I hope everyone has had an excellent start to your school year! It’s wild that we’ve already made it this far into the first semester. I know that there is beautiful music being made in all the AOA members’ classrooms, studios, and venues. We have so much to look forward to this year!
AMEA Conference
The 2025 AMEA Conference is shaping up to be very exciting for AOA members. We are welcoming Dr. Brenda Brenner, Professor of Music (Music Education) at Indiana University, as our AOA clinician. She specializes in string music education, teaching applied violin, as well as courses in violin and string pedagogy. Brenner received a BM and BME from Wichita State University and an MM and DMA in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music. In addition to her appointment to the Music Education Department, she serves as co-director of the IU String Academy, a position she has held since 1993. Her String Academy students have been featured in concerts in major venues throughout the United States and have presented tours throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. As director of the Fairview Project – a program in which every first and second grader in a Title I school learns violin as part of the curriculum – Brenner researches the cognitive, academic, and social outcomes of early instrumental music instruction. An active performer of chamber music throughout the United States, Brenner partners with her husband, organist Christopher Young. She also teaches and conducts at the IU Summer String Academy and is Assistant Director of the IU Retreat for Professional Violinists and Violists. Brenner is an active international clinician, is a Past President of the American String Teachers Association, and is on the board of the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.
Dr. Brenner will present four sessions while at AMEA. These sessions will be:
- Setting Up for Success: Some of the most important factors that determine success in playing a stringed instrument involve the beginning “set up” stage, which includes establishing a proper playing position and developing free and open muscular motions. Teachers can ensure success for their students by establishing a series of procedures that break down the setup tasks to a sequence of exercises that allow their students to look and sound great!
- From Poof to Portato (a sequence of bow strokes): Bowing technique is a crucial foundational skill in string playing that creates good tone quality and forms the basis for musical style. In this session, methods of teaching fundamental bow strokes and bow choreography in group settings from beginning through intermediate levels will be explored. Literature utilizing the various strokes will be presented.
- Winning with Warmups: An effective warm-up routine that integrates technical and musical elements as a preparation for playing repertoire is a key to successful teaching. Separation of both left and right hand difficulties prior to attempting them within the repertoire is essential. This clinic will examine how to design an effective routine and will present examples of warm-ups using standard repertoire from the string orchestra literature.
- Theory is Awesome: Learning music theory concepts deepens students understanding of music. Knowledge of intervals, solfege, chord structure, and musical form strengthen the comprehension of musical style, allows students to contribute intelligently to the musical decision-making process, and perform with more understanding and awareness. Strategies for building practical theoretical skills in the beginning through advanced string classroom through games, musical activities, and improvisation will be presented in this clinic.
AOA will also host a range of other presenters, including Dr. Anne Witt, Joseph Brenner, Robert Abend, and Cody Ray. Also on the conference schedule is the Northridge Middle School Orchestra, conducted by AOA member, Trey Hedgemon. Congratulations to Mr. Hedgemon and his students for accomplishing this great honor! We are so excited to have an orchestra performing at AMEA this year. Please make every effort to attend their performance!
We look forward to seeing you all in Birmingham at AMEA 2025!
All-State Orchestra
All audition materials have been posted to the AOA website. Please advocate for all student musicians who are within the correct age range to audition for All-State Orchestra! We would love for all students to be able to experience performing in an orchestra while they are in school! Please see the AOA website for further information. Woodwind, brass, and percussion audition materials are a condensed version of the ABA All-State audition materials, hopefully allowing for students to have adequate time to prepare. Thank you for your diligence in preparing students for auditions!
Important Dates
- Strings/Harp/Piano Audition Videos: DUE Oct. 18
- Woodwind/Brass/Percussion Audition Videos: DUE Nov. 15
- All-Region Orchestra Festivals: Jan. 11-12
- All-State Orchestra: Feb. 13-16
- OMPA: April 4
For additional information, please visit the AOA website: https://alabamaorchestraassociation.org
Please feel free to contact any of the Executive Board with any questions you may have. We are here to support the music educators of Alabama!
Respectfully,
Jordan Ford
AOA President