|
District IV Report
Everything is on task with district IV currently. We have not had any of
our festivals yet but they are on schedule with music ready to go out.
Our District IV Festival is scheduled to go on February 16th and that is
going to be run by John Reeves at Skowhegan High School.
The 7th and 8th grade festival is scheduled for the first weekend in March
at Waterville and our 5th and 6th grade festival is set to be hosted on
April 11th right here in Rumford.
One thing I would like to see taken care of before the end of the year is
to get our webpage up and running. The biggest problem we have run into
is having a host for the website.
Other then that everything is very quiet in our district.
Daniel Labonte
District IV President
----------------------------------
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT REPORT
This is short and sweet!
I'm in hot pursuit of candidates for this year's election. In lieu of forming a committee, please forward names to me of
potential candidates!
Joan
----------------------------------
PRESIDENT ELECT REPORT FOR JAN 22, 2006:
LEARNING RESULTS....
Barb and I continue to work on a fairly regular basis in Augusta on this and we are looking to have the first draft released
online by the 1st of March.
ALL-STATE FEST...
Things are going well with All-State prep, but it's still early....
1) THERE IS GOING TO BE A PRE-MEETING MEETING ON SUNDAY AT 1:00 for all parties involved with BOTH the Festival AND/OR Conference
if you can make it.
2) I am looking for feedback at the 1:00 meeting before deciding on the ORDER of the BOC concert in Orono. Since logistically
the Chorus must be either first or third, I am looking at simply alternating every other year, "BOC" then "COB". If we go
that route, this year's concerts will be Chorus at 2:00, Orchestra at 3:30 and Concert Band at 5:00. We'll determine that
for sure at the 1:00 meeting
3) Payments and forms are coming in, but DISTRICT CHAIRS: it is NOT a bad idea to send out weekly reminders that these things
are due in a week and a half, with either the deposit of $25 OR the full amount of $150 per student enclosed. This process
is obviously ongoing.
REMOTE ATM SITES FOR MEETINGS...
"Life happens" and on a number of levels I wasn't able to pursue this further despite outstanding leg work by Barb Packales
and Jim Horwich. I'll see if I can get a "practice run" in between now and the end of February which would allow us to adequately
see if the format will work for future exec board meetings.
MMEA BOARD "RESTRUCTURING" PROPOSAL....
To this point things continue to go very smoothly and without many concerns brought forth. If anything, we are already seeing
benefits of the new plan arising in unforseen ways. Fundamental concerns that have been brought up include:
* limiting VPs to just members of the allied organizations.. pros and cons
* organization and logistics of the "Band;non Jazz" component
* making sure that things that work well now don't get lost in the new plan
The draft Constitution/By Laws has been posted online for BOARD MEMBERS
ONLY... I would encourage each of you to download and print this out for Sunday's meeting. I do not anticipate a lot of discussion
on this as the next step is to post it publicly for the full membership and we can continue to revise and alter. The timeline
continues to remain intact and the next dates to be aware of:
Jan 22: Board votes to move forward with, alter or stop the posting of the Cont/By Law changes
Feb - March: Full MMEA membership weighs in with comments and concerns
March 19: Board votes on final Proposal - with or without amendments based on membership feedback - whether or not to bring
it to the All Member Meeting in May.
May 19: All Member Meeting, assuming the Proposal made it to this point, members vote on ratification, effective June 1, 2006.
This has been a long, drawn out process, but I would continue to argue that we've gone about this the right way: incrementally
and with solid communication and discussion. We'll see how it plays out from here, but we have a number of reasons to be optimistic
at this point.
Much on the table, much happening... looking forward to the 22nd.
All our best wishes and prayers remain with Lynne.
-Rob
---------------------------------
Choral Conference Report
Greetings all!
The Choral Conference is shaping up. I don't have all the details but have
been in contact with Nancy Cash-Cobb regarding several choral offerings.
Hopefully we will finalize all choral conference "stuff" at the 1:00 meeting
this Sunday. See you all there (weather permitting!).
Jay
--------------------------------
Choral Report - Kim Murphy
The All State music is in. A stamp from Staples has been purchased ($14.00) and all of the 2006 music will be stamped this
weekend. I have not yet purchased band, orchestra, jazz stamps because I wanted to make
sure that what was designed for the chorus is acceptable to the other groups. I’ll bring the stamp to the meeting to
see if there is agreement to purchase the additional stamps. However, if group managers just want to go on their own, it
only takes 45 minutes at Staples to have a personalized stamp created. We received the All State chorus music earlier this
year, so my question to the board is - do you want the music mailed next week, and have the CD’s mailed separately to
the schools in another month? Or should I wait and mail all at the same time, as a cost saving measure?
The big news in the choral arena is the revamping of the All State vocal audition. Kudos to Erin Lowell for spearheading
and completing this huge
endeavor. On Nov. 22, 2005 Erin Lowell met with Heidi Corliss, Matt Murray, Cathy Murray, Nora Krainis, Larry Bean and myself
to choose 5 part public domain selections for the new choral assessment section of the audition. The following pieces were
chosen: Morley: Sing We and Chant It;
Bateson: Those Sweet, Delightful Lilies; Bennet: All Creatures Now Are Merry; and Morley: Fire, Fire, My Heart. The same
rotation of 4 Italian solos have been kept, but each one shortened since the choral assessment
(which is now in place of the rote singing) is lengthier. We also clarified guidelines for the sightsinging, created new
rubrics for the total audition, and clarified guidelines for preparation of the total audition.
Erin then met with 5 outstanding USM singers (Soprano 1 - Sarah Mawn, Soprano 2 - Laura Whitney , Alto - Abra Mueller, Tenor
- Chris Sands, Bass - Dan Cyr) and with Cathy Murray’s assistance, created all of the vocal tracks for the choral assessment.
Erin shared these tracks with the team for feedback, and then created the new All State vocal audition website.
Since the MMEA board still needs to give us the final stamp of approval, I will not publish that website yet. Interested
board members can email me for the link. I will bring a hard copy of the webpages to the meeting. Once approved, it will
be linked with the All State page. Since the final product is the end result of many hours of work by a committee of leaders
in our state, and in partnership with Maine ACDA, it is my recommendation that the MMEA board accept the new vocal audition
procedure as is.
Erin Lowell has volunteered countless hours to organize, record, and create this new website. She has also made arrangements
with Jay to present two sessions at the upcoming All State conference. It is my hope that the MMEA board will find a way
to recognize her commitment to
improving the vocal audition procedure for our state.
The costs of the project as it now stands is reimbursement for the recording session lunch ($75). The USM singers volunteered
their time, and they too should be recognized by the Board for their service to the state. Upcoming costs would be approximately
$300 for Erin to create one
hundred 4CD sets to be given out at the All State conference. We also need to find a venue for creating additional CD sets
after May 2006, as Erin’s commitment to the project will be completed at that time. If the
Board can not cover the $300 cost, then CD’s will not be available at the All State conference, and teachers will have
to access everything on line(this is not recommended, as some schools do not have adequate online access).
In closing, I need the board’s approval on the following:
1. Style of stamps to be purchased at Staples in order to stamp all ensemble music
2. Recommendation of mailing All State chorus music separate from learning CDs or to wait until March and mail it all at the
same time.
3. Acceptance of the new All State Vocal Audition procedure and 4 year rotation.
4. Vote to reimburse Erin Lowell $75 for recording session lunch.
5. Vote to fund the creation of 100 sets (4CD’s) of the new All State Vocal Audition (approx. $300)
6. Recognize Erin Lowell’s contribution to the State (formal letter or award)
7. Recognize the 5 USM Singers for their service to the project (formal letter or award)
Respectfully submitted,
Kimberly Murphy
---------------------------
State Editor Report - January 2006
The second issue of The Bulletin for this school year will be in the mail by our next meeting. I have had numerous folks send
articles, and the advertisers have really come out of the woodwork! The last issue will come out in the last week of April
if possible and will include conference updates and summer program offerings. Please be thinking of things that are appropriate
to include to our membership in printed form.
If you have information to pass along for either the website or the Bulletin, please get it to me with a request to publish.
All scholarly articles will go through Michele Kaschub, Research Chair for approval before being published.
Please continue to inform me of outdated links or non-working forms on the website. I have trouble keeping the various forms
straight. My request will go out to you after All State for updated forms for the new school year. This year's transition
was not smooth for me as I took on the new responsibilities of State Editor. Things should be easier for 2007-2008, but please
check any form that pertains to your area and let me know what needs fixing. Any form needed for this year's All State needs
to be looked at NOW.
I am looking into the cost of doing the Bulletin mailings from my area with a mailing company. I have not yet compared prices.
I hope to know that information soon to see if it is feasible to do the mailing from Gardiner and not have to deliver them
to Nancy C-C so she can take them to the Post Office in Windham where we hold a permit.
I will be representing you in Salt Lake in April at the Leadership Assembly as your State Editor. I will also attend at least
one roundtable discussion meeting about Publishing with State Editors from around the country.
Respectfully Submitted,
Barbara Packales
-----------------------------------------------------------------
District III is currently poised between a very busy audition season and our festival season.
Since the last report, we held a very successful Elementary Honors Festival hosted by Allysa Williamson and conducted by
Scott Dyer, Theo VanDerventer and Allysa Williamson. This very able team of music educators have made some positive changes
to the festival this year.
The Junior High auditions were held on November 10 at Brunswick with Heidi Anderson and Shari Tarleton hosting, and Jill
Hodgdon and Cindy Brown managing. This team of veterans broke new ground this year with all registration and results being
on line. Results were posted the next day. Congratulations goes to these forward thinking educators!
The Jazz Honors auditions hosted by Anthony Marro at Morse High in Bath were very successful with a large increase in the
numbers of those auditioning.
On Tuesday January 3rd, the District III exec board met to discuss the upcoming festival season which begins January 27th
and 28th with the High School Honors Festival hosted by Deb Large at Hall-Dale.
Respectfully submitted
Roger Whitney, chair
-----------------------------
District 5 Report
District V's High School Honors Festival is January 27
and 28. Hampden Academy is our host this year.
Our Middle School Honors Festival went very well. It
was hosted by Dover-Foxcroft's SeDoMocha Middle
School. The Chorus was directed by Patrick Moore of
Houlton and the Band was directed by Michael Scarpone
of Augusta. We had a large turnout to our concert
that afternoon.
At the present moment, our website is down but Arnold
Poland is our new webmaster and we are moving forward
to get a new one up and running as quickly as
possible. As soon as we have a new site up, I will
inform everyone.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sarah Clark
District V Chair
-------------------------------------
Things are proceeding well for this year's festival and conference. Federico Cortese, this year's orchestra conductor, has
given the following program:
Verdi Overture to "Nabucco"
Tchaikovsky "Romeo and Juliet"
This is a tough program, but the auditions were excellent this year so we are optimistic.
There is a harpist needed for the orchestra. As of now there are two students interested in auditioning, and I am waiting
to hear from another teacher about a possible third. Once I know for sure who is going to try for it, I will set up an
audition site and date. I hope to have this wrapped up by the first weekend of March.
Peter Martin will be conducting the directors' orchestra this year. Rueline Geishecker and Sue Herold have graciously agreed
to manage this ensemble. Thank you, Rue and Sue! This will be a full orchestra, and we hope to have good involvement.
We are looking at the All-State audition string requirements, and are considering changes to the solo list, changes in scale
requirements, and the possible addition of an orchestral excerpt. We need to get opinions from other ASTA members, and will
have a definitive list well in time for Sam to post next year's requirements.
I will not be at the meeting Sunday as there is a Bangor Symphony concert that day. Margaret does hope to make it, however,
and will bring details on the audition revamping should anyone want to see the proposal.
Best wishes to all. Have a good week.
Respectfully Submitted,
Linda Vaillancourt
MMEA Orchestra Co-VP
---------------------------------
Auditions Report November 2005
From Larry: 1380 students were registered; 1152
actually auditioned.
From Sam: The week before auditions started, I
checked every high school in My School to see which
ones still had registration fees due. I sent close to
70 emails to schools with outstanding fees. Some of
the email addresses in My School did not go through so
I urge every teacher to check the contact information
to ensure that they can be reached if necessary.
Still, one teacher was surprised to arrive on site
with fees due and no check in hand. That teacher went
to an ATM and the fees were paid. As Appendix B says,
"NO PAY, NO PLAY".
Auditions were a bit different this year as the
site weekends changed. The intention was to relieve
the southern site schools from conflict with musicals
but instead moved the problem to the central section
of the state although the impact was not as great.
At least one school was a total no-show possibly
due to football playoffs. There was no contact ahead
of time to indicate that those students would not be
auditioning. Thus, judges were left with gaps in the
schedule with nothing to do and being paid to not do
it.
I believe that the change in weekends, doing
Gorham the hardest and most stressful first, threw the
audition team off it's stride. I know for a fact that
it had that effect on me. We didn't have a chance to
ease into it. I am recommending that we go back to
Skowhegan Nov. 3rd & 4th, Gorham Nov. 17th & 18th and
Houlton Dec. 2nd (Veterans Day is Saturday this year)
knowing that it is going to snow because it always did
when we went north after Thanksgiving.
The three hosts, Ray Mathieu, Joe Fagnant and John
Reeves and their casts of hundreds, were their usual
outstanding selves; love those whoopie pies.
One issue that was brought to my attention, by a
judge, was the problem created when kids use the wrong
edition of the required piece. In the correct
edition, cue notes were not included in the parts to
be played. However, when students used an edition with
the cue notes as part of the solo, regular sized
notes, the judges had to scramble to find the correct
spot where the students were playing. This is exactly
why specific editions are given.
The was at least one complaint, after the fact,
regarding private teachers not getting audition
information. Every superintendent recieves a copy of
the Handbook; every high school music teacher has
access to the Handbook and/or the web and the web site
address has not changed in how many years(?), thus
every student interested in auditioning has a way to
get that information simply by asking the music
teacher at their school, including string kids who may
not have a string program. (Sorry for the run on
sentence.) I had email from a string student many
times over the summer asking questions and I was very
happy to answer them. If an incoming freshman has the
sense to do that, what excuse do private teachers
have?
I am starting to look at next year's audition list. If anyone has suggestions for something new for any of the winds, please
send them my way. The percussion judges expressed a desire to retire the Tanner #1 as it is time for something new, plus
a student would be playing the same thing for four years giving upper classmen an advantage over under classmen. The multiple
percussion piece should change every year just like the required solo.
Sam Mooore-Young
All State Auditions Co-Chair
_____________________________
Tri-M Report
The following schools have active Tri-M chapters at
this time: Berwick Academy, Dexter, Ellsworth,
Foxcroft, Kennebunk, Messalonskee, Penobscot Valley,
Socapee Valley and Washington Academy.
The ribbons we discussed in place stoles for the
all-state festival looks like a good solution. The
ribbons are $1 each and are available from MENC.
I'm also attaching a proposed new award category that
we will discuss at the meeting. This is unrelated to
Tri-M but thought I would include it so people could
review it before the meeting.
See you Sunday,
Alice Sullivan
MMEA Music Educators Appreciation Award
Purpose:
To give recognition to an individual or organization
for exceptional support and outstanding
contributions to the advancement of music education in
the schools of Maine.
Eligibility:
A nominee, living or deceased, active or retired,
should be or should have been:
1. An individual or organization who has made a
long-standing significant
contribution to the school music programs in
Maine.
2. An individual or organization who has
demonstrated a concern for music
education by active involvement in local,
district, regional, or national
professional music organizations.
3. An active member of the music education
community for a period of not
less than twenty years.
Method of Nomination:
Any member of MMEA may nominate a person deemed
worthy of this special recognition for contributions
to music education in the State of
Maine.
Nomination must include:
1. General Information Form (next page)
2. A letter of nomination
3. A biographical sketch
4. Additional letters of support from
administrators, supervisors,parents,
colleagues, members of the community, or
current or former students may
be submitted
5. Names, addresses or phone numbers of 2-3
individuals who may be
contacted as references and/or for further
information
Deadline for submissions is March 1.
Number of Awards to be presented annually:
There is no limitation to the number of awards each
year.
Presentation:
The award or awards will be presented during the
annual MMEA In-Service
Conference.
Submission:
All materials must be submitted by the nominator in
one stapled packet to:
Faith Varney
69 Falmouth Road
Falmouth, Maine 04105-1841
General Information Form
Name of Nominee:
____________________________________________________
Nominee’s Position or
Title:______________________________________________
Institution/Organization Represented (if
any):__________________________________
Mailing Address of
Nominee:_____________________________________________
Telephone of
Nominee:_________________________________________________
Name of
Nominator:____________________________________________________
Membership Number of
Nominator:________________________________________
Mailing Address of
Nominator:____________________________________________
Telephone of
Nominator:________________________email:____________________
Has the nominee been told of this nomination? (Y)
(N)
Can you arrange for the nominee to be at the Annual
Banquet if he/she is to receive the
award? (Y) (N)
--------------------------
Government Relations
The legislature will be on break the week of vacation. There is an opening on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 for someone to bring
a group in to do “The National Anthem” and play before hand in the dome. Anyone interested? Know anyone interested?
Conference
The workshop sessions are coming together nicely. There should be a wide variety of clinics to choose from. We can begin
to schedule as soon as we have the rooms confirmed at the University.
I will have workshop forms at the meeting Sunday – these need to be filled out if you would like to chair a meeting,
etc. that needs to go into the conference schedule. Please do not assume that because it was there in the past that it will
automatically appear.
We hope to have a conference brochure to mail out by the end of February.
------------------------
General Music Report
We have a great line up for the conference!!!! Please encourage the General Music Teachers in your schools to come!!! We
will be doing a special mailing to them.
Thank you,
Nancy Cash-Cobb
------------------------
Jazz Report
Hello Everyone,
We just recently completed the All State Jazz Weekend and all was quite successful. Thanks to Bangor High School for hosting.
During this weekend the winter "State Jazz Activities" meeting was held. Receiving high marks this year was the completion
and use of our own Recordings
for All State Jazz Auditions. Having these available online was also a huge success. We do have to make all of our materials
available immediately at the start of the year for All State Jazz Auditions as many schools in Aroostook county did not receive
information until the
week they were going on their harvest break. Managers were selected for next year's All State Jazz Ensembles.
Dexter will be hosting next fall's All State Jazz Auditions as they have an inservice day and can make their facility available
for the full day.
It was decided that the State High School Instrumental Jazz Festival should move back to the third weekend in March for the
event date. This was the traditional date of the festival that we had moved away from due to Basketball conflicts. Basketball
has now restructured and
so that weekend has become more open. This move was also made due to the State of Maine's use of SAT testing for Juniors.
I also met with all District and State Jazz Festival Hosts and distributed all materials for their respective festivals.
I continue to remind members of the jazz education community that I will be completing my term this year as Jazz VP and that
it is a great opportunity to serve the students of our state. No one has offered to take the position yet but I have no doubt
that someone very capable will do so.
We are looking forward to "KJOS" composer/educator, Dean Sorenson presenting several clinics at conference this spring.
I am looking forward to a busy, fun and exciting festival season and spring conference.
Respectfully,
Dean Neal
MMEA Jazz V.P.
-----------------------
Treasurer's Report
Thanks to Dean Neal for his support with Jazz Financials. his willingness to take a signed check and fill in the blanks
to those who need payment at the Jazz events has been very helpful to MMEA and myself.
Thanks to Nancy C-Cobb for her willingness to do what all VP's should do with financials and that is: She collected $$$
for GM Workshop; She created an ivoice and billed those PO's; deposited the $$ into the KeyBank account with a Checking account
# supplied by myself; and delivered all
records to me in a timely fashion!
With the help and support of all VP's the Treasurer's job and Assistant's job (if approved) will certainly be a much more
manageable task for who ever steps into those positions.
Taxes are almost complete according to our accountant. 1099-misc forms will; be mailed out to 29 people as soon as the envelopes
become back in stock at Office Max.
Hope all is well!
See you Sunday!
Mike
-----------------------
Technology Report - January 2006
I spoke with Diane Ballon at UMA concerning the use of the ITV system (remote meeting sites). They cannot do a weekend and
even evenings are questionable. I don't forsee the system working for us for Board meetings. Having online meetings might
be a better solution, but that would mean making sure that we have an internet connection available to us wherever the majority
of us meet. (Leaving out the MEA buildings!)
The fee for meeting during the available hours is $110 fee for a person to run the system. Then $50 per room times the number
of hours of the meeting. Not cost effective even if you take mileage into consideration. We might need as many as 4 sites.
The time schedule is also of concern.
We can, however, use the compressed video system to do something such as workshop or presentations. That can be negotiated
in the future.
There will be several technology offerings at the conference. Roger Whitney is checking into the availability of various things.
Final offerings will be posted when the contracts are signed, sealed and delivered.
Online chat is still and always available through the website for small committee meetings or large group meetings. Set a
time and log into the site. You can find the Chat Room on the Executive Board page. Just click on the Live Chat button, pick
a name to be seen by and you are ready to go! Remember to copy your dialogue before signing out if you want to have a running
record of your meeting. District 3 will be utilizing the Chat Room for a discussion surrounding their Elementary Festival
in the near future. Please feel free to use the Room, but if you have an upcoming meeting scheduled there, please let me know
so that we don't double book the Virtual Boardroom!
Website materials are posted as received. If you see an error in your travels through the website, please let me know. If
your link has not been updated recently, please consider providing me with some new material to put on your page (Jazz, General
Music, Members in the News, District sites that I maintain and the like) If there is something that you are not finding on
the website - like a form that you or someone else needs, please let me know. The volume of forms and information that I need
to be sure is up to date is overwhelming!! Just tell me you can't download it or it's the wrong form or what have you.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Packales
Technology Chair
|
