#11: Dr. Doug Orzolek - University of St.Thomas, MN

The Band Director's Lounge Podcast

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Dr.Douglas Orzolek, is a Professor of Music, Director of the Graduate Programs in Music Education, the Associate Director of Bands and the Associate Chair of the Music Department at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Doug teaches a wide variety of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level, in addition to conducting one of the universities bands. In addition to his time teaching at the collegiate level, Doug has taught at the high school level. His professional is extensive

I first met Dr.Orzolek while in graduate school at the University of St.Thomas. Since then he has continued to serve as a friend, colleague, and mentor during my time teaching band. Doug is an inspiring music educator and I always walk away with new knowledge and insights into our profession after any conversation that I have with him. I was fortunate enough to get him to sit down and chat with me recently and I think you’ll like listening to our conversation. Without further delay, here is Dr.Doug Orzolek.

Episode Overview

• Dr.Doug Orzolek (00:00)
• Why Music Education? (04:35)
• Teacher as a “North Star” (09:30)
• The University of St.Thomas Music Program (16:00)
• Music Education Skills in 4 years?? (26:15)
• Score Study & Conveying Musicality (37:03)
• Building Relationships & Advocating for your students (51:44)
• Career & Family (56:39)
• Career Highlights (66:50)
• Favorite Books (68:38)
  • Casals and the Art of Interpretation
  • Classic Case of Dr. Seuss - 20 Books Set (Includes Lorax New)
• Advice for young directors (69:45)
• What makes a great band program? (70:48)

That was my conversation with Dr.Doug Orzolek. Many of the questions we chatted about could have easily been entire conversations by themselves, but I know that I personally left with numerous quality takeaways. I hope that you did too.

I have a lot of interviews in the calendar for this month, so I hope that you will continue checking back as we continue to make our way into 2019. As always, if you haven’t done so, be sure to hit subscribe to this podcast. If you think of it, recommend it to a friend or colleague. The more listeners there are, theoretically the greater the professional network that we will have to tap into and more interviews that we can facilitate.

If you know of someone that you think would make a great guest on the Band Director’s Lounge, please send me a message on facebook or to my email listed in the shownotes. Thanks for tuning into this episode! I hope to see you back here for our next conversation in The Band Director’s Lounge.

Other Resources

• Dr.Douglas Orzalek (Guest)
• Logan Burnside (Show Host)
• http://thebanddirectorslounge.com (Podcast Website)
• https://www.facebook.com/TheBandDirectorsLounge/ (FB Website)
• Nominate someone to be interviewed

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• Books mentioned in this episode
  • Casals and the Art of Interpretation
  • Classic Case of Dr. Seuss - 20 Books Set (Includes Lorax New)
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