John Mackey's residency at South High School in Downers Grove continued this morning as he spent time coaching student composer Zach Plata and a chamber woodwind ensemble. By listening to themes on Mr. Mackey's web site, Zach created an arrangement of John Mackey themes for a woodwind ensemble. Mr. Mackey spent time coaching both Zach and the student musicians in the ensemble on how best to continue to develop the arrangement. Mr. Mackey's opening words to Zach were "Write more of your own stuff and less of my stuff." Dialog also continued regarding creating effective transitions between themes, and as always, getting performers to interpret with effective dynamic contrast.
