Archive for

Day: October 9, 2022

Assessing the Health & Wellness of Our Profession

Oct 9 2022

In the field of education, everyone is familiar with how much importance is placed on program assessment and evaluation.  In many cases, financial resources and even job security can be tied to these critical components.  Coming out of the pandemic, and beginning a new school year, it is an excellent time to take stock of our programs and to adjust our teaching goals to better align with the challenges and realities that each of us faces in our schools.

If you have made it this far as a music teacher, we need to pause a moment and say congratulations!  We music teachers are a hardy bunch, and even when faced with multiple challenges on multiple fronts, we generally find a way to persevere with a smile on our faces and the best interests of our students at heart.  I tell anyone who will listen that it takes a very special person to be a music teacher, and I certainly do mean it.  So why do we do it?  Because we love it, of course!

Of course, we’re never alone in this profession, and often what I enjoy most about AMEA is the opportunity to connect with others across the state who share my same passion for teaching.  The sense of comradery and professional affiliation helps greatly when facing both professional and personal challenges.  I know that I have relied heavily on this sense of connection, collegiality, and friendship during the pandemic and that my various conversations, phone calls, emails, and texts with colleagues near and far have been reassuring and grounding at a time when everything seemed so uncertain and up in the air.

If you are relatively new to the profession, and even if you’re not, being involved in AMEA is a great way to stay mentally and emotionally invested in teaching and to be able to give back to the profession.  With the shrinking of academia, I can’t help but think of all the wonderful musicians and teachers who have raised the white flag and moved on to greener pastures in careers outside of music.  At the same time, I am incredibly excited about new approaches and new pedagogies that are creating a more welcoming, inclusive space for scholars from a diverse array of backgrounds.  It is especially exciting to see the Arts leading the way yet again in creating an all-inclusive space for everyone to express, contribute, learn, teach, and perform.

Any opportunity to take a step back and self-reflect is always an opportunity for personal growth, so in this respect maybe the pandemic and the fallout from the pandemic was a blessing in disguise, especially for my generation.  Assessing the health and wellness of our profession begins first with assessing the health and wellness of ourselves, our culture, our society, and the Academy, and continuing to find the small but meaningful ways that each of us can contribute and make a difference.  Hopefully, you continue to find those ways in your own pursuits!  Best wishes for a wonderful fall semester, and I look forward to connecting with you all at the 2023 AMEA Professional Development Conference in January!

President’s Column

Oct 9 2022

October is my favorite month. Students and teachers are settling into school year routines. Kindergarteners are crying a little less. Bladders are regulated back to school time. Marching band season is in full swing – some are eagerly anticipating the next competition, and some are counting down how many Friday nights are left in the season. Choirs are beginning to learn repertoire for Winter Concerts. Students are beginning the arduous task of preparing for All-State. College football has all of us choosing sides. In almost every elementary music classroom there is one mindboggling week when you are singing Halloween or fall songs, preparing for a Veterans Day program, and beginning to learn music for Winter performances.  Yes, there is so much to love about October.

I’ve often daydreamed about what it would be like to be a regular person in October. What must it feel like to leisurely enjoy an October day?  What is it like to attend an event and not have to provide the music for the event? What is it like to clearly focus on enjoying an event instead of thinking of all the things we must do! Oh, what it must be like to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte gazing at fall colors instead of in my car on the way to the next event. October is a beautifully busy month.

I would be willing to bet, whether we admit to it or not, many of us enjoy the busyness of our lives. We secretly enjoy the rush of adrenaline we get from being busy. We enjoy knowing which concession stand has the best boiled peanuts in our football schedule. We enjoy being asked for our students to perform. We enjoy being a music educator even on the hardest days. We enjoy being busy because we are busy making music with our students. We are so fortunate that in our busyness we help others make something worthwhile and beautiful. Our busy lives facilitate music-making.

Thank you for being busy. Thank you for seeing the beauty in every student. Thank you for being a music educator. I will never feel like I can say thank you enough to any of you. You have done everything in your power to make sure music stayed in your students’ lives during the pandemic. You are a teacher, advocate, cheerleader, social worker, parent, friend, and the descriptors go on and on. You spend countless hours pouring into the future of Alabama. You are one of the many things that makes October beautiful.

I want to feature a few of the ways AMEA has been busy since the last issue of the Ala Breve.

NAfME Virtual Hill Week 2022

The week of September 19 – 23, AMEA members participated in NAfME’s virtual Hill Week. Traditionally, AMEA’s leadership has traveled to Washington, D.C. in June each summer to meet with Alabama’s Members of Congress. However, because of the pandemic, since 2020 we have had to opt for meeting with Congressional and Senate offices via Zoom. This year we had two productive meetings with staff from Rep. Mike Rogers and Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s offices.

We highlighted real-life examples of how Title funds have been used in Alabama to provide music education to our students. Title I money is being used to reduce class sizes and pay music teaching salaries.  We emphasized how Title II provides money for quality professional development for all our teachers to help our students and aide with teacher burnout and attrition. In addition, we discussed the arts deserts in Alabama and how Title IV money could be used to place music programs in schools that have traditionally had limited or no access to music education. As we continue to rebuild our programs after the pandemic, it is imperative that we ask for ESSA to be fully funded. We presented a clear and concise message that fully funding Title programs will open the door for music education to be in the lives of every Alabama student.

Thank you to Dr. Sarah Burns of Jacksonville State University, Dr. Becky Halliday of the University of Montevallo, and Dr. Megan Merciers of the University of North Alabama for joining me to advocate for music education.

AMEA Fall 2022 Town Hall

When the pandemic began in March of 2020, AMEA’s leadership sprung to action by hosting weekly Town Halls. I have heard from many people how much they valued the time we came together and talked about the possibilities and future we were facing. Personally, I valued the connection we were able to foster in uncertain times. As our world has returned to pre-pandemic busyness, it’s not feasible to have weekly Town Hall meetings. However, I feel we could have Town Hall meetings each semester.

I’m pleased to announce that AMEA will host a Town Hall meeting Monday, November 14 at 6:30 pm via Zoom. As we move closer to the event, we will send instructions on how to join via email and social media. I hope continuing the Town Hall meetings will allow us to feel more connected and informed of what is going on in our state.

Presidential Fireside Chat

Over the next few months, I will host fireside chats with different groups within AMEA. The focus of these fireside chats is to listen to your experiences to see how AMEA can best serve our members. The first two fireside chats will focus on our early career music educators. I have thought back on my own early teaching experiences throughout the pandemic. I have wondered how my career would be different if I dealt with social distancing, COVID, and mitigation techniques in my early years of teaching.

The first Presidential Fireside chat will be Monday, November 7 at 6:30 pm via Zoom. The focus of this Fireside Chat will be on AMEA members with 5-10 years of teaching experience.

The second Presidential Fireside Chat will be Monday, December 12 at 6:30 pm via Zoom. The focus of this Fireside Chat will be on AMEA members in their first year of teaching to 4 years of teaching experience. AMEA will send information on how to sign up for each Fireside Chat closer to each of the dates. Watch your email and social media for more information.

Conference 2023

Finally, we have been planning for our annual Professional Development Conference! I look forward to being with all of you in January. The Professional Development Conference is good for my soul, recharges my batteries, and allows me to be with like-minded people.  I’m excited that we will have NAfME President-elect Dr. Deb Confredo as our keynote speaker for several sessions and we will have a musical performance by The Dill Pickers from Birmingham. There will be fantastic concerts, inspiring sessions, exhibits, and a chance to catch up with old friends. Make plans to be in Birmingham January 19 – 21, 2022.

I hope you have a wonderful fall full of music-making! Remember to take a little time to enjoy the beauty, savor each day full of color and cool air, and reflect on how incredibly fortunate we are to make music every day with students. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can help you in any way.

AVA UPDATES AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Oct 9 2022

AVA UPDATES AND UPCOMING EVENTS

It was wonderful to see so many of you at this year’s Fall Workshop. We greatly appreciate Dr. Melinda Doyle and the University of Montevallo for hosting us again this year. I hope everyone enjoyed the relevant sessions by Dr. Josh Palkki, as well as the breakout sessions given by our directors. It is always nice to learn and spend time together, and I hope you all walked away feeling inspired.

CHANGES FOR 2022-2023

Here are the changes that were shared during our Fall Workshop General Membership Meeting:

All-State Show Choir auditions will be held over Zoom this year. Directors will be given the audition cuts the morning of the audition and will be responsible for playing the accompaniment tracks for the audition. The choreography video will be released a week before the audition. Students will receive an individual 5-minute time slot for the singing portion of their audition and a 10-minute time slot per 5 students for the choreography portion. All auditions will be recorded and a panel of judges will use the rubric to adjudicate the auditions.

The State Choral Performance Assessment form was edited to clarify the Repertoire category. Language regarding repertoire was refined to be more in line with the handbook. The handbook states that repertoire for SCPA must be contrasting and an appropriate genre. The updated adjudication form is available for viewing in our handbook.

The AVA governing board developed a list of qualifications for All-State adjudicators to broaden our list of adjudicators throughout the membership.

Qualifications include:

1. Is in good standing with the AVA
2. Is an active or retired member of AVA
3. Has at least 5 years of successful teaching experience
4. Has a strong record of success in their choral programs
5. Willing to be of service to the organization
6. Has prepared and had students participate in Alabama All-State or equivalent event
7. Ability to work well with others, follow instructions, and maintain accurate records
8. Has excellent time management and ability to adhere to the All-State audition schedule
9. Has the ability to establish and maintain a professional and respectful atmosphere in the audition room
10. Will maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the audition process

ALL-STATE AUDITIONS

All-State auditions are fast approaching.  Prior to the auditions, please make sure that your students have all of the required pieces, including “Alabama;” that all of their measures have been numbered; and that their adjudicator forms have been signed by a parent.  Also, be certain to follow the instruction pages included in the music packets to ensure that your students are learning the correct notes for your district.

A few reminders about auditions:

1. There may be no substitutions on the day of the audition. The students that are registered are the ones who audition.
2. Students who are sick on their audition day are welcome to audition at any other site, but virtual or makeup auditions will not be accepted.
3. Students who are accepted into the All-State choirs will have to pay their registration fee, whether or not they attend the festival.

AMEA CONFERENCE

The 2023 AMEA Professional Development Conference will be January 19-21 at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.  Our guest clinician will be Maria Ellis, choral conductor and educator, also known as Girl Conductor. She will present three sessions including Choir 2023: Remixing and Rebuilding a Space for All, That’s a Bop! Fun Ways to Teach Music Literacy, and The Gospel Sound in the Choral Classroom. I am thrilled to have her at our conference and I hope you all will attend her wonderful sessions!

Congratulations to all of the choirs who were accepted to perform at the conference.  We will have performances from many high school, professional, and collegiate choirs from across the state.  It is a great honor to be selected to perform during this state-wide conference, so please be sure to come and support these groups and enjoy the music they are going to share.

PROPOSED CHANGES

There were a few changes that were brought up in our general membership meeting at Fall Workshop. If you have any thoughts on the changes below, please email them to me so that the board can review your feedback before we bring it to the membership for a vote. None of the below changes will occur this year.

1. A proposal was made to “allow a student to participate in AVA events as long as they are part of a school, homeschool, or community choral program that meets at least weekly, and where the director is a current member of NAfME.” Currently, our handbook only includes schools and homeschools, so we would be opening up participation to community choirs. This would only be an option for students who do not have a school choral program.

2. A proposal was made to include a sight-reading component in the All-State audition process. We are open to ideas on how to implement sight-reading into our auditions.

3. The AVA board has proposed the removal of our Honor Choir and our Outstanding Accompanist competition. We welcome feedback on the benefits and/or disadvantages of their removal.

I am looking forward to seeing you all at our upcoming All-State auditions as well as at our conference in January.  Until then, if I can be of help in any way or if you have any suggestions or ideas, please contact me at hilen.wilson.ava@gmail.com. See you soon!

Hilen Wilson

AVA President

ALcNAfME Fall Events and Chapter Highlights

Oct 9 2022

Music education across the state is in full swing as all classes are officially in session! This means our biggest event of the year is coming up – the Alabama Collegiate NAfME Fall Summit!

Alabama Collegiate NAfME Summit

The summit this year will be hosted at the University of Alabama Moody Music Building on Sunday, October 23, 2022, from 1 p.m.- 6 p.m. Our theme this year is “Unity” as we hope to unite collegiate music education students and educators across Alabama with our excitement and passion for teaching. We will feature a keynote with Dr. Myra Rhoden, 2018 National Band Director of the Year and sought-after clinician; breakouts with Dr. Jason Sulliman from Troy University (instrumental – band, orchestra, jazz), Dr. Ben Cook from Hewitt-Trussville Middle School (choral), and Karla Hodges from Tuscaloosa Magnet School (general/elementary); as well as instrumental, choral, and Orff music reading ensembles for the very first time! In response to the multiple colleges and universities across the state that have created “Music Education Ensembles” where collegiates can work together to have valuable conducting, teaching, and playing experiences with realistic P-12 music, we plan to recreate these with our breakout speakers as conductors of the ensembles. There will also be an opportunity to share virtual business cards with attendees. The event will conclude with a free dinner so we all have a chance to network and get to know each other.

It is very important that anyone interested in attending the Fall Summit is registered with NAfME and AMEA. Please RSVP as soon as possible! These links can be found on our Instagram page @cnafme_al. We hope to see you there!

Lesson Planning Competition

Other important announcements include our second annual Lesson Planning Competition! This was created in response to collegiates struggling with edTPA requirements in their internships. This is a collaboration with the Higher Education Division (HED) as they will judge submitted lesson plans and pick a final few to be presented at the 2023 AMEA Conference in January. We have simplified the registration process, so collegiates only have to submit one lesson plan for review! This friendly competition is a fantastic way to become more familiar with the edTPA lesson planning process, as well as get valuable feedback on your lesson plans. If you are chosen to present, you will have the opportunity to share your lesson with other collegiates. The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2022.

Montevallo Chapter Spotlight

The University of Montevallo cNAfME chapter started its semester strong with its first meeting in early September. They matched all their freshman music education students with an older music student as part of their education mentorship program. They are also planning their yearly Java and Jazz event where they showcase the jazz band and boost department involvement. They are busy preparing a service project within the department and a professional development session with their faculty.

Montevallo Chapter Officers:

Makala Cone, President
David Dimas, Vice President
Luke Taylor, Treasurer
Jordan Long, Historian
Jalaah Blue, Secretary

Troy Chapter Spotlight

The Troy University CNAfME chapter was reinstated back in 2018, and we have been growing stronger each year since! We host a variety of professional development clinics (often in collaboration with professors on our campus) covering topics like instrument repair, vocal health, how to practice, and time management. We also host scheduling sessions, social events, fundraisers, and this fall, our first service project! We’re excited to attend Collegiate Summit and AMEA this year as we always do.

Troy Executive Council:

Ayla Trujillo, President
Kensley Fuller, Vice President
Abigail Wall, Treasurer
Matthew Suit, Secretary
Maggie Hargis, Social Media Chair

AOA Updates

Oct 9 2022

I am so excited about the 2023 North and South Region Orchestra and All-State Orchestra Festivals. Please see the AOA website, found below, for information regarding the North and South Region Orchestra Festivals, occurring January 7-8, 2023. The 2023 All-State Orchestra Festival will take place on the campus of the University of Alabama, February 9-12, 2023.

At the 2023 AOA All-State Orchestra Festival, the Festival Orchestra will be led by Steven Gooden, the Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Gooden also conducts with Merit School of Music’s Tuition-Free Conservatory, Instrumental and Vocal Music, and Merit Music in Communities programs where he serves as band director at Proviso Math and Science Academy in Forest Park, IL. As a Black musician and motivational educator, Mr. Gooden is passionate about equity and inclusion in classical music. He is committed to never letting the perceptions of others influence the growth within himself or his students. Mr. Gooden finds exceptional joy in empowering young people to push towards being their best selves inside and outside the ensemble. Mr. Gooden holds degrees from Georgia State University and Northwestern University.

Festival Orchestra
Steven Gooden, conductor
Poet and Peasant Overture – Franz von Suppé
2023 AOA Composition Contest Winning Submission – TBA
My Name is Amanda Todd – Jocelyn Morelock

The Sinfonia will be led by Bruce Walker. He is currently Associate Professor of Music at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA, Music Director for the Walla Walla Symphony Youth Orchestra, Past President of the Washington chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and on the Board of Directors for the Suzuki Association of the Americas.  He is College/University representative for the Washington Music Educators Association, and the

2021 Music Educator of the Year by the Washington Music Educators Association. Internationally, Mr. Walker has worked with the Youth Excellence on Stage Academy in collaboration with American Voices, a non-profit, cultural exchange organization. Through this organization, he has conducted orchestras and taught cello in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Mr. Walker holds degrees from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Central Washington University.

Sinfonia
Bruce Walker, conductor
Danse Nègre – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Variations on a Theme by Handel – Maurice Whitney
Five Movements in Color, II. The Soul of Remembrance – Mary Watkins
Dream Machine – Brian Balmages

The Consort String Orchestra will be led by Katarzyna (Kasia) Bugaj, Associate Professor of String Music Education in the College of Music at Florida State University. At FSU, she teaches string techniques and methods courses and teaches at the FSU Summer Music Camps. Her research interests include string pedagogy, working with underserved populations, and music teacher education. Dr. Bugaj holds degrees from Western Michigan University, The Peabody Conservatory, and Indiana University, and is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy.

Consort String Orchestra
Katarzyna (Kasia) Bugaj, conductor
 Three Pieces in Baroque Style – Krzysztof Penderecki
Breathless – Stephen Chin
The Old Boatman – Florence Price
Libertango – Astor Piazzolla

Please encourage your students to participate in the North/South Region Orchestra and All-State Orchestra Festivals. More information regarding auditions can be found here: https://alabamaorchestraassociation.org

All-Region/All-State Orchestra
Deadlines for Audition Submission/Registration
October 28, 2022 – String and Harp Audition Materials Due
November 11, 2022 – Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion Audition Materials Due

Thank you for all that you do to ensure that orchestral music thrives in the State of Alabama. May we strive to build musical communities where our students find safe spaces to express themselves, their experiences, their hopes, and their dreams for a kinder world where all are loved, nurtured, and supported.  May this be our mission and may music be our vehicle.

Musically yours,

Joseph Lee, president

Important Dates
2022-2023 Academic Year
North All-Region Orchestra: January 7-8, 2023
South All-Region Orchestra: January 7-8, 2023
All-State Orchestra Festival: February 9-12, 2023
Orchestra Music Performance Assessment: April 14-15, 2023

Top