Chris M. Bernotas
Chris M. Bernotas is a renowned composer, conductor, and educator with over 25 years of experience in music education. As the Director of Instrumental Publications for Alfred Music, he contributes significantly to developing materials for band and orchestra programs worldwide. Celebrated for their accessibility and emotional depth, his compositions are performed by ensembles globally, from young musicians just beginning their journey to advanced groups seeking dynamic and engaging repertoire. His works have become staples in concert literature, offering a blend of musicality and educational value.
In addition to his success as a composer, Bernotas has dedicated his career to teaching and working with students of all levels. His classroom experience provides him with valuable insight into the challenges music teachers face, allowing him to create music that both inspires students and addresses their developmental needs. He frequently serves as a guest conductor and clinician, leading honor groups and workshops that introduce fresh ideas and approaches to directors and their students.
At Alfred Music, Bernotas continues to shape the future of music education by developing and curating resources that support teachers in their mission to inspire young musicians. Notably, he has co-authored several books, including Sound Innovations Ensemble Development, Sound Percussion, Sound Artistry, Sound Innovations Soloist, and Sound Performance. Beyond composing, he is a passionate advocate, regularly presenting on conducting, composition, and pedagogy. With his music performed worldwide, Bernotas remains committed to fostering creativity and growth in students and teachers alike.
Clinic Offerings
Back to Basics- Help Your Band Sound Better!
In this session, we will discuss simple techniques to help your band sound better quickly. Students often know what is wrong in their performance; we just have to guide them about how to fix it. Critical thinking in band is very present, even if students do not realize it. Focusing on the fundamentals of sound production, pitch, technique and performance with simple terminology and direct instruction your students will quickly self-reflect and self-correct.
Effective Warm-Ups Strategies: The First 10-Minutes
Discussion of various ensemble warm-up concepts, including breathing, long tones, pitch matching, tuning, balance and blend, technique, and rhythm. As directors, we would like to do everything, every day! Sometimes we need to choose concepts based on the ensemble’s
Teaching Kids, Not Music
Changing our focus from being driven by the music to being driven by the students and their growth changes our outlook on rehearsals. This session will focus on introducing this philosophy and discuss how to implement key concepts into your instruction to develop student skills. They will be more self-reliant, responsible, proactive, confident and successful when you empower them. Implementing a steady focus on fundamental musical concepts and holding a high standard, students will thrive!
Teaching the Average Band Student
here is much focus on teaching beginning students and pushing the envelope with advanced students, but what about those in the middle. They love music, they love band but it isn't their whole life. How do we focus on their needs? How can we motivate them? How can we connect them with their music and help them get to the next level? How do we keep them engaged, focused and challenged? How can we help them to contribute to their section with reliability and consistency? Share your perspectives and stories.
The Band Director as a Musical M.D.
In this session, we will be discussing the role of the band director as it relates to diagnosing common performance issues and prescribing simple, effective remedies. Together we will look at rhythm, tuning, and ensemble precision/performance challenges and discuss strategies to solve them. In addition, we will also focus on strategies to help students achieve effective emotional performance.
Yes, you can teach percussion!
Discussion and thoughts will be shared to empower the non-percussion specialist to feel confident in teaching their percussion students and section. Included will be tips and basic concepts of grip, stroke, dampening, rhythmic introduction, meter introduction, mallet note-reading, rolls (open/closed and duple/triple), rudiments, and musical application of percussion techniques. Engage your percussion students in group & individual lessons, and throughout a warm-up, rehearsal and performance.