CAPITAL REGION WIND BAND SYMPOSIUM

SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2025

9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Ashbury College
362 Mariposa ave.,
ottawa, on

Please contact wbs@onband.ca

with any questions

REGISTRATION

WHY ATTEND?

Workshop sessions presented by clinician Dr. Jason Caslor
Explore conducting, pedagogical and rehearsal techniques
Opportunity to receive live feedback while conducting the Governor General's Foot Guards Band

symposium schedule

Registration: 9:00 - 9:30 AM

Registration & Refreshments

Session 1: 9:30 - 10:30 AM

Squirrel! Being Present in a World that Doesn't Want Us to Be

Session 2 : 10:45 - Noon

Conducting Session 1 (Governor General's Foot Guards Band)

Break: Noon - 12:45PM

LUNCH (provided)

Session 3 : 12:45 - 2:15 PM

Conducting Session 2 (Governor General's Foot Guards Band)

Session 4: 2:30 - 4:00 PM

Spontaneous Factory: An Approach to Improvisation and Composition for Large Instrumental Ensembles

NOTE: please bring your instrument to play during this session

2025 FEES

Please note that you have to be a member of the OBA to attend the Capital Region/OBA Wind Band Symposium.

The event fees are as follows:

New/Renewing Membership (Regular) & Symposium Fee ........................... $85

New/Renewing Membership (Student/Retiree)

& Symposium Fee .........................$50

Symposium Fee Only (current Regular OBA members) ................................... $60

Symposium Fee Only (current Student/Retiree OBA members) ....................................$30

By selecting one of the last two options, you agree that you are a members of the OBA. Should you not be a member, you will be asked to purchase a membership upon confirmation.

symposium overview

Please choose two pieces to conduct from the list below and receive live feedback from our clinician. Spots are limited and conductors will be chosen on a first-come first-served basis.

ALL SYMPOSIUM DELEGATES ARE ENCOURAGED TO HAVE WITH THEM:

A conducting baton
Your instrument if you'd like to play in the band
Scores to follow along during the conducting masterclass session; scores are available from Long & McQuade Music.
Selected Repertoire List:
- Suite on Canadian Folk Songs (Calvert)
- One Life Beautiful (Giroux)
- Variations on a Rollicking Tune (Sirulnikoff)
- Blue Radiance (Piunno)
- Three Czech Folk Songs (Vinson)
- The Haunted Mansion (Neufeld)

session breakdowns

SQUIRREL! Being Present in a World that Doesn't Want Us to Be

Do you struggle with staying on task? Is it difficult to stay present with what is happening in the moment? Using seemingly simple breathing and mindfulness exercises, we will explore ways of increasing our attention span, bring awareness to things that distract us, and discuss ways to sift through the overwhelming amount of data thrown at us every minute.

Spontaneous Factory: An Approach to Improvisation and Composition for Large Instrumental Ensembles

This session will offer ways to include improvisation and non-traditional repertoire in rehearsals and performances that will enhance our interaction with standard repertoire and also challenge how we traditionally approach the large ensemble experience with our students. Thoughts on why improvisation is important, tried and tested games and exercises geared at introducing students to improvisation, and suggestions for unique uses of performance spaces will be offered.

registration

REGISTRATION

2025 Clinician
Dr. Jason Caslor

DR. JASON CASLOR

Born and raised in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, Jason Caslor is currently the director of bands at Arizone State University (ASU). In addition to directing the wind ensemble, he also mentors graduate conducting students and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting courses. Recent highlights include the ASU Wind Ensemble's commercial recordings of Kevin Day's Concerto for Wind Ensemble and Nicole Piunno's Sunflower Studies, being a recipient of the Canadian Band Association's 2022 International Band Award, presenting at the 2024 WASBE Conference (Gwangju, South Korea), and the 2024 Midwest Clinic, and guest conducting the United States Army Field Band.

From 2015 - 2019, Caslor was the associate director of bands and orchestras at ASU. Highlights of that time include founding the now firmly established ASU Philharmonia and being nominated for ASU's Outstanding Master's Mentor Award. From 2010 - 2015, Caslor was an assistant professor of instrumental conducting at Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada where he conducted the wind ensemble and oversaw the undergraduate and graduate instrumental conducting programs. Before that, he spent three seasons as the resident conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO). During his tenure with the TBSO, he conducted more than 75 concerts (including a CBC Radio national broadcast) and recorded a full-length, internationally distributed CD with Canadian blues artist Rita Chiarelli.

A Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician, Caslor has guest conducted or adjudicated in every province in Canada and throughout the United States. In addition to numerous regional engagements, Caslor has conducted the National Youth Band of Canada, the South Dakota All-State Band, the South Dakota Intercollegiate Band, and the Alberta Wind Symphony.

A fiercely proud Canadian currently living amongst cacti, Caslor's co-founding and leadership over the Canadian Band Association's (CBA) Howard Cable Memorial Prize in Composition lead to him being the recipient of the CBA's 2022 International Band Award. The award recognizes those individuals who have embraced the ideals of the CBA and have contributed to the promotion, growth and development of the musical, educational and cultural values of Canadian band outside of Canada.

As a researcher, he has presented his work at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the WASBE International Conference, the CBDNA National Conference, the IGEB International Conference on Wind Music, the International Society for Music Education World Conference, and the Riksförbundet Unga Musikanter Wind Band Symposium (Sweden). He has also published numerous articles, most prominently in the Canadian Winds journal.

Caslor completed his doctorate in conducting at Arizona State University. Prior to earning a master's in conducting from the University of Manitoba, he earned dual bachelor's in music and education from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.