Eric Songer

Eric Songer is a band director at Chaska Middle School West in Chaska, Minnesota. Songer embraces music education beyond the typical band/choir/orchestra ensembles. Through community ed in his district, he has created ensembles such as garage band, mariachi band, pop ensemble, and more. He has traveled twice with his garage band students, giving them opportunities to perform in Chicago in 2019 and Nashville in 2023. His vision for these trips is giving them multiple performance opportunities and also giving them musical things to see and be inspired by.

Why are you passionate about student travel?

I am passionate about student travel for a number of reasons. First, it enhances what we are learning in the classroom. There are certain concepts that can’t be fully taught or taught at all in the classroom. As a music educator, I need my students to get experience performing outside of the school and community. They need to hear and see other music groups. Learning through collaborating with other students from other schools is invaluable.

Second, travel allows students to problem solve and learn life lessons that they don’t experience in the classroom. Students learn every aspect of a performance from mental preparation to set-up and tear-down of a show and working together not only to make music but to get along. The teambuilding and friendships that are created are invaluable.

Third, travel allows students to experience other cultures, languages, food, lifestyle and people. Sometimes just traveling across the Twin Cities area where we are based can teach students a lot about different communities.

Fourth, I travel with non-traditional groups. Even though I’m a music educator that teaches concert and jazz bands, I also teach rock bands, DJ clubs, country bands, and hip hop groups. Taking these bands to Chicago, Nashville and Minneapolis gives these students amazing opportunities to perform and record in iconic venues and studios. And they learn what a “real tour” is all about. 

Finally, travel forms memories and a love for the subject area for the students that they are studying. In addition to this, any concepts or lessons learned on a trip tends to be stored in long-term memory because it is associated with positive experiences, and this is always a benefit.

What is a major highlight from any of your student travel experiences?

A major highlight of one of our trips was back in 2018. We were in St. Paul, Minnesota for the Jingle Ball Concert at Xcel Energy Center which featured many of the top popular musicians of the day. We were invited backstage to see the inner workings of the concert. Our guide showed us the circular stage that enabled one artist to set up while one was performing on the other half. We got to see some of the amazing guitars, keyboards and drum sets close up. We got to visit with some of the lighting, sound, video and special effects engineers. We got to peek in the dressing rooms to wave at the performers. We watched the boy band Why Don’t We perform from the side of the stage and then to our surprise they visited with our students for fifteen minutes after their show. Our students were in awe that they were talking to a national recording band. It was a life-changing experience for those students that they still talk about. Many of those students still perform and credit that night as a turning point in their musical journey.

I’ll also add a personal highlight. This past fall we took our rock band students to Nashville. It just so happened that I won a CMA Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence award with a presentation that lined up with our tour. So not only did I get to watch my students perform in Music City, but I also was honored in a red carpet event with country music stars Little Big Town, War & Treaty, Caitlyn Smith and Lauren Daigle.

What is the greatest lesson you or your students have learned from your trips?

The greatest lesson we have learned through student travel is that learning is best experienced together. In a recent trip to Nashville, we had students from five different schools ranging from grades 7-11 attend the trip. Watching these students perform together, record together, go to museums together, go to shows together, eat together, dance with each other, problem solve together, get creative with each other, laugh together, cry together and create life-long friendships with each other are all so powerful. In the months that have followed I have watched these students continue to build on that foundation; not only on what they have learned but how they interact with each other. These are pretty powerful relationships accompanied with solid understandings of music and passion to grow both the relationships and knowledge.

How do you try to tie your travel experiences back into the classroom?

I do this all the time. First, we build on what we have learned and teach each other what we’ve experienced. This might be rehearsal techniques, gear concepts, technique, stage presence, confidence, working together or problem solving just to name a few. Second, we bring in professional touring musicians to share their stories and to compare notes. We can learn how to become better musicians on and off trips from these guest artists. Third, we make curricular and instructional decisions based on what we learned on tour. This might include programming songs other groups performed, rehearsing in a different way, forming new types of ensembles, using new gear or instruments and so much more. Finally, we will celebrate our progress through giving home-concerts of our performances and having reunion gatherings.

From the Nominator:

What qualities make this nominee, both as an educator and travel leader, deserving of this award?

Eric is a dreamer and a doer. His passion to reach outside the normal definition of music education is inspiring. In addition to the two trips we have put together with him, he sees the importance of giving his students performance opportunities all around the Twin Cities metro. The middle school garage bands travel and perform with the high school garage bands, offering the opportunity for older students to mentor the younger ones and the younger ones to learn from their elders in high school. Eric has worked hard to get these non-traditional ensembles recognized in MMEA, and he is often asked to travel to conferences to speak about these non-traditional ensembles.