Boysen commissions . The remainder was a combination of booster money and school budget .
Most communities don ’ t have the benefit of a CEEF , but arts grants and requests through service groups such as the Rotary Club are viable funding sources .
I was inspired to go this education route by two people : Prof . Malcolm “ Bill ” Rowell of the University of Massachusetts , Amherst and Pat Michaud , the very fine teacher at Hampden Academy . Mr . Rowell always stressed how commissions give a vibrancy to the educational process and are a way of paying forward . Pat , a pioneer in commissioning in these parts , showed me it could be done in Maine .
A good project for the new school year might be working your way through the steps we discussed today and .... picking up the phone to call a composer .
Tom Lizotte is director of bands at Cape Elizabeth High School . A frequent contributor to The Instrumentalist magazine , he is a member of the Maine Music Educators Assn . Hall of Fame .