VOLUME 76

NUMBER 1

FALL 2015

CECIL WILDER

THE RATINGSGAME

BOARD MINUTES AROUND THE STATE DIVISION NEWS

ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAMUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAMTAMMY HAWK

IT AIN’T ON THE JUDGES SHEET...LLOYD MCDONALD

GEORGIAMUSIC NEWS

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IN THIS ISSUE...President

Dr. John Odom

Immediate Past PresidentFrank Folds

Vice-President of All State Events

Tracy Wright

Vice-President of Performance Evaluation Events

Richard Prouty

Past Presidents’ RepresentativeDr. Bernadette Scruggs

Executive DirectorCecil Wilder

Band Division ChairNeil Ruby

Choral Division ChairWes Stoner

College Division ChairDr. Laura Stambaugh

Elementary Division ChairVictoria Knowles

Orchestra Division ChairSarah Black

Piano Division ChairDr. Joanna Kim

District Chairs1 - Kenza Murray

2 - Andrew C. Bell3 - Jonathan Carmack

4 - D. Alan Fowler5 - Carolyn Landreau

6 - Samuel Miller7 - Bob Steelnack

8 - Catheryn Shaw9 - Pat Gallagher

10 - Gene Hundley11 - C. Lloyd McDonald

12 - Paula Krupiczewicz13 - Lee Newman

14 - Dion Muldrow

Editor, Georgia Music News

For the complete list of Board Members please visit:

GMEA StaffAleta Womack

Brandie Barbee

Ryan Barbee

GMN Advertising/ExhibitorsCindy Reed

© Copyright 2015 by the

Georgia Music Educators Association

Printing by Priority Press, Stockbridge, GAAll pieces reproduced in this issue are under prior copyright

of the creators and publisher by the contractual arrange-ments. Nothing shown may be reproduced in any form without obtaining the permission of the publisher and

any other person or company who may have copyright ownership.

Five strategies for developing the

characteristic sound.

The Clarinet Embouchure Decoded

THE GMEA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

30

What will your student’s leave

school with? Great talent? An

appreciation for music events?

District 11 Chair, Lloyd McDonald,

reflects on the lasting impact that

music programs have on students.

32 Victoria Enloe

Photos provided by Andy Edwards of Ace of PhotosVisit aceofphotos.smugmug.com

18

18 District News

21 University News

Around the State

It Ain’t On TheJudges’ Sheet

34Dr. Bernadette Scruggs

4 The President Speaks

6 Board Meeting Minutes

12 Division News

28 The Ratings Game

Music education is integral to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s mission, “connecting people of all ages to high quality symphonic music.” Learn about the wide variety of programs offered by the ASO Center for Music Education this school year.

22ASOEducational Programs

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CONTACT CINDY REEDCINDYR@GMEA.ORG

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Mevonnie Biggins gives readers five strategies

for developing the characteristic sound of the

clarinet. (Page 30)

FEATUREDCONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Mevonnie Biggins

Division ChairsThe GMEA Division Chairs welcome back

their respective divisions for the 2015-2016

school year. (Page 12)

BE A CONTRIBUTING WRITER!SEND YOUR ARTICLE TO Victoria Enloevictoria_enloe@gwinnett.k12.ga.us

The GMEA Executive Director, Cecil Wilder,

shares his thoughts on Large Group Perfor-

mance Evaluation events and their effect on

directors. (Page 28)

Cecil Wilder

Music education is integral to the Atlanta

Symphony Orchestra’s mission, “connecting

people of all ages to high quality symphonic

music.” Learn about the wide variety of pro-

grams offered by the ASO Center for Music

Education this school year. (Page 22)

Tammy Hawk

District 11 Chair, Lloyd McDonald, reflects on

the lasting impact that music programs have

on students. (Page 32)

Lloyd McDonald

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS

ASSOCIATIONNEWS

As I begin my two year term

as GMEA president, I want to thank you

for your vote of confidence and for this

opportunity to lead a body of some of the

finest music educators in the country.

I look at the next two years not only as

an opportunity to lead, but much more as

an opportunity to serve. I feel extremely

humbled to be placed in a position that has been held by many of our

state’s most accomplished music educators and leaders and pray that

God will give me the wisdom and discernment to serve you as well as

they have in the past. It is my sincerest hope that the years to come

are a time of continued growth for our organization, which sees each

young life that has been entrusted to us, regardless of any demograph-

ic, socio-economic status, or academic potential, as a life to be shaped

and molded into a future contributor and leader in our society. We, as

music educators, have known for decades that music shapes the whole

student; that music study increases the development of other academic

skills and has been proven to be a contributor in higher standardized

test scores. Let us continue to move forward as music educators as we

take on the mission to employ music in shaping the lives behind those

scores.

DR. JOHN ODOM, GMEA PRESIDENT

As each fall approaches, I hope you feel the same

excitement that I still feel after 28 years as a music educator.

Of course, after all these years, there is a good deal less fear

with each coming school year, but the excitement of new op-

portunities and challenges is always paramount. To our young

and first year music educators, let me confirm to you that you

have chosen a profession that has countless rewards that no

other profession can offer. There will be mountains to climb

and long stretches of road that may seem endless, but stay the

course. Continue to impart to every student your love for mu-

sic and encourage them to embrace their music as a gift, what-

ever level their skill and experience. Let GMEA help! Don’t feel

like you are an island unto yourself. Seek out fellow GMEA

members around you who have stayed that course and have

seen years of these challenges. If you are new to the area, con-

tact me or any of our GMEA leadership and let us help guide

you. It is my hope that you will reach out any time you need

answers or direction. Let this organization serve you in what-

ever capacity will help you to feel successful and embrace a

sense of accomplishment in your role as music educator.

To all of our membership, I challenge you in the

coming year to take an active role in our organization. GMEA

is YOU! Every person in leadership, from the president to each

vice-president to each division chair and beyond, is an every-

day teacher just like you. We all face the same challenges with

students, parents, administrations, communities. We ask the

same questions, seek the same solutions. Make your district

meetings a priority on your busy calendar and, as the year pro-

gresses, take the time to share your concerns with each district

and state leader.

CHECK OUT YOUR DISTRICT’S NEWSPAGE 18

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ASSOCIATION NEWS_

HISTORIANWelcome to all our mem-

bers and our newly elected state of-

ficers, as we open up 2015-2016 and

prepare to make History!

History can be an interest-

ing subject, as it tells us how we be-

came who we are today. For instance,

maybe you have noted that we

change our state GMEA elected lead-

ership every two years, always on

odd numbered years (2015,2017,2019,

etc.), and, even though we change our

DERIK CLACKUM, GMEA HISTORIAN

GMEA is a constantly growing and evolving organiza-

tion that seeks to meet the needs of the membership statewide. To

an even greater degree, you are part of a national organization that

is making extraordinary strides in promoting and developing mu-

sic education in our country. I know that I did not realize the scope

of what the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

encompassed until I became actively involved. As I attended the

National Leadership Assembly in Washington D.C. this past June, I

saw an organization that is working tirelessly at the national level

to serve each of us as music educators at the local level. One ex-

ample is advocacy. NAfME is constantly on the forefront in the

political arena that involves music education. NAfME has had a

large role in the push for legislation involving the “Every Child

Achieves Act of 2015” (S. 1177). As I write this, the Senate has just

passed S.1777, which now moves it to conference committee with

the House of Representatives. The Senate bill includes music and

arts as core academic subjects! Did we ever think that we would

see this type of legislation in our lifetime? This example is only a

small portion of what our national organization is doing to aid each

of us at the local level. I urge each of us to take advantage of what

NAfME and GMEA have to offer and also encourage us all to give

back to each of these organizations by being actively involved.

I want to close this article by urging every member to

place January 28-30, 2016, on your calendar for the annual In-Ser-

vice Conference at the Classic Center in Athens. I know many of us

have strong ties and feelings about Savannah, but I have been ex-

citedly overwhelmed by what the facilities at the Classic Center are

going to allow us to accomplish in serving you at the conference.

Don’t miss the amazing first year that the planning committee has

prepared for you in Athens. You will not be disappointed. There

will be many more details in our next issue of the GMN as we move

closer to the event.

Once again, thank you for the privilege and honor of

serving you the next two years as your president. As we move

ahead, I look forward to great things in our organization in encour-

aging music learning, creating, studying, and enjoyment for every

young life we touch in our profession.

district GMEA elected leadership every two years, we do this on even

numbered years (2014, 2016, 2018, etc.). This practice is a product of

our GMEA history, as this odd/even system was gradually developed

to insure a smooth transition from year to year.

This wasn’t always the practice, however, and terms were

not always a two-year time period. Over the years, our organization

has experimented with several lengths of leadership terms and for-

mats. Through this process of experimentation, we came upon the

idea that two year terms were more efficient for a member-based or-

ganization. In addition, we realized that staggering the terms of our

state and district officers (in odd/even years) would help stabilize our

organization.

District Information Needed - Again this year, I will seek

to compile more historical information about our district activities. I

want to en-courage every district chair and committee/activity

chair to send me copies of all meeting minutes, honor group

programs, and LGPE pro-grams, as well as any information about

special recognitions that per-forming groups in your district have

received. I have already estab-lished a folder system for each

district’s information, and I hope we will fill those folders for

2015-2016.

As history happens in your district, I

want you to send me documentation.

In looking through our GMEA ar-

chives, I note that information about

our district activities has been a pri-

ority during some decades, but, sad-

ly, not in others, leaving us with an

incomplete picture of our past. While

our state-wide activities are of great

importance, we need to remember

that it is in the districts where the

water meets the wheel.

I hope we can all make keeping re-

cords of our 2015-2016 activities a

priority this year. We are already

making outstanding progress in the

cause of Music Education in Georgia.

Let’s just remember to document our

achievements in our GMEA archives.

5

BOARD MEETING MINUTES• The meeting was called to order by President Frank Folds at 10:00.

THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS WERE PRESENT:Frank Folds-President, Kerry Bryant-Vice President for All State

Events, Carl Rieke-Vice President for Performance Evaluations, John

Odom-President-Elect, Bernadette Scruggs-Past Presidents’ Council

Representative, Cecil Wilder-Executive Director, Neil Ruby-Band

Division Chair, Wes Stoner-Choral Division Chair-Elect (for Jeff

Funderburk-Choral Division Chair), Laura Stambaugh-College Di-

vision Chair-Elect (for Carol Benton-College Division Chair), Karen

Leamon-Elementary Division Chair, Nicole Thompson-Orchestra Di-

vision Chair, Donna Dasher-Piano Division Chair, Andrew Bell-Dis-

trict Two Chair, Jonathan Carmack-District Three Chair, Alan Fowl-

er-District Four Chair, Carolyn Landreau-District Five Chair, Samuel

Miller-District Six Chair, Bob Steelnack-District Seven Chair, Steve

Myers-District Eight Chair, Pat Gallagher-District Nine Chair, Lloyd

McDonald-District Eleven Chair, Paula Krupiczewicz-District Twelve

Chair, Jason Atha-District Thirteen Chair-Elect, Craig Cantrell – Dis-

trict Fourteen Chair, Skip Taylor – member-at-large, Sue McDonald –

member-at-large, Victoria Enloe – Editor, Georgia Music News, Harry

Bergwall – Representative, Georgia School Music Dealers Association.

THE FOLLOWING GUESTS WERE PRESENT: Vicki Knowles – Elementary Division Chair-Elect,

Tracy Wright – Vice President for Performance Evaluations – Elect.

• The minutes of the May 17, 2014 board meeting were approved as

submitted.

THE FOLLOWING ACTION ITEMS WERE DISCUSSED AND VOTED ON:

• A proposal from the Executive Committee to amend the appeals pro-

cess for late fees for event applications as follows:

• No appeal for reimbursement of late fees can be

submitted to the appeals committee until after

the applicant has completed the application and

submitted payment of all fees, including late fees.

• Late applications must be paid with credit cards or

electronic funds transfers. No checks will be accepted.

• All appeals of late fees must be submitted in writing

and signed by the director and principal.

• In cases where the appeals committee approves the

reimbursement all late fees will be returned. In cases

where the appeal is denied no reimbursement will be made.

• The appeals committee may not recommend partial

reimbursement of late fees, only complete reimbursement

or no reimbursement. Other than that the procedure for

review by the appeals committee will remain as before.

A teacher may only request a refund of late fees once

during any three-year period. After a request has been

made no other request will be accepted for three

school years. This rule will apply even if the teacher

changes schools in that the three-year-limit applies

to the teacher, not the school. It also will apply whether

or not the appeal is approved.

• It will be the responsibility of the GMEA office to

maintain accurate records of all appeals.

• Beginning thirty days after the event deadline,

no late applications can be accepted for any

reason, even with the payment of late fees.

This in not appealable.

The proposal passed unanimously and will take effect immediately.

• A proposal from the Executive Committee to clarify the policy for

payment of LGPE adjudicators as follows:

• If all or part of an event is cancelled due to

weather issues after the judge arrives on site

they will be paid full pay for all groups judged

and 1/2 pay for all groups that were cancelled due

to weather. In cases where the entire event is

cancelled and the judge has not yet arrived on

site no payment will be due them.

• Judges will no longer be paid on site at the

conclusion of the event. Their honorarium will

be mailed to them after the event along with

their expense reimbursement.

• The reimbursement will still be paid with a

separate check for tax reasons.

• Note: The reasons for this change are as follows:

• The addition of two additional weeks

in mid-February for LGPE events

has made it difficult to impossible for

the bookkeeper to generate the checks

for those early events prior to the

event and get them mailed out in time

for the organizer to have them prior to

the event at the same time as having

to pay bills and write checks for the

In Service Conference and

Statewide Honor Chorus event.

• Having those events that early in

February increases the possibility

of weather related event cancellation.

Since judges are paid by the judging

hour that can cause all the judges’

checks to be incorrect and have to be

sent back to the office and rewritten.

• We have too many cases where

judges are changed at the last minute and

judges are hired to fill in for part of an

event, also causing checks to be incorrect

and rewritten.

• Many organizers do not send in

their judges list until the last minute,

making it difficult for the bookkeeper to

get the checks written and mailed out in

time for on-site payment.

• Note: Starting next year organizers will not be

able to start scheduling their event until they have

filled in the names of their judges in Opus.

The proposal passed by a vote of 25 to 1, with the provision that the board must revisit the issue at the 2016 meeting to reassess negative effects, if any, that are caused by the changes.

MARRIOTT COURTYARD HOTELMCDONOUGH, GAMAY 16, 2015

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ASSOCIATION NEWS_

• A proposal from the Executive Committee that ensembles not able

to perform at their LGPE event due to cancellation of the part of the

event when they were to perform due to weather the school will be

reimbursed half of fees paid on request from the teacher. After dis-

cussion that failed to produce any consensus on the matter Frank

Folds offered a motion to table the proposal until a committee can fur-

ther study it and bring a revised proposal back to the board for a vote.

President Folds appointed a committee consisting of Kerry Bryant, Ja-

son Atha, and Victoria Enloe. Their deadline for submitting a revised

proposal will be July 1, 2015. The board will then vote on the revised

proposal via email. If the revised proposal passes it will become policy

beginning with the 2015-2016 school year.

The motion to table as spelled out here passed unanimously.

• A proposal from the Band Division to send out a recap sheet to all

directors after final round all state auditions - In late November/early

December, provide districts with the sent/made AS percentages from

the previous year. Hopefully, that would encourage districts to make

thoughtful decisions regarding the students that are sent to the sec-

ond round.

Concerns were expressed that this data would create perceptions

among districts that are neither accurate nor fair. It was further

pointed out that, in some districts that use the first all state audition

scores to select their honor bands, there are students who take the

auditions strictly in the hope of being selected for the honor band and

that this can skew the data. It was also pointed out that other strate-

gies have been tried in the past to affect the large numbers of students

being sent to the second auditions and none of them have worked.

The proposal failed by a vote of 3-23.

• Proposal from the Band Division to make score sheets from different

state marching festivals available on the GMEA website for directors

to have the flexibility to provide the current GMEA sheets for their

contest, or choose their own based on other states evaluation meth-

ods.

• Rationale: The different score sheets allows directors

to choose the method of adjudication for their band.

This helps the scoring be tailored more directly to the

bands’ weaknesses or strengths.

Ensuing discussion focused on whether we should be this involved in

an area where we do not sponsor any events and whether we should

continue to vet in-state marching contests for the purpose of ascer-

taining whether or not they conform to “GMEA standards”. It was

pointed out that, even if the people running these events actually

meet the standards we require of them, we have no way to police that,

and that this process has largely become a way for marching events to

purchase advertising in return for the $150 fee they pay.

It was pointed out that we should not use the online materials (score

sheets) of other music associations without first securing their per-

mission as a matter of professional courtesy. It was also pointed out

that our logo and name are registered service marks owned by us and

that they represent our bona fides, our brand, and our reputation and

may not be used for any purposes other than on connection with our

activities and purposes (it was requested that we put our logo on the

forms from other states).

John Odom questioned whether this is a board issue since it does not represent an association policy. It was decided that it is not and the proposal was dismissed by President Frank Folds and will be dealt with by the Executive Committee, which is charged with the day-to-day running of the association.

• Proposal from the Choral Division to allow High School choirs to

perform a split program at LGPE. The parameters would be as follows:

• Directors would be able to declare a split program

between adjacent classifications only (AB, BC, CD) AC, BD

would not be allowed.

• Clarification: If a split program is declared, both pieces

would obviously have to be on their respective lists. No

selected piece not on any list would be allowed.

• The ensemble would sight read at the lower level of the

split. For example, a choir that declares AB would

sight read the class B example in the appropriate voicing.

• Choirs will still be able to declare a straight class A, B, C,

or D program, as is currently the case. No changes will

be made to the standing guidelines if a choir selects a

straight program. They will with the approval of the head

adjudicator.

The proposal passed by a vote of 24-0 with 2 abstentions.

• A proposal from the Piano Division as follows:

• Participation in GMEA Piano All-State may be denied for

a period of one year for any student who accepts, then

declines (without sufficient cause), after their name has

been printed in the In-Service Conference Program.

• Cause would include: severe illness and death in the

family, in which documented proof may be required. The

Piano Division Chair will send a letter to the teacher to

explain the decision, with a copy to the All-State Chair.

The decision may be appealed to the All-State Chair,

whose decision will be final.

• A file will be maintained by the Piano Division Chair of

all letters sent denying student participation for the

following year in the All-State event.

The proposal passed unanimously.

• A proposal from the Piano Division as follows:

• Participation in GMEA All-State may be denied to any

piano teacher who exhibits unethical and

unprofessional practices. These practices would include:

falsifying information on student applications, not

participating in the All-State event, and attending

In-Service Conference sessions (which include recitals

and master classes) without paying Conference fees.

A letter of reprimand will be sent by the Piano Division

Chair to any teacher found to exhibit unethical or

unprofessional behaviors. Three letters within a

five-year period will result in the teacher losing the

privilege to participate in the GMEA All-State event for a

period of one year, including the ability to enter any

students in the event. A copy of the letter will be sent

to the Ethics Chair and the All-State Chair. A file will

be maintained by the Piano Division Chair which will

include all letters sent. If three letters have been sent

within a five year period, the third letter will state that

the teacher will not be able to participate in the

All-State event the following year. Appeals may be

made to the Ethics Chair, whose decision will be final.

The proposal passed unanimously.

7

BOARD MEETING MINUTES (CONTINUED)• Constitutionally required presidential appointments, as presented

by President-Elect John Odom were approved as follows:

• Awards – John Odom

• Collegiate NAFME - Mary Land

• Government Relations – Peter Lemonds

• Ethics - Jay Wucher

• Guitar – Luther Enloe

• Historian - Derik Clackum

• MIOSM - Bonita Thomie

• Multi-Cultural Awareness - Roland Ventura

• Research- Brandon Tucker

• Technology - Pat Gallagher

• Retired Members –Fritz Siler

• Members at-large – Skip Taylor and Sue McDonald

• Editor, GMN – Victoria Enloe

• The 2015-2016 statewide calendar was approved with amendments

as follows:

• The deadline for all state band applications was moved

to October 6.

• The information for piano concerto competition was

removed since that only takes place every other year.

• The following items were presented for information purposes only

since they do not require board approval and have been passed by the

Executive Committee:

• Beginning next year, districts will no longer submit a

list of choices for LGPE head judges for the office to

pick from. They will simply contact them in the same

way as their remaining three judges. When we started

using the office as a clearinghouse it was because there

was a shortage of choral and orchestra head judges.

That situation no longer exists so there is no need for

that extra step in the process.

• In the future we will do Certified Adjudicator retraining

in the form of an online test, administered via Survey

Monkey. The adjudicators will log in and take the test

(open book) at their leisure as long as they complete it

before the specified deadline. They will be required to

answer all questions correctly in order to pass. All

questions will be of a general nature and should not

present a problem to any of them. They will be allowed

to retake the test if they need to. Training of new

certified adjudicators, if and when those are appointed,

will be done in the same way as in the past.

• Starting next year, late fees will become standardized for

all event applications as follows:

• An initial late fee of $25.00 per application

(not per student for all state as is now the case)

on the first day after the deadline. After

that the late fee will increase by $5.00 per day

per application. This fee structure will also

apply to all state acceptance fees. After thirty

calendar days past the deadline,

no applications can be accepted for any reason.

• Beginning next year, solo ensemble fees will be

restructured so that the ensemble fee will be per group,

not per student. The fee for an ensemble and the fee for

a solo will be the same. There are two reasons for

these changes. Having ensemble fees calculated on a

per student basis causes much confusion and many

errors on the part of members. As for making the fee

consistent across the board, all entries are allotted the

same time, therefore the cost for each is the same

(except that most solo entries require a piano, making

them more expensive). The fee per entry for 2015-2016

will be $12.00.

Note: The question was asked whether this same

logic could and should be applied to LGPE fees. It was

noted by Cecil Wilder that this question had been

addressed in the past but that no action had ever been

taken. It was also stated that some members had taken

exception to the sharp increase in solo fees and that

they (or their students) might not be able to pay that

amount and might not be able to participate. It was

stated that the Executive Committee would add both

these concerns to the agenda for their next meeting

in August.

• It was announced that beginning next year the solo

ensemble application process would be done through Opus.

• An interim financial and student participation report was

presented by Cecil Wilder.

• Written and oral reports were taken.

• Certificates and pins were presented to outgoing board members.

Frank Folds was presented a plaque of appreciation for his service as

president. It was announced that Executive Director Cecil Wilder had

been nominated as by the GMEA Executive Committee as an NAfME

Lowell Mason Fellow and that he had been selected for the award.

• The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Cecil Wilder, Executive Director

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ASSOCIATION NEWS_

2015-2016 GMEABUDGET BUDGET  SUMMARY  HISTORY  AND  PROJECTION

BUDGET  SUMMARY  2014-­‐2015BUDGET  PROJECTION  2015-­‐2016

INCOME  2015 EXPENSE  2015 SURPLUS/DEFICIT INCOME  2016 EXPENSE  2016 SURPLUS/DEFICITMembership Dues 59,006.16$                 59,006.16$                     59,000.00$                       59,000.00$                  Medals and Plaques 87,537.03$                 68,179.52$                 19,357.51$                     85,000.00$                       67,000.00$                   18,000.00$                  Georgia Music News 13,147.50$                 43,474.92$                 (30,327.42)$                   13,000.00$                       32,000.00$                   (19,000.00)$                Non-GMEA Festival Fees 4,950.00$                     4,950.00$                         5,000.00$                           5,000.00$                        In Service Conference 354,643.35$             271,621.57$             83,021.78$                     308,000.00$                   240,050.00$               67,950.00$                  Performance Evaluations 490,467.32$             296,333.85$             194,133.47$                 485,000.00$                   297,000.00$               188,000.00$              All State Events 483,588.25$             358,106.45$             125,481.80$                 500,625.00$                   377,500.00$               123,125.00$              Royalties 1,936.10$                     1,936.10$                         2,000.00$                           2,000.00$                        Interest Income 3,136.12$                     3,136.12$                         3,000.00$                           3,000.00$                        Other Income -­‐$                                           -­‐$                                          Scholarships 4,000.00$                     (4,000.00)$                       4,000.00$                       (4,000.00)$                    Board Expense 6,804.14$                     (6,804.14)$                       6,500.00$                       (6,500.00)$                    Executive Committee Expense 15,905.01$                 (15,905.01)$                   10,000.00$                   (10,000.00)$                Council Expense 3,805.47$                     (3,805.47)$                       4,000.00$                       (4,000.00)$                    CNAfME -­‐$                                             500.00$                               (500.00)$                            OfficeExpense 144,495.03$             (144,495.03)$               140,850.00$               (140,850.00)$            Employee Expense 232,683.90$             (232,683.90)$               239,046.43$               (239,046.43)$            Online Application Project 27,325.38$                 (27,325.38)$                   30,000.00$                   (30,000.00)$                Handbok Expense -­‐$                                           -­‐$                                          Archives/Historian 1,407.28$                     (1,407.28)$                       2,000.00$                       (2,000.00)$                    Awards 36.58$                                 (36.58)$                                   400.00$                               (400.00)$                            TOTALS 1,498,411.83$       1,474,179.10$     24,232.73$                     1,460,625.00$             1,450,846.43$       9,778.57$                        

BUDGET SUMMARY HISTORY AND PROJECTION

OFFICE AND EMPLOYMENT EXPENSE REPORT

OFFICE  EXPENSE  REPORT

OFFICE  AND  EMPLOYEE  EXPENSE  REPORT

2015 2016Executive Director 61,000.08$         62,220.08$              Office Manager 52,991.82$         54,051.66$              Ass't to the Executve Director 48,193.28$         49,157.15$              Publications Director 46,010.12$         48,430.32$              Total Salaries 208,195.30$   213,859.20$          Benefits, Insurance and retirement 8,694.72$             8,761.59$                  FICA, Medicare, and Unemployment Tax 15,793.88$         16,425.64$              Total Employee expense 232,683.90$   239,046.43$           Taxes and Licenses 249.99$                   250.00$                        Accounting and Legal Fees 13,434.40$         12,000.00$              Bank Charges 24,099.35$         25,000.00$              Computer and Technology 10,190.21$         7,500.00$                  Donations and contributions 484.94$                   200.00$                        Dues and Subscriptions 495.00$                   500.00$                        Executive Travel and Development 2,740.36$             1,500.00$                  Insurance General 4,739.00$             4,800.00$                  Insurance Workmens' Comp 743.00$                   750.00$                        Internet Services 19,548.48$         20,000.00$              Miscellaneous Expense 1,313.01$             500.00$                        Office Machine Leases 7,566.73$             9,000.00$                  Operating Expense 6,258.88$             6,000.00$                  Outside Services 2,750.00$             2,750.00$                  Printing Expense -­‐$                              Postage 6,209.61$             6,000.00$                  Property Taxes -­‐$                              Rent 35,200.00$         35,200.00$              Staff Development -­‐$                               250.00$                        Telephone 4,736.17$             4,700.00$                  Travel 5.00$                             150.00$                        Repairs and Maintenance -­‐$                              Leadersip Training -­‐$                              Utilities 3,730.90$             3,800.00$                  Total Administrative Expense 144,495.03$   140,850.00$          Total Employee and Administrative Exp. 377,178.93$   379,896.43$          

CASH  POSITION  AS  OF  JUNE  30,  2015

1

23,374.98    $          282,249.86    $    

1,995.36    $              

307,620.20    $    

checking  account  balance  reserve  savings

scholarship  money  market  account

total  assets

CASH  POSITION  AS  OF  JUNE  30,  2015

CASH POSITION AS OF JUNE 30, 2015

9

(678) 839-6516

music@westga.edu

westga.edu/music

AuditionsSaturday, January 23, 2016

Monday, February 15, 2016 Destination: Music

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Sunday, April 17, 2016

UWG Preview DaysNov. 1, 2015

Jan. 31, 2016

Apr. 10, 2016

Bachelor of Music• Music Education

• Performance- opt. Piano Pedagogy Emphasis

- opt. Jazz Studies Emphasis

• Composition

Initial Certification

Master of Music• Music Education - 100% online!

• Performance

Minor in Music

School of the Arts

Departmentof Music

College of Arts and HumanitiesMusic

An Accredited Institutional Member of the National Association of Schools of Music

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18th Annual Conductors WorkshopNovember 20 & 21, 2015

Begins Friday afternoon and continues through Saturday evening

Large and Chamber Ensemble Conducting SessionsLectures and Panel Discussions

Conductor ($225) | Auditor ($75) | SDU (add $10)

Click “2015 Conductors Workshop” at music.columbusstate.edu/windensembleWorkshop details, downloadable brochure, and on-line registration available

For questions, email Jamie Nix at nix_jamie@columbusstate.edu or call 706-649-7252

Craig Kirchhoff

Steven Davis

Jamie Nix

Schwob School of MuSic | Columbus state uNiversity (Ga)

www.Columbusstate.edu/music

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DIVISIONNEWS

Summer is officially over and it’s

time to get back to the classroom, concert

stage and football field! I hope everyone

found an opportunity to recharge his

or her batteries and is looking forward

to a new school year. The beginning of

each school year is an exciting time as

we welcome back our students after a

long break. It is our chance to build upon

things that worked well last year and an

opportunity to improve things that did not.

I hope everyone is making plans to attend our Inaugural In-Ser-

vice Conference in beautiful Athens, Georgia! Although we will all miss our

time in Savannah, this will be an exciting conference, with new opportuni-

ties. This year we were able to schedule more concerts and clinics than ever

before. The band division will be well represented in all areas, including an

expanded number of clinics/performances in the areas of Jazz and Percus-

sion, something that has been needed for some time. In order for the ISC to

be successful and for the number of offerings to continue to expand, we all

need to attend and support these clinics and performances. You will not be

disappointed!

One of the many challenges band directors face each year is

earning buy-in from all stakeholders associated with their programs. Sup-

port from students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community

members is necessary for a program to grow and thrive. In my opinion,

the most important task in getting others to “go the extra mile” for your

band program is COMMUNICATION. Coach Mike Krzyzewski states, “Ef-

fective teamwork begins and ends with communication.” Communication

is also a key ingredient in what I like to call “The Happiness Cycle.” Happy

band directors foster happy students. Happy students foster happy parents.

Happy parents foster happy administrators. And, you guessed it, happy ad-

ministrators foster happy band directors! This cycle will ultimately have a

positive effect in the community support for your band program. Before

others will go the extra mile for the band program, they must first see the

DIRECTOR giving 100% and going the extra mile for the program, school,

and community.

In this article, I would like to focus on three of these stakeholder

groups: teachers, administrators, and the community. I think we would all

agree that what we put into our programs determines their level of quality

and that what we invest in our school and community also impacts the

success of our programs.

BAND DIVISIONNeil Ruby

Classroom teachers have some of the most difficult jobs

in education because, unlike band directors, they often have no

say in which students they teach. Students who chronically misbe-

have, have attendance issues, bad attitudes, and poor work ethics

will eventually be removed from a band program, but the class-

room teacher is still expected to teach those students on a daily

basis. Academic teachers need to know they have your support.

Sending a list of your band members to every teacher and let-

ting them know they have your complete support and that, yes,

academics do come before band will be a first step in extending

that support. Offer tutoring sessions for band members who are

struggling academically. This is a great way to not only help weak-

er students, but also to utilize the strengths of your advanced stu-

dents as peer tutors. Finally, support other activities in the school

by attending games and productions and volunteering at school

events. It is vital for band directors and coaches to get along and

support each other. Meet with your coaches to discuss goals. Learn

the game they coach and be supportive of the job they do. Help line

off fields, work admission gates and concessions. Ask the coach to

speak to your band program and/or parent booster club. We are all

in this together. With all the teachers and coaches in your school,

it is important to be a TEAM player and support what they do!

We would all agree that our jobs are so much easier

when we have supportive administrators. Conversely, unsupport-

ive administrators can make our jobs miserable. It is important

that the principal and band director have a positive working re-

lationship and know that they can count on the other for support.

Being organized, maintaining discipline within the band program,

and communicating with your principal will help build a strong,

positive, and long-lasting relationship. It is important for us to re-

member that the principal is in charge of the school, not the book-

keeper, custodians, or band director. Take the time to get to know

your principal and his/her vision for the school. Discuss your goals

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DIVISION NEWS_

Welcome back, Choral

Division! I hope that you have had

a restful and rejuvenating summer

break. I am honored to begin my

term as your choral division chair,

and look forward to two years of

diligent work to maintain the rich

tradition of choral music in our

state. Much work has already gone

into preparing this year’s choral

CHORAL DIVISIONWes Stoner

events, including All-State Reading Chorus, All-State Chorus,

Statewide Sixth Grade Honor Chorus, and the performances

and sessions at the 2016 In-Service Conference in Athens. As

you get your year started, check OPUS to identify deadlines

and other important dates. Don’t forget, you can pay all fees via

credit card, if that is easier for you. Also, one thing that tends to

slip many of our minds is remembering to renew our member-

ship on time. This can cause headaches for everyone, so stay on

top of it.

The biggest reminder I can give you is to read your

handbook. I know you are told every year, but it’s so important.

Make sure you familiarize yourself (again) with the All-State

Chorus audition rules and regulations, LGPE rules and regula-

tions, and any changes that have been made. All changes will be

in red print in the handbook. The biggest change, particularly to

LGPE rules, is the ability to perform a split program. I hope that

this change will allow programs to challenge their choirs, but at

a more reasonable increment. The specifics of this change will

be in the handbook.

Finally, I would like to thank Jeff Funderburk for all

that he did in leading our division. Working alongside him as

the chair-elect, I had the opportunity to see his love for the divi-

sion and the entire organization. Again, I look forward to work-

ing with the outstanding choral directors in our state! Have a

great fall!

for your program and the goals of your principal, and then see where

they can be aligned to be achieved. I think the main ingredient in

garnering future support from your principal is “AIR”: Always Invite

and Recognize! Include your principal in all communications with the

parents and community, and send both written and verbal invitations

to everything! Take every opportunity available, again in writing and

publicly, to thank your principal for ANY support he or she gives you

and your program. Principals deal most often with the “bad”, and they

will always appreciate the “good” that a supportive band director and

band program can give.

Cesar Chaves said, “We cannot seek achievement for our-

selves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community…

Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and

needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.” The bond between a

band program and the community is something special. The more we

can do to include our community members, the more support we will

ultimately receive from them. Participate in community events and

work hard to establish a positive identity in your community. Send

students to perform at community events, volunteer for charity activi-

ties, and select performances to involve the community. Communicate

upcoming performances and events, and, lastly, thank the community

often for the support they give your band program.

As we enter a new school year, I would like to encourage all

of us to take a moment to think about the incredible challenges and op-

portunities we have been given to help mold and shape our students’

futures. By combining passionate teaching and the help of fellow edu-

cators, parents, and the community, we CAN reach this ultimate goal. I

wish each of you the best in all your endeavors, and if I can ever be of

assistance to you or your program, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Neil Ruby

State Band Chair

2015-2016

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Back to school! As I type

this phrase, those three lovely words

are popping up everywhere. They

come with a mix of happy expecta-

tion and reluctance to give up the

freedom of summer; time to focus on

the happy expectation!

I love teaching and one of the many

reasons is that I get to start each

ELEMENTARY DIVISIONVictoria Knowles

August with high expectations. Each year brings something new

along with the chance to remember what worked well and what

needs to be adjusted. I am lucky enough to work with amazing peo-

ple in my building, my county and my state. I am looking forward

to getting to know even more of you as I begin this two year jour-

ney as state chair.

There are several changes coming this year. I am excited

about the move to Athens for our In-Service Conference. (But I will

miss Savannah as well!) I have always enjoyed learning in a work-

shop setting and love recalling the memories of people and places

as I plan lessons from session notes. The 2016 In-Service Confer-

ence will offer a great mix of outstanding Georgia educators and

experts from around the nation. Details will be coming soon.

The biggest change this year for our division is moving

Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus to February, when we will

share the Classic Center with the 6th grade honor chorus. The lay-

out of the Classic Center is going to work really well for us, and

I am sure you will be pleased with the fantastic opportunity this

offers your students. I am also certain there will be new problems

and that the men and women of the Elementary Division will meet

them with our typical Southern grace, charm and savvy.

Both of our clinicians are outstanding experts in ele-

mentary voices and repertoire. Ms. Angie Johnson is the artistic

director of the Young Naperville Singers in Illinois and is also the

ACDA Central Division Children’s Choir and Community Youth

Repertoire and Standards Chair. Fred Meads, Jr. is the director of

vocal studies for the American Boy Choir in Princeton, NJ. I am

looking forward to having my students learn under their guiding

influence.

Welcome to your new school year! I hope to see you at

Statewide Honor Chorus and the annual In-Service Conference.

As incoming College Di-

vision Chair, I would like to extend

my thanks to Carol Benton, who

just completed serving in this role.

How appropriate to have a Savan-

nah-based faculty member lead

us through the last GMEA confer-

ence held in Savannah! I begin this

column be renewing Dr. Benton’s

invitation to division members to

COLLEGE DIVISIONDr. Laura Stambaugh

engage in active dialogue with one another. Later this fall, I will

be extending that invitation to you electronically in a more sys-

tematized format.

The name of our division details two roles we play on

our campuses: preparing future music teachers and serving as

faculty members in the discipline of music. In this fall issue, I

will address the first role. One of the most pressing concerns

for Georgia teacher preparation faculty is edTPA. Many of us

have been living with edTPA for several years now, including

participating in hours of training by Pearson to become official

scorers. For me, that undertaking definitely falls in the “teacher

preparation” part of my job. I believe it is my responsibility to en-

able my students to be certified, and scoring portfolios provides

insights I would not otherwise gain. Despite this responsibility

to provide the foundation for my candidates to meet certifica-

tion requirements, passing edTPA is not the end goal. This line

of thinking quickly leads to the broader philosophical topic of

the purpose of higher education in general – is it to educate in

the more classical sense of the term, or is it to prepare young

adults for a career? Obviously, that topic is a larger discussion

for another time.

We, to a large extent, control the content and types of

experiences students gain in our courses prior to their student

teaching experience. We are not, however, the most important

daily influence during student teaching. Mentor teachers fill

this role. I argue that expecting mentor teachers to take on the

burden of knowing the details of edTPA is unreasonable. They

already have a job. The edTPA structure, requirements, and

language are recent developments that were not part of their

own pre-service training. I have found it quite challenging to

balance providing mentor teachers with information about

edTPA without sharing so much information that it becomes

burdensome. One of my projects this summer was to prepare a

15 minute video, a mini-lecture of sorts, for my mentor teach-

ers. The content is specific to what music student teachers at

my university need to show in their edTPA portfolio and how

the mentor teacher can support this. I posted the video on a pri-

vate YouTube channel and emailed the link to mentor teachers

and university supervisors. This is one approach to supporting

candidates while being respectful of the many demands already

placed upon mentor teachers. If you have other ideas you would

like to share, feel free to email them to me and I will share those

in the future (lstambaugh@georgiasouthern.edu).

Finally, I will take this opportunity to remind you of the

dates of several upcoming conferences. Since the NAfME Music

Research and Teacher Education National Conference will be held

in Atlanta this spring, it provides a wonderful opportunity for

graduate students to attend (and, perhaps, co-present at) this na-

tional conference.

• Symposium on Music Teacher Education: Toward a Stronger,

Richer Community, Greensboro, NC, September 17-19, 2015

• NAfME National In-Service Conference, Nashville, TN, October

25-28, 2015

• College Music Society National Conference, Indianapolis, IN, No-

vember 5-7, 2015

• College Music Society Southern Regional Conference, Birming-

ham, AL, February 18-20, 2016

• NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education National Confer-

ence, Atlanta, GA, March 16-19, 2016

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DIVISION NEWS_

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ORCHESTRA DIVISIONSarah Black

Happy New Year! Teachers

might be the only people who think

the year starts in August and ends in

May…and that made me start think-

ing. What is my new year’s (teaching)

resolution for 2015-16? What is yours?

Maybe you have always wanted to go

back and get another degree. Maybe

you are striving for more balance be-

tween home and school. No matter

what it is, I encourage you to set goals

for yourself at the beginning of the school year (after all that is what

a resolution really is), and set an action plan in place to achieve those

goals.

My newest resolution for this year is to do whatever I can

to serve the orchestra division to my fullest ability. I am excited and

honored to represent such an amazing group of educators. We have

an exciting year ahead of us. I had the opportunity to tour the Classic

Center in May, and it is going to be a fantastic venue for the In-Service

Conference. If you plan on staying in Athens, go ahead and reserve a

hotel room early! As much as we will all miss Savannah, Athens gives

us the opportunity to make new memories and start new traditions.

Finally, a few things to add to your to-do list to make your year go

smoothly.

• Make sure you know when your GMEA membership ex

pires and renew it.

• Always look at the LGPE music list EVERY year. Pieces

change levels, get added, deleted, etc. Never assume!!

• Always check the GMEA handbook first. If you cannot

find the answer, then you can check with me. If I don’t

know the answer, I’ll find out for you.

• Check the calendar. Know and meet all deadlines. I al-

ways remember one of my college conductors saying, “If

you’re early you’re on time. If you’re on time…you’re late.”

Allow some wiggle room with your bookkeeper,

administration, Mother Nature, etc.

• Get involved and stay involved.

I wish you all a successful, exciting, and fun start to school

and I am honored to represent the GMEA Orchestra Division for the

next two years. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any ques-

tions, suggestions, concerns, or observations you have. Good luck

with those resolutions!!

Welcome to the new school

year! It is my great pleasure to write

this article as the new piano divi-

sion chair for 2015-2017. As I begin

this journey, Warren Bennis’ quote

comes to my mind: “Leadership is

the capacity to translate vision into

reality.” GMEA has a long history as

a great organization serving music

educators in areas such as band, cho-

rus, and orchestra. Georgia is also one of the few states in the U.S.

to include the piano division in All-State. We are fortunate, but the

reality is that the piano division has been struggling with membership

recruitment. We have had a high number of participants in the piano

PIANO DIVISIONDr. Joanna Kim

solo auditions, and the number of participants in the four and six

hands piano ensemble auditions has been increasing. Our spring

Performance Evaluation participation and the annual In-Service

Conference attendance rate are, however, comparably lower than

in other divisions. As the new piano division chair, I’d like to hear

from you! As a member of GMEA, your opinions matters and I am

here to listen.

Before I go on, I’d like to express my gratitude to Don-

na Dasher, who has done a marvelous job as piano division chair

over the past two years. Her dedication and enthusiasm have re-

sulted in many updates to the piano handbook, which were long

overdue, and the members of the piano division will see those

changes taking place this year. Please read the handbook and note

the modifications. Some important changes I’d like to draw your

attention to are listed below.

The State Audition is now called the GMEA Piano All-

State Audition and, thus, will follow the regulations governed by

the All-State Committee. You can read more details in the hand-

book. In May 2015, the Executive Board approved the require-

ments of a Music Theory test, Sight reading, and Scales at the

Piano All-State auditions. These additions have been standard re-

quirements for other divisions of All-State and the piano division

will now observe them. Specific details will be sent via email to all

GMEA piano teachers later this year. Next, the date of the State

Piano Audition has been changed to the last Saturday in Novem-

ber and will take place at Clayton State University. Many of you

are used to going to Mercer University on the first Saturday of

December, so please mark your calendar now! Also, the number

of students participating in the event is now limited to ONE solo

and ONE four or six-hand audition. The performance time limit

for students will be strictly enforced from this year on. Please be

mindful that the performance time limit for students in grades

six through twelve is SIX minutes and for collegiate students is

EIGHT minutes. Each participant’s performance will be recorded

with a time-clock at the audition site.

For the 2016 In-Service Conference, we will be moving

to the Classic Center in Athens. The updated and expanded Clas-

sic Center is very nice, and I was able to secure a space for all the

piano division events as well as a larger space for our winners’ re-

cital. Both rooms have sound proof walls, providing us with a bet-

ter experience. I hope more piano division members will consider

attending this year’s conference. There have been complaints

from many of you that the lengths of the master classes are too

short and the lengths of the winners’ recitals are way too long. I

am diligently working on ways to improve those issues as well as

lining up fantastic presenters and clinicians! More details will be

published in the winter issue of the Georgia Music News.

Lastly, I’d like to draw your attention to the new “Teach-

ers Ethics” section of the handbook. Now that piano division

events are officially part of the All-State events, all the rules and

restrictions will be governed and enforced by the All-State Ethics

Committee. Please take time to read these important additions.

All changes cause anxiety or excitement, more or less. But as

one said, “Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows

without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream.” As

the new school year begins, let’s hold our heads up high and re-

member that music can change the world because it can change

people.

Athens

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DIVISION NEWS_

get to knowAthenswww.visitathensga.com

SHARE SPECIAL NEWS, RESEARCH, PHOTOS, AND MORE!

SEND YOUR SUBMISSIONS TO THE EDITOR, VICTORIA ENLOE

VICTORIA_ENLOE@GWINNETT.K12.GA.US

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AROUNDTHE STATE

DISTRICT NEWS• The Ebenezer Middle School Eagle Winds Honor Band has been selected to perform for the GMEA In-Service Conference in Jan-uary 2016. The ensemble has also been se-lected to perform for the 2nd Annual Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Fes-tival at Georgia State University in March 2016. The Eagle Winds Honor Band is com-

• Robert Truan the Director of Band at De-catur High School presented a session en-titled Filling in the Gaps: Secondary Music Education and 21st Century Learners at the Woodruff Arts Center Educator Conference in June.

• Jeffrey Rowser, Director of Bands at Mor-

prised of 7th and 8th grade musicians and is under the direction of Kenza Murray.

• The Effingham County High School Wind Ensemble has been se-lected to perform for the 2016 Kennesaw State University Concert Invitational. The group, under the direction of Matthew Leff, will perform on Friday, February 26, 2016 at KSU’s Bailey Performance Center.

• The Savannah Children’s Choir is pleased to announce their 2015-2016 Fellows, Morgan Luttig and Rene Johnson. Fellowships are awarded as part of a competitively-selected process open to all Savannah area music teachers.

• Select students from the Langston Chapel Middle School choir have been chosen to perform for the National Youth at Risk Con-ference in Savannah. Lawanda Allen is the choral director at LCMS. New and Transfering Teachers:• Josh Watford, Band Director, Screven County Middle School• Lisa Mason, Assistant Band Director, Ebenezer Middle School• Lindsay Sandberg, Assistant Band Director, Effingham County Middle School• Regan West, Assistant Band Director, South Effingham Middle School• Stacie Long, Band Director, Walker Middle School• Tim Pounds, Band Director, Long County High School• Michael Loredo, Choral Director/ Assistant Band Director, Long County High School• John McMullan, Band Director, Pooler/West Chatham Elemen-tary School• Ann Marie Struble, Band Director, Jacob G Smith/Heard Ele-mentary School• Kinsey Mannion, Band Director, STEM Academy• Justin Davis, Band/Choral Director, Woodville Tompkins High School• Federico Foster, Choral Director, Beach High School• Katrina Scoggins, Choral Director, Isle of Hope K8 School• Annastascia Pallero, Choral Director, Groves High School

• Danny Jones, Choral Director, Georgetown K8 School• Tressa Woodard, Choral Director, South Effingham Middle School• Krystin Kicklighter, Choral Director, Effingham County Middle School• Janice Haus, Music Teacher, Bloomingdale Elementary School• Iris Littrell, Music Teacher, May Howard Elementary School• Jodie Austin, Music Teacher, Thunderbolt Elementary School• Elizabeth Castro, Music Teacher, White Bluff Elementary School• Jyminia Tiller, Music Teacher, Spencer Elementary School• Janet Wooten, Music Teacher, Hesse K8 School• Brent Lamkin, Music Teacher, Garden City Elementary School

gan County High School, served as clinician at the Drum Major Leadership Academy held at Central Washington University, El-lensburg, WA (July 12-17).

• Mevonnie Biggins, from DeKalb County, will be presenting a ses-sion at the 2015 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago entitled Don’t go Claricrazy! - Teaching clarinet fun-damentals through performance of wind band literature.

• The Eastside Symphonic Band was selected to perform at the Music For All Southeastern Regional Concert Festival which will be held next March.

• Morgan County High School Marching Band will perform at the Waikiki Holiday Parade 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

• The Pride of Eastside Marching Band has accepted an invitation to perform in The Hollywood Christmas Parade in November, 2016.

New and Transferring Teachers:• R. Kevin Brown, Band Director, Rockdale County High School• Karen Mullins, Band Director/Music Theory Teacher, Peachtree Academy• Matt Haynor, Band Director, Henderson Middle School• Colleen Fleming, Band Director, Chamblee High School• John Edwards, Chorus Director, Newton High School• Scott Daniel, Chorus Director, Liberty Middle School• Devon Kitchens, Chorus Director, Clements Middle School• Tom FitzStephens, Choral Director, Lakeside High School• Ciara Edge, Elementary Music Teacher, Newton County Theme School• Colleen Casanove, General Music Teacher, Woodward Elemen-tary School

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AROUND THE STATE_

• Northview High School Chamber Orches-tra and the Roswell High School Chamber Orchestras have been selected to perform at the 2015 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic.

• Seth Gamba will be presenting a session on teaching rhythm at the 2015 Midwest In-

ternational Band and Orchestra Clinic.

• Alpharetta High School Orchestras will be performing at Carne-gie Hall in March 2016.

• Sutton Middle School Band and Orchestra will be performing at Carnegie Hall in March 2016.

Share what’s going

on in your

district

Send information to your district

chair

• Matthew Baggarly (Stillwell School of the Arts) has been invited to perform in Carne-gie Hall in spring 2016.

• The Sandy Creek High School Orchestra has been awarded GMEA’S Exemplary Per-formance Award for their commitment to excellence. The Orchestra, under the direc-

tion of Patti Davis, will be receiving recognition at their October concert.

• The Union Grove Middle School, under the direction of Kathy Saucier has been selected to perform for the GMEA In-Service Conference in Athens in January.

New and Transferring Teachers:• Audrey Alger, Orchestra Director, Ola Middle School• Nicole Miller, Orchestra Director, Adamson Middle School • Nathan Kufchak, Orchestra Director, Starrs Mill High School• Michael Wright, Orchestra Director, Ola High School and Union Grove High School

• The Riverwatch Symphonic Band has been selected to perform at the National Band Association/College Band Directors Nation-al Association southern division conference. Their performance will include Lightning Field by John Mackey, with the composer in attendance, and The Haunted Carousel by Erika Svanoe (winner of the 2015 NBA

Young Band Composition Contest). The conference takes place at Charleston Southern University in Charleston, SC, February 18-20, 2016. The Riverwatch Symphonic Band is under the direction of Matt Koperniak and Dean Patterson, and will also perform at the 2015 University of Georgia Middle School Festival.

• The South Forsyth Middle School Symphonic Band will be per-forming at the University of Georgia Middle School Honor Band Clinic on December 11. The performance will feature Boston Sym-phony Orchestra Principal Tuba, Mike Roylance. Additionally, Mr. Reggie Humphrey was recently appointed new Assistant Director of Bands for South Forsyth Middle School.

• The Sequoyah High School Symphony Band, under the direc-tion of Casey Eubanks, has been selected to perform at the 2016 Southeastern United States Band Clinic at Troy University. The Clin-ic will be held February 4-6, 2016.

• Mr. Kevin Kenney has been hired as the new Associate Director of Bands at North Forsyth High School (Cumming, GA).

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DISTRICT NEWS• The 2015–2016 school year is shaping up to be an amazing year for district 12 bands! 14 bands and percussion ensembles have been invited to give featured performanc-es at conferences and festivals across the southeast.

• In December, the Tapp Middle School 8th Grade Symphonic Band, under the direction

of Erin Cole and Patrick Clark, will be a featured band at the University of Georgia Middle School Band Festival, while the Simpson Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Symphonic Band, under the direction of Valerie Page and Mike Lynch, and the Mabry Middle School Symphonic Bands, directed by Jill Bar-nocki and Mia Athanas, will be featured at the Troy State Uni-versity SEUS Band Festival. The McEachern High School Wind En-semble, under the direction of Bo Sodders, Sheldon Frazier, and Anthony Cananzi, will be a featured band at the University of Alabama Honor Band in January, and the Lovinggood Middle School Symphonic Band, under the direction of Joe Heiberger and Shelley Ferrell, will perform at the CBDNA Southern Division Conference in Charleston, SC, in February.

• Four bands and ensembles from district 12 will be featured at the GMEA In-Service Conference in January: the Dickerson Middle School Symphonic Band, John Palmer and Scott Brown, directors, the Kell High School Wind Ensemble, David Roth and Taylor Watts, directors, the Kennesaw Mountain High School Per-cussion Ensemble, Max Mullinix, director, and the Lassiter High School Percussion Ensemble, Mike Lynch, director.

• Seven bands from six district 12 schools have been invited to the Second Annual Music for All Southeastern Regional Con-cert Festival, held at Georgia State University in February. Invit-ed ensembles include the Durham Middle School 8th Grade Band, Michelle Rickard and Matt Segars, directors, the Lost Mountain Middle School Symphonic Band, Suzanne Tingle and Brittany Mori, directors, the Lovinggood Middle School Band, Joseph Heiberger and Shelley Ferrell, directors; the Barber Mid-dle School Symphonic Band, Robert Grogan and Brad Rickard, directors, the Mabry Middle School Symphonic Band, Jill Bar-nocki and Mia Athanas, directors, and the Harrison High School Symphonic Band and the Harrison High School Wind Ensemble, Josh Ray, Jonathan Grogan, and Shaun Evans, directors.

• Finally, in the spring, the Dickerson Middle School 8th Grade Band will travel to Washington, D.C. to work with the United States Air Force Band, and the Hillgrove High School Band, along with the Hillgrove Orchestra, will travel to China for a cul-tural exchange program.

• District 12 choral directors are thrilled to welcome Mr. Vincent Oakes of the Chattanooga Boys Choir as conductor for our 2015 Middle School Honor Chorus. This two-day event will take place at the lovely Lassiter Concert Hall in Cobb County, with a final performance at 7 pm on Tuesday, November 17th. Our most talented 200 middle school singers will perform a variety of styles of music including Kyrie from the Schubert Mass, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year.

• The High School Honor Chorus event will take place on No-vember 3rd and 4th under the direction of Dr. Deanna Joseph. District 12’s top high school singers will perform selections from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with full orchestra. In an effort to encourage our singers to continue their musical endeavors from middle school throughout high school, district 12 teachers are developing lessons on Carmina Burana, which will culmi-nate in a field trip for eighth graders to attend the High School Honor Chorus event.

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AROUND THE STATE_

UNIVERSITY NEWS• Young Harris College is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Shelley Sanderson as Assistant Professor of Music and its Coordinator of Music Education. Dr. Sanderson earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mu-sic Education from Georgia College and

State University and her Ph.D. in Music Education from the Uni-versity of Florida. She has taught in high school and middle school choral programs in Houston County and at The West-field School in Perry, GA. She also is an experienced adjudi-cator, has been published in the Florida and Alabama Music Educators’ Associations publications, and has presented at the Georgia Music Educators In-Service Conference.

• Georgia Southern University’s Department of Music Announces the Appointment of Three New Full-time Faculty Members and One New Part-Time Faculty Member.

• Ms. Sarah Hancock, Lecturer in VoiceSarah Hancock most recently per-formed the role of Mrs. Noye in Benja-min Britten’s Noye’s Fludde at Hilton Head Presbyterian Church. She will return to Hilton Head for their annual performance of Handel’s Messiah in December of 2015. The mezzo has en-joyed singing with the Hilton Head Sym-phony Orchestra, The Augusta Choral Society, The Peach State Opera, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and Christ Church in Savannah, and The Lyric Arts of Savannah. Other operatic

and oratorio credits include performances with the Toledo Op-era, the Bronx Opera, The Ohio Light Opera, the Lansing Lyric Opera, the Savannah Symphony, the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, The University of Florida Symphony, Mercer Universi-ty Symphony, Augusta Symphony, and the Columbia Artists Community Concert Series. For the past 18 years, Mrs. Hancock has taught voice part-time at Georgia Southern University, and after 12 years of dedicat-ed service to the Statesboro Youth Chorale Mrs. Hancock has turned over the reins to the Averitt Center for the Arts.

• Dr. Stephanie Furry, Lecturer in Horn• Dr. Diane Kessel, Lecturer in Flute• William Holmes, Part-time Instructor of Low Brass

• Georgia Southern University’s De-partment of Music Announces Dr. Rick Mason as new Jazz Ensemble Director. Dr. Richard (Rick) Mason is the newly appointed Director of the Jazz Ensemble at Georgia Southern University, where he has served as Associate Professor of Trombone/Low Brass since 2003. For more than twenty years, Rick played profes-sionally with some of the biggest names in jazz. He has served as the bass trombonist with the Glenn Mill-

er Orchestra, Harry James Orchestra, Al Hirt Big Band, Bill Tole Orchestra, Ray Anthony Big Band, Bill Holman Big Band, Jim-my Dorsey Orchestra, Tom Kubis/Ken Kaplan Big Band, Ollie Mitchell’s Sunday Band, Bruce Lofgren Jazz Orchestra, and Bill Watrous’s Wildlife Refuge West. Additionally, Rick has served as bass trombonist with the Burbank and La Mirada Symphony (CA) orchestras. As an active studio trombonist in Los Angeles for more than ten years, Rick recorded in most major recording studios including Capitol Records, A&M Records, Evergreen Studios, MCA Universal, Disney Studios, and Paramount. His television and film credits include: Knots Landing, The Rockford Files, Blacke’s Magic, Quincy, Private Benjamin, Xanadu, Rich Man / Poor Man, and Yes, Georgio. In addition to directing the Jazz Ensemble at Georgia Southern, Dr. Mason will continue to direct the Trombone Ensemble and teach applied low brass and jazz improvisation.

what’s going on at your university?send articles to victoria_enloe@gwinnett.k12.ga.us

submit the information by sept. 20th

for thewinter issue

NEW YEAR’SResolutionsWITH VICTORIA ENLOE, BO NA, KATHRYN WYATT, AND JANICE YOON

WRITTEN BY TAMMY HAWK

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This year, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) will celebrate the music and legacy of the late Robert Shaw on what would have been his 100th birthday. One of the things Mr. Shaw championed during his tenure as Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is the importance of music education as a fundamental com-ponent of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s mission – connecting people of all ages to high quality symphonic music. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Center for Music Education is a multi-faceted institution that offers mean-ingful music education programs that build communities, inspire young minds, and nurture the next generation of musicians and music lovers.

The cornerstone of the Atlanta Symphony Or-chestra Center for Music Education is the Atlanta Sym-phony Youth Orchestra (ASYO) and the nationally ac-claimed Talent Development Program (TDP). Each year, more than 300 instrumentalists from all over the South-eastern region, rising eighth to twelfth grade students, audition for one of 120 seats in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. Under the baton of ASO Assistant Con-ductor and ASYO Music Director Joseph Young, the ASYO performs three concerts each year in Atlanta Sym-phony Hall, and members receive exclusive invitations to participate in reading and master classes with top artists in the instrumental music industry. In addition, the ASYO has collaborated with the Founder and Artist Director of the New World Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas, in Mi-ami, as well as performed in the Concert Hall at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Whether as a member or a guest, the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra concerts are the perfect op-portunity to experience and enjoy classical music. This year, the ASYO Overture Concert will be performed on November 15, 2015, and will feature Tchaikovsky’s Sym-phony No. 4. The Crescendo Concert will be performed on March 13, 2016, and will feature John Adams’ Chair-

man Dances and Puccini’s La bohème. Finally, the stu-dents will perform the Finale Concert on May 8, 2016, featuring Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Ginas-tera’s Estancia.

“I just completed my first year with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and it was an incredible ex-perience,” said Joseph Young, Assistant Conductor and ASYO Music Director. “The young musicians were not only talented, but they were willing to open their minds to new music and new experiences. They truly inspired me and I believe I was able to inspire them as well.”

For more than 20 years, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program has identified and supported talented, young African American and Latino students of every orchestral instrument to prepare them for acceptance into top music programs. Each year, up to 25 students receive intensive year-round in-struction, mentoring, performance opportunities, and bi-annual progress reviews, as well as access to exclu-sive Atlanta Symphony Orchestra resources. TDP students also participate in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orches-tra, with many holding principal chairs. Members of the 2014-15 TDP graduating class will be going on to pursue degrees in music at Carnegie Mellon University, The Uni-versity of Michigan, Kennesaw State University, Andrews College, and the New England Conservatory.

The inspiration for the program came from Mrs. Azira G. Hill, who remains active in the Talent Develop-ment Program today. To honor her contributions, the Azira G. Hill Scholarship was established in 1999. The scholarship provides financial assistance to TDP students, enabling them to attend intensive summer music study programs, including Boston University Tanglewood Insti-tute, Heifetz International Music Institute, and Kennedy Center Summer Music Institute, among others. In the past 14 years, nearly 200 scholarships have been awarded to TDP students.

WRITTEN BY TAMMY HAWK

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The Talent Development Program Musicale and Aspire Awards will be held on November 15, 2015, in At-lanta Symphony Hall. The concert will feature a perfor-mance by the Sons of Serendip, and this year’s Aspire Award will be presented to Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic, in the Artist of Note category. TDP students will also perform at annual recitals on April 16 and 17, 2016, in the Rich Theatre at the Woodruff Arts Center. The application deadline for students interested in being part of this program for 2016-17 is February 29, 2016.

In addition to training programs, the Atlan-ta Symphony Orchestra offers Teen Nights @ the ASO, which provides free tickets for teenagers to attend ASO performances through the Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Pro-gram. ArtsVibe is a collaborative program with the Alli-ance Theatre and High Museum, offering teens ways to engage in and explore all the Woodruff Arts Center has to offer. It also provides platforms for teens to share their works, including art exhibitions, talent showcases, film festivals and more. To learn more about ArtsVibe, visit artsvibe.com.

ing tribute, music enhances our everyday experiences. Using a variety of fun and familiar orchestral selections, this concert promotes active listening while exploring our many relationships with music. Performances will take place at 10am and 11:15am on February 26, 2016, at Lassiter High School, March 10 and 16, 2016, at Atlanta Symphony Hall, March 17, 2016, at Clayton County Per-forming Arts Center, and March 15, 2016, at a location to be announced.

The ART of SOUND is offered for grades three through eight on October 14 and 15, 2015, and October 27 and 28, 2015, at Atlanta Symphony Hall, with perfor-mances at 10am and 11:40am. The ART of SOUND ex-plores the qualities and science of sound and how sound becomes music. Through a selection of major orchestral masterworks, students will become critical listeners and examine how sound is produced by the different instru-ments of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Students will see how sound can be manipulated in pitch, tone, dy-namics and rhythm to create a complete work of art we “see” with our ears.

Classical American Roots is offered for grades six through 12 on February 10 and 11, 2016, at Atlanta Sym-phony Hall, with performances at 10am and 11:40am.

Along with introductory lessons and advanced instrumental studies, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra works to pro-vide pre-kindergarten through high school students an introduction to classical music that complements or helps to fill in the gap of school music programs. The Concerts for Young People series is conducted by Assis-tant Conductor and ASYO Music Director Joseph Young and this year will feature three programs: Music with a Purpose!, The Art of Sound and Classical American Roots.

Music with a Purpose! celebrates that music is everywhere around us and fills many different roles in our lives. Whether it’s listening, dancing, celebrating, or pay-

The Atlanta Symphony Or-chestra also offers a string program designed for all levels, from the complete novice to intermediate/advanced students, as well as a mu-sic appreciation program, through its Community Music School. String classes are taught with a unique hands-on approach originally cre-ated by Atlanta Symphony Orches-tra violinist Judith Cox for the LYRA Academy. This innovative method incorporates both private instruction in a group dynamic, and group in-struction in an orchestral setting, to create a cohesive and evenly pro-gressive learning environment. Class sizes are small, allowing frequent one-on-one contact and demon-stration between students and teacher.

“These classes provide a fun, safe group setting where juniors and adults alike can begin the dis-covery of playing a stringed instru-ment for the first time,” said Judith Cox. “Students will learn to read mu-sic, rhythms, and, most importantly, have a good time learning to play with others.”

Tammy Hawk

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During an 1893 visit to the United States, Czech com-poser Antonín Dvořák said, “The future music of this country must be founded upon what are called the African-American melodies.” His words were visionary, as many American and immigrant folk music traditions would find their way into the foundations of our greatest orchestral music creations. The Atlanta Symphony Or-chestra and ASO Assistant Conductor Joseph Young will engage students as analytical listeners as they explore where we come from and how our musical roots have shaped who we are as Americans.

A curriculum guide accompanies each pro-gram, and all field trips are designed to support Geor-gia curriculum standards. There is not a group minimum for the Concerts for Young People, and special Title One school rates are available. Additionally, the Atlanta Sym-phony Orchestra offers a limited amount of funding to help public schools bridge field trip funding gaps. Funds are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, and schools are asked to provide as much funding as possi-ble to help the ASO serve as many schools as possible.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra continues to provide many wonderful opportunities for families to en-joy and participate in programming designed specifical-ly with them in mind. Under the baton of ASO Assistant Conductor, Joseph Young, the ASO’s Family Concert Series begins with a performance of Halloween Hijinks! at 2pm on Saturday, October 31, 2015. On Sunday, Feb-ruary 14, 2016 at 3pm, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will perform a FREE Valentine’s Day Concert, Be Mine, as a part of the Woodruff Arts Center’s Family Fun programs on Sunday afternoons. The final Family Concert of the season, Musical Story Time with the ASO, will be held at 3pm on March 20, 2016. All performances in the Family Concert series are held in Atlanta Symphony Hall.

Throughout the 2015-16 season, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Music for the Very Young program offers professional musical performances designed spe-cifically for early learners (children ages 3-5 years old) and their parents. Audiences of this nature can enjoy up-close and intimate performances that encourage them to go beyond their visual senses and explore how to become active listeners of live classical music through Stories in Sound. This series of performances introduces the audience to a variety of contrasting musical ele-ments brilliantly interwoven with storytelling techniques to create a unique, interactive musical journey. Tickets for these performances will be available through the Box Office and on our website beginning in August, 2015.

Finally, along with their many stage performanc-es, the musicians of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra also bring their music into Atlanta communities. Through Musicians in Communities, orchestra members present solo or chamber performances in local libraries, schools, hospitals and cultural centers throughout the city. If you are interested in hosting an Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musician in your school or community, email us at ASO-Education@woodruffcenter.org .

Each year more than 40,000 students and teachers are touched by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concerts designed to inspire students in music and other academic pursuits. Let this be your year to experience all The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Center for Music Edu-cation has to offer.

Tammy Hawk is a senior level marketing and public relations professional who has more than 25 years experience helping consumer brands and non-profit organizations engage key au-diences with strategic messaging and creative content.

Hawk recently joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Di-rector of Communications. Prior to joining the Atlanta Sympho-ny, Hawk led the strategic communications planning and pro-gram development for some of the country’s most well-known brands as a senior leader at Weber Shandwick, Chicago. During her tenure, Hawk’s clients included Motorola Mobility, Oscar Mayer, Nestle Pizza Division, Unilever, Allstate and Grou-pon. She also played an integral role in the successful launch of Namaste Charter School, an innovative public charter school on Chicago’s under-resourced Southwest side, which intro-duced a groundbreaking education model that combines health and wellness with academic rigor.

When you study great teachers...

you will learn much more from their caring and hard work than from

their style.William Glasser

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The system of numeric ratings and their accompanying word descriptors with which we evaluate adjudicated performances by large ensembles, small ensembles, and solos was designed by the National Interscholastic Music Activities Commission (NIMAC), a long since dis-continued part of MENC (now doing business as NAfME), more than fifty years ago. The system is basically unchanged since its inception.

We are all familiar with the five levels of accomplishment from I to V (superior, excellent, good, fair and poor). Some of you may not be as familiar with the longer descriptions accom-panying them. They are:

SUPERIOR (I)Outstanding performance. Worthy of distinction of being recognized as among the very best.

EXCELLENT (II)Unusually good performance in many respects, but not worthy of the highest rating due to minor defects. A performance of distinctive quality.

GOOD (III)A good performance, but not one that is out-standing. Shows accomplishment and marked promise, but lacks one or more essential qual-ities.

FAIR (IV)): A performance that shows some obvious weaknesses, generally weak and uncertain.

Poor (V)A performance which reveals much room for im-provement. The students reveal almost a com-plete lack of preparedness and understanding.

Interestingly, in recent years that five level system has been essentially reduced to a three level system in many cases. I say this be-cause, in my experience as an adjudicator, I have seen the use of the numerical ratings IV and V almost disappear from use and, when they are assigned to a performance, they be-come the topic of directors’ hospitality lounge conversation, as if they had been awarded by Nathaniel Hawthorne himself.

We could discuss this development at length and, if we did, we would most likely be no closer to consensus than when we started. However any of us feels about the situation, I think we would all agree that a three level sys-tem offers less specificity and discriminating po-tential than a five level system.

That having been said, if we consider the word descriptors assigned to these numeri-cal ratings, most of us might agree that they do not align with the general consensus of how we would describe any given performance, espe-cially the description of a III as a “good” perfor-mance, or even a II as being “excellent”. Using only the odd numbered designations, omitting the “excellent” and “fair” ratings, might be more accurate. It could even be argued that, given the changing landscape of jargon used in educational evaluation, we might instead use the descriptors “exceeds expectations” for superior, “meets expectations” for excellent (or good if we only use the odd numbers), and ”does not meet expectations” in the place of good (or poor if we only use the odd numbers) in the place of the current, lengthier descriptors.

It should be noted that the ratings system is administered by human adjudicators and is therefore subjective in nature. No two adjudi-cators will hear a performance in the same way and will measure it in keeping with their own tastes, standards, knowledge of literature, and ability to discern the content of the music based on their level of aural skills. This subjectivity is an important part of why we employ three adjudi-cators. It is also why we sometimes encounter “split ratings” (I-I-II, II-III-III, or even I-II-III).

THE

GAMERATINGS

written by cecil wilder

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It has been a fairly common practice for a panel of adjudicators to delay release of the first few sheets of an LGPE event and compare ratings with each other. This prac-tice has always been a topic of concern to me since it can lead to some adjudicators’ ratings being tempered by a sort of guessing game as to what the other two judges are likely to rate. It is my feeling that each adju-dicator should assign ratings based on their own standards, not to be compared with the standards of others.

It should also be noted that, since dif-ferent adjudicators are utilized from year to year and from district to district, any compar-ison of ratings from event to event is flawed from the outset. These ratings, moreover, represent a single performance, sometime under less than ideal conditions in unfamiliar surroundings, and cannot be fairly used to assess the overall quality of the ensemble or the music program in the school represent-ed. The only way these ratings should be used for program assessment is as a part of a much broader scenario that includes multi-ple years, multiple events (All State, Solo and Ensemble, etc.), number of students partici-pating in the program in relation to the size of the school, variety of course offerings in mu-sic, and student and parent enthusiasm for the program.

In the absence of other evaluation tools, administrators are increasingly turning to the results of our performance evaluations as a means (hopefully in conjunction with other indicators) of evaluating teachers’ per-formance. This method of evaluation can be daunting to some teachers, and I am con-cerned that it might be a contributing factor in some teachers’ discontinued participa-tion in what should be an effective tool for them in improving student learning and their teaching.

I believe we need to take a close look at this issue with the goal of updating a sys-tem that is as archaic as this one. Our eval-uation instrument needs to possess the right combination of thoroughness and rigor, un-derstandability by all stakeholders (teachers, students, administrators, and parents), de-scriptive verbiage that is both current and clear, and is nonthreatening in tone and per-ception.

If we are to be successful in revamp-ing our evaluation system, I believe there are several specific aspects of the evaluation that need close attention. The first is the doc-ument, the judge’s comment sheet. It needs to be measured against the above criteria as to how well it serves its purpose. In this re-gard, it would be a good thing if all three of our divisions that sponsor these events (band, chorus and orchestra) could use a sheet that aligns, to the degree possible, with the other two. After all, we are all evaluating the same basic things.

Our required music lists should contain only the best and most appropriate literature possible at each difficulty level. To accom-plish this would involve an in-depth evalua-tion of these pieces and measuring each of them against a well defined set of criteria. All our teachers, especially our younger ones, should be able to select music for evalua-tion from these lists with the confidence that their selections are worthy of their and their students’ time and effort, and that the selec-tions are well crafted enough to present no unnecessary obstacles to successfully teach-ing and learning them.

The same applies to those whose names appear on our adjudicator lists. Those lists should include only individuals with a proven track record of success with perform-ing ensembles over time that ensures that they are fully capable of offering suggestions and advice that, if taken, would give reason-able assurance that a substantial improve-ment in teaching, learning, and performing would be possible.

I believe that a successful update of our system of evaluations has the potential to propel us into the future much stronger and more capable of serving our membership and their students at a level they deserve.

And that, folks, is just the way I see it.

Cecil Wilder is currently employed as Executive Director for the Georgia Music Educators Association, having held that position since 1996. Prior to that he worked for nineteen years in the Clayton County (GA) schools as Director of Bands at Jonesboro Se-nior High School, Conductor of the Clayton County Youth Symphony, and as Lead Teacher for Instrumen-tal Music. Before coming to Clayton County, Cecil was Director of Bands at Kendrick High School in Colum-bus, Georgia, from 1969-1977 and at Rothschild Jr. High School in Columbus from 1967-1969. He also was employed at Auburn University as Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Music Department at Auburn University from 1973-1977. Bands and orchestras under his direction have performed at the Geor-gia Music Educators Association In Service Conference (five times), the National Convention of the American School Band Directors’ Association, the Tri-State Conductor’s Conference at Florida State University, the Southeastern United States Band Clinic at Troy State University, the Southern Instrumental Conductors’ Conference at the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Mid West International Band and Orchestra Clinic.

Cecil has served as adjudicator and clinician for bands and or-chestras throughout the southeastern United States and for the US Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe. Ensembles under his direction consistently earned superior ratings during his thirty-year career as a music educator. During his teaching career he maintained an active private low brass studio and had many students selected for the Georgia All State Bands during that time.

Cecil holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from Auburn University and has done additional graduate study at Georgia State Univer-sity, Columbus State University, the University of West Georgia, and Northwestern University where he participated in their Summer Fel-lows Program in Music Education. He is a member of the Hall of Fame of the Georgia Chapter of Phi Beta Mu (2010), a recipient of the GMEA Distinguished Career Award (2002), and was named a Lowell Mason Fellow by the National Association for Music Educa-tion (2015). During his teaching career, Cecil was twice named Star Teacher (Kendrick High School, 1977 and Jonesboro High School 1996).

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WRITTEN BY MEVONNIE BIGGINS

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Mevonnie Biggins is the music specialist at Peachcrest Elementa-ry School in Decatur, GA. She holds a Mas-ter’s degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Science in Music Ed-ucation from Florida A&M University. She is

a 2015 Midwest Clinician conducting a clinic ses-sion titled “Don’t’ go Claricrazy! Teaching clarinet fundamentals through performance of wind band literature”. She runs a private clarinet studio in At-lanta, Ga. Her thoughts and musings on clarinet pedagogy can be found at www.mevonnie.com.

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t is my belief that amongst the myriad of annoy-ances a band director may face, none beats the sound of an unfocused clarinet tone. Though there is a large body of warm-ups and exercis-es designed to correct or improve overall tech-nique, one cannot really master the clarinet if the embouchure is not properly solidified first.

4. ELIMINATE BITING

Biting occurs when the lower lip is relaxed and the lower teeth push up into the lip and mouthpiece. Biting produces a thin, stuffy tone with little body and, much to the ire of band directors everywhere, results in an uncharacteristic sound. Most students who play with this excess pressure have difficulty producing tones above high C. In order to correct this problem, the po-sition of the lower jaw should remain the same thought the entire range of the instrument. One way to open up the sound is to play the “tugboat” tones of G, F, and E in the chalumeau register. This will force the jaw to open up.

5. IDENTIFY MOUTHPIECE/LIGATURE/REED COMBINATION

This strategy is discussed last because it is often the first step most students and educators take to correct tone problems. Good equipment paired with poor physical embouchure development, however, will not automatically remedy the tone quality. If the student has a proper embouchure and is lacking in equipment, having the following tester mouthpieces on hand would be wise: Vandoren M30, Vandoren 5RV, Vandoren B45.

Correcting and improving a clarinet em-bouchure takes patience and observant, daily prac-tice of fundamentals. Along with the strategies dis-cussed above, long tones, tone control exercises, and breathing routines will all help in the develop-ment of the characteristic tone. Consistency through-out the school year is key to breakthrough progress.

References

Stein, K. (1958). The Art of Clarinet Playing. Sum-my-Birchard Inc. Westphal, F. (1962). Guide to Teaching Woodwinds. McGraw-Hill. 5th Edition

REFERENCES

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I When teaching clarinet embouchure to students, realize that the lips do the bulk of the work. The upper lip and bottom lip come together in a drawstring fash-ion that give the mouthpiece a snug fit. The upper teeth rest on top of the mouthpiece and lower teeth support the bottom lip’s push towards the reed. One way to en-gage students is to start with this question,: “Which part of your mouth is holding the instrument?” Now, they will ponder for a moment, hopefully realizing that much of the pressure used to produce reed vibrations is coming from alternative sources, and make the necessary adjustments to their embouchures.

With careful and guided supervision, the prop-er clarinet embouchure can be established so that your students’ musical confidence and technical facility can flourish. Here are five strategies for developing the proper clarinet embouchure to produce the characteristic sound:

1. CHECK THE AMOUNT OF LOWER LIP USED

The source of the sound on the clarinet is the vi-bration of the reed in the mouthpiece chamber. The lower lip serves as the foundation of support that allows the reed to vibrate freely, which means students must identify how much lip covers the lower teeth. Students with thin-ner lips may need to put more lip over the teeth, while stu-dents with thicker lips would need to use less. It should be noted that the lower lip should “stand” on its own and not lean against the teeth.

2. STRENGTHEN THE CHIN MUSCLES

Educators commonly instruct students to, “Keep the chin flat,” when trying to improve or correct the sound. In order for the chin muscles to develop, encour-age students to bring the corners of their mouth toward the mouthpiece. Using the syllables “eww” or “ee-you” helps to keep the corners engaged and brings the chin down.

3. CHECK THE CHEEKS

Students who play with puffy cheeks or draw the cheeks back in order to hold the mouthpiece create a de-bilitating habit that is extremely hard to correct. Beginners who play with puffy cheeks should work on long tones to strengthen the chin muscles. Students who draw the cheeks back should return to practicing on the mouth-piece/barrel combination alone to relax the chin muscles.

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WRITTEN BY LLOYD McDONALD

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ike many of us in music education, I period-ically question my methods and reasons for doing what I do. I am motivated by the desire to succeed, which may mean getting those “superior” ratings, high accolades, or spe-cial recognitions. But there is certainly more to what we do in this business of ours.

In the middle of the rehearsals of the Newton County Community Band, Mr. T.K. Adams would have a short break for the band. Out in the hallway, he would have a little table set up with cookies and some drinks. The folks in the band would stand around eating cookies, drinking sodas, and catching up on the previous week’s activities. I didn’t realize it, but Mr. Adams was deliber-ately fostering fellowship. And those folks came back…week after week, year after year. Absolute brilliance.

Ask your band kids what they remember about some of the “things” we do in band. A few of them will remember moments from our performances, but most of them will remember the bus ride to McDonald’s or some other neat stuff that happened. All of them will remember the time they shared with their friends.

As we get back to work this fall, think about cre-ating opportunities for fellowship in your music activities. Have an unplanned pizza party. Ask the ice cream man to drop by marching practice and let the kids have some ice cream together. Build in some down time so that the kids can have a chance to connect. Earning the superiors is important; winning the competitions is fun; excellence should certainly be expected. But, in the midst of all the “things” we do as band directors, remember the factor that is not on the judges’ sheet – fellowship.

C. Lloyd McDonald is the band director at Feagin Mill Middle School in War-ner Robins, Georgia. He received the Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from Georgia College, and the Master of Music Educa-tion degree from the Uni-versity of Georgia. During

his teaching career, he has taught at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels, returning to his home-town in 2008 to lead the band at Feagin Mill. As a pro-fessional musician, he remains active as a clinician, adju-dicator, and performer at festivals and clinics throughout the southeast. His bands and students consistently per-form at high levels of achievement, and the Feagin Mill Band was awarded the GMEA Exemplary Performance Award in 2013. He is a founding director of Camp Extrav-aBANDza, a summer camp for middle school band stu-dents. In his community, he serves as the vice-president of the Warner Robins Community Concert Association, and he is the conductor of the Wellston Winds, a local community band. In 2014, he was recognized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars as the VFW State Teacher of the Year for his commitment to the promotion of citizen-ship and patriotism through his teaching. His professional affiliations include Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, Professional Association of Georgia Educators, and Phi Beta Mu In-ternational Bandmasters Fraternity. He currently serves GMEA District 11 as Chair and host for Solo & Ensemble festival. He and his wife, Sue, live in Warner Robins with their children Cody and Bailey, and with their dogs Beeny Weeny, Puck, Scout, Token, Flash, and Dottie.

L My involvement in band has opened so many doors, and it has introduced me to many wonderful peo-ple. One of those people was a man named Bill Gaines. Bill, who was a fabulous trombone player and had Paul Yoder as a high school band director, invited me to play with the Yaarab Shrine Band – an invitation that ultimate-ly forged my approach to teaching and tempered my phi-losophy of the importance of music.

The Yaarab Shrine Band is an interesting group. Started in 1914, the band has been in continuous ex-istence for over 100 years. The musicians in the group come from all walks of life and many career paths. Pro-fessional musicians, engineers, lawyers, plumbers, phar-macists, salesmen…all with music as a common denom-inator. There is also a wide range in ages – at the time I joined, I was in my early 30’s, and our oldest member was in his mid 90’s!

Working with this group on a weekly basis, I saw an intense loyalty and devotion to the band. These fellows would make it to rehearsal every Tuesday night - week after week, month after month, year after year. Some of them had been playing in the band for decades – one of the trumpets had been a member of the band for 55 years! Something brought these guys back every week. What was it?

One of my greatest concerns as a band director is that so few students continue with band after gradua-tion. During my career, I have seen scores of great band kids spend years learning to play, only to put their horns away when they leave high school. Yet, here is this band full of guys who have been playing their horns for 30, 40, 50, or 60 years. What has kept them at it for so long?

I asked them, “What has kept you playing all these years? What is it about performing that keeps you interested in playing? What/who inspired you in your youth to do so well in your musical pursuits? What ex-tra-musical benefits have kept you active in music all these years?”

Most of the guys responded with the answers you might expect…the joy of making music, the emo-tional response from a beautiful performance, the in-spiration of good leaders. There was one universal re-sponse, however, that was consistently at the top of the list. As a matter of fact, each of them listed it: Fellowship.

Fellowship is not on our adjudication sheets – not even in the “other factors” category. I did not have a music class in college about fellowship. There is no chapter on fellowship in the “how to be a band direc-tor” book. And yet it is at the top of the list of reasons that these bandsmen have continued to play their instru-ments for so many years.

1. Please tell us a bit about your musical background and teaching experience.

I started playing violin in 5th grade, the first year Dekalb County ever offered strings at my school, then picked up French horn in tenth grade at Redan High School with Bill Fry as my teacher. He encouraged me to go to Co-lumbus State University to study music education. I got a scholarship for violin to study with Andrew Galos so I went. I loved it. I stayed.

2. What first drew you to music education?

I really liked the music department at Columbus, al-though it was really going through a metamorphosis while I was there. We went through three violin teach-ers in four years and a complete restructuring of the college during my four years of undergraduate school. Though I guess it was not the best time to be there, it was a good time to take a student leadership role at the school, and I really enjoyed that part. I didn’t leave ac-tually knowing how to teach, however. That came later.

3. Who has been the biggest influence on your teaching career? What lessons did that person teach you?

My first real mentor was Fern Gibson in the Floyd County School System. She was the music supervisor who helped me while I was an elementary music teach-er/high school chorus teacher and class piano teacher, and then became an elementary string teacher along with my high school responsibilities. Fern taught me how to be super busy and work a ridiculous number of hours per day and each weekend. The biggest influence on my teaching career so far has been David Gregory. He hired me into the Clayton County Public School Sys-tem and, in essence, taught me how to teach. I was sim-ply awful when I began, having no idea of how to make students sound good or how to fix anything. By simply making suggestions- never intrusively- and pairing me with veteran teachers, David gently nudged me into my first real understanding of how to teach.

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Dr. Bernadette Scruggs received her Bachelor of Music in Education and her Master of Music in Education from Columbus State University. Her Ed.S. and Ph.D. were earned at Georgia State Universi-ty. Prior to teaching in the Gwinnett County School System, she taught for both the Floyd County and the Clayton County School Systems. Five of Dr. Scruggs’s groups have been invited to perform at the Geor-gia Music Educators Association (GMEA) annual In-Service Confer-ence. Dr. Scruggs was voted the 1995 Pointe South Teacher of the Year and the 1999 Hull Middle School Teacher of the Year. Currently, she is on the orchestra faculty at Peachtree Ridge High School. Dr. Scruggs was a co-director of the Kendall Honor Orchestra and is currently a co-conductor for the Gwinnett County Youth Symphony. Dr. Scruggs has served as Georgia state secretary for the American String Teachers Association and as both the Vice President of Performance Evaluations and President for GMEA. She currently holds the position of Past Pres-idents’ Representative on the GMEA Executive Board.

Dr. Bernadette

Scruggs

4. What have been the biggest changes tomusic education in the course of your career?

Have there been any? Maybe when we went to starting beginning students in middle school instead of elemen-tary school… That made things better, in my opinion. I think things are much nicer than when I started. Hardly anyone teaches in little, dark rooms or clinics (where I had orchestra class). Programs are more established and orchestra is now looked upon as a favorable alternative to band.

5. How has your teaching philosophy evolvedthroughout your career?

I hate this question. My philosophy is, as it has always been, to offer my students a terrific string education in a friendly environment, among peers. I love Wally’s answer though- it used to be product, but now it’s a lot more about process and, happily, the product is much better because of that.

6. What has been the proudest moment ofyour teaching career?

My sons are both in the teaching field, and it makes me so happy that they love school in the same way I do. Watching Bill Jr. conduct his groups and steal all of my best teaching lines is so gratifying (and eerie at the same time). Seeing Bill Jr. play his cello as part of a duet with my college violin teacher accompanied by our county honor orchestra was definitely a highlight of my personal and professional life. Working at the same school as Shaun is so wonderful. Also, during my thirty years, I’ve had about five or six concerts where the mu-sic and camaraderie between my student and me was so outstanding that those programs are very memorable to me…amidst a bunch of very forgettable ones!

8. Is there a particular musical work orcomposer to which you feel all studentsshould be exposed?

I feel that students should have a balance of music from all eras, especially since orchestra educators are so lucky to have a great deal of outstanding repertoire from every musical era, both original and arranged. Some of the new music written by string composers like Del Borgo, Meyer, Monday, and Mosier is educa-tionally appropriate for teaching concepts to middle and high school players, so shouldn’t be discounted simply because it was not written by a “master.”

9. What advice would you offer teachersbeginning careers in music education?

I have a couple of suggestions:

• Go to performance evaluations, sit down for severalhours and listen to a bunch of groups. That’s the quick-est way to hear a lot of groups, to learn a lot of litera-ture, and to get a barometer reading of what’s going onoutside of your own program.

• Slow and steady wins the race! Don’t burn yourselfout by seventy hour workweeks. Find some balanceand have a satisfying work life and home life.

10. What still inspires you about teaching?

Oh, my gosh! Who is lucky enough to get to work with kids like ours every day? Who gets the best and bright-est students at school and teaches them in a class they enjoy (in a subject I like also) in a way that can change from week to week so no one gets too bored? Who gets summer vacation and a reasonably long Christ-mas break? Who gets to learn new music every year and to work with colleagues from all over Georgia and, indeed, from all over the United States? Plus, there’s always stuff to learn no matter how long you teach.

7. What wisdom/experience/skills do youhope students gain from their time in yourprogram?

I would like them to leave our program a little more em-pathetic, a little kinder to others, behaving more like a team member and leader, understanding what it takes to make music from notes, a little more literate regarding music history and musical terms, with enough perfor-mance and organizational skills so that they can remain a lifetime learner of music.

Bill Jr. and Shaun Scruggs

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Know an experienced teacher that should be featured in a future article of The Veteran 10? Send an email to the GMN Editor, Victoria Enloe: victoria_enloe@gwinnett.k12.ga.us

Dr. Kevin Hibbard, Director of ChoirsDr. Dawn Neely, Director of Opera Workshop

CONCERT CHOIRCHAMBER SINGERSOPERA WORKSHOP

AUDITIONSSaturday, January 23, 2016Monday, February 15, 2016 – Destination: MusicSunday, March 6, 2016

Sunday, April 17, 2016

UWG PREVIEW DAYSSunday, November 1, 2015Sunday, January 31, 2016Sunday, April 10, 2016

UWG Department of Music

(678) 839-6516 • music@westga.edu • westga.edu/music

An Accredited Institutional Member of the National Association of Schools of Music

CHOIRSDEPARTMENT OF MUSIC SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

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