SoundBites

Conservatory now offering the best of band camp

The Conservatory's John Roggensack is coordinating our new custom clinics and workshops service.
The Conservatory’s John Roggensack is coordinating our new custom clinics and workshops service.

For Calgary saxophonist and music teacher John Roggensack, band camp holds special memories. It’s where he honed his chops as a teen and even where he met his future bride.

So it’s no surprise that Roggensack has joined Mount Royal Conservatory as our custom clinics and workshops coordinator.

This is exciting new territory for the Conservatory, he says.

“I want this to become the hub for extracurricular music, it needs a home and the Conservatory offers it all in one place,” said Roggensack. “This is a great way to mesh and compliment what already exists here.”

The idea to offer junior and senior high schools custom concert band, jazz and choral workshops at Mount Royal Conservatory means students and teachers get the best of band camp without leaving the city limits.

“Teachers like the out-of-town experience but there are limitations,” said Roggensack. “They can be hard to book and expensive. If you can do it within your budget and with high-quality instructors in a place like this, it will be a completely different experience for them.”

Teachers recognize the benefits of having professional musicians from the Conservatory’s faculty and visiting guest artists. Pair that with the amenities offered by Mount Royal University’s campus – professionally-run theatres, a food court, and recreational facilities including an aquatics centre, gymnasium and climbing wall – planning a customized school band workshop has never been easier.

Roggensack knows the value of music education: as sax player for the Calgary band The Real Deal (with bassist Jeremy Coates, Derek Stoll,  Mike Peters, Allan Beckett, John Lacey, Bryan Vance, and Dana Crawford), he says he is always collaborating and learning.

Sherri Zickefoose, Sept. 23, 2014

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