It is hard to believe we have reached the conclusion of another school year. What a year of hard work and exciting adventures it has been! AOA’s spring semester is busy with both All-State Orchestra and Orchestra Music Performance Assessment.
All-State went off without a hitch at the University of Alabama’s Moody Music Building on February 13-16. We are so grateful to our clinicians, Mr. Droste, Dr. Heath, and Mr. Nix, for leading such wonderful ensembles full of Alabama students. We also want to thank our seating judges and sectional coaches for assisting in the preparation of such a wonderful program.
The Orchestra Music Performance Assessment was held on April 4 in the Performing Arts Center at Thompson High School in Alabaster. Nine orchestras from middle and high schools across the state performed fabulously in front of judges: Dr. Daniel Stevens, Mississippi State University; Joe Lee, Huntsville Youth Orchestra; MacKenzie Hammond, Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences; Dr. Morgan Soja, Samford University. We congratulate all of the orchestras and their directors on their hard work preparing for the assessment.
Academy for Academics & Arts Middle School Strings
Mary Peck, Director
Calloway-Smith Middle School Strings
Barbara McMillian, Director
Calloway-Smith Middle School Orchestra
Barbara McMillian, Director
Emma Sansom Strings
David Ritschard, Director
Gadsden Middle School Strings
Aleesa Parnell, Director
G. W. Carver High School Orchestra
Catherine Cochran, Director
Ramsay High School String Orchestra
Rachel Christmas, Director
Thompson Middle School 6th Grade Orchestra
Jordan Ford, Director
Thompson Middle School Silurian Strings
Jordan Ford, Director
Our final event of the season is the rescheduled Region Orchestra events taking place May 24-25 in Huntsville and Greeneville. We are looking forward to the performances in both north and south Alabama, and are so glad that both events were able to be rescheduled from their original snowed-out dates in January!
The AOA will remember the 2024-2025 school year as a successful one full of orchestral opportunities for the state of Alabama. We can’t wait to see what the next year will bring!
Musically yours,
Jordan Kirchner Ford
AOA President
2025-2026 AOA Dates
- String Scales/Etudes/Excerpts posted to the website: July 1, 2025
- Woodwind/Brass/Percussion Scales/Etudes posted to website: August 8, 2025
- Strings/Harp/Piano Audition Videos: due October 17, 2025
- Woodwind/Brass/Percussion Audition Videos: due November 14, 2025
- 2026 All-Region Orchestra Festivals: January 10-11, 2026
- 2026 All-State Orchestra: February 12-16, 2026
- 2026 OMPA: April 10, 2026