Yamaha's new Educator Series has a new format to go along with it. John Wittmann, marketing manager for education at Yamaha's Band and Orchestral Division, explains that the concept is actually a development of an already existing successful program. "Our earlier series used to be two parts, called the Percussion Pack and Wind Pack," Wittmann says. "This year we're preparing a single program, called the Yamaha Educator Series. We will be asking Yamaha performing artists to write articles on applicable topics of their choice, which will then be edited and published on a CD."

Yamaha's performing artists represent an incredibly beneficial source of information and experience, just waiting to be tapped. As active performers, Yamaha artists boast a wealth of first-hand knowledge of current performance trends. Accessing this knowledge is a matter of getting the artists to share their experiences in an effective manner. That's the focus of the new Yamaha Educator Series: tips by Yamaha's professional performing artists, designed to help band directors and music educators, organized and presented in an easily accessible format.

"The idea is to ask our Yamaha performing artists to write articles to help the average school band director," Wittmann continues. "The Yamaha education series is not about an artist's interpretation of an esoteric
orchestral score or anything like that. It's about helping band directors succeed in making their music programs survive and their students continue on in music."

In other words, the series will be practical, straight-forward, and, most important, relevant to what music teachers encounter every day on the job.

The first installment of the new series is scheduled to be released within the next few months. Future contributors will include well-known artists Mary Karen Clardy, George Shelby, Chris Howes, Walt Straiton, Ron Romm, and Giff Howarth. Music teachers countrywide will benefit from the invaluable professional
insights of these and forthcoming Yamaha artists.