San Diego Band Director Wins Yamaha Essay Contest
BUENA PARK, CA — Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, has announced the winner of an essay contest it held last autumn to celebrate the milestone production of its 10 millionth wind instrument. Dr. Ella Steinberg, the band director at Meadowbrook Middle School in Poway, Calif., secured the honor – along with $20,000 in Yamaha wind instruments for her school – by relating how Yamaha has stood as a symbol of quality throughout her personal and professional life.
Dr. Steinberg traveled to the 2006 NAMM Show to accept the grand prize on Friday, January 20 at 9:30 a.m. in the Yamaha Band & Orchestral Division area in the Marquis Ballroom at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel. A second prize of $5,000 in Yamaha wind instruments is also being awarded to essayist M. Joseph Fischer of River Hill High School in Clarksville, Md.
"Dr. Steinberg's essay really brought home how music can color a lifetime of enjoyment and service to others," states Rick Young, Vice President/General Manager, Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division. "Even though we're about to meet for the first time, reading her words makes me realize she's been a part of our team for many years."
Entrants were asked to describe how Yamaha instruments have contributed to their school programs. In her winning essay, Dr. Steinberg related not only a lifetime of making music with Yamaha – playing a Yamaha flugelhorn as a young student, teaching with the Yamaha Band Method and purchasing Yamaha instruments for her students – but also of her father's work as one of the first Yamaha motorcycle dealers in the U.S.
"To most band directors, Yamaha is a product, but to me, Yamaha has been a way of life," she wrote. "Yamaha stood for quality in our household."
After being notified that her essay took the grand prize, Dr. Steinberg described her reaction as "complete disbelief!"
"My middle school is celebrating its 40th anniversary, so there was a great connection between my school's anniversary, Yamaha's anniversary, and my 40th year in music education this year," she related. "What a fortunate coincidence! I figured I possibly had a unique experience with a long-time connection with Yamaha, so it would at least make an interesting story to tell."
"I started teaching elementary band in 1982 through a band program sponsored by a music store," she notes. "That store provided leased Yamaha band instruments at a reduced rate for my students. Since the instruments were of such high quality for students and I had to do few repairs on them, I continued to purchase Yamaha instruments at all of the subsequent schools at which I taught. When I was an arts administrator, I oversaw acquisition of new instruments for a large urban district. We were able to purchase and distribute Yamaha instruments throughout our district to teachers who were equally committed to the quality of Yamaha instruments. And no teacher ever complained about the quality of any Yamaha instrument they received!"
Between October 1 and December 15, 2005, music educators were able to visit www.Thanks10Million.com to submit their essays describing how Yamaha wind instruments contributed to their school's music program or students. Entrants were also invited to submit their essays via e-mail, fax or postal mail. A panel of five judges included Yamaha saxophonist Dave Koz, PlayinTime Productions, Inc. president Sandy Feldstein, Youth Education in the Arts Executive Director George Hopkins, Yamaha artist and Chicago Symphony Orchestra trumpeter John Hagstrom and President and CEO of Bands of America Scott McCormick.
Yamaha is the world's number one wind instrument manufacturer, leading the industry through an innovative blend of traditional, old world expertise and the latest, cutting-edge production technology. Because of its reputation for high-quality instruments, Yamaha is the most requested name in schools today.
The first wind instrument to bear the Yamaha name, a trumpet, was produced in 1965, and the company displayed trumpets, trombones and saxophones at the 1967 Chicago NAMM show. Nikkan and Yamaha merged in 1970, and Yamaha opened the world's largest wind instrument factory in Toyooka, Japan the same year. Yamaha wind instrument production came to America in 1974, when Yamaha Musical Products (YMP) opened a factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"The light side of me thought that it's amazing when a band director wins something based on writing," she quips. "I guess it is a good thing that only band directors were allowed to enter the essay contest!"
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/band.
 Yamaha Band & Orchestral Division Director of Marketing Roger Eaton and VP/GM Rick Young flank "Thanks 10 Million" essay winner Dr. Ella Steinberg.
Photo credit: Vertis, Inc. |
"Dr. Steinberg's essay really brought home how music can color a lifetime of enjoyment and service to others," states Rick Young, Vice President/General Manager, Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division. "Even though we're about to meet for the first time, reading her words makes me realize she's been a part of our team for many years."
Entrants were asked to describe how Yamaha instruments have contributed to their school programs. In her winning essay, Dr. Steinberg related not only a lifetime of making music with Yamaha – playing a Yamaha flugelhorn as a young student, teaching with the Yamaha Band Method and purchasing Yamaha instruments for her students – but also of her father's work as one of the first Yamaha motorcycle dealers in the U.S.
"To most band directors, Yamaha is a product, but to me, Yamaha has been a way of life," she wrote. "Yamaha stood for quality in our household."
After being notified that her essay took the grand prize, Dr. Steinberg described her reaction as "complete disbelief!"
"My middle school is celebrating its 40th anniversary, so there was a great connection between my school's anniversary, Yamaha's anniversary, and my 40th year in music education this year," she related. "What a fortunate coincidence! I figured I possibly had a unique experience with a long-time connection with Yamaha, so it would at least make an interesting story to tell."
"I started teaching elementary band in 1982 through a band program sponsored by a music store," she notes. "That store provided leased Yamaha band instruments at a reduced rate for my students. Since the instruments were of such high quality for students and I had to do few repairs on them, I continued to purchase Yamaha instruments at all of the subsequent schools at which I taught. When I was an arts administrator, I oversaw acquisition of new instruments for a large urban district. We were able to purchase and distribute Yamaha instruments throughout our district to teachers who were equally committed to the quality of Yamaha instruments. And no teacher ever complained about the quality of any Yamaha instrument they received!"
Between October 1 and December 15, 2005, music educators were able to visit www.Thanks10Million.com to submit their essays describing how Yamaha wind instruments contributed to their school's music program or students. Entrants were also invited to submit their essays via e-mail, fax or postal mail. A panel of five judges included Yamaha saxophonist Dave Koz, PlayinTime Productions, Inc. president Sandy Feldstein, Youth Education in the Arts Executive Director George Hopkins, Yamaha artist and Chicago Symphony Orchestra trumpeter John Hagstrom and President and CEO of Bands of America Scott McCormick.
Yamaha is the world's number one wind instrument manufacturer, leading the industry through an innovative blend of traditional, old world expertise and the latest, cutting-edge production technology. Because of its reputation for high-quality instruments, Yamaha is the most requested name in schools today.
The first wind instrument to bear the Yamaha name, a trumpet, was produced in 1965, and the company displayed trumpets, trombones and saxophones at the 1967 Chicago NAMM show. Nikkan and Yamaha merged in 1970, and Yamaha opened the world's largest wind instrument factory in Toyooka, Japan the same year. Yamaha wind instrument production came to America in 1974, when Yamaha Musical Products (YMP) opened a factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"The light side of me thought that it's amazing when a band director wins something based on writing," she quips. "I guess it is a good thing that only band directors were allowed to enter the essay contest!"
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/band.
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