On Jul 25, 2009, at 12:32 PM, Leon J. Bly wrote:

Dear Board Members and Past Presidents,

It was obvious from the title of the lecture that Stephen Budianksy would couse a commotion at the 2009 WASBE Conference. Since I was the one as Editor of the WASBE Newsletter who first reprinted his original article in the Washington Post, I am as responsible as anyone else for everything that has happened since then.

I do not intend to shy away from the problem. In fact, before the Cincinnati Conference, the APC for the Taiwan Conference was already considering ways to deal with the problem of so much poor wind band music.

After Budianksy's talk, it became obvious that this must have a top priority for WASBE in the coming months.

After Budianksy's lecture, I went to the publishers in the exhibit hall as quickly as possible. However, it was too late for Opus III; Robert W. Smith had already packed up and left. I did have positive talks with the other publishers, and they agreed to work together with WASBE on the problem. A dialogue with the composers and publishers is now needed, and the publishers that were there are in agreement with this.

The problem is not just the publishers and the composers. Publishers are in business to make money, and composers write what band directors will buy and play. Thus, the third part of the triangle -- the conductors -- are equally, if not more responsible, than the other two.

However, this is not really the point of this message. The point is this. WASBE is an organization FOR composers and publishers as well as for conductors. Budianksy's article in the WASBE Journal led to Alfred Music dropping its WASBE membership. I was very happy to see that they let Faber Music represent them in Cincinnati and that everyone was wearing Alfred nametags. However, Budianksy's lecture certainly did not encourage Alfred to rejoin WASBE.

Budianksy has now posted on his website a follow up to his talk in Cincinnati. I have little problem with him writing that "WASBE, it is clear, has some of these same problems. A lot of really artistically questionable new music was performed all week long at Cincinnati." That is his opinion, and he is free to express it. However, I do believe that WASBE has a problem by association when he defames a publisher, as he does here.

I am not sure that WASBE will exist very long if all of the publishers start walking away because they believe that WASBE thinks that everything that they publish is junk. WASBE needs the music industry. I have had contact with Cort McClaren from C. Alan, and he is not walking away from WASBE yet. However, we all need to let the publishers with whom we have contact know that WASBE does not consider poor band music a publisher problem, but rather a problem that we all need to try to solve together. We also need to let the publishers know how much WASBE appreciates their help and support with our publications and conferences.

Thank you very much for helping with this!

Leon

P.S.: My messages to Board members go to all Board members even if all names do not appear in your distribution list. This has to do with my email server.

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Dr. Leon J. Bly

President, WASBE