The Man Behind The Baton

A CONDUCTOR'S LEGACY Dr. William Patrick Foster: a man who overcame adversity, a man who worked exceptionally hard, a man who created a legacy. Dr. Foster's ties to Florida A&M University (FAMU) and the world he lived in are forever present because of his commitment to excellence in making the world-renowned FAMU Marching "100" Band a sound to remember. The Man Behind The Baton provides an in-depth look at the life and times of The Maestro, the Law, and the Legend.(TM)

The Man Behind The Baton presents the highpoints in the life of Dr. William Patrick Foster, the creator and director (for 52 years) of the world renowned Florida A&M University Marching "100" Band. This book is a "must read" book, a historical book about the life of the Maestro, the Law, and the Legend.

Two decades have passed since an android named Absolute murders the heroes responsible for helping the Allies win World War II: the Protectors of Earth. But as time passes, the world forgets its heroes, and their stories are washed down and told through comics marketed toward young adults. But in 1963, more are born. Tim Roses, a senior in high school with anger issues, is given a chance to see himself as a hero by the Children of the Sun and become the Ultimate Man. But even with the support of his comic nerd friend Nate Gold and his father, does he have the power to forgive himself for his mother's death and see himself as a good person? Cayson Sapp, a recently fired test pilot with a snarky attitude, is given the chance to show others that he can be a hero after a knight from the Middle Ages tells him that he is the next Merlin. Accepting the offer to protect the world almost instantly, he will prove to the people around him that he is worth something. But he must face the trauma of his past before doing so. Lauren Kyles, the daughter of a supervillain, learns of her father's past after his death. But before she can process the horrible acts of her father, she is forced to redeem his moniker, the Fowl. But she refuses to do so after dedicating her life to looking after him. But that leads her to the front lines of a war between a secret government organization and her brother's company. Donald Cooper, a man who has trained most of his life to help people, is finally given a chance to help fight crime in his city. Equipped with his bow and arrow, he joins a team filled with villains who follow the orders of a crooked sheriff. After the team kills someone close to Donald, he turns his back on the city's police force, who once cared for him. Knowing he must stop them, he joins forces with another metahuman with dark morals to stop the sheriff before he finds Absolute. And as these stories end, another forces them to stop an alien invasion to wipe out their kind from a demented king. But will these young heroes be able to follow in the footsteps of the ones who come before them?

A love story and a journey through music. The exquisite and perfectly pitched new novel from the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. It's 1988. The CD has arrived. Sales of the shiny new disks are soaring on high streets in cities across the England. Meanwhile, down a dead-end street, Frank's music shop stands small and brightly lit, jam-packed with records of every kind. It attracts the lonely, the sleepless, the adrift. There is room for everyone. Frank has a gift for finding his customers the music they need. Into this shop arrives Ilse Brauchmann--practical, brave, well-heeled. Frank falls for this curious woman who always dresses in green. But Ilse's reasons for visiting the shop are not what they seem. Frank's passion for Ilse seems as misguided as his determination to save vinyl. How can a man so in tune with other people's needs be so incapable of helping himself? And what will it take to show he loves her? The Music Shop is a story about good, ordinary people who take on forces too big for them. It's about falling in love and how hard it can be. And it's about music--how it can bring us together when we are divided and save us when all seems lost.

Books 1-3 in 'The Bessie Series' by Jody Overend, now available in one volume! Missing Bessie: Ravenspond, Canada, 1972. Fifteen-year old Bessie has just broken up with her boyfriend Jason. Hitchhiking to Vancouver, she plans to catch her hero, Chris Lisacker, in concert. Instead of ending up on the West Coast, Bessie and Ash find themselves in Heaven, with no idea how they got there. As her memories begin to recover and her fate is about to be revealed, does she really want to know the truth? Surviving Bessie: After a tragic loss, Bessie feels responsible. How is she supposed to go on living with all this grief and guilt? Somehow, with the help of Angel Mel, her loving family, and unexpected new friendships, she is able to find her inner strength - and discover that even after all the rain, there will be sunshine. Forgiving Bessie: Bessie is on the verge of womanhood, with one more year of home-schooling to go. It’s time to choose a path into the future but Bessie feels lost and alone, unable to trust herself. When the alluring stranger, Arturo Rodrigues, arrives in Ravenspond, Bessie is drawn to her. What is it about him that feels so familiar? The truth is something she could have never imagined, even in a million lifetimes.

In this wide-ranging inside view of the history and practice of conducting, analysis and advice comes directly from working conductors, including Sir Charles Mackerras on opera, Bramwell Tovey on being an Artistic Director, Martyn Brabbins on modern music, Leon Botstein on programming and Vance George on choral conducting, and from those who work closely with conductors: a leading violinist describes working as a soloist with Stokowski, Ormandy and Barbirolli, while Solti and Abbado's studio producer explains orchestral recording, and one of the world's most powerful managers tells all. The book includes advice on how to conduct different types of groups (choral, opera, symphony, early music) and provides a substantial history of conducting as a study of national traditions. It is an unusually honest book about a secretive industry and managers, artistic directors, soloists, players and conductors openly discuss their different perspectives for the first time.

(Amadeus). To speak of Gerard Schwarz musician, conductor, festival organizer, gig hopper, educator, television personality, patron and proselytizer of the arts is to tell an exemplary American story. You could convey it exclusively in cliches, from his industrious emigre parents to his precocious childhood, from his ardor and diligence as a prodigy trumpeter to his meteoric rise as a conductor, from his unforeseen cross-country migration to the gradual construction of a world-class orchestra in a city formerly regarded as a cultural backwater, from the halls of New York City's High School of Performing Arts to the digital instructor's chair of the All-Star Orchestra's Khan Academy course series. You could simply recite the numbers: over 300 new works premiered, over 350 recordings in his discography, 14 GRAMMY nominations, 4 Emmy awards, six ASCAP Awards, and hundreds of other honors and laurels. You could dazzle and festoon and bewitch with talk of truth and beauty and the pursuit of ever-higher forms of artistic expression. Or you could tell it Jerry's way. Behind the Baton is a quintessentially Schwarzian memoir: intrepid, forthright, risible, subtly self-assured, and entirely unpretentious. It offers an intimate inside look at a man whose immense talent is rivaled only by his humility and work ethic a man who, for nearly fifty years, has strived to leave every orchestra and musician he touched better than when he found them. Whether you're a classical music aficionado, an orchestra initiate just cutting your teeth, or an everyday reader interested in the remarkable story behind an extraordinary man, Behind the Baton belongs on your nightstand.