Now's the Time: A Story of Music, Education, and Advocacy

281 pp. "Almost everyone has a favorite teacher. For thousands of New Yorkers during the second half of the twentieth century, it was Ned Corman. With his trademark long hair and hip elocution, Ned wasn't your usual high school band director. Nor was he a card-carrying hippie. Students gravitated to him, and he dug them right back. Along the way, some great music was made. Ned has always lived in parallel universes. After graduating from the world-famous Eastman School of Music and later Penn State, he went on the road with Chuck Mangione, Fred Waring, and a touring production of Half of Sixpence, as well as co-led a rock-and-roll 'horn band.' Ned also worked the classical side of the tracks, spending forty years with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra as an 'extra' and a sometime soloist, doing pit work, and teaching privately. More often than not, he was as good as his last job. While teaching music in the Rochester suburb of Penfield, Ned saw the creative possibilities of getting students together with professional musicians. He launched the Penfield Music Commission Project, followed by The Commission Project. The impact of these projects led to his involvement with Swing 'n Jazz, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, Rochester Independent Music Festival, and Greentopia. Both an autobiography and part 'how-to' manual for aspiring arts leaders, Now’s the Time charts Ned's hard-won success as a musician, teacher, and arts leader. It also underscores the importance of culture, commerce, and community, and how together, they can make the world a better place. Ned Corman is a former musician and teacher in Rochester, New York, who founded the Penfield Music Commission Project and The Commission Project, both composer-service organizations that have fostered creativity between thousands of students and professional musicians across the country. An experienced festival planner, he has worked on Swing 'n Jazz, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, Rochester Independent Music Festival, and Greentopia. Rob Enslin is a writer, musician, and artist who works in the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University."