Category: Academy for Music and the Arts

The Band Dad

Brass section of a band
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How to be a good band dad.

By Mark Harris

It is August, and the beginning of school is around the corner. For those with children in high school, and specifically those whose kids play music, school starts early in the form of marching band camp. Many marching band dads were band players themselves back in the day, but I was not. So, when child 2,3,4 and 5 in my family wanted to join the band, I was in for a shock. At first, since I knew nothing about bands, I kept them at arm’s length. But year by year I did more and learned more. Here are some band lessons learned since I started this gig in 2010.

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Acting in Church and Community

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Basic information on auditioning, rehearsing, and performing for church-affiliated actors, actresses, directors, and the whole gamut of those who love and practice the theater.

By Mark D. Harris

Churches around the world use drama in their ministries, and for good reason. The arts, including drama, music, and dance, communicate eternal truths to the human soul in a way that philosophy, mathematics, and other disciplines could not. Our church, Memorial Baptist Church in Beckley WV, has an ongoing children’s ministry involving music and drama, and will be expanding into adult drama next year. In the interest of having useful instructions for older children, parents, and adults, I have edited information gleaned from the websites below on auditioning, rehearsing, and performing. I hope that this information is useful to other churches as well.

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Remembering What Counts at Christmas – Play 15 minutes

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A 15 minute (or so) play about a good and faithful but worn-out pastor who needs to be reminded about what really matters at Christmas.

By Mark Harris

Characters

  • Pastor Tim – male, mid 40s
  • Cindy – female, late 30s, Pastor Tim’s wife
  • Michael – son of Pastor Tim, 12-13 yo
  • Candali – daughter of Pastor Tim, 9-10 yo
  • Rinna – daughter of Pastor Tim, 7-8 yo
  • Jenny – Church secretary, female, 50s to 60s
  • Jose – male, mid 30s
  • Mariana – female, late 20s
  • Joshua – infant

Setting – A Baptist church in Detley, South Virginia. Pastor Tim and Jenny the secretary are the only paid staff. Tim’s 4th grade daughter Candali and 2nd grade daughter Rinna are doing homeschool work in his office. The roof is leaking, with drops falling into a bucket on the floor.

Time – late Tuesday morning

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Smashing Statues

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Statues are coming down all over America, some in a raging mob amidst political pandering, and others with government-directed construction crews. Few memorials are coming down after calm debates and reasoned decisions. Why do we have such statues in the first place? Which ones is it appropriate to remove? Which not?

By Mark D. Harris

The mass killing of Jews and other “undesirables” by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust (1939-1945) was one of the worst crimes in modern history.[1] The Holocaust spilled oceans of blood, and its cruelty was beyond imagination. Concentration camps like Auschwitz in Poland and memorials and museums in places like Berlin and Washington DC educate current and future generations on what happened in the hopes that such an atrocity will never occur again.

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