Amor De Mi Alma Concert Band 4 Score/Parts

In the fall of 2009, I had the honor to study conducting, orchestration, and arranging under Takayoshi ‘Tad’ Suzuki - principal conductor of the TAD Wind Symphony (Japan) – when he was a member of the faculty and staff at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (NV). From the moment we met, I was deeply moved by the passion with which he listened, arranged, and conducted music. Regardless of the genre, he seemed to be able to find the core emotions of the work – those moments that the composer or arranger set as ‘crucial to express’ for the success of the work at large. After many weeks of watching him convey these emotions with ease, I was compelled to ask him to teach me such an art. He obliged, and over the next two plus years, our lessons would begin and end with a parable or two – a story or life experience that seemed to convey a deeper meaning it was important I grasp. Some days, these parables were all we would discuss, as Takayoshi asked questions of me, seeking to see if I could convey those things profoundly between the words, the phrasing, the sentences, and the overall storyline. Once he was satisfied with my response, Takayoshi would ask me to conduct what I had just uncovered from the parable within a work. It changed the way I saw every composition. He would later expand upon this approach as he taught me to develop a sense of tonal texture and harmonic awareness in arrangements I would set for the wind band.

It was during one such lesson that Takayoshi shared a story I will never forget – this, involving his father. I was so moved by the passion, the respect, the sheer joy this man expressed toward his father. As I watched a single tear rolled down Takayoshi’s face, I was invited to see the heart of his father – the kindness, the gentleness, and the beauty of this father’s love for his child. I am still moved, remembering that day, the stories of his father, the sayings he expressed to Takayoshi, the respect, the honor he sought to bestow upon him through his musical expressions. That moment taught me more about the ‘Father – child’ relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, then any lifelesson I had ever learned. It also taught me the power, the magnitude of the role of a father on the lives of our children. They carry with them what we impress upon them – however good or bad – passing these things along to others, to their own. It therefore becomes an honor to teach them our ways, our deep love for them, in ways they can understand clearly. It is this ‘one thing’ that matters most. It is the single most important gift we can give our children.

This work is the result of those beautiful lessons together. The textures, the phrasing, the moments of anticipation and musical ‘awe’ you will experience reflect a depth of love we should all seek to experience, to reflect. I do so hope you are able to express these syllables in your own personal performance(s). If you truly wish to express the composer's and arranger's intent, it is these that should become the most important aspects of your performance.