This work was in remembrance of my time in the Caldwell-West Caldwell School District in
Caldwell, NJ, in the spring of 2023 as a temporary replacement high school band director. I
taught high school band and gave instrumental lessons at the elementary and middle schools,
so I essentially taught at all three school levels for about four months. And my time there has
been life-changing because the experience there taught me valuable skills that I can bring to
my future school. But most importantly, my students and staff, whom I got to work with for
only a short period, reminded me how much I love teaching band and why I cherish
instrumental music as an important means of expression.
 
 
Artist Bio:
 
Joshua Alexander Idio (b. 1995) is a Filipino-American composer, educator, conductor, and trumpeter from New Jersey. He holds a B.M in Music Education from William Paterson University and a M.A in Music Composition from Montclair State University. Idio continues to write exciting music for chamber groups, concert bands, and orchestras of all grade levels and his music continues to captivate audiences with thought-provoking and relative music in the programmatic and cinematic style. His works embody the human emotion and imagination and events happening in the current world.
 
In April of 2018, he conducted his premiere work Overture for Education with the Union Middle School Concert Band from Rutherford, New Jersey. Through the “…And We Were Heard” Initiative, Idio’s works have been premiered by several ensembles, including the University of Texas in El Paso Symphonic Band, the Arrowhead Union High School Wind Ensemble, and the Westchester Symphonic Winds. He received an honorable mention and world premiere from the United States Naval Academy Band for his composition for brass ensemble Fanfare and Anthem for The Titans.
 
He is currently a member of the National Association for Music Education, the New Jersey Music Educators Association, and the Association of Concert Bands. In 2022 he served as a band director at Readington Middle School in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. He is also a registered member of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and the American Composers Forum as an active composer in the New York City/NJ area.