Division Chair News

THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION

News From Our Division Chairs

Administration

Ronald P. Dolce 732-574-0846 rdolce561@aol.com

It seems like a few short months ago we were reading the October issue of TEMPO. Here is the May issue with another school year almost coming to an end. We are now into May and in the middle of our spring music concerts or putting our students on buses or planes for the spring trip or competition. We are happy to say that we have had many members in attendance at our meetings this year. It has been a busy year for the NJMAA Executive Board and Board of Directors providing informative workshops for the membership.

Our first workshop in October, “Nuts and Bolts-Advice on How to Be Successful as an Arts Supervisor” was presented by Perter Griffin, Supervisor of Performing Arts for the Hopewell Valley School District. The presentation offered ideas to the members about practical methods used in supervising programs and staff.

Our second workshop in December, “Making the Case for Dance and Theater” presented by Louis Quagliato, Supervisor of Music from the West Orange Public Schools with assistance from teachers from the West Orange School District and the Rahway Public Schools. This presentation discussed the importance of dance and theater programs in schools and the process used to bring these programs to reality.

Our February workshop, “Arts and Special Education” facilitated by Joe Akinskas, from Rowan University and Cumberland County College and presented by Maureen Butler, NJMEA Board on Special Learners gave the members an insight and resources for teachers to aid in their teaching of special learners in the music classroom.

Our March workshop was, “Transitioning from General Music Class to Performing Arts Class”, presented by Patricia Rowe, Supervisor from the Moorestown School District. This workshop showed ways that teachers can interest potential performing arts students from classroom activities to the performing activities in the school ensemble program.

This year, our members actively presented and participated in the NAfME Eastern Division Conference held in Atlantic City. Several of our members presented workshops at the conference. Joe Akinskas from Rowan University and Cumberland County College, presented the “Collegiate Forum” and “Open Forum on Instruction.” Bob Pispecky, supervisor from the Edison Public Schools, presented, “Transitioning from Music Student to Music Teacher” and Peter Griffin from the Hopewell Valley School District presented, “Music Student to Music Teacher: Nail Down that Job.”

Our Last workshop in June will be held at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Members will have the opportunity to tour the Kimmel Center and hear about the educational opportunities offered by the staff.

As previously mentioned, we continue to have a very good member turn out at our workshops. The success of the New Jersey Music Administrators Association depends on its members. This year we had an outstanding number of veteran administrators as well as many new faces attend the meeting/workshops. The NJMAA serves as a valuable resource for music administrators and those administrators without a music background to help them work more effectively with their staff and work more efficiently as they support the needs of the music program.

Find out more about the NJMAA. Check us out at njmaa.org; become a member.

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THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION

News From Our Division Chairs

Band Performance

Al Bazzel 856-358-2054 fenwayfollwer5@comcast.net

The All-State Band Procedures Committee would like to congratulate all of the the 2017 NJMEA All-State Band members and sponsoring directors for a wonderful concert! We would also like to recognize our managers for the 2017 All-State Bands - Darrel Hendricks, Nick Mossa, John Scozzaro and Joe Spina. Special thanks to our equipment managers, Deb Knisely and Brian Toth for all their hard work in ensuring all the equipment was in place for our rehearsals and concerts.

Congratulations to Kristen Park from Kinnelon High School and Michael Wang from John P. Stevens High School for being selected as the 2017 NJ Governor’s Award Recipients for All-State Band. They will be honored at a ceremony in May.

2017 NJ ASB Governor’s Award Recipients Michael Wang & Kristen Park 2017 ASB Four Year Members Kelly Yu, Michael Wang, Ehtan Kang, Joseph Giguere, Kristen Park & Dominick Scalia

The 2017-2018 solo list is included in this issue. The committee has reviewed all recommendations for solo changes and there are several new additions to the list. A reminder that the battery audition will include snare drum rudiments, solo and sight reading, the traps studies, found on the website, and a mallet etude, found on the solo list. All audition information and requirements are on the website. Continue to check www.njmea.org throughout the summer for updates, conference information, and important links.

I would like to thank the region representatives of the All-State Band Committee. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your specific region representatives: Region I- Darrell Hendricks, Lewis Kelly, Gregory Mulford; Region II- Brian Toth, Chris Vitale, John Zazzali; Region III- Nichole Delnero, Thomas Rafter, and Phil Senseney. Special thanks to the following Procedures Committee appointed members: Donna Cardaneo, All-State Band and Treble Chorus coordinator; Deb Knisely, auditions chair; Bruce Yurko, solo chair; Mindy Scheierman, NJBA Liason; David Britton, percussion coordinator, and Paul Oster, historian.

Thank you all for another great year! On behalf of the committee, I hope you have a wonderful summer!

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THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION

News From Our Division Chairs

Choral Festivals

Donna Marie Berchtold 609-476-6241 x1013 berchtoldd@hamiltonschools.org

NJMEA sponsors two Middle School Choral Festivals. The first event was held at Rowan University on March 1, 2017. The festival scheduled for Rutgers University will be held on May 24, 2017. Each event features middle school – junior high choral groups ranging from grade 5 – 9. The choirs that participated at Rowan University were from the following schools: Orchard Valley Middle School from Sewell, Buena Regional Middle from Buena; William Davies Middle School from Mays Landing; West Deptford Middle School; Glassboro Intermediate School; and the 9th grade ensemble from Moorestown High School.

The adjudicators for that event were: Chris Thomas, Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, and Lois Miller, Retired Faculty, Glassboro State College. Host was Rick Dammers, Dean of the College of Performing Arts

At the time of this writing, the program for the NJMEA Choral Festival at Rutgers is still in the process of completion. There will be two adjudicators at the Rutgers Festival: Judith Nicosia, Associate Professors of Music at the Mason Gross School of the Arts is our first adjudicator. Judith Nicosia serves as Host for the event. We are waiting on confirmation from our second adjudicator.

The Coordinators for both Festival events were: Donna Marie Berchtold, NJMEA Choral Festivals Chairperson from Wm. Davies Middle School, Mays Landing; and Karen Blumenthal, Von E. Mauger Middle School, Middlesex.

At the Festivals, each participating choral group received written and aural evaluations by the adjudicators, along with a plaque from NJMEA which recognizes the commitment and involvement by the school, its chorus, and the director(s).

Any schools interested in participating in the Middle School – Jr. High Choral Festival(s) next year, should be sure to complete the application form in the January issue of TEMPO magazine, or online at www.njmea.org.

No dates have been scheduled yet for the Spring Choral Festivals of 2018. For more information, contact Donna Marie at: berchtoldd@hamiltonschools.org, 609-226-7751 or Karen Blumenthal, Von E. Mauger Middle School at: blumenthalk@middlesex.k12.nj.us , 908.581.5053

Choral Performance

Kathleen Spadafino 908-208-5980 kspadEB@aol.com

OK, you can make it! You’re still in the middle of final concerts, graduation prep and senior awards. Summer and relaxation await you, and it’s not long now. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who have helped with All-State Chorus this spring. Our 2017 auditions are done, and the Mixed Chorus for 2017 and the Treble Chorus for 2018 have been chosen. The first rehearsal for the Mixed Chorus will be Saturday, June 10 from 2:00 – 5:30 pm. We have moved the time due to ACT exams. All directors and accepted students will be notified of all rehearsals, and all announcements will also be on the NJMEA website. Our Mixed Chorus conductor this year is Patrick Hachey from Roxbury HS. Our conductor selection committee listened to applications for the Treble Chorus conductor in April, and they will contact the person selected. continued on page 12

THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION

News From Our Division Chairs

Our auditions worked very well, and we will be sharing all information directly with directors and students, thanks to Rick Retzko’s online registration process. I also want to thank Christie Scott, our new member of the auditions team, for her incredible work ethic as she became familiar with the many twists and turns of the audition process. Cheryl Breitzman kept us organized on the audition days thanks to the rest of our choral procedures committee: Steven Bell, Tom Voorhis, Jamie Bunce, Hillary Colton, Wayne Mallette, Matthew Lee, Helen Stanley, Barbara Retzko and Mike Doheny who all worked behind the scenes to collect, organize, check math, and enter all the scores on both days. I have been so fortunate to work with this amazing group of dedicated people as they keep All-State Chorus working for ALL directors and students.

As we go into the new school year, I will be passing on the chair of this committee to Wayne Mallette. Wayne will do a fabulous job leading the choral procedures committee! He is organized, tech savvy, and kind. The perfect combination! I had said back in September that I was going to leave the committee in June because it’s time for me to be a grandma, and now we are expecting two grandchildren in August and October! (And I didn’t even pester them!) I’m sure I will be around at some activities, and I will be working with Wayne as well. So please know that I truly love all the directors and students that I have met over the years, and I love sharing the incredible power of music in our lives.

Early Childhood Education Amy Burns 973-493-5797 aburns@fhcds.org

This year, NJMEA provided five online webinars for NJ elementary music educators for PD hours. In this month’s TEMPO, you can read a brief overview of each webinar. If you would like to view the webinars from this year, please feel free to email me at aburns@fhcds.org with your NJMEA/NAfME membership number and expiration date. In addition, if you would like to earn 1 PD hour for each webinar, and have not already done so this year, please provide me with a summary of each webinar along with answering the question of how you would use one item from the webinar in your classroom next year.

Guitar Education

Thomas Amoriello tom@tomamoriello.com 908-342-7795

The following guitarists were selected to participate in the 2017 New Jersey Music Education Association Honors Guitar Ensemble. We appreciate the time and dedication in preparing your audition. The judges were Raul Huaman, Vincent Downes, Keith Calmes, and Loren C. Fortna. Students were scored on scales, sight reading, solo piece and an ensemble excerpt. Thank you to all who auditioned.

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THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION

News From Our Division Chairs

2017 NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble

Aidan George Jessica Leek Nahria Cooper Matthew Agresta Nathan Gonzalez Tatiana Maxwell Ebony Payne Miccah Pobre Andres Ramirez Elise Smith Louis Testa Nourel deen Ragab Sara Morgan William Hsieh Brandon Leus Juston Munoz John Ferrante Srikanth Raguraman Benedykt Skwarek Bryan Levi

Congratulations to these students! The top four scores were awarded to Bryan Levi, William Hsieh, Ebony Payton and Benedykt Skwarek. They will be featured in a special quartet piece during the festival.

It is important to please spread the word to the teachers who you know in NJ and mark your calendars for May 6, 2017 as this will be the 4th annual NJMEA Guitar Festival at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ which will feature the chosen students conducted by Loren C. Fortna as well as a featured guest artist recital from classical guitarist Candice Mowbray. http://www.candicemowbray.com/

Performance May 6, 2017 @ TCNJ (no snow date) Ensemble Performance 12:00 pm Student Showcase 12:30 pm Guest Artist 1:00 pm

Personnel: Loren C. Fortna, conductor

NJMEA Guitar Festival Director: Thomas Amoriello & Keith Calmes

Orchestra Performance

Susan Meuse 732-613-6890 susanmeuse@gmail.com

Congratulations to all of the students selected to participate in the 2017 All-State Orchestras! The March auditions were very successful again this year. The Procedures Committee would like to thank Auditions Chair, Phil Senseney and his hard working committee. Thank you to everyone involved to help make the auditions run smoothly.

The procedures committee has selected the solo list and scales for the auditions next year. Once again, students will be required to play a specific edition for each piece. In addition, the high school scales will be different next year than the ones for this year (and last year). Please email me or talk to anyone on the procedures committee if you have any questions about audition requirements.

Right now, the All-State Intermediate Orchestra is working hard to prepare for their concert on Saturday, May 13. The conductor, Brian McGowan, has been working very well with them to perform a great program. The Honors Chamber Orchestra is currently rehearsing to perform on the same concert. Jim Millar is working with these high school students to prepare a great program as well.

The All-State Orchestra will begin rehearsing this June. The conductor bio and program will be in the next TEMPO! As always, if you are interested in getting involved with the All-State Orchestras, please feel free to email me or stop by a rehearsal.

This past March was the third NJMEA Middle School Orchestra Festival. Thank you so much to Kim Williams and Joe Simon for hosting at Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School. All of the ensembles that performed did a fantastic job. Thank you also to our adjudicator/ clinician, Michael Berry. It was a great experience for all of the students involved.

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THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION

News From Our Division Chairs

Retired Music Educators

Kathleen Spadafino 908-208-5980 kspadEB@aol.com

We missed seeing everyone at the NJMEA conference in February – because there wasn’t one! We did see many of you, as well as colleagues from other eastern states, at the Eastern NAfME Conference in Atlantic City in April. We all had a wonderful time!

We do have a general membership meeting this year as well, on Wednesday, May 10th at 10:15 a.m. The place has not been determined yet, but if you are interested in attending, please contact me either by email or phone and I will get you details.

We would like to plan some activities to get together and share some fun and reminiscing. Please check your spring newsletter and let me know if you are interested! We would love to see you!

Special Learners Maureen Butler 973-299-0166 mbutler@mlschools.org

As the school year draws to a close, it’s a good time to look back and consider how we’ve met the needs of our special learners. If you are looking for more information about how to include them in your music class, the annual Summer Session at TCNJ on August 1st is a good place to start. This year’s presenters, including Lucia Marone, Brian Wagner (see his wonderful article in this issue) and myself, will focus on the following topics: Behavior Management for Special Learners, Teaching Music to Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Multi-sensory Learning Approach: Reaching All Learners in K – 5th grades, and Making Connections: Using Repertoire to Enhance the Social-Emotional Needs of Students with Special Needs. Our presenters have had considerable experience teaching students with disabilities, and you may find answers to many of your questions, as well as good ideas to bring back to school in September.

As always, if you have questions or concerns about the students you teach, or topics you want to see addressed in TEMPO please contact me at the above email address.

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THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION

News From Our Division Chairs

Summer Workshop Joe Akinskas akinskas@rowan.edu Summer Workshop Coordinator

Summer Workshop X-Session Update

To the membership:

I am excited to present the updated session roster available to you on August 1, at the College of New Jersey. Take a minute to register for the workshop now, at the Conferences link on the NJMEA homepage, and we will send you an event reminder as the date draws closer.

The workshop committee is pleased to host another enjoyable and productive event. See you in August !!

NJMEA Summer Workshop X Tuesday, August 1, 2017 The College of New Jersey 8:00 – 5:30 p.m.

Workshop Sessions

CLASSROOM MUSIC:

Guitar class for the Non-Guitarist Integrating Ukelele in the Elementary Music Classroom General Music and the Cycle Class Schedule A Toolbox for Danielson-applying the framework The ‘New’ New Jersey Music Standards Update Engaging Students Through Composition On Recorder Singing/Playing/ Living For Joy! Connecting Your General Music Program to Your Choral

Repertoire Multicultural Themes for General Music The ABC’s of Navigating Music On A Cart The World is Your Oyster! Building Cross-Curricular Connections through Folk Music and Movement Round and Round-More Than Just Rowing Your Boat

CHORAL MUSIC Elementary-Middle-High School Reading Sessions

Rap? In My Classroom? Teambuilding For Your Choir Music History Through Choral Singing Choral basics for the Non-Choral Teacher Teaching Chorus Improve Rhythm (performance and literacy) Through Beat boxing Warm-ups, Games and Ear-training

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC:

‘Teaching Beginning Sound Production’ for the non-stringistbrassist-woodwind-ist- percussion-ist- choral-ist….every-ist! Hands on!! Uke Can ! Chamber Music as Literature for String Orchestras Adding Winds to String Orchestra Technology For String Instruction-Brainstorming and Problem

Solving Caring for Heavy Metal Musicians (Low Brass Recruiting and

Retention) Exploring Performance Literature for Elementary and Middle

School Band. I Need a Break…or…Conquering the Clarinet Bridge Challenge Been There, Done That! Maybe I Can Help You?

TECHNOLOGY:

Technology Sandbox…Play All Day! Plickers, Kahoot, and More: Tools For Engagement and

Assessment Flipped, Blended, Hybrid, and Virtual: Trends and Tricks For

Music Teachers Google Classroom: Best Practices

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THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION

News From Our Division Chairs

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Multi-sensory learning approach reaching all learners in Grades

K-5 Making Connections: Using Repertoire to Enhance the Social-

Emotional Needs of Students with Special Needs Music for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Behavior Management for Special Learners

SPECIAL TOPICS:

Interactive Focus Sessions for Classroom Music, Choral Music,

Instrumental Music, Special Ed, Technology, Recruitment and

Retention. Bring your questions, concerns, techniques to share.

Mindsets, Motivation, and Performance.

Tips For Music Educators

Instrument Repair: What Not To Do!

“Just The Music Teacher”

It’s Not Me, It’s My Brain!

A Full day of Collegial Networking and Camaraderie in summer garb! See you there…register now !

Technology

Marjorie LoPresti 732-613-6969 marjorielopresti@gmail.com

Summer is a great time to explore free tech resources and get some hands-on training. Here are a few ways to get started: • Explore the wealth of resources put together by Rachel Michel and Shawna Longo with help from Amy Burns. Visit www.njmea.org/ classroom/technology to spend some time in the virtual music tech sandbox! • Attend the NJMEA Summer Workshop • Sign up for free tech resources and updates at http://midnightmusic.com.au/ • Join and explore the I Teach Music Technology group on “Facebook.” Even if you don’t teach music tech full time, this forum provides a place to keep on top of what’s new and to get your questions answered fast. Group members share excellent web resources and updates on new products and software. • Explore ti-me.org and consider becoming a member. HUNDREDS of classroom-tested lesson plans, ideas, and advice on technology for the music education, plus free subscriptions Electronic Musician and other publications. • Take an online or week-long seminar. Check out www.musicedtech.com, www.midiworkshop.com, Central Connecticut State (http:// web.ccsu.edu/smi/courses.asp) or University of the Arts (http://cs.uarts.edu/sms/courses) for course listings.

Do you teach with technology? Please share your expertise by volunteering to lead a session at the NJMEA Summer Workshop! You don’t have to know everything about a topic to present a session. Share what you do in your classes--lessons and projects that work with your students. The Summer Workshop has a really relaxed, supportive environment for presenters as well as attendees. This is also a great time to start thinking ahead about proposing a session for NJMEA 2018!

Plans are in place for the 7th annual NJ Student Music Technology Expo! The event will be held on Friday, May 12th at Rowan and on Monday, May 15th at Rutgers. Registration is closed, but if you can get a PD day and would like to come check it out, please email njmeatechexpo@gmail.com. We would love to have you join us for this unique event so that you can participate with your students in the future.