GEORGIA MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION DISTRICT XII MIDDLE SCHOOL CHORAL
LARGE GROUP PERFORMANCE EVALUATION March 5th and 6th, 2018
Burnt Hickory Baptist Church Paula Krupiczewicz, District 12 Chairperson Marla Baldwin, District 12 Choral Chairperson Sonya Guerra and Amy Newcomb, District 12 Middle School LGPE Organizers
Adjudicators Suzanne Shull Head Adjudicator
Suzanne Shull has taught school chorus and chorus teachers, worked as a church choir director, and conducted GA all state and other regional honor choirs. She was a member of the ASO Chorus for three decades with Robert Shaw and is now in a church choir under the direction of Dan Bara (UGA) and his wife Deanna Joseph (GSU.) She feels that she has had the good fortune of singing with some the best mentors and teachers in the choral world.
Debbie Looney Performance Adjudicator
Debbie Looney is a retired Choral Director. She received the Bachelor of Arts degree inPiano and Vocal Performance and Music Education, Summa Cum Laude, from Brenau College in Gainesville. She also holds the Master of Music Education with Distinction from the University of Georgia in Athens. Mrs. Looney has taught at all levels, spending the last 22 years of her career at West Hall and Davis Middle Schools in Hall County, where her choruses consistently received Superior Ratings in both Performance and Sight Reading. Mrs. Looney’ students regularly participated in District Honor Chorus and All-State Chorus. Her West Hall Choruses were selected to perform at the GMEA In-Service Conference in 1996 and 2000, and the Davis Advanced Girls’ Chorus was selected in 2010. In 2014, the Advanced Girls joined the Piedmont College Choral in a performance of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”. Mrs. Looney is in demand as an accompanist, adjudicator and clinician. She has directed numerous honor choruses around the state, including the 2006 Sixth Grade Statewide Honor Chorus and the 2009 Middle School Mixed All-State Chorus. Mrs. Looney is a GMEA Certified Adjudicator, and served on the State Choral Council as Chair for District Nine for 13 years. She holds memberships in Georgia Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference and the American Choral Directors Association. She resides in Gainesville with her husband, Doug, who is also a retired music educator.
Greg Smith Performance Adjudicator
Greg S. Smith is a recently retired choral director. He retired after his fourth year as Director of Choral Activities at Riverwood International Charter School. Smith’s teaching experience includes 12 years in Decatur County as Choral Music Supervisor, Bainbridge High School Director of Choral Activities and Choirmaster at Bainbridge First United Methodist Church. While in Bainbridge, he founded the Decatur County Elementary Honors Chorus and was a Founding Director of the Bainbridge Civic Chorale. He also served 8 years as Director of Choral Activities at Duluth High School where he was aformer Fine Arts Department Chair and finalist for Teacher of the Year in 2004-2009. Smith also served as former Director of Choral and Vocal Music at The Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School. Mr. Smith’s choirs have consistently scored superior ratings for 29 years at the GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation in performance and sight singing. He has been an active adjudicator and choral clinician in the southeastern United States and acquired the designation of GMEA Head choral adjudicator in 2006. Choirs under his direction have participated in multiple European choir tours to Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy where they were lauded as “a vocal group of the highest musicality and expressiveness with a lustrous and seamlessly blended sound”. Domestically, they have performed throughout Metropolitan Atlanta, New York City, Florida, and The Grand Bahama Islands including performances for the Governor of Georgia and appearances at Carnegie Hall. Choirs under his direction have performed at multiple GMEA conferences: The Bainbridge High School A Cappella Choir in 2002, The Duluth High School Advanced Women’s Ensemble in 2007 and a 2016 performance with The Riverwood Singers. Mr. Smith holds a Master of Choral Music Education degree from Florida State University. He has studied with Andre Thomas, Rodney Eichenberger, Ned DeJournett, Judy Bowers, and Kevin Fenton among others. He has served as a GMEA District Chairperson and is a life member of the American Choral Director’s Association. He is also a member of the International Federation of Choral Music and The Shalloway Foundation. Smith has been listed 13 times in Who’s Who Among American High School Teachers and is a former member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Tallahassee Civic Chorus. Mr. Smith has conducted honor choirs in Georgia and Florida ranging from the GMEA Statewide 6th grade Honors Chorus to numerous middle school, high school, and college honor choirs.
Doug Looney Sight Adjudicator
Doug Looney is a retired music educator, and has taught band, chorus, orchestra, and general music in Dekalb and Gwinnett public schools for thirty-two years. Mr. Looney is a graduate of Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. Mr. Looney has also held numerous church choir director positions and was music director of the Gwinnett Civic Chorus for eight years. Mr. Looney is a strong advocate for the teaching of sight-reading and regular practice in a choral program. He believes the best choirs are made up of well-rounded musicians. Mr. Looney is a native of Stephens County and resides in Gainesville, Georgia with his wife Debbie who is also a choral music teacher.
Clinicians Christy Caldwell Performance Clinician
Cristy T. Caldwell is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. and after a 30 year teaching career, retired in the spring of 2013. Her entire career was spent in the Fulton County School System. During her tenure she taught high school choral and general music for 5 years, but the last 25 were as a middle school specialist. She served as Fulton County Choral Department Chair for both middle and high school teachers for 22 years and was selected Teacher of the Year on three different occasions. In 1998 the Atlanta Journal and Constitution honored Mrs. Caldwell as one of the top 3 middle school teachers in Georgia, and she has been included in The Outstanding Young Women of America, also on three different occasions. She is a member of The Georgia and Tennessee Music Educators Association and the American Choral Directors Association. Mrs. Caldwell served as the ACDA Choral Repertoire and Standards Chairperson for Junior High and Middle Schools for the State of Georgia from 1999-2002 and the Southern Division from 2002-2008. She also served a two-year term as the Multicultural Repertoire and Standards Chair for the State of Georgia. She currently serves as a Choral Clinician, Guest Conductor and Large Group Performance Evaluation Adjudicator throughout the southeast. Under her direction, her choirs consistently received ratings of superior at District Festivals, and she has been a session leader/presenter at regional and national ACDA, GMEA and National Middle School Association Conferences. Her Advanced Treble Choir performed for the GMEA Conference in Savannah, Ga. in 2011. Mrs. Caldwell currently enjoys her newly retired life in Nashville where she assists music teachers in the Davidson and Williamson County School Districts and travels to Ga. to assist schools in their musical theater productions. Her favorite activities include spending time with her husband, William, and visiting her son, Garrett, who graduates from The University of Georgia this May. GO DAWGS!
Joy Meade
Performance Clinician Dr. Joy Elizabeth Meade is the Associate Director of Choirs at Georgia State University’s School of Music, where she conducts Choral Union and teaches conducting, choral music education and choral literature courses. Prior to her appointment at GSU, Dr. Meade taught middle and high school choir and orchestra for the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District in Kennett Square, PA and was the assistant conductor of the Brandywine Valley Chorale. Dr. Meade is the recipient of GSU's 2017-2018 Center for Collaborative and International Arts grant, which brought the GRAMMY-winning vocal project Roomful of Teeth to campus for a residency. This year, Dr. Meade and the GSU Choral Union are undergoing a year-long collaborative endeavor with the Homeward Choir of Atlanta, a homeless men's choir, with the purpose of calling the housed to action through of series of lectures, exchanges and concerts. Dr. Meade frequently serves as a guest clinician with school, church and community choirs throughout Georgia and along the East coast.
During her doctoral studies at the University of Georgia, Dr. Meade served as the assistant conductor of the Hodgson Singers and University Chorus, conducting performances of Haydn’s Creation and Stravinsky’s Mass and helping prepare Bizet’s Carmen, Handel’s Messiah and the requiems of Brahms and Howells. Her research culminated in a dissertation on pilgrimage and postminimalism in Joby Talbot’s 2005 choral work, Path of Miracles In addition to conducting, Dr. Meade has pursued professional singing opportunities as a member of Westminster Choir College’s Symphonic Choir, Westminster Choir and Kantorei; the Spoleto Festival opera chorus; and CANTATICA. Dr. Meade holds the D.M.A in conducting from the University of Georgia, a M.M. in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College, and a B.A. in voice performance and French from the University of Richmond.
Monday, March 5, 2018 9:15 AM Marietta Middle School Blue Devil Advanced Chorus Erin Layton, Director; Arie Motschman, Accompanist Get On Board
Jay Althouse
Ahrirang
Traditional Korean Folk Song, Arr. Brad Printz
9:45 AM Lovinggood Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Carla Henry Robinson, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist Come, Live with Pleasure
George Frideric Handel, Arr. Patrick Liebergen
Elijah Rock!
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Roger Emerson
10:00 AM Lost Mountain Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Jay Champion, Director; Susan Wallace , Accompanist Today We Shall Be Merry (So Ben Mi Ch’à Bon Tempo) Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen
Orazio Vecchio, Arr. Sherri Porterfield Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Ruth Elaine Schram
10:15 AM Hightower Trail Middle School Mixed Chorus Suzanne Logue, Director; Ira Pittman, Accompanist The Tiger
Sherri Porterfield
What Do the Stars Do?
Victor C. Johnson
10:30 AM East Cobb Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Vanessa Helms, Director; Diane Wilson, Accompanist The Clouds
Cynthia Gray
Let There Be Music
Jerry Estes
11:00 AM Lovinggood Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Carla Henry Robinson, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist Ma Bella Bimba
Italian Folk Song , Arr. Donald Moore
River, Sing Your Song
Eugene Butler
11: 15 AM Hightower Trail Middle School Treble Chorus Suzanne Logue, Director; Ira Pittman, Accompanist We Have a Secret
Mark Burrows
Autumn Vesper
Audrey Snyder
11:45AM Marietta 6th Grade Academy Singers Emily Hobson, Director; Zachariah Schmidt , Accompanist Dance of the Willow
Victoria Ebel– Sabo, Arr. Roger Emerson
Cantate!
Mary Lynn Lightfoot
12:00 PM East Cobb Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Vanessa Helms, Director; Diane Wilson, Accompanist She Sings...
Amy Bernon
Sing Alleluia
Victor C. Johnson
Monday, March 5, 2018 12:15 PM Hightower Trail Middle School Sixth Grade Chorus Suzanne Logue, Director; Ira Pittman, Accompanist On Silver-Tipped Wings
Mark Patterson
The Moon
Bret Silverman
12:30 PM Dodgen Middle School 8-1 Chorus Chris Whittington, Director; Laurel Harrell, Accompanist Old Dan Tucker
Traditional Folk Song, Arr. Pat Willet
The Sound of the Sea
Mark Wilson
12:45 PM Barber Middle School Men’s Chorus Lisa Reeves Davidson, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist Rest Not!
Laura Farnell
Good Night, Ladies!
Becky Slagle Mayo
1:00 PM Mabry Middle School Eighth Grade Chorus Jennifer Stepp, Director; James Bennett, Accompanist Over Hill, Over Dale
Ruth Morris Gray
Turtle Dove
Appalachian Folk Song, Arr. Linda Spevecek
1:45 PM Dodgen Middle School 8-2 Chorus Chris Whittington, Director; Laurel Harrell, Accompanist I Dream A World
Andre J. Thomas
Sinner Man
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Roger Emerson
2:00 PM McClesky Middle School 6th and 7th Grade Chorus Licia Murrell, Director; Alex Pietsch, Accompanist Kyrie Eleison
Sonja Poorman
The Drunken Sailor
Sea Shanty, Arr. Emily Crocker
2:15 PM Griffin Middle School Eighth Grade Chorus Sarah Rabun, Director; Stephanie Ng, Accompanist Shoshone Love Song (The Heart’s Friend)
Traditional Native American Lyric, Arr. Roger Emerson
The Tiger
Sherri Porterfield
2:30 PM McClure Middle School 6th Grade Chorus Emily Cannon, Director; Lynn Griffin , Accompanist Will There Really Be A Morning? Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel
Cynthia Gray Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Roger Emerson
2:45 PM Tapp Middle School 6th Grade Chorus George Evans, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist To Music Bee! I’m Expecting You
Betty Bertaux Emma Lou Diemer
Monday, March 5, 2018 3:00 PM Awtrey Middle School 8th Grade Mixed Chorus Robin McDaniel, Director; Harris Wheeler, Accompanist Gloria in excelsis Deo
Antonio Vivaldi, Arr. Elmer Thomas
Bonse Aba
Traditional Zambian Song, Arr. Andrew Fischer
3:15 PM Smitha Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Kate Chastain, Director; Ivy Pirl, Accompanist Benedictus
Greg Gilpin
The Drinking Gourd
Andre Thomas
3:45 PM Dickerson Middle School Seventh Grade Chorus Sonya Guerra, Director; Paul Stevens, Accompanist Gloria Deo
Cristi Cary Miller
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Pat Willet
4:00 PM Simpson Middle School Seventh Grade Women’s Chorus Kirstin Cagle, Director; Diane Wilson, Accompanist Wade in the Water How Can I Keep from Singing
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Moses Hogan American Folk Hymn Arr. Mary Donnelly and George Strid
4:15 PM Awtrey Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Robin McDaniel, Director; Harris Wheeler, Accompanist Cantate Canon
Donald Moore
Afternoon on a Hill
Cynthia Gray
4:30 PM Palmer Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Marla Baldwin, Director; Steve Coleman , Accompanist The Winter Snow
Audrey Snyder
Keep Your Lamps!
Victor C. Johnson
4:45 PM Dickerson Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Sonya Guerra, Director; Paul Stevens, Accompanist Pete, Pete Nine Hundred Miles
Ghanaian Folk Song, Arr. Victor C. Johnson Traditional American Folk Song, Arr. Philip E. Silvey
5:00 PM Daniell Middle School 8th Grade Developing Chorus Selina Madison, Director; Jakari Rush, Accompanist Riversong
Andy Beck
The Tiger
Sherri Porterfield
5:15 PM Pine Mountain Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Mixed Chorus Lauren Hemmings, Director; Jennifer Blaske, Accompanist Windy Nights Gratias Agimus Tibi
Cynthia Gray Lon Beery
5:30 PM Palmer Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Marla Baldwin, Director; Steve Coleman, Accompanist Come to me, O my Love
Allan Robert Petker
Lightning!
Greg Gilpin
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 9:30 AM Mount Paran Christian School Middle School Treble Chorus Julie Duncan, Director; , Accompanist When I Am Silent
Joan C. Varner
Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel
African American Spiritual, Arr. Mark Patterson
9:45 AM Marietta Middle School Select Chorus Erin Layton, Director; Arie Motschman, Accompanist Two Sturdy Oaks
Neil Ginsberg
Peace Like a River
Traditional, Arr. Ruth Elanie Schram
10:00 AM Lost Mountain Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Jay Champion, Director; Susan Wallace, Accompanist Vive In Pace (Live In Peace)
Orlando Gibbons, Arr. Audrey Snyder
Laudate Dominum (From “Solemn Vespers” K.339)
W.A. Mozart, Arr. Earlene Rentz
10:15 AM Dodgen Middle School 6th Grade Chorus Chris Whittington and Rachel Howard, Director; Laurel Harrell, Accompanist Ching A Ring Chaw
American Minstrel Song, Arr. Linda Spevacek
When I Am Silent
Joan C. Varner
10:30 AM Marietta Sixth Grade Academy Beginning Chorus Emily Hobson, Director; Linda McKenzie, Accompanist Three Dominican Folk Songs, 1 and 3 Shoshone Love Song
Francisco Nunez Roger Emerson
10:45 AM Barber Middle School Treble Chorus Lisa Reeves Davidson, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist The Ghost Ship
Dave and Jean Perry
Contate Hodie!
Mary Lynn Lightfoot
11:00 PM McClure Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Emily Cannon, Director; Lynn Griffin, Accompanist Gratias Agimus Tibi Your Friend Shall Be the Tall Wind
Lon Beery Victor C. Johnson
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 11:30 PM Griffin Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Sarah Rabun, Director; Stephanie Ng, Accompanist Dreams
Audrey Snyder
Je Le Vous Dirai!
Pierre Certon, Arr. Sherri Porterfield
11:45 PM Mabry Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Jennifer Stepp, Director; James Bennett , Accompanist A Menagerie of Songs: Bandicoot; Giraffes
Carolyn Jennings
Cantamos!
James M. DesJardins
12:00 PM McClesky Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Licia Murrell, Director, Alex Pietsch, Accompanist The Clouds
Cynthia gray
Cantate!
Mary Lynn Lightfoot
12:15 PM Floyd Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Chorus Kati Stewart, Director; Allison Lingenfelter, Accompanist Sinner Man
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Roger Emerson
In This Ancient House (Momoshiki Ya)
Ruth Morris Gray
12:30 PM Garrett Middle School 8th Grade Advanced Chorus Jonathan Fallis, Director; Donna Fallis, Accompanist Durme, Durme
Audrey Snyder
Bonse Aba
Victor C. Johnson
12:45 PM Dodgen Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Chris Whittington and Rachel Howard, Director; Laurel Harrell, Accompanist Danny Boy
Old Irish Air, Arr. Julie Knowles
I Want to be Ready
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Glenda E. Franklin
1:00 PM Cooper Middle School Seventh Grade Chorus Amy Newcomb, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist In Flanders Fields
John Jacobson and Roger Emerson, Arr. Roger Emerson
Ma Bella Bimba
Italian Folk Song, Arr. Donald Moore
1:45 PM Tapp Middle School Women’s Chorus George Evans, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist I Will Sing With the Spirit
John Rutter, Arr. David Wilcocks
Pie Jesu
Mary Lynn Lightfoot
2:00 PM Smitha Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Kate Chastain, Director; Ivy Pirl, Accompanist In Flanders Fields
John Jacobson and Roger Emerson, Arr. Roger Emerson
Two Sturdy Oaks
Neil Ginsberg
2:15 PM Cooper Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Amy Newcomb, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist River, Sing Your Song Two Sturdy Oaks
Eugene Butler Neil Ginsberg
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 2:30 PM Lindley Middle School Chorus Cedrick Hayward, Director; Susan Fernie, Accompanist Who Has Seen The Wind?
Edwin T. Childs and Christina Rosetti
Wade In the Water
John Purifoy and Janet Kevberg Day, Arr. Moses Hogan
2:45 PM Campbell Middle School 8th Grade Chorus Brittani Clark, Director; Susan Fernie, Accompanist The Water is Wide
American Folk Song, Arr. Luigi Zaninelli
Exultate Justi in Domino
Early Latin text, Arr. D. Farrell Smith
3:00 PM Tapp Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Mixed Chorus George Evans, Director; Pamela Lundgren, Accompanist Gratias Agimus Tibi
Lon Berry
Set Down Servant
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Roger Emerson
3:15 PM McClure Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Emily Cannon, Director; Lynn Griffin , Accompanist The Autumn Reel
Audrey Snyder
Pie jesu
Victor C. Johnson
3:45 PM Simpson Middle School Eighth Grade Women’s Chorus Kirstin Cagle, Director; Diane Wilson, Accompanist Danny Boy
Old Irish Air, Arr. Julie Knowles
Hodie
David Waggoner
4:00 PM Campbell Middle School 7th Grade Chorus Brittani Clark, Director; Susan Fernie, Accompanist Where the Wind Goes
Tina English, Arr. Greg Gilpin
Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Roger Emerson
4:15 PM Daniell Middle School 7th Grade Developing Chorus Selina Madison, Director; Jakiri Rush, Accompanist Al Shlosha D’Varim
Allan E. Naplan
Stars
Mary Donnelly and George L.O. Strid
4:30 PM Palmer Middle School 6th Grade Chorus Marla Baldwin, Director; Steve Coleman, Accompanist Peace Like a River
Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Ruth Elaine Schram
Galop
Ken Berg
4:45 PM Simpson Middle School Men’s Chorus Kirstin Cagle, Director; Diane Wilson, Accompanist She is Evening
Vicky Tucker Courtney and John Parker
Rest Not!
Laura Farnell
5:00 PM Dominion Christian Middle School Choir Emily Grooms, Director; Jake Hirschler, Accompanist Alleluia Homeward Bound
William Boyce , Arr. Theron Kirk Marta Keen, Arr. Jay Althouse
Audience Etiquette A Special Note to Students: Our LGPE event gives us the unique opportunity to be listeners instead of performers. Please adhere to the following etiquette while in the performance area.
Speak in a whisper while in the performance area.
It is appropriate to applaud when the first person walks on the stage, even if that person is the announcer. Your applause lets the performers know you are looking forward to the performance.
While a performance is in progress, do not utter a sound. Whispering to a neighbor is distracting not only to the people around you, but also to the performers on stage. Whistling, screaming, and yelling are never appropriate in the performance area.
Any devices that make sound should be turned off. Also be careful of any other potential noisemaking materials such as Velcro, jingling jewelry, or clothing that makes noise with movement.
Normally, if the show is funny, one should feel free to laugh aloud. In this case, even if a song is humorous, please don’t laugh. It is important that the judges and clinicians hear the performance.
Movement is very distracting to the audience as well as the performers. For that reason, no one should get up during a performance. Likewise, audience members should enter the performance area only between songs and should be seated by the time the music begins.
Do not applaud until after the conductor lowers his or her hands. This may take several seconds after the piece has ended.
It is appropriate to applaud at the end of every piece. Listen carefully to make sure it is really the end. It is embarrassing to start clapping before the song is over. Sometimes it seems like the end, then the music starts again.
While sitting in your chair, your feet must remain on the floor. It is rude and disrespectful to our kind hosts to place dirty shoes on seats.
If the show is very good, you may want to give a standing ovation at the end. This is appropriate as long as you stay at your seats.
Purpose and Process of Large Group Performance Evaluation ~ Melissa Arasi, Ph.D. ~ Former Supervisor of K-12 General/Choral Music, Theatre, and Dance Large Group Performance Evaluation is the annual assessment of student achievement by each school music ensemble. It is sponsored by the Music Educators Association and follows their rules of participation and performance expectations. Choral directors select music literature that will demonstrate the various fundamental performance standards and concepts in the curriculum. The degree of literature difficulty ranges from E for Elementary, M for Middle School and levels D to A with D representing beginning high school or upper level middle school, up through A being of the highest level of difficulty. Choirs sing two selections with one of the selections being from the required list provided in each level of difficulty. Each year, nationally recognized experts in the field assess Cobb County music ensembles on every aspect of student and director performance. The rigor and comprehensiveness of this evaluation is similar to that of standardized tests or end-of-course exams given in other school subjects. Students demonstrate their musical understanding and skill development through applied performance and sight-singing both individually and as an ensemble. Three experts evaluate choirs of the fundamental elements through prepared literature and one expert evaluates fundamental elements on literature seen and sung for the first time. Expert clinicians also conduct a brief clinic to provide face-to-face, immediate feedback to the director and students regarding pedagogical strategies for improvement and specific aspects of the performance that were particularly effective. The adjudicators complete score sheets with commentary. Grades of (I) Superior, (II) Excellent, (III) Good, (IV) Poor, and (V) Failure, are utilized to communicate a national standard for performance with more detailed grading in each fundamental performance indicator. A professional audio recording of each performance serves as an archive and resource for further study and reflection. This thorough process of performance evaluation serves to provide the opportunity for program improvement, instructional guidance, and accountability for learning. Thanks ~ A special thanks to Burnt Hickory Baptist Church! They have welcomed us again this year and accommodated our needs beyond all reasonable expectations. Their kindness and service to the community is a blessing in so many ways. Thank you Pastor Mike Stephens, Barry Cook, Janet Allison, Grant Buro and the Operations Department of Burnt Hickory Baptist Church for being so generous with their time and energy. Thanks to Stacy Levy for the support that she gives the choral teachers year round. Thanks to all of the participating directors who help run this event. Your help is a testament to the fact that we are such a supportive and cohesive group, and it is greatly appreciated. And finally, to Dr. Joseph Woodruff, Supervisor for Performing Arts in Cobb County, for securing our performance clinicians, arranging for transportation for our ensembles and being so supportive of our efforts at this event.