Remember to signup for your AMEA/NAfME Membership!
Day: July 14, 2016
AVA Website is moving…here!
Jul 14 2016
Our new website is now residing with myamea.org! Please make note of our new address!
Farewell from HED President Zingara
Jul 14 2016
As I leave this office, I would like to share a few thoughts regarding the importance of an organization such as AMEA to those of us who work in higher education. Participation and recruitment to HED has been the emphasis of this term, and in partnership with Mildred Lanier and Becky Halliday, I have tried to increase awareness and membership through new conference activities such as the President’s Panel Discussion and the Student Ensemble Showcase Recital. I believe that these are a start, but there are many other reasons to be involved with AMEA as a higher education professional:
Recruitment of students is a large part of what we do in higher education. Membership in AMEA not only helps in this area by allowing us to network with active and motivated middle and high school directors, but will also allow us to have access to mailing lists which we can use to promote events available for them and their students.
Professional development and creative activity is a big portion of the tenure/promotion process, and the annual AMEA Conference provides many opportunities through holding office as well as participation in conference sessions, panel discussions, and recitals.
Membership in HED helps create a support network of people with similar backgrounds and situations in which to discuss issues endemic to Higher Education including promotion/tenure, the future of college music programs, recruitment/ retention, dealing with budgetary constraints, and our individual roles and futures in an ever-increasing online teaching environment.
Developing a support network to address problems in the workplace. If there are individuals who have the unfortunate happenstance to experience academic bullying and/or negative departmental politics, there may colleagues from other institutions that can offer advice and support without the fear of in-house reprisal.
Developing a unified group to speak for Higher Education music programs in the current political climate of budget and program slashing. With the recent examples of draconian higher education cuts in such states as Wisconsin and Louisiana, members of the higher education community will need to justify and sell their programs in a much more emphatic way than ever before. Unity of institutions can provide strength of message to political and academic entities.
Begin dialogues and share ideas between programs from various institutions. Great ideas are often an amalgamation of shared visions. HED can provide a “think tank” to nurture and hone ideas.
To eventually expand HED to preside over independent activities and sessions other than the annual conference. This will not only provide additional opportunities for professional growth and development, but will further strengthen HED as a Division and voice in the state.
If you are already a member, please renew in the coming year. If you are not a member, I encourage you to join a growing group of like-minded and enthusiastic professionals throughout the state. In closing, I would like to extend to the current HED Team of Becky Halliday (President), Mildred Lanier (President-Elect), and Katrina Phillips (Secretary-Treasurer), all my best wishes in their continued endeavors to grow and expand the Higher Education Division.
The final stretch and much more!
Jul 14 2016
Teachers,
We are in the final stretch of our school year. Many of you are probably preparing for end of the year performances and trying to get those last few lessons in before school is out. We wish all of you the very best as you finish up your school year!
We have exciting news about our 10th Annual Elementary Music Festival. We are pleased to announce that we will continue our association with Samford University as they host our 10th Annual Elementary Music Festival. It will be Friday, October 21st and our clinicians will be Roger Sams and Vicki Portis. Many of you will remember Roger Sams from our 2016 AMEA In-service. He presented several sessions and also brought us some amazing materials through his partnership with “Music is Elementary.” Vicki Portis is no stranger to our Elementary Division. She is a world-class elementary music educator who was just recently inducted in the AMEA Hall of Fame. She was also our first clinician for our festival, so it is fitting that she returns to celebrate our 10th year. Our festival directors, Ben and Kristina Sisco, have emailed out information about the festival, and we are looking to have around 450 students participate in this special 10th year anniversary music festival.
We also are in the planning stages of our Annual Fall Workshop following the festival on Saturday, October 22nd. We hope to have both our festival clinicians share from their wealth of knowledge of elementary music methods. We will keep you informed of the place and time of this workshop as we finalize these details.
There are several summer opportunities for professional development that I want to share with you as well. We have Orff Level I and Level II Certification Courses being offered at Samford University on June 20 – July 1. We also have the Kodaly Levels 1 & 2 Certifications classes at Vestavia Hills Elementary School East hosted by Deanna Bell on July 11-22. Lastly, we have the 2nd Annual East Alabama Music Workshop being held at Grace UMC in Auburn on August 27th. We hope you will take advantage of these opportunities to grow as a music educator. If you have any questions about any of these workshops, please contact us at elementaryamea@gmail.com and we will be glad to forward you specific information on any of these three workshops.
Lastly, if you are not receiving emails from our Elementary Division, please send us an email at elementaryamea@gmail.com and we will be glad to add you to our email list. We want to keep in touch with you, so sign up today for our email list. Again, I wish all of you the very best as you finish this school year!
Sincerely,
Cliff Huckabee, President
AMEA Elementary Division
Inaugural address to NAfME Collegiate Members
Jul 14 2016
Greetings Collegiate Members,
Summer break is upon us! I am sure you are all continuing your musical improvement while catching up on some much needed rest and relaxation. However, as we are enjoying our time off, I would like to quickly inform you of the exciting developments that are occurring within the Collegiate Division.
The first development you should be aware of is the induction of our new state officers! I will be succeeding Thad Walker as he takes on the role of Past-President, and Madison Baldwin will be moving from Treasurer to Vice President-Elect. New to the board are Brenton Nash and Latrice Green who will be serving as Secretary and Treasurer respectively.
Secondly, the board is currently in the process of recruiting additional higher education institutions to join NAfME. Glenn Nierman, NAfME’s National President and Board Chair, has put forth the objective of 100% participation of accredited institutions offering music education degrees. We intend to meet this goal and have already begun contacting some of the previously uninvolved schools throughout the state.
For those already involved with Collegiate NAfME, mark your calendars! I’m excited to announce that this year’s Collegiate Fall Summit will be held on October 9th in Tuscaloosa. It is going to be an amazing professional development event that will give everyone the chance to both grow as a pre-service educator and make valuable connections across the state.
Lastly, I would like to remind everyone that NAfME memberships expire in June. Be sure to renew as soon as possible so that you are ready to go when the semester starts back up!
I’m very excited to serve you as President and I look forward to the further growth and development of the Collegiate Division.
Sincerely,
Joshua Meyer AMEA Collegiate Division President
jpmeyer@crimson.ua.edu
(256)566-1265
Beginning, Middle, End.
Jul 14 2016
As I begin this last article for the Ala Breve, I’m reminded of Ecclesiastes 7:8. “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” Remembering All-State Festival reminds me also that the end is in sight. The Spring Concert is over and only our performance at Baccalaureate remains, quickening the planning for the next school year. I love the cyclical nature of our profession.
I consider All-State Festival as the crest of our year. The conductors were outstanding and offered our students a wealth of instruction. Not only for students, but professional development for teachers was second to none. Meg Rudolph planned an excellent array of sessions, for which many of you afforded yourselves the opportunity of attending. I hope this is a tradition that Meg is willing to continue. The best in-service occurs when we watch a master teacher at work. We were afforded this opportunity for approximately twelve hours during the festival. Watching the conductors has always been my favorite aspect of attending the All-State festival. I hope this year you were able to spend time after the festival evaluating your own rehearsals in light of the good teaching that you were able to witness over the course of the festival. Thank you Kenny Gannon and Tim Banks. Our organization has never felt so welcomed to Samford University. Your selfless patience with us has not gone unnoticed. Your willingness to address all the needs that we bring to the venue are appreciated. I hope the relationship that we enjoy at Samford is in the “middle” category of a cycle and that we can continue this relationship for years to come.
The cyclical nature of our profession has impacted the makeup of our AVA board. As my tenure as AVA president ends and Ginny Coleman’s presidency begins, Districts I, III, IV, V, and VII begin next year with new district chairmen. The executive board will also change—adding Cathy Spence as the recording secretary. Support Ginny Coleman as your new president. She is a great organizational planner and I think that you will be proud to be a member of the organization of which she is president.
Please submit to perform at the AMEA Conference. We are going to remain in the alternative performance venue within the conference center for one more year. Then the conference will move to the civic center in Birmingham. We then can enjoy the better acoustics of the concert hall. Hopefully, we will successfully address the issues which were noted in the ball room this year in Montgomery. We are meeting in June with Garry Taylor to address these concerns. I think that the hall provides a good facility acoustically for our ensembles. Submissions are due by June 1.
The AVA summer board meeting is June 4–8 in Tuscaloosa. Should you have anything you would like the board to discuss, please forward your communication before the meeting in June.
Your NAfME membership is ending June 30th. Remember to renew your NAfME membership before the end of school. I wish you all the best as you end the school year.
I appreciate the opportunity to have served as AVA president for the past two years. I consider that we all have a responsibility to serve the organization that has served all of our individual school programs. See you at Fall Workshop.
Carl Davis
“AOA has had an amazing year and I am proud to have been a part of it!”
Jul 14 2016
As the school year comes to an end, take a moment and reflect on all the amazing things you accomplished this year. As you reflect, I hope you are thinking on how you and your students have grown, developed, bonded, and had a great time through music.
AOA has had an amazing year and I am proud to have been a part of it! We had stellar turnout for All State Orchestra, held the VERY FIRST Orchestra Music Performance Assessment, and elected rock star officers for 2016-2018.
AOA took a huge step forward this year and held the its first statewide Orchestra Music Performance Assessment (OMPA). The festival was a huge success! We had 14 ensembles from around the state travel to Auburn University on April 22nd and 23rd to perform in front of judges and peers. Full Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Guitar Ensembles from all ends of the state participated coming from as far away as Florence and Mobile. I am so thrilled that so many teachers took advantage of this opportunity to perform away from their home town. It was a joy to listen to each and every one of the orchestras and I am so proud of what our talented directors are accomplishing with their students. You should all be commended for the jobs you are doing and for taking the initiative to bring your students across the state to experience this type of competition. I hope your experience was better than expected! Thank you Dr. Guy Harrison for your leadership in spearheading the planning of and hosting this event. Thank you also Dr. Anne Witt, Dr. Howard Goldstein, Dr. Blake Richardson and Melissa Dufrechou for making yourselves available to judge this event. Thank you Sam Nordlund, Julie Hornstein, Dr. Kathy King, Amy Nice, April MacDonald, and the Auburn University Music Ambassadors for all your help during the Festival. It would not have been a success without you.
Groups receiving a superior rating at the 2016 OMPA were: *BTW Strings Magnet, Montgomery – Chin Mei Li *Dunbar Magnet School Guitar Ensemble, Mobile – Felicia Lett *Tiger Strings Youth Orchestra, Sinfonia Strings, Auburn – Dr. Guy Harrison *Montgomery Music Project – Noemi Oeding Gadsden City High School Titan Orchestra – Keith LaBenne Dunbar Magnet School Orchestra, Mobile – Felicia Lett Tuscaloosa City Schools High School Orchestra – Stephen Finley Fairhope Quartet – Kim Shannon (*denotes straight ones received)
AOA will be holding OMPA again next year. Look for information on the particulars to come out this summer or early fall. We hope to see all groups return and hopefully more groups to take advantage of this opportunity. AOA’s OMPA is open to all Full Orchestras, String Orchestras, and Guitar ensembles. All State Orchestra 2016 was a huge success! The students and conductors did an AMAZING job! I am so proud of all the students and teachers of the students who participated this year. Competition to get in was high this year and it showed because you all were top notch! Thank you to all the parent volunteers and sectional coaches/judges who helped make this All State Orchestra great. We couldn’t have done it without you!
All State Orchestra 2017 will be February 9th through 12th and held at the University of Alabama Music Building. Music excerpts will be posted online on August 15th and auditions will be held the first two weeks of October. The 2017 Festival Orchestra conductor will be Dr. Sandra Dackow. Sandra is an active conductor, arranger, and clinician and is the music director of the Hershey Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania. Sinfonia Orchestra Conductor Dr. Foster Beyers is the Director of Orchestras at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. He was recently appointed Director of Orchestral Activities at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA beginning in the 2016-2017 academic year. Consort String Orchestra Conductor Dr. Christina Yi-Ping Chen-Beyers currently serves as the Orchestra Director of the University Orchestra in Fargo-Moorhead, and was recently invited to lead the European Middle School Honors Orchestra in Berlin which is organized by AMIS (The Association of Music in International Schools). I hope your students will join us again for another amazing year of music!
AOA moved its 2017 composition contest deadline up to June 1, 2016. This competition is open to any composers who have written a piece for full orchestra between January 1, 2014 and the deadline. Submissions for this contest are received from around the world. The winning composition will be performed by the 2017 All State Festival Orchestra at All State in February. The composer will receive $1,500 and travel (from a point within the USA) and lodging expenses to attend the 2017 All State Festival as the Composer in Residence. For more information on this competition and for application forms, please visit www.alabamaorchestra association.org.
I am honored that I was elected to serve as President of AOA and I have enjoyed my two years in this office. It has been a joy to be on the planning side of All State and AMEA, two events in which I greatly benefited from as a high school student attending All State or as a college student and young professional attending the AMEA conferences. Serving in this capacity has given me a huge appreciation for all the people who make these functions happen each year. Thank you all for trusting me to do this job and giving me this opportunity to serve. I am very excited that we will have a stellar group of incoming officers to the AOA board. I know GREAT things are in store for our organization under the direction of these individuals. This is an exciting time in Alabama when Orchestra Education is growing. I am confident that this group of officers will enhance the opportunities for students around the state to participate in string education.
Your AOA Officers for 2016-2018 are: President: Samuel Nordlund President-Elect: Dr. Guy Harrison Secretary: Dr. Daniel Stevens Treasurer: Jacob Frank Immediate Past President: Sarah Schrader Executive Director: Julie Hornstein
UPCOMING DATES:
June 1, 2016: AOA Composition Contest Deadline
June 1, 2016: AMEA Session proposals and Ensemble Performance Applications due
August 15, 2016: All State Orchestra Excerpts posted
February 9-12, 2017: All State Orchestra Festival
We began this “process”…
Jul 14 2016
We began this “process” in the summer of 2015. Setting goals, making plans to ensure that the goals are met, and we hit the ground running. We have now reached a point that we can evaluate our level of success. It has been a great year, and as they all do, it has passed quickly. There are points along the way that seem to never end, but they do. It puts a smile on my face when I look back to where we started and see how far we have come. The sound of beginners are now the sounds of young musicians; the middle school band members are maturing as young musicians; and we aren’t looking forward to having to say goodbye to our seniors. It is a great feeling to know that goals have been met and our students have had a successful, positive, and rewarding experience. And now it is time to get ready for another great year of band!
All-State Solo Festival was once again hosted by The University of South Alabama Department of Music and what gracious hosts they were. Department Head Dr. Greg Grunner and Director of Bands Dr. Will Petersen could not have provided us with a more welcoming environment for our students, directors, and parents for this Festival. We had 80+ of Alabama’s finest young musicians participate. The judges somehow managed to choose seven to participate in the Finals (finalists are pictured in this issue). The Friday night Wind Ensemble performance somehow managed to top their outstanding performance of 2015. It was fantastic! This is a band program that I would be proud to have any of my students join.
All-State Band Festival 2016 was once again a successful musical experience. It is very interesting to get the opportunity to experience this event from different perspectives. I have attended All-State Festival as a participant, a young band director, as a more seasoned band director with several students participating, as an ABA District officer and now as an ABA Vice-President and President. I can truly say that attending All-State in any capacity is extremely rewarding. I would encourage all directors to attend when possible whether you have students participating or not. All four band’s performances were impressive. Professor Cramer stated in an email I receive a few days after All-State, “All-State was great fun; the students displayed a wonderful attitude and were very polite and eager to do better with each rehearsal,” and “I was impressed with each ensemble’s performance.” Professor Ray Cramer, Dr. David Willson, Mr. Carlton Wright, and Dr. Deborah Confredo were a pleasure to have as guest clinicians.
Thank you!! All-State Festival is a huge event for our organization. The District VII directors led by All-State site coordinator David Pryor went above and beyond what was required, and District chair William Mixon provided us with two consecutive years of a well-organized event. If you enjoy hard work, you should volunteer to serve as “Band Host.” James Ed Champion, Damon McAllister, Heather Henson, and Connie Hammond (and Tim) did a masterful job of taking care of the needs of our students and clinicians. ABA Executive Officers Doug Farris, Terry Ownby, Rusty Courson, Mark Foster, and Harry McAfee worked together, along with our District Chairs and Vice-Chairs, to see to it that our students could count on a positive All-State experience. I would also like to thank all of our directors that were present to judge chair auditions, work the tabulation room, and be on call if needed. All of the directors throughout our state are commended for the assistance provided to all of the students that auditioned. The 647 students participating was only the tip of the iceberg compared to the hundreds more who auditioned and participated in their District Honor bands. You make me proud! A special debt of gratitude is owed to our graduating District Chairs — Taylor Cash (II), Joel Henson (IV), Dale Bloodworth (VI), and Trent Burkett (VIII). You are to be commended for the work you have done. It has been an honor to serve alongside you.
Summer Conference 2016 will be here before you know it (June 22-23, 2016). Register now Information regarding lodging at the host hotel is also available at abafest.com. Join us at the Hampton Inn Orange Beach to celebrate the end of a successful year and the kick-off to another year. We have a great schedule of events, including the Wednesday evening Social Hour (low country boil and chicken fingers) that will feature “Old Fogey” Steve McLendon of Dothan HS (retired) as guest speaker. Visit abafest for a complete line-up of clinics and sessions. It will be hot; there will be plenty of Orange Beach sunshine, so DON’T FORGET THE SUNSCREEN!!
We have accomplished so much by doing something different and taking risks.
Jul 14 2016
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
With this final column, I want to take a moment to say thank you to all of you for your support and trust. I will be forever grateful for the opportunities you gave me to serve––beginning as Collegiate Advisor in 2008, Research Chair in 2010, President-elect in 2012, and finally, in 2014, as the 36th President of the Alabama Music Educators Association. I have thoroughly enjoyed serving the AMEA and I am looking forward to what the future has in store for our great organization as I take on my next role as immediate past president.
Since I first took office, I have been surrounded by a remarkable group of dedicated educators who have worked tirelessly in their support of music education and I want to specifically recognize the members of the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 Governing Boards who were there with me every step of the way. It has been a genuine pleasure serving with Rusty Courson, Stacy Daniels, Carl Davis, Becky Lightfoot, Carla Gallahan, Karla Hodges, Ted Hoffman, Mike Holmes, Cliff Huckabee, Andy Meadows, Sarah Schrader, Susan Smith, Pat Stegall, Garry Taylor, Thad Walker, Sara Womack, and Jim Zingara. I have come to believe that there isn’t another state president in NAfME who has received as much support as I have nor has been as proud as I am. Many of the initiatives we undertook would have been impossible without their faithful service to our organization. Thank you to every board member for putting your time, talent, and energy into achieving these milestones.
Across the past two years our annual conference has headed into new waters, growing into a vibrant professional development experience. Thank you to every presenter, audience member, performer, business member, and volunteer. Through your participation, we brought together nationally recognized clinicians, invited engaging keynote speakers, and booked world-class performers to truly add more “professional” to our professional development. Moreover, your faith in us bolstered the governing board’s creativity, which we channeled into building collaborations with music businesses, expanding our conference offerings, and branding our conference to compliment the artistry of music and emphasize the professional growth experienced by our members.
Beginning with goals we set back in 2014, AMEA has opened up new pathways and positioned itself to make meaningful changes in how we advocate for music education, run our organization, serve our members, and, most importantly, teach our students. Thank you to the entire membership for embracing this growth. Achieving these milestones allowed us to explore new options and experiment with different approaches. Accomplishing so much together in just a few years is a direct result of your faithful service to the music educators of Alabama and our organization.
Finally, to our Executive Director and Ala Breve Editor, Garry Taylor. Thank you for managing the AMEA so it continues to be a strong organization that is a model for others. I was so fortunate to have your experience and wisdom guiding me along the way.
In closing, I am very optimistic about the future of the Alabama Music Educators Association. It is an exciting time for our association. We have accomplished so much and made many memories together by doing something different and taking risks. I am truly honored to call you my friends and colleagues. On June 1, Susan Smith will take office and her presidency will be met with great enthusiasm from all music educators in Alabama, but especially from those of us who have been members of the AMEA for many years. I hope you will join me for what I know will be an exciting new direction for our organization.
All the best,
Carl B. Hancock,
President Alabama Music Educators Association
