NEWSLETTER GEORGIA MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION
MARCH
2019
"I'm singing, Oh, I'm singing in my soul when the trouble roll. I sing from morn' till night, it makes my burdens light. I'm singing, Yes, I'm singing in my soul" Inspiring Truth for Teachers
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
IN THIS ISSUE MARCH NEWSLETTER AROUND THE STATE
DISTRICT 1 DISTRICT 2 DISTRICT 5 DISTRICT 6 DISTRICT 8 DISTRICT 9 D I S T R I C T 11 D I S T R I C T 13 YEAR OF RE TIREMENT
ALAN BUNN DAVID E. ROBINSON III ACDA ANNOUNCEMENT
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LGPE CHORAL 2015 |
| 2017 | PURCHASE TODAY
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| 2019
available May 2019
IT'S
L SEASON GPE TO CIRCUMVENT ANY ISSUES, PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO READ & REVIEW LGPE POLICIES IN THE GMEA HANDBOOK POLICIES PERTAINING TO LGPE ARE ON PAGES 37-55
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AROUND THE STATE Events and News from our 14 Districts
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DISTRICT ONE
DISTRICT TWO
• For the sixth consecutive year, Esther F. Garrison School for the Arts hosted the annual Savannah Sings 2019: Savannah’s Invitational Choir Festival. The school’s choral directors, John Tisbert and Mandy Madson, welcomed young vocal artists from around the southeastern region, with a special featured appearance by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City. The celebration of song was held at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, 2019 at the Yamacraw Center for the Performing Arts, which is on Garrison’s campus. Savannah Sings is a two-part event featuring spotlight performances by some of the region’s top school and community youth choirs as well as a showcase of the Festival Men’s Chorus under the direction of guest conductor Francisco J. Núñez, founder of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City. The Festival Men’s Chorus consists of top middle- and high-school vocal music students nominated by their teachers for participation in the group. Choirs featured in the festival included: Esther F. Garrison School for the Arts – Garrison Voices, Savannah Arts Academy, Southeast Bulloch High School, Georgia Southern University, the Savannah Children’s Choir, Oglethorpe Charter School, Butler Elementary, and special guests, Francisco J. Núñez, and The Young People’s Chorus of NYC.
• On April 11, 2019, the ABAC Band and Quincy Hilliard will be having the South Georgia premier of Hilliard’s composition “As The World Watched.” The composition was inspired by Betty Ann Folsom and will be accompanied by her video presentation. • Held over the days of December 19th-22nd in Chicago Illinois, the 2018 MidWest Band Clinic heard a composition written by Randolph Clay Middle/High School Band Director, F. Scott Kroll. Mr. Kroll’s composition, “Down From the North,” which is published through RWS Music Company, was one of the few pieces selected to be played at the Clinic’s New Music Reading Session. “The piece being selected for the Reading Session was an incredible opportunity for me as a composer,” said Mr. Kroll. “Getting a piece selected is a highly coveted spot. The pieces chosen are performed in front of a group of several hundred directors and are performed by the Air National Guard Band. My piece was conducted by Col. Eric Patterson, and they did an outstanding job playing it.” The Clinic saw over 20,000 music educators, publishers, vendors and ensembles pass through its halls this year. “It really was incredible to meet so many of the people at the very forefront of the band and orchestra world,” Mr. Kroll stated. “It was quite an 5
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AROUND THE STATE honor to represent Randolph Clay High School, and the school system in general at the largest international music convention in the world. It was wonderful to meet composers such as David Holsinger, Ed Huckeby, and David Shaffer through CL Barnhouse. I am extremely grateful to Robert W. Smith for his amazing support through RWS Music Company.”
Handel, Carl Nielsen, Leonard Bernstein and Brian Balmages. The orchestra also featured a new arrangement of “Down By The Salley Garden” by GMEA member, Jim Palmer. The Alpharetta orchestra program is under the direction of Dr. Charles Laux. Guest conductors for the performance included Sheldon Fisher, Mike Walsh, Ira Jenkins, and Dr. David Vandewalker. Following their performance, the orchestra was also featured as a demonstration group in a session presented by Dr. Laux entitled “It's all about the bow! The best strategies for developing a beautiful tone in beginners and beyond.”
• The GMEA District II band directors would like to inform you of that the Canadian Brass had a performance at Valdosta State University on February 16. Also, there was a pre-festival concert at Lee County High School featuring the Valdosta State Wind Ensemble in performance with Lee County's ensemble. Lastly, on February 28, 2019 the Abrham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) Jazz Band will perform at the ABAC Bainbridge Jazz Festival in Bainbridge, GA.
• On Sunday, March 3, at 3 PM the Georgia Tech Chamber Choir will present a concert of music from modern England. Three works will be featured; the haunting Mass in G Minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1921), Requiem by Herbert Howells (composed in 1932-33 but not released until 1980), and the Southern US premiere of Arion and the Dolphin, a 2016 composition by English composer Jonathan Dove. The first two works are unaccompanied. The latter work is a cantata for solo countertenor, children’s chorus, adult mixed chorus, two pianos, and percussion. The children’s chorus will be members of the Atlanta Young Singers Treble Concert Choir (http://www.aysc.org/). The featured countertenor will be Nathan Medley (http://www. nathan-medley.com/Nathan_Medley_Counter-
DISTRICT FIVE • The Alpharetta High School Symphony Strings performed the opening concert at the 72nd annual Midwest Clinic in Chicago on December 19, 2018. The orchestra received high praise and a standing ovation after performing works by Anton Arensky, Hector Berlioz, George Frederic
ALPHARETTA HIGH SCHOOL
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
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ALPHARETTA HIGH SCHOOL PERFORM AT
THE MIDWEST CLINIC
DISTRICT SIX
tenor/HOME.html) who has emerged in recent years as one of the leading younger-generation countertenors, with notable success internationally in concert and opera. He has sung at some of the major stages of the world and been a featured performer with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. The concert will be at St. John United Methodist Church in Atlanta. It is free and open to the public. More information is available at http://126323.orgsync. com/org/chamberchoir/home.
• The critically acclaimed Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program (SHCC) celebrates its silver anniversary year in 2019, its calendar of events spotlighting 25 years of outstanding music education for Atlanta area youth ages 10 to 18. The program’s anniversary season began with its Holiday concerts in December 2018 and culminates with the upcoming Spring recitals, scheduled for Friday, May 17; Saturday, May 18; and Sunday, May 19, 2019, and including performances by SHCC alumnae. The Silver Anniversary Season will also include the annual open house, auditions for the 2019-2020 season, and a preview of the program for the choir’s traditional “Give Back Tour” scheduled for June, 2019 in Chattanooga and Nashville, Tennessee.
• If you are a music educator who desires to indulge the appetite of your learners, Dr. Marcy Thurmond Simmons has authored a curriculum guide for teachers entitled, “What’s the Cake? Teaching Music Across the Curriculum Can Be a Piece of Cake.” • Congratulations to the Taylor Road Middle School Jazz Ensemble. On Monday, March 4th, the ensemble will open for Joe Gransden and his Big Band at Café 290. For more information, go to trmsbands.org.
G M E A IS TH E 4 T H LARG E ST M E A IN TH E NATIO N ! 7
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AROUND THE STATE
DISTRICT EIGHT
“UFO” by Michael Daugherty. Commissioned nearly two decades ago by Arizona State University, Baylor University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and the University of North Texas, this piece was inspired by the unidentified flying objects that have become an obsession in American pop culture.
• Congratulations to Gracee Myers from Coffee High School in District 8. She successfully auditioned and was selected in all 3 All-State groups this year. She is an alto in the All-State Reading Choir and All-State Chorus and an oboist in the All-State 9/10 Full Orchestra.
• The Blazer Marching Academy at Valdosta State University, June 20-22, provides high school marching band members a great educational experience to improve marching technique, performance abilities, and leadership skills. All tracks offer high level instruction from professional music teachers in Georgia. High school band directors are encouraged to attend sessions in all areas and will be provided opportunities to speak with camp clinicians. Registration is free for high school band directors.
• The Blazin’ Brigade Marching Band of Valdosta State University will be holding auditions for the 2019 season on the following dates: • Guard, April 27 • Dance, April 27 • Percussion, June 22 • Valdosta State University’s Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, in Whitehead Auditorium. Whitehead Auditorium is located on the first floor of VSU’s Fine Arts Building, at the intersection of Brookwood Drive and Oak Street. Admission is free of charge and open to the public. Conducted by Dr. Benjamin Harper, acting director of bands and director of athletic bands at VSU, the 54-member Concert Band will open the performance with Karl King’s “Hosts of Freedom,” a favorite of municipal bands across the country, as well as a fast finale for the elephant acts of the Beatty-Cole, King Brothers, Royal Hanneford, Carson and Barnes, and other circuses. The Concert Band’s program also features Percy Grainger’s “I’m Seventeen Come Sunday,” which represents some of his earliest folksong collecting; “Dusk,” a simple, chorale-like work that, according to composer Steven Bryant, “captures the reflective calm of dusk, paradoxically illuminated by the fiery hues of sunset”; and “Melodious Thunk,” which was inspired by the famous jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and, according to composer David Biedenbender, features “big, fat thunks … interspersed with pointy, clunky, bluesy blips, which are then transformed into a long, smooth, laid-back melody accompanied by a funky bass line.” The 45-member Wind Ensemble, led by Dr. Ryan Smith, a faculty member in VSU’s Department of Music, will perform
DISTRICT NINE • Members of the Lambert High School band, chorus, and orchestra traveled to Italy during the Winter Holidays to perform at various locations, including St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, and the Rome New Year’s Day Parade. Students were also able to enjoy tours Florence, Pisa and Rome and surrounding areas. These groups are under the direction of Scott McCloy, Tonya Mashburn, John Mashburn, Ryan Wason, and Julie Rosseter-Sweeney. South Forsyth Middle School Symphonic Band performed in December 2018 at the Troy State Southeastern Middle School Clinic as a guest band. This group will also perform at the Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Festival at Georgia State University in March. The SFMS bands are under the direction of Andrew Poor and Reggie Humphrey. The Otwell Middle School Symphonic Winds performed in December at the UGA Middle School Festival as a guest band. The OMS bands are under the direction of Jacob Wildes and Claire Kenney. The Liberty Middle School Chorus, under the direction of Karen Graffius, was honored to perform for the 2019 GMEA In-Service Conference in January. 8
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JONES COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL PERFORM AT
NCAA ALL-STATE SUGAR BOWL IN NEW ORLEANS
DISTRICT ELEVEN
millions of people and represent their school and community in an area that otherwise would have never known where Gray, GA was located. Finally, they were able to take all of these experiences and made new acquaintances & friends, became better musicians, and most importantly they became closer with each other and as members of the band.
• The JCHS Marching Greyhounds we given a unique opportunity this school year. They were invited to perform during half time at the 20182019 NCAA All-State Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA. They left for New Orleans the morning of December 29, 2018 and returned on Wednesday, January 2, 2019. While in New Orleans, the Marching Greyhounds participated in several rehearsals and performances. The Field Show Competition Stand still performance on the steps of Jackson Square, the All-State Sugar Bowl New Year’s Eve Parade, and finally a mass band performance during half time in the Superdome. On the morning of Sunday, December 30th they competed in the Field Show competition against the other band’s participating in the Sugar Bowl performance from all around the United States. At the New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball and Awards Banquet, on December 31st, the Marching Greyhounds swept the competition and were awarded 1st Place in every Caption & Sub-Caption, as well as, being awarded 1st Place Overall Band. Because of their performance and placement in the Field Show Competition, the Marching Greyhounds were given the honor of unveiling and holding the United States Flag on the field of the Superdome during the Pre-game ceremonies and the singing of the National Anthem. This truly was a trip of a lifetime for these students. Not only did they get to bring home the accolades from their Competition Performance, but they got to perform on a national stage in front of
DISTRICT THIRTEEN • On November 11, 2018 Holly Lloyd was a guest conductor at the North Carolina Music Educators Association In-Service Conference. She appeared with the University of North Carolina Greensboro Wind Ensemble as a part of Dr. John R. Locke’s retirement concert. Mrs. Lloyd was one of several former students invited to perform on this concert. She was humbled and honored to be a part of this milestone event for the UNCG Wind Ensemble.
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YEAR OF RETIREMENT
Alan Bun
Alan Bunn choral music teacher at Jackson County High School in Jefferson,
Georgia, will be retiring at the end of this school year after 31 years of teaching. A UGA graduate, Mr. Bunn made it a goal to give his students a wide variety of musical experiences. He also provided numerous opportunities for them to grow and share their love for music from elementary through high school. Mr. Bunn’s Rockdale County scbool experience included
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Sims Elementary, Memorial Middle, Rockdale Co. High, and Heritage High. He later taught at East Jackson High, West Jackson Middle, North Jackson Elementary, Maysville Elementary, and Jackson County High School.
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YEAR OF RETIREMENT
David E. Ro
David E. Robinson III orchestra teacher in the Ronald E. McNair Cluster of elementary schools since 1983 (36 years) will be retiring at the end of this school-year. He has dedicated his entire teaching career in this cluster largely made up of students from low- and no-income family households, mostly African-American and Latino. He has often presented orchestral music in all forms to this wonderful community – classical, jazz, Negro spirituals, gospel, reggae, ragtime, country, Top-40: rock, R & B, hip-hop, etc. He arranged a majority of the music. He formed the Dekalb Youth Pops Orchestra (DYPO) in 12
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obinson III
1985 with Chester Griffin. He formed and founded the William Grant Still Memorial Youth Orchestra (now the Still Waters Youth Sinfo-Nia) in 1990. All three groups have traveled throughout the U.S. Sinfo-Nia has been to West Africa twice and once to Jamaica. He also conducts workshops for Urban Strings Youth Orchestra of Columbus, OH, a group he co-founded in 2009. David who is a composer, arranger, and conductor will continue with Sinfo-Nia, be available to conduct workshops and camps, and will continue writing and publishing. He wants to start urban community youth orchestras in other U.S. cities and abroad (including Ghana, West Africa). David was born and raised in Detroit and Highland Park, MI. He attended Morehouse College and Georgia State University. 13
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GA-ACDA announces the inaugural GA-ACDA Composer Lab Choir, to be held Saturday, October 26 in the Skylight Gallery at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art in Atlanta. As part of GA-ACDA’s ongoing efforts to promote new choral music through our Composition Initiative, our state chapter is launching its first Composer Lab Choir. The workshop is open to composers from Georgia, with preference given to young composers in high school and college. Using the link at the bottom of this article, composers may submit their scores for consideration. The Composition Initiative committee will select four composers to work-shop their new music. Each composer will be invited to be present for a 30 minute live rehearsal with a professional choir, conducted by a clinician who is both a composer and a conductor. The choir and clinician will provide real-time, positive feedback during the process, which culminates in a live, high quality audio recording that each composer may use for archival and demonstration purposes.
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MUSIC SPECIFICATIONS • Music should be for any combination of mixed choir (SATB, SSA, TTB, etc.). Divisi is acceptable.
• Scores should clearly include the composer’s name. • Composers submitting scores give GA-ACDA the right to duplicate the music for the purposes of the workshop, but not for general distribution. GA-ACDA will assume the cost of duplication for these purposes.
• Music may be unaccompanied or accompanied with piano. If unaccompanied, a piano reduction is required. • Music should be un-published, though previous performances are acceptable. • 3-5 minutes in length. • Texts must be in the public domain or composers must show permissions for use within the score. • Composers are encouraged to included copyright information in their scores, as well as contact information (email, website, etc.). • Scores should be submitted in PDF and should be clearly engraved using software such as Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, LilyPond, etc. (no hand-written manuscripts).
• Composers are NOT limited to only one submission, but EACH piece must have a separate submission. Submission Timeline: • The deadline for submission is May 1, 2019. Review will begin during the summer GA-ACDA conference and students selected to participate will be notified thereafter. Students selected for the workshop will be responsible for their own travel to the event on Oct. 26
SUBMIT http://bit.ly/ComposerLabChoir2019
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apply to present apply to perform
