“I teach life but use music to do it,” says Dr. Andrew J. Smouse. How does the Co-Director of Bands and Orchestras at Valley High School in Las Vegas do this? He describes proud moments that come from working with students who have life stacked against them. These students often think they will never succeed, but they come to class, and Smouse encourages and keeps pushing them, often with small, easily attainable goals to create success. “The moment I see them become proud of finally playing a passage correctly, completing a concert, finding that they can do something they never thought they could and finally be a part of a team — these are the reasons I enjoy being a music educator,” he says.
Smouse always puts students and the school community first. He has created and expanded the music courses at all the schools where he has taught. “Oftentimes these classes, such as music theory, percussion/drum circle and piano, started with student inquires. After considering them, I think about how the possible course and curriculum would work, call colleagues to get their thoughts or their personal experience with the proposed class,” Smouse explains.
Then, he creates a plan and basic curriculum, researches the materials needed and calculates the costs to start. Smouse is almost always met with approval because he presents the need for the class “explaining student request for the course, student interest and how it will benefit the school community,” he says.
The band and orchestra programs at Valley High School, a Title I school in the center of urban Las Vegas, have grown to be among the largest and most respected in the city. That’s because Smouse is committed to getting quality instruments, mouthpieces, books and all materials necessary into the hands of his students. “I firmly believe that each student deserves a quality instrument that is professionally maintained so they can learn and perform at their best,” he explains. “I have been fortunate to have schools and administrators who have provided top-quality instruments to each student, beginning to advanced, professionally maintain them and have them professionally repaired.”
Smouse also works with local music stores to ensure that professional repair and maintenance, as well as great pricing, are available to his band families.
Smouse joined with several band directors in the Clark County School District to help create and grow the Southern Nevada Honor Band. “Each year. between 150 and 200 students audition for one of two honor bands. The goal is to provide an honor band experience to those students who do not have the same resources available to them in order to encourage them to work hard, play music with others who are not in their school, and learn about not only music but how a common interest can build relationships,” Smouse says.
For the past three years, he has taken on the role of administrator for the honor band, organizing etudes, judges, clinicians, directors, logistics and more.
Beyond teaching, Smouse also writes custom compositions and arrangements for his marching band, percussion and concert ensembles, “I often create custom arrangements and instrumental parts based on the instrumentation and the needs of the students. I create full band pieces, custom individual parts to existing works, and percussion cadences based on the ensemble with each part having a pedagogical purpose to help students develop necessary skills,” he says.
Smouse will also create parts so younger players and beginning band students can participate in pep rallies and football games. “I will create parts within the scope of their current abilities, including what they will learn in the upcoming weeks, that fit with the more complex parts of their other band colleagues. This allows them to participate in the events,” Smouse says with a smile.
