Remembering Mike Gangemi

SCSBOA Update

I love the fall season. The weather begins to get a little cooler, the days get shorter, and there’s change in the air. The fall is a time to reflect, but more importantly, a time to plan for all we hope to accomplish during the year with our students. We set goals for ourselves and our programs. I see the fall as a time for renewal. It is time for change.

With the season of change, the SCSBOA Board of Directors has taken a look at how we do things. We have been working hard to plan out the many performance opportunities our association provides for the membership. We have a strong tradition of music education and also a “set” way of evaluating groups. The board is committed to finding the balance of supporting educators and their programs, while making sure our processes stay current and relevant.

The fall marching season will offer schools the choice to receive a rating or comments only, or traditional competition, at each field tournament. The minimum time limit has dropped to five minutes to ease the stress of performing the typical 7-11-minute show. Feedback is what everyone missed last year, so we are committed to providing more comments to be used as an important educational tool for both the educator and their student musicians. We want to support all programs as they get back to their marching activities.

In addition to the marching season, we have thoughtfully planned for our festival season and annual conference. Schools attending festivals will have an allotment of time to perform on the stage in place of having to perform a certain number of pieces. Music selections will be the director’s choice and clinics will be available at each host festival site. The annual SCSBOA Professional Development Conference will take place once again in the month of January at the Hyatt Regency Orange County. Our conference will be held on January 21-22, 2022. The difference at this year’s SCSBOA conference is we will not host our student honor groups on the same weekend. The honor groups will move to April with the hope they will be able to gather in person from the many regions represented in Southern California. If you are interested in attending our conference, look on the SCSBOA website (www.scsboa.org) in the coming weeks to register. It is a great two-days of professional development sessions, food, and reconnecting with colleagues. The conference is also very close to the “Happiest Place on Earth.”

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that this school year will be one full of music, laughter, and moving forward, in person.

Jeanne Christensen

SCSBOA Representative Director of Bands, Mira Mesa High School