Someone told me once that unexpressed gratitude is like a gift purchased, wrapped, but never given. I would be remiss not to express my gratitude to the AVA organization and for the service and continued dedication of its members to choral music education in the state of Alabama. We continue to evolve, grow, and thrive as an organization because of your ongoing commitment, passion, support, dedication, and energy. You, the AVA membership, give so much of yourselves to your students and communities and our organization is better because of your work. Thank you.
This year has been filled with inspiring performances, enriching professional development, and meaningful collaboration. As you reflect on this school year and prepare to advance to the next – I implore you to stop. Before making mental notes of how you can do better next time, honor what you did well this year. If you haven’t already; stop to acknowledge the multitude of things you have achieved in the classroom and on the performance stage this year. Don’t even think about school…for a while. Take a break. You deserve it.
All-State
The 2025 All-State Festival was another huge success! Each choir presented outstanding and passionate performances led by wonderfully energetic and engaging clinicians. Thank you to the AVA directors who served in every capacity from site and choir coordinators to rehearsal monitors. It takes all of us to “make it happen” and you all get it done every year.
I am pleased to announce that the 2026 All-State Festival will be held March 12-14, 2026 at Samford University in Birmingham. More information is forthcoming about the details of this venue change. Please be sure you are receiving emails from AVA. We will communicate through email, the website, and the Ala Breve publication. You can request to be added to the AVA mailing list by visiting the AVA Website under Director Resources.
All-State Show Choir
Thank you to Cameron Johnson for executing another fantastic All-State Show Choir Festival. This year the ASSC performed on Saturday, April 12th along with The Wallace Sound show choir from Wallace Community College and a solo performance from state OCS winner, Hudson Bone. It was a wonderful weekend of dancing, singing, and friendship. Thank you also to Martez Tidwell for hosting this year’s festival at Spain Park High School. The dates and location for the 2026 ASSC Festival will be released later this Summer.
AVA Adjudicator Training
In response to director feedback, this year the AVA governing board embarked on a path to strengthen and standardize the adjudication process for AVA-sponsored events. Working alongside the experience and incredible guidance of Dr. Megan Rudolph (Miles College) we have begun a process by which our adjudicators are equipped with clear expectations, consistent rubrics, and practical strategies for providing meaningful, constructive feedback. This initiative represents a significant step forward in our mission to uphold fairness, professionalism, and educational value in all AVA-sponsored events. The feedback from directors so far has been overwhelmingly positive. However, this training is still evolving. As we look ahead to next year’s training, please share your feedback and ideas with the AVA Governing Board.
Summer Board
The annual AVA Summer Board Meeting will be held June 1-4 at Hoover High School. During this time we will reflect on the past year and look ahead to another successful year at the district and state levels. As I have expressed in the past two general membership meetings, this summer the board will work to develop a plan to implement sight-reading into the All-State audition process. The intention is to present this plan to the membership at Fall Workshop in September. If you have feedback, suggestions, ideas, and/or concerns about this topic or any others, please take time to fill out the AVA Teacher Survey. Your feedback is crucial to the future growth and success of our organization.