President’s Message

president’smessage

WILLIAM McDEVITT 856-794-6800 x2539 billnjmea@aol.com Website: http://www.njmea.org

Happy New Year to

All! Even though this message will be read in January, I will dispel a bit of the illusion to let you know that I am writing it on a bus ride to our last marching band competition in November. I have enjoyed this experience for 30 years now (not the bus rides, but the activity). I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed. I also can’t believe how much I have grown. When I started teaching in 1986 I thought that I knew everything, and that no one could tell me any different. My personal experience became much better when I realized that there were many people out there that know much more than me and that I could learn from them. NJMEA has been a big part of that experience.

I have been very lucky to be a part of this organization and hopefully pass on some of my experiences to everyone else. Below, I will share a few of those experiences.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

A small contingent of NJMEA members attended the National Conference in Tennessee in October. It was nice to have so many sessions available that you had to make choices. I had the opportunity to listen to several of the All National Honor Ensembles. It’s great to see that the quality has improved immensely over the last few years. The official NJMEA contingent included Conference Chair Marie Malara, Executive Secretary/Treasurer Debbie Sfraga, President-Elect Jeff Santoro, and myself. While it rained most of the time that we were there, you wouldn’t have known it inside the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. This immense facility seemed to be the size of 3 Disney Resorts. Everyone that I spoke to said that you have to go there once just to experience it – and they were right.

NOVEMBER CONFERENCE

As always, the planning for the music portion of the NJEA Convention brought about great success. Nancy Clasen has been planning the sessions for years and has been our liaison to NJEA. The variety of sessions offered and the depth of information that was presented was what we have come to expect. The highlights of the conventions, in my opinion, were the concerts presented by our New Jersey students.

ALL-STATE JAZZ BAND AND HONORS JAZZ CHOIR

On the Thursday evening of our NJMEA Convention, the NJ All-State Jazz Band and Honors Jazz Choir performed for a rather large crowd. The Jazz Band was under the direction of Conrad Herwig and the Jazz Choir was under the direction of Kerry Marsh. These ensembles both did a spectacular job, and then repeated it at NJPAC on the following Friday. Special thanks go out to NJAJE President Mike Anzuini and his staff, including Jazz Band Manager Doug Barber and Jazz Choir Manager Steve Bishop.

ALL-STATE CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA

Another part of our annual November festivities is our All-State Chorus and Orchestra. It takes a huge staff to pull together this type of activity. Leading the pack was our COJ Coordinator Joe Cantaffa. Joe puts an immense amount of time into the planning of these events and NJMEA is indebted to him for his efforts and the knowledge that he brings to the table. The familiar face of Jack Rowland was there to coordinate the housing of our students. Orchestra Performance

Chair Susan Meuse pulled the ensemble together. She was assisted by managers Sarah Donatelli and Michael Kallimanis. The energetic ensemble was conducted by Helen Pya-Cho. The Mixed Chorus was brought together by Choral Performance Chair Kathy Spadafino. Choral managers were Michelle Sontag and Matthew Chi Lee. The conductor of this ensemble was Anthony Leach from Penn State University. One of the highlights of the performance was “Clap Praise” by Diane WhiteClayton, with choreographed clapping. An endeavor this large is not successful without a small army of workers. From auditions to chaperoning and preparing students for these concerts, your help is greatly appreciated.

EASTERN DIVISION

PLANNING MEETING

The NAfME Eastern Division includes all of the states on the east coast from Maine to Washington, DC and PA. Representatives from all of these states were in attendance at a planning meeting at the Atlantic City Sheraton on the day after the NJEA Convention. Some of them were actually in attendance at our All-State Chorus and Orchestra Concert! One of the main purposes of this meeting was to close out the 2015 Eastern Division Conference and discuss the plans for the 2017 Conference in Atlantic City. We are already well on our way to making this an exciting experience for our members and the members of the other Eastern Division states. Included in the event will be the All-Eastern Honors Ensembles (Mixed Chorus, Treble Chorus, Jazz Band, Concert Band, and Orchestra). Information about session proposals, performance tape submissions, and All-Eastern Applications will be coming out shortly. It would be great to see a large number of NJ ensembles selected to perform in this conference!

NJMEA OPERA FESTIVAL

On November 14th, I had the opportunity to attend the NJMEA Opera Festival. We are truly a unique state for offering this opportunity to our students. The day included arias, choruses, and instrumental selections from Mozart to Menotti. The students also participated in workshops presented by Metropolitan Opera members. Thanks go out to Mike Kallimanis for all that he did to put together this year’s festival.

FEBRUARY CONFERENCE

At the time of this writing, the February Conference is shaping up to be a very exciting and educational event. Our academies are in place once again for Thursday morning and afternoon. “Project Trio” is set to perform for our Friday Evening Entertainment. As always, our highlight will be our student performances of the NJ All-State Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Treble Choir. Mixed in with all of this is a huge amount to professional development opportunities for attendees. Marie Malara and her committee have been working tirelessly in preparing this conference and getting ready to host Eastern Division in 2017. Just a reminder – there will be a new registration/check-in procedure this year. Have the NAfME app downloaded on your smart phone or a print out of your membership bar code from the NAfME website. All you will have to do is scan the bar code or QR code and your conference badge will be printed for you.

NJMEA WEBSITE

As you have probably already seen, NJMEA has a new website. We have partnered with NAfME to provide better capabilities than we have had in the past. There were a few kinks in the beginning that needed to be worked out, but it is now running smoothly. You will see more changes in the future that will allow for more functionality for our members. Thanks to Tom Mosher and Debbie Sfraga for all of your work to make this change happen for our members.

We hope to see all of you at our conference in February at the Hilton in East Brunswick. We will take a year off in 2017 as we host the NAfME Eastern Division Conference. We hope to see you there also!