The SBO+ Story: From School Band & Orchestra to All of Music Education
Built for the People Who Build Musicians
The story of SBO+ began in 1998 with a simple idea:
Music educators deserved a publication built around the work they actually do.
School Band & Orchestra was created to serve the directors, teachers and program leaders responsible for school instrumental music programs.
From the beginning, SBO was practical by design.
It covered teaching, recruiting, retention, rehearsal techniques, repertoire, technology, travel, budgets, advocacy, products and the countless other responsibilities that come with running a successful school music program.
Most importantly, it focused on the educators themselves. [1]
That mission has remained at the center of the publication for more than 25 years. Today, SBO+ traces its identity directly to the original School Band & Orchestra and describes itself as a daily global news source for music educators.
A Growing Family of Music Education Publications
As SBO grew, the publishing organization behind it began serving more specialized areas of music education.
Choral Director gave vocal music educators their own dedicated publication, with coverage of repertoire, teaching methods, program development, performance and the people leading school choral programs.
By 2007, Choral Director was already an established part of the Symphony Publishing music education group. Archival material confirms dedicated Choral Director coverage from that period and beyond. [2]
Then came JAZZed.
JAZZed debuted with its October/November 2006 issue, created specifically for high school, college and independent jazz educators. The magazine launched with a circulation of about 13,000 and featured legendary vibraphonist and educator Gary Burton on its premiere cover.
Christian Wissmuller served as editor, with the official industry rollout taking place at the 2007 International Association for Jazz Education convention. [2]
Together, School Band & Orchestra, Choral Director and JAZZed formed a family of publications serving distinct parts of music education.
But the educators reading them were rarely confined to just one category.
A Broader View of Music Education
In 2013, Timeless Communications acquired MMR, SBO, JAZZed and Choral Director from Symphony Publishing. [3]
In 2014, Mike Lawson became editor of School Band & Orchestra, while also serving as editor of Choral Director. He remained in that role through the ownership transition that followed. [3]
For Lawson, the assignment connected directly with a career that had already crossed music performance, publishing, recording technology, the musical instrument industry and music education.
It also reinforced something increasingly obvious in schools:
Music educators were no longer working inside neat little boxes.
A band director might also teach jazz.
An orchestra director might run a technology class.
A choir teacher might direct musical theater.
A general music teacher might teach guitar, keyboard or contemporary music.
The profession was changing.
The publications eventually needed to change with it.
The artistpro Era
In 2021, Lawson's artistpro, LLC acquired School Band & Orchestra, MMR, JAZZed and Choral Director from Timeless Communications.
The ownership change became effective with the August 2021 issues of all four publications. [3]
For the first time, the music education titles were owned by someone who had already spent years directly editing them.
That created an opportunity to reconsider not only how the publications were produced, but how they fit together.
Modern Band Journal
One of the first experiments under artistpro was Modern Band Journal. [4]
Modern band had become an increasingly important part of school music education, bringing guitars, keyboards, drums, vocals, popular music, technology and contemporary repertoire into programs that did not always fit traditional ensemble models.
Modern Band Journal was created to give that community a dedicated voice.
Its life as a standalone publication was relatively brief.
Its influence was not.
The experience reinforced something artistpro was already seeing across all of its education titles:
The boundaries separating band, orchestra, choir, jazz, technology and contemporary music were becoming less meaningful to the educators actually doing the work.
From SBO to SBO+
By 2022, that reality was impossible to ignore.
Educators were increasingly being asked to teach beyond the specialty printed on their college diploma.
As SBO editor Col. (Ret.) Thomas Palmatier wrote in September 2022, today's teachers might be responsible for band, orchestra, chorus, guitar, keyboard, modern band and musical theater.
His conclusion was straightforward:
They teach music.
That same issue announced that SBO was beginning to broaden its editorial coverage beyond traditional band and orchestra.
The next step followed quickly.
During 2022, the decision was made to transition School Band & Orchestra into School Band & Orchestra + — SBO+ — and serve all types of school music.
In January 2023, SBO+ described the transition directly: the publication had expanded its mission to include the entire school music community, with choral coverage, jazz and other disciplines becoming part of the broader editorial mix. [5]
The plus sign was not cosmetic.
It represented the new mission.
Band plus orchestra.
Musical theater.
Technology.
General music.
And whatever comes next.
One Publication. The Whole Music Program.
The evolution into SBO+ did not erase the publications that came before it.
It brought their missions together.
School Band & Orchestra established the foundation.
Choral Director gave vocal music educators a dedicated voice.
JAZZed expanded the mission into jazz education.
Modern Band Journal embraced contemporary approaches to music making and teaching.
SBO+ became the place where those worlds could live together.
Today, SBO+ reports on band, orchestra, choir, jazz, theater, policy, advocacy, technology, products, careers, travel and the day-to-day work of music educators.
It remains a monthly magazine while also operating as a continuous digital news and information platform.
And its purpose is larger than any one ensemble.
The Mission
There is a straight line running through every publication in this history.
It begins with the educator opening a rehearsal room, classroom, theater or music lab.
It continues through the students who walk through that door.
And the goal is not merely to prepare the next concert.
It is to help create people who continue making, appreciating and supporting music for the rest of their lives.
That was the work School Band & Orchestra was created to support in 1998.
It was expanded by Choral Director, JAZZed and Modern Band Journal.
And it remains the work of SBO+ today:
Helping music educators create lifelong musicians.
SBO+ Timeline
1998
School Band & Orchestra launches as a publication serving school instrumental music educators. SBO+ continues to trace its identity to that 1998 beginning.
2000s
The music education publishing family expands with Choral Director, creating dedicated coverage for school vocal music educators.
2006
JAZZed debuts with its October/November issue, serving high school, college and independent jazz educators.
2007
JAZZed receives its formal industry rollout at the International Association for Jazz Education convention.
2013
Timeless Communications acquires MMR, SBO, JAZZed and Choral Director from Symphony Publishing.
2014
Mike Lawson becomes editor of School Band & Orchestra and Choral Director.
2021
artistpro, LLC acquires MMR, SBO, JAZZed and Choral Director. The ownership change takes effect with the August issues.
2021–2022
Modern Band Journal expands artistpro's music education coverage into contemporary popular music and modern band programs.
2022
SBO begins deliberately broadening its coverage beyond band and orchestra to reflect the increasingly multidisciplinary work of today's music educators.
2022–2023
School Band & Orchestra becomes School Band & Orchestra + — SBO+, expanding its mission to include all types of school music.
Today
SBO+ operates as an independent artistpro Media publication providing daily reporting and a monthly magazine for music educators across band, orchestra, choir, jazz, theater, technology, advocacy, careers and the wider school music community.
Sources and further reading
- NAMM — Rick Kessel oral history (October 22, 2021)
The creation of SBO and JAZZed and their focus on music educators.
- All About Jazz — JAZZed Magazine Debuts (November 1, 2006)
Contemporary launch coverage: October/November 2006, Gary Burton, Christian Wissmuller, 13,000 educators and the planned 2007 industry rollout.
- FOH — artistpro acquisition announcement (June 28, 2021)
The 2013 acquisition, Lawson’s editorship since 2014 and the August 2021 ownership transition. Published by the seller’s magazine.
- Research in Education — Little Kids Rock and modern band in US schools: A punk problematic (online September 25, 2022)
Independent academic discussion of modern band; its bibliography cites artistpro’s Modern Band Journal (2022).
- SBO+ — A New Year and a New SBO+ (January 15, 2023)
Primary publication record of the expanded mission and transition during 2022.