Autumn in Alabama. Leaves changing, a break in the heat, and of course… All-State Orchestra auditions!
OK, back to reality. Fall in Alabama is reserved for football and marching band. I know because I was and still am a part of it (football fandom, at least!). As a serious cellist growing up in Alabama, I ended up playing trumpet in band because schools in the Birmingham metro area did not offer string programs of any sort. My experience in band was terrific, and my band directors, Kim Bain and Jim Duren, were and still are as good as it gets. I was a pretty decent trumpeter, and I had many outstanding classmates, but when I think back to those days, All-State Orchestra never seemed to be on the radar in band circles. A few brave souls ventured into the Alabama Youth Symphony, and were thus indoctrinated into the orchestra world, but the large majority didn’t even consider orchestra, although they would participate in several honor bands throughout the year. Now, as a professional cellist and official ambassador of the orchestra community, I would like to begin to strengthen the ties between our outstanding band programs, and the orchestra opportunities offered in this state.
Do not be afraid! Band students who participate in orchestra will only become stronger band players. They will gain confidence from playing individual parts, learn nuance from balancing with stringed instruments, master skills such as transposition, and be exposed to centuries-worth of timeless orchestral repertoire. I remember sensing a fear of the unknown when terrific wind players decided not to audition for All-State or youth orchestra. If you are a parent or band director, even without an orchestral background, I hope you will encourage your students to participate in orchestra. It may open up a future in orchestral performance to them. If you are lucky enough to have strings at your school, collaborate on a full orchestra production, or simply spend a class period playing part of a Mahler symphony for your students. You may transform somebody’s world, and that is our goal as educators and parents, is it not?
It is my great honor to announce our fantastic 2017 All-State Orchestra conductors. Directing the Festival Orchestra will be Dr. Sandra Dackow, Music Director of the Hershey (PA) Symphony Orchestra, and well-known arranger. Leading the Sinfonia and Consort Orchestras will be a husband/wife duo. Foster Beyers, Sinfonia conductor, is the newly appointed Director of Orchestras at James Madison University, after spending several years in the same position at Concordia College in Minnesota. Dr. Christina Chen-Beyers, Consort conductor, has extensive experience with collegiate, youth, and string orchestras in Western Minnesota and the Eastern Dakotas. Complete bios can be found in this edition of Ala Breve and at www.alabamaorchestraassociation.org.
Our second annual Orchestra MPAs will be held April 21 and 22, 2017! We are planning two host sites this year – a northern regional at UNA (Florence), and a South Central regional at ASU (Montgomery). At time of press, details are still being hammered out, but by the time you are reading this, we should have the application process in full swing. Youth Orchestras, school string programs, guitar ensembles, and any other string-involved ensembles are encouraged to register. We had 14 groups participate last year, and we hope two locations will help us increase this number even further. So come on down – ALL are welcome!
