help from
Mr. Carter and Mr. Opitz, I decided on the piece River of Life by Steven Reineke. I decided on
this piece not only because of its perfect range in difficulty and playability, but also because of
its ties with my own walk of life. The flowing melodies inherent in this piece are deeply familiar
to me as they remind me of my own easy going and serene lifestyle.

3. As senior projects loomed closer and closer, I decided on the Thursday and Friday before
spring break to rehearse and record the performance with the entire band. On Thursday I spent
the entire class period acclimating myself to conducting for the entire band and learning how all
of the intricate parts fit together- what an ideal recording would sound like. The next day we
recorded the performance and all was well, or so I thought.
Throughout my project I encountered several problems, all of which I was able to correct.
To begin, I had originally planned to have Mr. Opitz as my facilitator, because that would
consolidate all of the work I had to do to Creekview and my own home. However, he had already
committed to two other people for their senior projects, so I decided to ask Mr. Carter, the
middle school band director. This was a great idea because not only did he accept gladly, but he
also allowed me to use his eighth grade band rehearsals as a resource for practice. My next
problem was the date at which I was going to perform and record my final product. I had
originally planned to do it at our spring concert, however I quickly learned that the concert fell
after senior boards, so I had to come up with a new entirely separate performance. The last
problem I encountered was the length of the actual performance I recorded. The song was over
six minutes long- far too lengthy to play the whole thing during my presentation. I had to edit
parts out of the video to fit it into my presentation. Aside from these, my work has been problem
free.
Throughout this entire experience I have discovered many things about myself and the
music industry. For one, as much as I love music in every way, I have decided against pursuing
both a degree in music and a career in music education. The sad truth is that there is simply no
value placed in music education for children and teens, despite how much it has been
uncontestably proven to benefit them in their learning endeavors. I have also discovered

4. firsthand the mental effects of music, specifically its ability to soothe, because at several points
in this process I have felt overwhelmed and music provided an outlet from, ironically, my music
project.
To conclude, I would like to thank you judges for your time and consideration. I hope my
presentation has been a memorable and enjoyable experience for you that you can take
something away from. Music certainly has that capability, if my project does not, and so I ask:
how has music helped you in life, and where would you be without it? As Victor Hugo says,
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”