Bookmark: Ballet - Free Shipping

Standard bookmark, 0.5mm thick aluminium with a high gloss white face. Designed and printed by me! Dimensions: 130mm x 35mm with rounded edges.

But even more significant than the plaques and trophies are the ways he shaped students’ lives and created happy memories that remain with many to this day. Sporting an Afro and full beard, Cross arrived at Pittsburg High in 1973 with graduate degrees in music and drama and an infectious enthusiasm. The school’s music offerings had dwindled to a small choir, one guitar class and a marching band with only seven musicians. That first year was a tough one: Some players didn’t know how to march in step to a beat, use the correct fingering on their instruments or even how to read music.

“It was starting from scratch,” said Cross, bookmark: ballet who embraced the challenge, “We recruited like a madman,” he said, “We would take everybody and anybody, If you could carry an instrument, you were in.”, By the time of the first football game, the band had quintupled in size, The following year, Cross further raised its profile by having members attend all out-of-town games, and with newspaper coverage of the changes afoot it wasn’t long before the group that many hadn’t known even existed was a hot ticket on campus..

An esprit de corps took root as teens hung out in the band room, forming relationships with Cross and one another that offered comfort for those from troubled homes. “For many of the kids, (drama and band) was the best thing they had in their life,” he said. Over the years, Cross also formed two jazz bands and three concert bands, coached students in music theory after school and spent hours choreographing marching routines, including the opening and closing drills that remain a revered tradition at football games.

By the time he retired in 1998, the marching band, affectionately called The Pride of Pittsburg, had evolved into a showcase of musicality and dance moves that had entertained 61,000 college football fans and all but swept the awards at Arizona’s Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship, Cross’ uncommon breadth of abilities also led him to restore the school’s drama classes, which had bookmark: ballet disappeared by the early 1970s, In addition, he introduced a course that covered everything from building and painting sets, rigging scenery and using light and sound systems to makeup and costume design..

“I was just amazed at the diversity of experiences we were able to have under him,” recalled former student Michael Caldwell, now a university music professor. “He did it all and he did it very well. The school district was getting three employees for the price of one.”. He went beyond the curriculum to model character, and he enforced his high standards with tough love. Caldwell recalls once sneaking into the back of the room after class had started by hiding behind his friend, a tuba player. He only realized his cover had been blown when Cross docked his grade.

“I thought I’d gotten away with bookmark: ballet it — and that was the only time I was late for anything,” Caldwell said, Those late to a dress rehearsal or performance experienced similar consequences — no exceptions, Cross’ son lost his chance at a perfect report card when he straggled into a practice after his ride sprung a flat tire, and trumpet student Rob Dehlinger had to cancel a professional gig after discovering that it conflicted with a school practice session, “I bought myself a calendar after that,” he laughed..

But Cross’ strict ways didn’t undermine the respect and loyalty he inspired. “It never felt punitive or mean,” Caldwell said, explaining that he and his peers knew their teacher cared about them. Jennifer Wharton only had Cross for 18 months, but his belief in her was life-changing. He persuaded her to take up the trombone again after she’d dropped it to become a cheerleader, and she credits him with giving her the confidence to pursue a music degree. “He was the only adult in my life who said, ‘Yeah, you’re good enough,’ ” said Wharton, who went on to graduate from the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music and next month will play in her seventh Broadway musical.

Given that the Bay Area is home to one of the most highly acclaimed orchestras and conductors of Baroque era music, some of the liveliest music one can encounter can be heard right here with our Philharmonia Baroque, whose members perform on either authentic Baroque-period (pre-1750) instruments, or historically faithful copies, Now world-renowned, Philharmonia Baroque has been conducted by Nicholas McGegan since 1985, But it’s not only the Baroque music that attracts so many audiences, It’s also McGegan’s basic performance philosophy, which he infectiously transmits to his audiences, He once told me, in his cheerful British accent, “Neither I nor our musicians consider great bookmark: ballet music Prozac for the soul, We are not selling (performance) correctness, we’re selling excitement, Our audiences sense this.”..



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