February/March 2022 Ala Breve

ala breve

The Official Publication of the Alabama Music Educators Association

January 8, 2022

February 12, 2022

March 19, 2022

April 2, 2022

Colorguard Audition

April 23, 2022 Drumline Audition

March 26, 2022

David Raney, AMEA President

The Honor Was Mine

As a music director, I am constantly on the lookout for that perfect performance. The one where students are challenged beyond what they feel they can accomplish yet they trust the process and believe it can be done. No obstacle can overcome their determination once they believe it is possible. When everyone is working together for a common goal there is a certain synergy among all the parts involved in the process. Oftentimes, the performances that require the most amount of work are the ones that mean the most and will never be forgotten.

This process not only describes some of my most memorable performances as a musician but also describes this year’s AMEA Professional Development Conference.

2022 Professional Development Conference

Having a part in the 2022 Professional Development conference is an experience I will never forget. Words can not express the feeling I had when I witnessed music educators from across our state pour into the BJCC. I took a moment just to watch the excitement as people reunited with old friends and introduce countless new faces.

Throughout the conference, I heard countless stories of wonderful performances and the effort that was taken to prepare. What an honor for these students to be a part of a performing group during a year that seemed almost impossible to prepare; however, one would have never noticed due to the high-quality performances that were presented.

Everyone I spoke with was extremely grateful for all the wonderful sessions that were presented throughout the conference. Each Division did an outstanding job selecting meaningful sessions that will help you be a better educator.

We also enjoyed seeing the vendors back in person filling all available space in the venue.

When Dr. Matthew Arau took the stage for the keynote address he touched on those feelings we have all had over the past two years. He showed us how we are in control of our attitude by introducing the “Upbeat” to prep our thoughts and minds. His techniques for positive preparation will surely be helpful as we continue to improve the social and emotional wellness in our personal lives as well as in our classrooms.

Following Dr. Arau’s inspiring presentation the Act of Congress took the stage and blew the doors off the theater. After two years of anticipation, their performance did not disappoint as they celebrated music educators and wowed us with their incredible musical abilities. Their music is not only unique but their approach is genuine and purely Alabama.

I would like to thank everyone that had a part in planning for our 75th Anniversary. Pat Stegall did a tremendous job coordinating the Division Flags that were presented in the opening ceremony. Each Division President presented their flag on stage while Robert W. Smith’s Alabama Fanfare was played followed by the audience singing the National Anthem. This was a symbol of AMEA, where each Division comes together as one association. #frommanyweareone.

I would also like to thank Jarell Horton for sharing his artistic baking talents by creating the most incredible (and delicious) 75th Anniversary cake presented at the President’s Reception. We have so many talented educators across our state and their talents reach beyond their music abilities.

But the greatest part of the conference’s success was the smiling faces of attendees that were grateful to be there despite all of the roadblocks. You brought a contagious energy to the BJCC that was full of hope

and excitement for the future even in the midst of peaking COVID cases in our state.

Your presence at the conference reminded me of a quote by John Irving, “If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.”

Governing Board

The logistical roadblocks we faced prior to the conference could only be overcome by the incredible negotiating skills of Executive Director, Garry Taylor. To document the fires he extinguished would be a journal in itself and we owe him an enormous amount of gratitude for the legendary service he has provided AMEA over the years.

Equally impressive is the work of our Assistant Executive Director, Rusty Logan, providing boots on the ground insuring a smooth transition with performances and events.

We hope you enjoyed the professional signage and media that we have grown to expect from our media specialist, Dr. Carl Hancock.

It goes without saying the success of this year’s conference is strictly due to the sum of its parts. None of this would have happened if not for the tireless efforts of the governing board. These individuals are rock stars and I would like to recognize each of them for the dedication they have shown throughout my presidency:

• Editor

Garry Taylor, Executive Director and

Dr. Rob Lyda, President-Elect

• Greg Gumina, Immediate Past

• President

• Carla Gallahan, Recording Secretary

Pat Stegall, Treasurer/Registrar

• Joel Henson, Alabama Bandmasters

• Association President

• Association President

Dr. Daniel Stevens, Alabama Orchestra

• Association President

Randall Fields, Alabama Vocal

• Division President

Sarah McClendon, Elementary/General

• Division President

Dr. Michael Zelenak, Higher Education

• Dr. Meghan Merciers, Collegiate

Emma Tosney, Collegiate President

• Advisor

• Representative

Joey Harbinson, Industry Membership

• Specialist

Andy Meadows, ASDOE, Fine Arts

Reflection And Beyond

As I write my last journal article as AMEA President, I took some time to reflect on the past two years. Many of you have expressed remorse for me having served during such a

ACT OF CONGRESS

crazy time but, it is not necessary. I have learned that serving during these past two years was a special honor I will cherish.

It was an honor for me to see the resilience of this association overcome adversity. It was an honor to see divisions fight for every opportunity to see their students enjoy performances like no other state in the country. It was an honor to see dedicated educators of Alabama step up and fight for music education in our schools promoting advocacy to new levels and exposing the importance of our profession before people that have never heard from us before.

Much of the work that has been done in the area of advocacy is by our Advocacy Chair and President-Elect, Dr. Rob Lyda. I’m so excited to see the vision Dr. Lyda will provide AMEA in his upcoming term as President. There is no doubt in my mind that the brightest days of the Alabama Music Educators Association are ahead of us and it has been my honor to be a part of this rich history.

Sincerely,

David Raney, AMEA President

Belmont University

College of Music and Performing Arts

2022 SUMMER MUSIC CAMPS

Piano Preparatory Camp

Piano Invitational

Summer Winds Band Camp

Vocal Arts Intensive

String Crossings Camp

Guitar Camp

CAMP HIGHLIGHTS

June 6–10 Ages 6–12

June 5–10 Grades 9–12

June 12–18 Grades 9–12

June 19–25 Grades 9–12

June 26–July 1 Grades 9–12

July 18–22 Grades 9–12

• Study and perform on Belmont’s beautiful urban campus in Nashville

• Meet other music students from around the country

• Experience personalized and group instruction with outstanding faculty artists

• Enjoy faculty recitals, performances and guest artists

• Make friends in evening social activities

AMEA Governing Board 2021-2022

President David Raney Sparkman High School 2616 Jeff Road Harvest, AL 35749 256-837-0331

draney@madison.k12.al.us

Immediate Past President

Greg Gumina Jefferson County Schools 2100 18th St S Birmingham, AL 35209 (205) 379-2000

ggumina85@gmail.com

President, AOA

Dr. Daniel Stevens University of North Alabama One Harrison Plaza Florence, AL 35631 (256) 765-4708 dstevens1@una.edu

President, AMEA Collegiate

Mariah Martin (205) 765-1144 mamartin13@crimson.ua.edu

President-Elect

Dr. Rob Lyda

Cary Woods Elementary School 715 Sanders Street Auburn, AL 36830 334-663-0898 lydarob@me.com

Recording Secretary

Dr. Carla Gallahan 113 Long Hall

Troy University Troy, AL 36082 (334) 670-3502 recording_secretary@myamea.org

President, AVA

Randall Fields

Bob Jones High School 650 Hughes Road Madison, AL 35758 (256) 772-2547

randall.fields.ava@gmail.com

AMEA Collegiate Advisor

Treasurer/Registrar

Pat Stegall

AMEA Registration PO Box 3385 Muscle Shoals, AL 35661

treasurer_registrar@myamea.org

President, ABA

Joel Henson Pelham High School 2500 Panther Cir. Pelham, AL 35124 (205) 616-7478

jhenson@pelhamcityschools.org

President, ELEM/GEN

Sarah McLendon Hillcrest Elementary 400 E Watts St. Enterprise, AL 36330 (334) 313-2116

smclendon@enterpriseschools.net

Industry Representative

Joey Harbison

Gadsden Music Company 607 Broad Street PO Box 132 Gadsden, AL 35901 205-910-2622

jmharbison@aol.com

Executive Director Editor, Ala Breve

Garry Taylor 1600 Manor Dr NE Cullman, AL 35055 (256) 636-2754

executive_director@myamea.org

Garry Taylor, Editor & Advertising Manager 1600 Manor Dr NE Cullman, AL 35055 (256) 636-2754 executive_director@myamea.org

Dr. Meghan Merciers University of North Alabama UNA Box 5040 142 Music Building Florence, AL 35632-0001 (256) 765-4518 mmerciers@una.edu

Assistant Executive Director

Dr. Russell Logan 2020 Janabrooke Lane Auburn, AL 36830 (334) 663-1702

rlogan9853@gmail.com

ADVERTISING & COPY DEADLINES

Fall - August/September (Back to School) issue: July 15

Winter - October/November (Conference) issue: September 15

Spring - May/June (All-State) issue: January 15

Summer - May/June (Digital Only) issue: April 15

President, HED Division Dr. Michael Zelenak Alabama State University 915 S. Jackson St. Tullibody Music Hall Room 208 Montgomery, AL 36104 334-604-9187

Alabama Department of Education Arts Education Specialist Andy Meadows 50 North Ripley Street Montgomery, Alabama 36104 (334) 694-4768

ameadows@ALSDE.edu

Unless otherwise indicated, permission is granted to NAfME members to reprint articles for educational purposes. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of AMEA or the Editor. All announcements & submissions are subject to editorial judgement/revision.The Alabama Music Educators Association is a state unit of NAfME: The National Association for Music Education, a voluntary, nonprofit organization representing all phases of music education in schools, colleges, universities, and teacher-education institutions. Active NAfME/AMEA membership is open to all persons engaged in music teaching or other music education work.

Garry Taylor, Executive Director

Thank you, AMEA!

Little did I know back in the late ‘80s when I first volunteered to serve as Vice-Chair of ABA District III it would be the beginning of over 30 years on the ABA or AMEA Board. As they say, all good things must come to an end. I plan to retire from my position as Executive Director as of June 30th

I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve enjoyed while serving on both boards and especially the past seventeen years as Executive Director of AMEA. It’s been a pleasure watching AMEA evolve and grow. The first AMEA conference I attended in the ‘70s was at Birmingham-Southern College – or was it Montevallo? We’ve come a long way since those days. From an exhibit hall with 4 or 5 booths to filling up a large hall in Montgomery or Birmingham. From just a few sessions and performances to a jam-packed schedule. I’m thankful for all of the wonderful music educators I’ve had the good fortune of meeting and getting to know through the years – in the board meetings, the conference hallways, over breakfast, or the social gatherings after hours.

I thought the 2022 conference was one of the best yet. For it to be successful during a surge in the pandemic with all sorts of challenges – COVID positive members, substitute teacher shortages, BJCC staff shortages, hotel renovations, etc. – is a testament to the hard work and dedication of AMEA’s leadership and the steadfast determination of Alabama’s music educators to persevere. President David Raney is a rock star who has ably led AMEA through two years of uncertainty. Immediate PastPresident Greg Gumina was at the helm when the pandemic started and sprang to action to make sure our membership’s needs were met. Every AMEA President I’ve worked with has brought something unique and beneficial to the board. As have the other AMEA leadership and division Presidents that have rotated on and off the board over the years.

I’m confident in the future of AMEA. President-Elect Dr. Rob Lyda has served AMEA and NAfME in several leadership positions and I am certain he will carry on the long-standing tradition of excellence among AMEA’s leadership. Our outstanding

staff – Assistant Executive Director Dr. Rusty Logan, Media Specialist Dr. Carl Hancock, and Registrar Pat Stegall - will continue to make sure our association runs smoothly and efficiently. I plan to remain on the board as Editor of the Ala Breve and will help in any way I can to help ensure a smooth transition to a new Executive Director.

In closing, I encourage you to get involved. Volunteer or run for office. When I first agreed to serve as District Chair those many years ago I was concerned that my band program might suffer because of the time spent working for the district. My concerns were completely ill-founded. My program benefitted. I benefitted professionally because of the contacts I made and the many relationships developed serving in those leadership roles. As Winston Churchill once said, “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” Give back to your division. Give back to AMEA. Get involved!

Thank you, AMEA!

AMEA Presidents - Past to Present

2002

2012

2014 Carl Hancock

2016 Susan Smith

Investing in Complementary Arts Education

Every stockbroker will be quick to tell you that the time to invest is now! They are paid handsomely to carefully study the field, weigh the risks, balance each portfolio, project an unknown future, and then successfully attain a strong return on investment. But as the old adage goes, ‘It takes money to make money.’ Without upfront investment, there is no longterm growth or stability.

Arts education has often been seen as elective, optional, or nonessential. Why would something as expensive as art and the salaries of artist-pedagogues be worth investment in our schools?

Lean on Alabama Orchestra Association “stockbroker” leaders – a dedicated, humble group of 22 scholars, public school teachers, and university professors that have dedicated their careers to seeing students flourish in orchestral music – to answer that question. They serve and perform in community orchestras, youth orchestras, university orchestras, or professional orchestras at every level. They are “blue chip” colleagues that recognize personal success from the investments made into them decades ago.

So why should we add an orchestral program into our school district? We know that “music enhances the process of learning; which includes our integrated sensory, attention, cognitive, emotional and motor capacities, and that it is shown to be the driving force behind all other learning” (Konrad, R.R., Empathy, Arts and Social Studies). We know that test scores improve, students develop detailed hand/eye coordination, learn to work within a team setting, and feel a part of a fulfilling community by performing in a successful orchestral program.

But we can also point to other ROIs: Schools that have a healthy, balanced 1 music program (including orchestra, choir, band, piano, and guitar offerings) connect and engage a majority of the student population.

Schools that have 80%+ participa- 2 tion in music set course schedules around the music curriculum instead of pushing ensembles toward the outskirts of the academic day. Adding an orchestral component en- 3 courages participation across disciplines.

String instruments come in many 4 different sizes (even for 2-year-olds).

Engaging concert-events can build a 5 community to rally around fundraising initiatives.

High-income earners want to live in 6 school districts with string/orchestral programs.

High school string musicians have a 7 higher retention/graduation rate.

Orchestral music positively feeds the 8 social-emotional health of young adults.

Orchestra music opens doors to col- 9 lege admittance and scholarships.

If you are a school administrator, our AOA Executive Team wants to work with you on developing a new string orchestra program in your local school. As a complement to excellent band and choral programs around the state, a string program appeals to the diverse student willing to find their unique voice and will place your school district on the map for prospective families. Your school will flourish for years to come, in part to the investments you make today.

Thank you for your never-ending commitment to your student musicians. I am inspired by your commitment to engaging your community with the value of music. Please know that my door is always open at dstevens1@una.edu

Sincerely,y

Daniel Stevens

https://alabamaorchestraassociation.org/ 2022 ORCHESTRA MUSIC PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

April 22-23, 2022

DEADLINES for 2023 ALL-STATE and ALL-REGION AUDITIONS

October 14, 2022 – String, Piano, and Harp Auditions

November 11, 2022 – Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion Auditions

Daniel Stevens- President, Alabama Orchestra Association

EVEN TEACHERS NEED TEACHERS

As an educator, one of the most impactful ways to improve is by educating yourself. That’s why the Yamaha Educator Suite (YES) helps music teachers access professional development opportunities, music teacher resources, program health support, advocacy assistance and more. YES brings you a network of like-minded teachers, experts and professionals, who want to help you achieve your goals. Let us help you raise the bar. Go to Yamaha.io/educatorsAAB2

Michael Zelenak - President, Higher Education Division

Radiant Coal or Dwindling Ember

Notice a common theme in this issue of Ala Breve - the 2022 conference was a huge success! Yes, it was a bigger success than anyone anticipated. The sessions were inspiring, the performances were amazing, and the participants were considerate. It was a return to normal. With the recent rise in Omicron cases, some had concerns about meeting indoors in large groups. As a germophobe myself, I was pleased to see many participants wearing masks and keeping their distance. Music educators are caring people. To sum it up, this 75th anniversary conference was a homecoming that will be remembered for the next 75 years.

The HED division hosted eight sessions beginning on Thursday morning with Dr. Jane Kuehne and Mr. Chase Moore’s presentation on technology overload and ending Saturday with Dr. Gabriel Woods’ description of the hiring process in higher education. The HED executive board worked diligently to identify sessions of interest to the higher education community. Now is the time to start planning for next year. Is there a topic that you would like to share with colleagues? We will be accepting proposals for next year’s conference in a few short months.

Speaking of proposals, our performers at the HED Recital were outstanding! Selections ranged from an energetic trombone solo by Dr. Jason Sulliman to student compositions by the Auburn Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble. The HED Recital is an opportunity for faculty to showcase the work being done in our studios and classrooms. Despite the excellent performances, something was missing from this recital - vocalists and string players. Yes, singers and fiddlers, I am talking to you! Let’s increase the diversity of this recital by including the full range of instruments offered in our institutions. Your applications will be welcomed in the fall.

be rolling off the board as well. Be confident that our division is in good hands as I pass on the baton.

The conference was a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and rekindle old relationships. In closing, I will share this short story. I met a band director, Steven, at an AMEA conference many years ago. The only time I see or talk to Steven is at an AMEA conference. Each year we exchange pleasantries and discuss the current state of affairs in music education. This year, we talked about the importance of being part of a professional organization like AMEA. Steven made the analogy that participating in this organization enables us to glow like radiant coals in a raging fire. Our spirits are renewed when we surround ourselves with like-minded people. In contrast, distancing ourselves from our colleagues removes us from the fire and our ember slowly dwindles away to ash. So when the time comes next year to register for the AMEA conference, ask yourself, do you want to remain a radiant coal in the fire or a dwindling ember that slowly turns to ash? The choice is yours.

Thank you for your support.

Elections were held for the HED executive board at our annual luncheon on Thursday January 20. As of June 1, 2022, I will be stepping down as president and Dr. Carly Johnson from Alabama State University will be the new president. Dr. Stephen Foster from Faulkner University will be the president-elect, and Dr. Brandon Slocumb from Huntingdon College with be the secretary/treasurer. Many thanks to Dr. Jason Sulliman for his years of service as secretary/treasurer as he will

Randall Fields - President, Alabama Vocal Association

AVA Updates

It was great to see so many AVA members at our AMEA conference in January. The sessions, concerts, and camaraderie were all refreshing for meI hope they were for you as well. Special thanks for outstanding performances by Hoover High School 9/10 Treble Choir, Amanda Slay, Director; Grissom High School Chamber Choir, Tucker Ratcliff, Director; University of Montevallo Concert Choir, Dr. Melinda Doyle, Director; and Samford University A Cappella Choir. Congratulations to the State winner of the Pat Blackwell Music Education Award, Mallory Finney from Mortimer Jordan High School, Margaret Heron, Director.

The All-State Festival should look more like pre-2021 this year. The numbers of students accepted into each choir are as follows:

SATB 345

SSAA 234

TTBB 117

Middle School Mixed 154

Middle School Treble 162

SCPA and Solo and Ensemble are scheduled in-person in each district.

State Outstanding Accompanist auditions will be in person March 9.

State Outstanding Choral Student interviews will be virtual March 7.

Finally, I offer sincere thanks to your AVA Board for countless hours of behind the scenes work to make the AMEA conference and all our events run smoothly for our teachers and their students.

2022 All-State Choir Clinicians

GRETCHEN HARRISON - MS MIXED

Recently retired from a 34-year public school music educator career, Gretchen Harrison is enjoying time filled with singing, playing piano and banjo, working with choirs all over the nation, and lots of cooking. Harrison is the choir director (emeritus) at Frontier Trail MS in Olathe USD 233. Harrison earned a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Wichita State University and a Master’s in Music Education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She has completed her Level III endorsement in CME (Choral Music Experience) program, along with other post-grad education experiences. She has served the choral community as National Chairperson for JHMS Repertoire and Standards for ACDA (2009-2015), Youth Coordinator for ACDA (2016-2019), and

District Chairs

Kate Dupuis

Alice Lagrone

Zachary Banks

Amanda Slay

Holly Luke

Marla Jenkins

Cameron Weiler

Chris Brown

Vice President: Paul Edmondson

President Elect: Hilen Wilson

Secretary: Margaret Heron

Executive Secretary: Meg Jones

Webmaster: Jim Schaeffer

Every encounter I have had with any of these educators has shown me what it means to have a servant’s heart. It has been an honor to serve with this board for the past two years.

Respectfully,

Randall Fields

currently holds the position of ACDA National Chairperson for Repertoire and Resources. Harrison is married to a retired high school band director and is mom to Kellyn, a grad student in Choral Conducting at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Cole, a choir director in the Kansas City, KS, public schools. Wynton, a yellow lab pandemic puppy, rounds out the family

ASHLEY DAME - MS TREBLE C

Ashley Dame is passionate about teaching from the heart. Mrs. Dame holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Mississippi College and a Master of Arts in Music Education from Texas Woman’s University. She currently directs choirs at Wylie East High School in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and serves as a regional,

national, and international clinician for middle and high school tenor-bass, treble, and mixed ensembles. She enjoys traveling to new places to spread the joy of musical artistry and share inspirational moments. Mrs. Dame presents choral videos online, maintaining these as a free resource website for other choral directors with her husband through www.inspirechoir.com. Her additional professional experiences include performing arts marketing and event coordination for both the Dallas Symphony Association and the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts where she was awarded the DFW Corporate Concierge, Inc. Performing Arts Vendor of the Year. This lifelong involvement in arts advocacy has fueled her enthusiasm for choral music education and has propelled her to dedicate her life to music education-based research and supporting educational programs in collaboration with the performing arts community. Her publications for adolescent male choristers can be found at Brilee Publications.

JACLYN NORMANDIE - HS SSA

Dr. Jaclyn Normandie (formerly Jaclyn Johnson) is a conductor and author of The Mindful Musician: Finding a Healthy Balance. After earning her doctorate at the University of Michigan with Dr. Jerry Blackstone, she taught conducting at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Oakland University. Conducting students under her tutelage have been selected for state-level masterclasses and her ensembles, including Murrieta Valley High School and the University of Michigan Women's Glee Club, have performed at American Choral Directors Association National, Western, and Central Division conferences.

Dr. Normandie's research includes theses on mindfulness and yoga principles in the music classroom, Latin American folk music, and teaching the adult male voice from the female teacher's perspective. She has presented lectures at over twenty conferences including National, Western, Northwestern, and Southern ACDA conferences, as well as being a guest honor choir conductor at the regional and state level. Normandie's understanding of biomechanics is rooted in her multidiscipline background of teaching conducting, dance, martial arts, and yoga, and her studies in China, India, Brazil, and Costa Rica have given her field research in her musical pedagogy.

MATTHEW OLTMAN HS TTBB

Dr. Oltman is music director emeritus of the Grammy Award-winning male vocal ensemble, Chanticleer, and artistic director emeritus of the New York-based Empire City

2022 All-State Choir Clinicians

Men’s Chorus. He serves as the conductor of the Conservatory Choir, teaches courses in choral conducting and literature, and assists in the leadership of Shenandoah Conservatory’s dynamic Vocal/Choral Division. Oltman first joined Chanticleer in 1999, singing in the ensemble until his appointment as music director in 2009. As a singing member, he appeared on 12 albums and toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He expanded the ensemble’s repertoire and attracted a younger, tech-savvy audience during three critically acclaimed seasons as the ensemble’s music director, which included over 300 concerts in more than a dozen countries. In addition, he helped launch the Chanticleer Live in Concert (CLIC) recording label and was the editor of the Chanticleer Choral Series, published by Hinshaw Music. Originally from Des Moines, Iowa, Oltman earned a Bachelor of Music. in vocal performance from Simpson College, a Master of Arts in Music from the University of York in England, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

JABARIE GLASS - HS SATB

Jabarie Glass serves as the Associate Director of Choral Studies in the School of Music at the University of South Carolina. At UofSC, he conducts two choral ensembles, University Chorus and Women’s Chorus, and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting and music education. His varied conducting experiences have included working with university, secondary, community youth, festivals, and church ensembles. A native Mississippian, Glass earned a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Mississippi. There he was named the Department of Music's Undergraduate Choral Music Education Student of the Year. In the same year, he was inducted into the University's Student Hall of Fame, a universitywide honor bestowed upon only ten seniors annually based on leadership, scholarship, service, and potential for success after graduation. Glass went on to earn a master's degree in music education from the Florida State University College of Music. He earned a doctoral degree in conducting from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He pursued additional conducting studies as a conducting fellow with the Chorus America Conducting Academy and the Yale-Norfolk Chamber Music Festival Choral Conducting Workshop.

BSC

2022

Alabama All-State Choral Festival Schedule

Thursday, March 10, 2022-

12:00-12:45 pm

Student Registration in Assigned Rehearsal Rooms

MS Treble, North Meeting Rooms G-I

MS Mixed, North Meeting Rooms C-E

HS SSA, Forum A-B

HS TTBB, Forum Theater

HS SATB, Forum G-I

12:00-2:00pm

Director Registration, Forum C 1:00-4:30 pm

Rehearsal, assigned rehearsal rooms 4:30-7:00pm

Dinner Break 7:00-9:30 pm

Rehearsal, assigned rehearsal rooms 11:00pm

Curfew

Department of Music

FACULTY

Dr. Jeremy Grall, jgrall@bsc.edu Associate Professor of Music

Dr. Jeff Kensmoe, jkensmoe@bsc.edu Associate Professor of Music and Director of Opera

Dr. David Phy, dmphy@bsc.edu Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands

Dr. Lester C. Seigel, lseigel@bsc.edu Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music

OPPORTUNITIES

Symphonic Band Athletic Band Jazz Band Concert Choir

Hilltop Singers Guitar Ensemble Southern Chorale Opera Workshop

Friday, March 11, 2022-

8:30-9:45 am

MS Treble Rehearsal, North Meeting Rooms G-I

MS Mixed Dress Rehearsal, Concert Hall

HS SSA, Forum A-B

HS TTBB, Forum Theater

HS SATB, Forum G-I

8:45-9:45 am

10:00-11:15 am

AVA General Membership Meeting, North Meeting Rooms G-I

MS Mixed Rehearsal, North Meeting Rooms C-E

MS Treble Dress Rehearsal, Concert Hall

HS SSA, Forum A-B (cont.)

HS TTBB, Forum Theater (cont.)

HS SATB, Forum G-I (cont.) 11:15 am-1:15 pm Lunch Break

1:15-2:15 pm

2:30-4:15 pm

Convocation, Concert Hall

MS Treble, North Meeting Rooms G-I (final MS rehearsal)

MS Mixed, North Meeting Rooms C-E (final MS rehearsal)

SSA Rehearsal, Forum A-B

TTBB Rehearsal, Forum Theater

SATB Dress Rehearsal, Concert Hall

DEGREES OFFERED

Bachelor of Arts (BA) with a major or minor in music

Bachelor of Arts (BA) with Disciplinary Honors in Performance

Bachelor of Musical Arts (BMA)

Birmingham-Southern College bsc.edu/music

4:30-6:00 pm

SSA Dress Rehearsal, Concert Hall

TTBB Rehearsal, Forum Theater (cont.)

SATB Rehearsal, Forum G-I

7:00 pm

7:30 pm

Saturday, March 12, 2020

10:00-11:15 am

11:15 am

12:00 pm

Call Time for Middle School Concert

Middle School Concert, BJCC Concert Hall

SSA Warm-Up, Forum A-B

TTBB Dress Rehearsal, Concert Hall

SATB Warm-Up, Forum G-I

Doors Open to Audience

High School Concert

Collegiate Division Updates

The ALcNAfME Division had tremendous success this past year! After a year of virtual events, we were extremely thankful to host our Collegiate Summit and attend the AMEA Conference in person.

In October 2021, we hosted the Annual Collegiate Summit at the University of Alabama. The Summit’s theme was “Connect,” focusing on collaboration with our future students and colleagues after this season of disconnect. We hosted a diverse range of guest speakers, including Dr. Ruth Brittin, Dr. Daniel Stevens, Dr. Stefanie Cash, Mrs. Amber Hartley, and a panel of early career teachers. One hundred eighteen guests were in attendance, which is our highest turnout on record! After so many virtual events in the past few years, the meeting was very encouraging and inspiring.

The 2022 AMEA Conference, held in January, was highly successful and enriching for the collegiate division. We hosted various sessions in conjunction with other divisions, including our first-ever Lesson Planning Competition with the Higher Education Division, which we hope to continue and grow each year. The in-person Collegiate Luncheon was a first-time opportunity for most of our collegiates. We had a great turnout with 90 in attendance from different universities across the state, including Alabama, Jacksonville State, Troy, North Alabama, Montevallo, Alabama at Birmingham, and Faulkner. Numerous inspired collegiates ran for positions during our elections, and our 2022-2023 Collegiate Executive Board is as follows:

President: Mariah Martin, University of Alabama

Vice President/President-Elect: Sarah Hicks, University of Alabama

Secretary: Makala Cone, University of Montevallo

Treasurer: Matthew Suit, Troy University

In closing, the new board would like to thank the excellent leadership of the outgoing board. Past-president Emma Tosney, Secretary Hannah Creel, and Treasurer John Niiler were outstanding in their service to the Alabama State Collegiate NAfME Division. We will continue to update cNAfME chapters with our monthly collegiate newsletter and our Instagram (@cnafme_al) page. We look forward to another great year!

Mariah Martin, President, Alabama cNAfME

Dr. Meghan Merciers, Advisor

Outgoing and Incoming board

back row: Dr. Meghan Merciers, advisor; Sarah Hicks, VP/PresidentElect; Makala Cone, Secretary; Matthew Suit, Treasurer; John Niiler, Past-Treasurer; front row: Mariah Martin, President; Emma Tosney, Past-President; and Hannah Creel, Past-Secretary)

Sarah McLendon- President, Elementary/General Division

“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” 2022 Conference Review

I hope you enjoyed all of the wonderful sessions at the conference! It was so great to be back together again. Tiffany English, our main clinician, showed us how to have Orff-style fun teaching ukulele and children’s literature. She taught us new ideas for classroom management. And who doesn’t love to get up to move around and dance! How much fun was “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”? It tickled me to watch everyone smiling and having fun!

Andrea Cevasco-Trotter presented all of the ways that music is good for early intervention in the developing years of life. Carrie Cruz delighted us with playing pop rhythms and music. Edwin Anderson had us enchanted with the music and culture of Brazil. Morgan Soja inspired us to mentor the beginning

music teachers and Phil Wilson helped those veteran teachers who are working on the National Board Certification. Becky Halliday and Rob Lyda captivated us with various folk songs from Alabama.

I love being able to recharge and renew my spirit and love for music education. We know we are better together and how sweet it was to see each other to share our stories, successes and struggles , and to encourage each other!

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this a wonderful conference! Your Elementary/General officers did a great job preparing everything. If you were unable to attend, you can still view the handouts in the Guidebook app.

As we begin to plan for next year, we would love to have you present a session. What are you passionate about? What would you love to share with others? What do you do in your classroom that would be helpful to others? We would also love to have an elementary group perform. Do you have an Orff ensemble or choir? Bucket drummers or recorder ensemble?

Please do not forget to vote. Susan Smith is on the ballot for Southern Division President-elect. Also, our own Dr. Phil Wilson is on the ballot for AMEA President-elect.

We do have several more fun and engaging workshops coming up! Please register early so we can get a headcount for needed equipment. Let’s keep ‘dancing’ through the remainder of the school year.

AMEA/AOSA/ShakeElementary Workshop

Clinicians - Rhonda Tucker & John Jacobson

Feb 26, 2022 9am-3:30pm

Vestavia Hills - Liberty Park Elementary

AOSA - Spring Workshop

Clinician - Jennifer Donovan

March 12, 2022 9am-1pm

Samford University

Shake - Spring Kodaly Workshop

Clinician - Rachel Gibson

April 2, 2022 9am-3pm

Vestavia Hills Elementary East

Samford University offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in composition, commercial music, music education, music and worship, instrumental, piano and voice performance, and piano performance and pedagogy.

Alabama

Bandmasters Association Keep Up The Good Fight...It Matters!

Keep up the Good Fight…It Matters!

It was so great to catch up with old friends and make new ones at AMEA 2022. While there was definitely some trepidation leading up to the conference, I’m so grateful that we were able to have this event in person for our membership. I had the opportunity to pop into almost every clinic and performance and was extremely pleased with our offerings. That is due to the outstanding membership of ABA and your continued support of one another. If you have never presented or performed at AMEA, I encourage you to apply for the 2023 conference.

This year’s conference was filled with outstanding performances. The opening concert was presented by the Hewitt-Trussville High School Wind Ensemble under the direction of Mike Guzman. This concert was truly a great way to kick off the ABA performances at this year’s conference. The next ABA performance block featured the Thompson Middle School Symphonic Band (Michael Chambless) and the Pelham High School Wind Ensemble (Justin Ward). We then wrapped up Thursday with an outstanding performance by the Bob Jones Wind Ensemble (Leigh Thomas). Our Friday performances included the JSU Jazz Ensemble I (Andy Nevela), Austin

Percussion Ensemble (Clay Sloan), and the Oak Mountain High School Wind Ensemble (Kevin Ownby). As I stated several times as a presider at the conference, just making it to the stage for these performances was a win considering the circumstances. However, these performances were much more than that. They provided inspiration for band directors across the state as they head back to their ensembles with greater passion and purpose.

When you read this article, it is my hope that district level All State auditions are complete and we are moving toward our All State event on April 6-9, 2022 in Mobile, Alabama. As a reminder to our membership, auditions for this event will be held virtually using the Heartout app. Also, preliminaries of the All State Solo Festival will also be submitted virtually through the Heartout app. We are excited to have the University of South Alabama Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. William Peterson performing at this year’s conference. Additionally, the ABA Board gave me permission to extend an invitation to the Albertville Wind Ensemble (Taylor Cash) to perform at this year’s festival since they had to cancel their AMEA performance due to the ongoing pandemic. You can find complete information about this year’s festival on our website: www.alaband.org.

2022 All-State Band Clinicians

Red Band - Steven Davis

Steven D. Davis has inspired ensembles around the world and is celebrated as a conductor of wind ensembles, orchestras, opera, ballet, and new music ensembles. In addition to conducting symphonic repertoire of significant composers, Davis is fervently committed to initiating and performing new repertoire written by both emerging and acclaimed living composers, with intentional focus placed on collaborating with diverse artists. Praise stems from Robert Beaser, Chen Yi, John Corigliano, Michael Daugherty, Roshanne Etezady, Jennifer Higdon,

We are also excited to bring our Music Performance Assessment back to an in person format. The ABA Board voted unanimously to approve an amended policy for 2022 due to learning loss during the pandemic. Please make sure you have reviewed this policy and are aware of our current bylaws as it relates to Music Performance Assessment. A special thanks to our district chairman and vice chairman for their role in making all of our events successful. There is no way ABA could function without these dedicated individuals.

Being a more “seasoned” teacher, I find myself more and more becoming an advocate along with my everyday teaching responsibilities we all have. It is extremely important that we encourage and support each other in these difficult times. I think that our students need us now more than ever. Likewise, I feel that our colleagues need us now more than ever. Our classes are a positive outlet for many students when everything around them is negative. A personal revelation that it took me longer than most to realize is that we teach kids not music. If the kids we serve know we care about them, the music will take care of itself. It’s easy in the middle of a global pandemic to grow weak, weary and negative. Keep up the good fight…it matters!

Narong Prangcharoen, Ingrid Stölzel, and Zhou Long, amongst countless others. Davis currently serves as the Rose Ann Carr Millsap Missouri Distinguished Professor of Music and Professor of Conducting at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory. He leads the Symphony Orchestra of the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, and spends his summers conducting at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, where he serves as director of the wind ensemble program. Recent and upcoming events include leading performances at Carnegie Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna. Davis also leads the annual Kansas City Conducting Symposium, which draws nationally acclaimed clinicians, speakers, and participants from around the country.

White Band - Jamie Nix

Jamie L. Nix is director of wind ensemble activities, professor of music, and holds The Hal J. Gibson Distinguished Chair in Conducting at Columbus State University’s Schwob School of Music. Nix, the first recipient of the Sam and Jacquie Rawls Distinguished Music Professorship at CSU, conducts the Schwob Wind Ensemble and Wind Orchestra, heads the graduate wind band conducting program, and hosts the Annual Conductors Workshop. Previous posts include associate director of bands and the Donald R. Shepherd Assistant Professor of Conducting at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he was director of the famed Michigan Marching Band, and assistant director of bands at The University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music. Under his direction since 2010, the nationally acclaimed Schwob Wind Ensemble has performed at the 2015 CBDNA National Conference, the 2012 CBDNA Southern Division Conference, and the 2018 and 2012 GMEA State Conferences. Nix has recently served as conductor at the CBDNA North- Central Intercollegiate Band, as a guest conductor of the famed Eastman Wind Ensemble and the United States Army Field Band, and several international events including the Alberta International Band Festival, International Double Reed Society Conference, International Trumpet Guild Conference, and the International Trombone Festival Conference. He has conducted All State Bands in Georgia, Florida, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia, as well as the Music for All Summer Symposium and numerous honor bands and orchestras in the U.S. and Canada. Nix has served as a conducting symposium clinician at LSU, Michigan State University, UMKC, University of Colorado, and the University of Texas. As an orchestral conductor, he has led performances with the CSU Schwob Philharmonic, was music director and conductor of the Advanced Young Musicians String Orchestra in Coral Gables, FL, and in 2008 participated in the two-week International Mahler/Brahms Conducting Festival with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in the Czech Republic. Nix, elected into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association in 2016, holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Miami Frost School of Music (Gary Green), two Master of Music degrees, in trombone performance and conducting, from the University of Michigan (H. Robert Reynolds), and a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from Auburn University (Rick Good). Nix is a conductor or producer on the following CDs: Vital Signs (George Curran, New York Philharmonic), Atlanta Chamber Winds, Psychedelia (James Markey, Boston Symphony bass trombone), A Beautiful Noise (featuring trombonists Joseph Alessi, Charles Vernon, Paul Pollard, and others), Wolf Rounds, The Blue Album, Brooklyn Bridge, The Victors Valiant, and the Schwob Wind Ensemble CD entitled Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs, released on the Summit Records label in 2017.

2022 All-State Band Clinicians

Blue Band - Daniel Tembras

Daniel Tembras serves as the Director of Instrumental Studies at Purdue University School of Music in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His duties include conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, teaching courses in conducting and music education, and coordinating the woodwind, brass, and percussion areas. Dr. Tembras holds a DMA degree in Wind Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to this, he served as the Assistant to the Director of Bands at The University of Texas at Austin, Director of the Longhorn Jazz Band and Combo, and Assistant Director of the Longhorn Basketball and Volleyball Bands. Dr. Tembras received the Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University. While in Michigan, Dr. Tembras served as a director in the Mason Public Schools in Mason, Michigan, and in the Kearsley Community Schools in Flint, Michigan. Dr. Tembras is a native of Lansing, Michigan, and received his Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University. Dr. Tembras is a frequent guest conductor throughout the United States and abroad, including the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China, the United States Army Field Band, and the World Youth Wind Orchestra Project (WYWOP) in Schladming, Austria as part of the Mid-Europe International Festival. The IPFW Symphonic Wind Ensemble gave their debut performance in Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2015, embarked on a two-week tour of Europe performing in some of the world’s greatest concert halls, including performing Music for Prague 1968, on its 50th Anniversary in the Rudolfinum in Prague, CZ. This summer, Tembras will guest conduct the Czech National Symphonic Band as part of the World Music Contest (WMC) in Kerkrade, NL. Next spring, the ensemble will embark on a tour of Asia. Dr. Tembras is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, NAfME, and is a frequent guest clinician throughout the United States. He is an honorary member of Phi Beta Mu and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Middle School Band - Robert Herrings

Robert Tyrome Herrings, III is in his nineteenth year of teaching and has been teaching at Artie Henry Middle School in Leander ISD since 2004. Prior to coming to Leander ISD, he was the Director of Bands at Rockdale Junior High in Rockdale, Texas. In 2003, Mr. Herrings received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he studied under Michael Haithcock, Jeff Grogan, Dr. Kevin Sedatole and Barry Hopper. While in college, Mr. Herrings was a member of the Baylor University performing wind bands, as well as a member of the Baylor University Golden Wave Band. At Henry Middle School, Mr. Herrings conducts the Honors Band, and assists with the Symphonic Band and Concert Band. He also teaches beginning clarinet, horn and trumpet. Mr. Herrings’ bands have consistently received UIL Sweepstakes ratings, as well as unanimous first division ratings, Best In Class, and Overall Outstanding Band honors at festi-

vals around the state. From 2009-2021, the program at Henry earned distinction as a National Wind Band Honors Class AA winner, and in 2008 and 2013, the Henry Middle School Honors Band was selected to perform at the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle, Washington. The program was named the 2010, 2014 and 2018 TMEA Class CCC Honor Band and was also selected to perform at the 2010, 2012 and 2016 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. In June 2011, Mr. Herrings and his program were awarded the prestigious John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Silver Cup Award, and in July of the same year, Mr. Herrings was named the Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Young Bandmaster of the Year. In May of 2014, the Texas Chapter of the American School Band Directors Association awarded the Outstanding Band Program Award to the Artie Henry MS Band Program, and in November of the same year, the Henry MS Percussion Ensemble was selected to perform at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Most recently, the Henry MS Band Program was selected as the 2018 Texas Bandmasters Association Exemplary Middle School Band Award winner. Above all, his students have been his greatest inspiration!

Middle School Band - Tyler S. Grant

Tyler S. Grant (b. June 23, 1995) is an Atlantabased composer of music for concert bands, orchestras, and chamber groups; many of which have been performed around the world and by musicians of all levels. His works for wind band have been found on Editor’s Choice lists from

MUSIC EDUCATION

THREE TRACKS: Choral Elementary Instrumental

THREE SUMMERS: Complete the MME with a Combination of Summer and Online Courses

various international music distributors in addition to being performed by many region and state-wide honor bands. His work Panoramic Fanfare was named a winner in the 2014 “Call for Fanfares” Competition hosted by the Dallas Wind Symphony. The fanfare has since been performed by collegiate and professional ensembles in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. Since 2010, he has regularly accepted commissions for new works and produced new publications for bands and chamber groups each year. While he has never formally studied composition, he credits his mentors Brian Balmages and Randall Coleman as being pivotal to his success as a composer and a conductor. Notable performance venues of his work include The Midwest Clinic, Carnegie Hall, Meyerson Symphony Center (Dallas), The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and numerous state-wide, national, and international music conventions. In addition to his writing, Tyler enjoys conducting and clinic engagements with ensembles throughout the United States. He has served as a conductor and clinician of university, district, and state level honor bands in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Louisiana, South Dakota, and West Virginia. Tyler was a contributing author in Alfred Music Publishing Company’s Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development series and has contributed interviews to numerous podcasts and articles including School Band & Orchestra Magazine and The Instrumentalist. Tyler is a graduate of the University of Alabama where he earned a degree in instrumental music education. He currently serves as the Director of Bands at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta, Georgia and maintains an active composing and conducting schedule. His more than 35 published works are available through The FJH Music Company, Inc. and Tyler S. Grant Music Works, LLC.

WWW.MUSIC.MSSTATE.EDU/MME

MSU’s Master of Music Education program is both unique and practical, designed to 昀t into the busy lives of current music teachers. It is a hybrid program (a combination of summer and online courses) designed to support music professionals in the advancement of both their pedagogical and musical skills. Included in the degree is performance practice, conducting, pedagogy, curriculum, music theory, history, and the essentials of research in music education.

2022 ALL-STATE BAND FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

April 6, 2022, Solo Festival – Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center

April 7-9, 2022 All-State Band Festival, Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center ABA Office 203B in Outlaw Center

Wednesday, April 6

Solo Festival, Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center Band

Thursday, April 7 - All-State Rehearsals and Meetings

Students need to bring their own stand.

Elementary Book Reviews by UAB Graduate Students

Deanna Bell, Adjunct Music Professor at UAB

During my internship, I read a story entitled, Jazz Cats by David Davis, illustrated by Chuck Galey. The book goes through a series of activities that the jazz cats were involved in, from playing in the jazz band to sleeping. At the end of each page, there is a stanza that is used to summarize the actions of the jazz cats. I incorporated a short melody with the stanza using mi, re, and do. The students were engaged, as they were able to follow along with the story. If I could go back in time, I would add different Orff instruments to this piece. I would add xylophones and metallophones, which may be used to play the simple melody on mi re and do. They could also be used to tap a quick, steady beat on do and so (C and G). The rhythm of the melody could be syncopated.

The First Music is based on an African folk tale. It playfully depicts animals discovering music for the first time. The artwork is colorful and full of movement. In my classroom, I like to use this story for vocal exploration. I have the students create sound effects throughout the book. The next week, we listen to the music found in the QR code below and discuss which characters are represented by each ostinato. I divide students into groups, and they work together to create a movement that represents one of the animal rhythms. As an extension, you could also add instruments to play the rhythms during the movement activity.

Wee Sing for Halloween is the perfect book for your music classroom in the fall! This Halloweenthemed book is filled with songs, games, and even amazing recipes for students to try. The recipes go along with corresponding songs or games throughout the book, so your kids will have an awesome treat to go along with the activity. What I loved about this book was the inclusion of traditional songs that all kids know, but with a spooky twist to them! With so many different activities included, you are sure to make your classroom spooky fun!

Wild Symphony is an interactive picture book by Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code. This book is composed of twenty poems that include puzzles and codes hidden throughout the illustrations. This book also has a free app that includes music that goes along with each poem. Dan Brown composed the music that is played by the Zagreb Festival Orchestra in Croatia. The book’s interactive elements will help keep children engaged by finding the embedded instrument images and letters that form anagrams (instrument names). This boothis book.k can be used to introduce instruments to children ages 3 years or older. Your students will love this book.

Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin," written by Lloyd Moss and illustrated by Majorie Priceman, is a spectacular book for music students. This book introduces various instruments of the orchestra and introduces vocabulary for different performing ensembles. The musical instruments illustrated are accurate and entertaining. Diversity is evident throughout the book, with various ethnicities displayed. The book describes each musical instrument's sounds and how they come together to form an orchestra. "Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin" is an excellent resource when introducing instrumental families and instruments of the orchestra. It is a wonderful book for young readers in the music classroom!

Decibella is about a little girl called Isabella, but she is called Decibella by her friends because of her loud voice . The reason I choose this book is that I can teach kids dynamic levels especially when introducing Orff instruments or singing . If you have any questions please let me know. Thank you!

To listen to a two-part podcast created by these amazing educators about the life of a music educator, please copy and paste the link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wWWG702-TKabELcAUfDtW7WrVYkyOen?usp=sharing

Philbert Andrews

Lee Mason

Arderius Larkins

Sam Goode

Matthew Wall

Michael Harrison

AMEA Awards

AMEA Outstanding Young Composer Finalists

Cameron Johnson Carson Rivers

Evan Dubose

Kevin Robles

Sawyer Gage John Richardson

AMEA Honor Roll - 30 Years Paul Andrews, Tom Grigsby, Terry Ownby

AMEA Honor Roll - 40 Years Melanie Harris

AMEA Honor Roll - 45 Years James Rogers, Grailor Price, Richard DeLaFuente, Diane Johnson, David Spencer, Garry Taylor

AMEA Honor Roll - 35 Years Russell Courson

AMEA Honor Roll - 25 Years Mark Nichols, Gary Russell, Randall Key, Miriam Richey, Kim Jackson. Nancy Frith, and Marcus Stewart

Lacey Powell Outstanding Music Educator Carrie Cruz

AMEA Hall of Fame Dr. Clifford “Ski” Winter

AMEA Outstanding Administrator Dr. Chad Holden, Muscle Shoals City Schools

National Board Certified Teachers in Music Mary Hovik and Matthew Martindale

Eleanor Nation FAME Scholarship Jackson Smith

Phi Beta Mu New Members, Honors, and Awards

New Phi Beta Mu Member Heather Palmer pinned by sponsor Suzi Winter.

New Phi Beta Mu Member Missy Lindley and sponsor Ken Bodiford

New Phi Beta Mu Member Marc McLendon and sponsor Garry Taylor (L)

New Phi Beta Mu Member Clay Sloan and sponsor Regina Raney (L)

New Phi Beta Mu Member Gena Inglis and sponsor Gene Inglis

New Phi Beta Mu Member Kevin Ownby (inducted virtually)

Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Band Director Chris Cooper congratulated by Steve McLendon (L)

Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Young Band Director Michael Chambless congratulated by Jon Bubbett (L)

Phi Beta Mu Alabama Bandmasters Hall of Fame Inductee Curtis Burttram and sponsor Chris Lindley

Editor’s Note: Part 1 of this article appeared in the October/November 2021 Ala Breve.

Now that your acceptance has been celebrated, stakeholders informed, repertoire selected, and funds raised, it’s time to make this performance a reality. Managing your student personnel and schedule are important to consider in preparing for the performance. Most importantly, it is necessary to note what occurs after the performance and how it will affect the continued growth of your program.

Full Program Involvement:

Are You Ready? From Application to Applause Applying and Performing at AMEA Part 2

Once all plans have been made, it’s time to share the experience with as many students as possible, as it will benefit them regardless of their involvement in the program. It is tempting to only involve students that are performing, but full program involvement will lead to a greater sense of camaraderie and connection between the various areas of your program.

by Mike Guzman

Instrumentalists. It is important to involve as many students as possible, even those who are not in the performing ensemble. One way to do this is by including students from other groups within the organization such as the second band or middle school band members. Involving younger players will help in motivating their growth as musicians and allow them to take ownership in the success of the program. Another incentive of involving other members is that it allows the more advanced players the opportunity to rest during the concert. With a plan in place, it is possible to trade players between pieces. This is modeled at the university level, and there is no clause stating that more students cannot be involved. While it is tempting to only have your finest players performing, your program is made up of a diverse group of students with varying abilities, and they should all be involved.

Non-Instrumentalist. Auxiliary members are a valuable part of the program and should be included as well. This can be done by incorporating them in the planning process: having them take pictures of the event, act as ushers for the concert, or even participate in the performance. There is no limit to how creative you could be in involving your auxiliaries, and the payoff is tremendous as it strengthens the bond of the students in your program.

Others. Getting parents, administrators, and community members to be part of the performance is a way of involving all stakeholders. Parents can be involved by assisting with logistics or as enthusiastic audience members. School officials and community members are great sources of support but can also be part of the performance as narrators or announcers. You can also consider

involving other student organizations such as the school media team to create supporting materials or yearbook staff to write stories for the event. There is no limit to how you can involve as many people as possible in this performance. However, the cliche of “the more the merrier” is never more real than in this situation.

Performance Day:

After months of planning, rehearsing, fundraising, and growing, it is performance day! This is the culmination of the student’s hard work and dedication and should be celebrated…after the performance. It’s critical not to reinvent the wheel when it comes to your daily process of warming up, tuning, and ensemble preparation.

Warm-up. A structured warm-up needs to be in place to make the students as comfortable as possible. At this point, it is less of a physical warm-up and more of a mental one. It is important not to alter your day-to-day process; don’t change anything that has already gotten you this far! This will allow the students to familiarize themselves with the stage while playing and listening to music they are already accustomed to performing. The only caveat is tuning multiple times between each phase of your warm-up. Below is a chart displaying my normal warm-up versus on performance day. If a stable and consistent warm-up is used, you will not need to worry about overplaying your students in the warm-up. Once on stage, it is critical to tune several times during the warmup. This allows the students the opportunity to adjust their instruments and feel comfortable playing in tune in a foreign environment. This can become customary to your students by building it into your regular warm-up a week or two before your performance. Warming up, tuning, playing a chorale, and tuning again. It is a common practice in universities and even symphony orchestras to tune before each piece. Students that also switch instruments, such as flute to piccolo, will also benefit from this tuning process.

Hewitt-Trussville High School Wind Ensemble Daily Warm-Up Sequence (Example)

Key/Rhythm

Warm-up Scales Tune (Drone)

Key of: A Key of: C-A Sections

Key/Rhythm

Octaves/ Chords/ Singing Chorale:

Key of: A

Hewitt-Trussville High School Wind Ensemble Performance Warm-up (Example)

Warm-up Tune (Drone) Scales Tune (Drone)

Octaves/ Chords/ Singing

Woodwinds Sing Brass

All play

Tune (Drone) Chorale: Tune (Drone)

Key of: A Sections Key of: C-A Sections Key of: A Sections

At the end of the warm-up, there should be a lengthy chorale. This is an opportunity for students to listen, balance, blend, tune, and further establish an understanding of the acoustical properties of the hall. In my experience, directors often get hung up on trying to “play to the room” and not on teaching students to listen. Through many years of performing with symphony orchestras and professional ensembles, I believe that adjusting to the room can be quite dangerous. This is because you spend a considerable amount of time rehearsing within the confines of your own band room, only to change your approach, volume, and style for another room. This defeats the purpose of rehearsing with such detail in the first place. Instead, teach the students to establish certain listening responsibilities that will help them make decisions on how to make minute adjustments if needed.

At this point the notes have been learned, rhythms cleaned, and

Woodwinds Sing Brass

All play Sections

there is no need to continue to rehearse on stage. Continuing to rehearse on stage is dangerous because it could cause students to overthink their performance and wear them out. The warm-up and preparation time is just that, an opportunity to get focused, relaxed, and prepare to share your music with the most appreciative audience you may ever encounter. It is my opinion that rehearsing onstage the day of the performance does more harm than good.

After The Performance:

After the performance, it’s important to decompress, reminisce and celebrate with the most important people involved in the process—the students. Nick Saban, arguably the most successful college football coach, applies what he calls the 24-hour rule. This is where you take 24 hours to relax and celebrate your accomplishment. After those 24 hours, it’s time to debrief and talk through the highs and lows of the performance. This will lead to setting new goals and embarking on another adventure in preparing quality literature for performance without resulting in burnout.

Relax/Reminisce. The 24 hours following the performance should be used to celebrate with your students and stakeholders. It’s important to take time to reminisce about the performance. It is my experience that no matter how fine the ensemble or what resources you have, you and the ensemble would not be on that stage if it were not for the help and encouragement of parents, colleagues, administrators, and community members. Much like any great performance, this time must come to an end to get to work on the next endeavor.

Feedback: It’s important that everyone involved in this process receives feedback in order to grow. You need to think about where your feedback as a director is going to come from and there are several options to consider. The first option to consider is recordings. Even if there is no official recording, you can always set up a recorder in the audience and listen back to it later for feedback. Another is having mentors you can reach out to that will give you honest and constructive feedback. These are the same

Richard Floyd works with the Hewitt-Trussville HS Wind Ensemble as Director Mike Guzman takes notes

individuals you used earlier in the process that knows you and your program and can help you take the next steps. Finally, there will be some form of what I call “organic feedback.” These are the conversations you will have with colleagues about the performance that will shed light on elements you can improve. This type of feedback is gathered slowly but will shed light on people’s true perception of the performance. You must be cautious to let this happen on its own and not force it to avoid a certain degree of “social praise” that is more of a formality and less of an actual form of feedback.

Debriefing. The debriefing is the most critical time following a performance because it is a time to focus on where we will go next. It’s critical to methodically outline and discuss all the positive and negative aspects of the performance. The debriefing needs to happen with you or your staff first so clear goals can be discussed. This is another instance where recordings are beneficial. It’s important to obtain a quality recording to analyze the performance in detail. Just as a football coach analyzes film after a game and before they take on a new opponent, it is critical for you to analyze these recordings and reinforce positive behaviors and plan for improving the negative behaviors.

New Goals/New Journey. Ultimately, the debriefing will lead to setting new goals for you and for the ensemble. It is important to track these objectives, synthesize attainable and realistic goals, and design a plan for achieving the set goals. It’s important to consider the direction the ensemble will take after your AMEA performance. You want to have new repertoire selected so that you and the ensemble can hit the ground running while the high of a successful performance is prevalent in the students’ minds. It is imperative that students do not become complacent, and they use this performance as a springboard to building a new repertoire and musical journey. While I don’t think there’s anything wrong with bringing back a substantial piece from the AMEA program to perform at MPA, I do think it’s important to freshen the repertoire and give the students a new challenge and not overplay a piece. It is my belief that complacency is the greatest threat to excellence and inspired performance.

Caution! As the director, you dictate the pacing for the students as they expect you to lead them to the next goal; however, you need to consider that there could be a degree of burnout. Burnout comes in many forms and affects people differently. You can experience burnout due to the time and energy that goes into preparing repertoire, studying music, and producing a successful performance. Musical and emotional burnout can also be a factor because as educators we pour a considerable amount of ourselves into the music and students. Parents and community members can also experience a degree of burnout because of time and financial commitments. The most important form of burnout is student burnout. There’s a fine line between challenging students to rise to their highest potential while pushing them so hard, they end up disliking music. Always be mindful that the goal is to inspire, teach an appreciation for music, and develop lifelong consumers of music so the cycle of participation and musical experience repeats itself with their children. You do not want to be the one that extinguishes a student’s musical fire because you pushed them too hard and burned them out.

Conclusion:

Application, acceptance, and performance at AMEA is not just a process but a journey that will take you, your students, and everyone associated with the program in a positive new direction. It is my experience that if you wait until you have “the band,” you will never apply, get accepted, and reap the benefits. There is no harm in sending in recordings, even if you think they are not “ready.” From experience, it takes several attempts to get accepted. Do not be discouraged if you send in solid recordings and do not get selected.

It’s my experience that the entire process from application to performance is the reward. An invitation to perform will build your ensemble’s resume, prominence within the community, school, and school system. The work and reward of a successful performance will lead students to desire the feeling of accomplishment and will lead to more detailed rehearsals and performances. The standard is raised, and excellence becomes common for the students because it is “just the way we do things.” Finally, the greatest reward of all is changing the lives of your students. By applying and performing, you have provided your students with an incredible accomplishment that they will be proud of for the rest of their lives. You have planted a seed that will grow beyond their time in your program, and they will become educated lovers and consumers of all things “band.” Remember, all things are cyclical and this amazing experience will lead your students to have their children participate in band—and the cycle continues!

Mike Guzman is Director of Bands at HewittTrussville High School in Trussville Alabama and doctoral student in Music Education at The University of Alabama. He holds degrees from The University of Miami and Florida International University. Mr. Guzman is an adjudicator, clinician, and conductor throughout the southeast.

Dr. Andrew Hunter works with the Hewitt-Trussville HS Wind Ensemble

Things I Wish You Knew: Conversations and Collaborations within Music Education

By Dr. Diane Orlofsky

One thing that our professional lives during Covid-19 demonstrated is that we all work better when we intentionally listen, communicate, and collaborate across all areas within the music education profession. As much as we grew weary of them, virtual meetings gave everyone “the floor” and facilitated heard voices in a collective way not typically experienced. I believe it is imperative that we continue to find ways to extend the dialogue among various stakeholders within music education. I agree with Ben & Rosamund Zander (The Art of Possibility, 2002) when they said, “As a teacher, I have an enormous opportunity to create possibility in every conversation.” And what better place to do the first deep, meaningful conversational dive than with a collegiate music educator (Allen Holmes) who is on the threshold of his teaching career. What follows is a portion of our extended conversation:

D: Okay, so the reason I chose you [for this conversation] is because you are at the end of your college career, and all that’s left is this formidable capstone experience called student teaching . . . I’ve taught you in methods classes; I know that you approach your philosophy from a very thoughtful position, a very authentic position, but a position, perhaps, that might not be the mainstream, or might be a little bit more in touch with the social-emotional learning of students . . . And your authentic philosophy [is] at the base of it. So, my question to you is this: How, over the course of these four and a half years, has that philosophy changed? And what kind of educational experiences that you’ve had along the way informed that change? Okay, so let’s start there.

A: I started off as a biomedical science major because I wanted to help people, and it took me a year and a half to realize that I didn’t have to physically help someone to seriously still help them. So, I had kind of crammed myself into this box because I knew I had that core philosophy, this is what I want to do with my life, I want to help people. What can I then go on to do from there? I thought about the most important people in my life. And it was family, close friends, and teachers that I had in the past. Some of that line was blurred because my dad was my teacher, and my uncle was a teacher and, you know, it almost felt like if I were to follow that, maybe it wouldn’t be my own path, that maybe it would be me going through

this preset thing.

D: Did you rebel against that or did you pull away from it just because you had such a family history of education practice?

A: I think I did, and it wasn’t a rebellion out of malice or anything, I just needed to know that it was my path and so I chose something that I was passionate about, which was health care and I loved working with people, especially the elderly patients in the dermatology clinic that I worked with. Fantastic experience. Loved that. But when I was in school, I hated it. I didn’t feel the socialemotional connection with my peers that I got from my music classes. Those classes, music, [and] the arts in general, are fundamentally different than the core of many of the other classes. And at the center of that difference, I think, especially with performing arts, is a social connection. It’s a social activity. Whereas, I didn’t have practically any friends studying bio-Med. I can count on my hand three or four and they were good friends and great people, and I love them very much, but the classes weren’t set up for that. They were set up for you to go and be alone in a group of 100 people. Whereas in band, you know there’s 350 people and you can be friends with any of them, and it’s like it’s built for that culture and creation of experiences . . . I did enjoy studying, I did enjoy learning, but the environment itself was constraining to the point that I didn’t have a passion beyond the interest, and that’s when I knew something had to change.

D: Do you think it’s because many of the experiences of your bioMed colleagues were less diverse? In other words, they all kind of ticked the same boxes in the experiences they had prior to college. As opposed to if you’re in a big milieu of band folks, you’re going to have people from all walks of life, and all educational, demographic and socioeconomic experiences and your commonality is the music.

A: Yeah, when I’m giving advice to my younger siblings who are just on the cusp of high school, it boils down to find your people. And every time those people are in the arts. And it’s not like an exclusive thing, you know, it’s not that you can’t find your people studying other things. I mean, I found some great people in bio-Med but the arts [are] full of my people, you know, and I don’t know how else

to describe it . . . First, music and art [are] the most fundamental human expressions. This is something that we have been doing for as long as we have been. Performing arts, especially, is an inherently social thing. Now you can do it alone and you can write songs on your own and play them in your room. And that’s a powerful artistic expression, but it’s missing the social connection, and I think that with COVID that became especially obvious . . .

D: I think somewhere inherent in what you just described [were] artificial barriers that were put on us, right? We still made music, but it looked different. It sounded different. It felt different. You know, it was harder, and I think we’re stronger in the broken places because we had to push through the difficulty to get to the art. But then I think we’re just now seeing the social-emotional collateral damage Covid-19 created. Can you speak to that?

A: I could try. It’s at the core of our art . . . We’re only just beginning, I think, to see the effects of being indoors for two years afraid to be around other people. I don’t think those effects are going to just disappear, even if the virus does. Especially for the kids who have been developing. I mean, I have always struggled with social connection growing up. If I spent two years either totally out of school or in and out, I cannot imagine how different my life experience would be.

Here’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot. What is education anyway? What even are we doing? I think that education is everything that you do. You are learning and our goal is to instill

that curiosity, that love and a strong basis to stand on for learning that will set you up for a life of education. And it doesn’t have to be formal education. . . Nobody can undo the experience that we’ve all been going through, but I think coming back to our roots in performing arts as this social activity is the best thing that we can do. And that is to create environments. People first. Experience first. Perfection never [the goal]. The best that we can do, yes, but at no cost. At the cost of nothing. The best that we can do as we are. For the sake of the experience, for the sake of the people, for the sake of healing, I think that that is the most important thing that we can do as musicians and educators and people. There’s a place for hierarchy. There’s a place for perfection and for the people who are motivated to go on and craft themselves to fit that, and to show it to everyone, that’s fantastic. I love that. But I think that sometimes we can get lost in the pursuit almost and miss the important thing that we’re doing as educators and that is crafting the experiences, crafting the relationships, and experiencing it together.

D: . . .Let’s get back to music, let’s get back to the essence of what we do. What we know intellectually [is] that it’s a vast, deep, wide, diverse, rich, meaningful, powerful teaching tool. We know that we don’t have to reinvent. Lowell Mason knew it and we know it, right? We often don’t do a very good job of articulating the fact that we know it. So, as you step into your internship knowing the inherent power and reach of your tool, what do you think those of you who are entering this capstone experience, what do you think your role is now?

A: . . . My experiences, my musical experiences that shaped me, are what I can give. And so, it is my job to give the most, be the best that I can . . . I want to come back to why we do anything and then why we do music. With other art forms it can be sometimes about the work almost entirely. With poetry, with visual art, but with performing art it’s there and gone.

D: It’s not static.

A: It’s really not, and so it’s inherently (and you can argue that this is true of any art, but especially performing arts), it’s inherently about the experience. So, our job is to facilitate, create, maintain, inspire these experiences for people all their life, and while they’re with us, we instill that love, and we’ve done what we set out to do. That was the point of education.

D: That’s good. So, I’m [going to] give you the task of speaking for others like yourself. The thousands of pre-service music educators. What would you like to say to us, the people who are charged to train you and to get you ready, whatever that looks like for what it is you’re about to do? This is your chance to speak to the teacher educators of the world because sometimes I think we just need to press pause and ask and so I’m asking.

A: I think that there are different sides to music. I think we can all agree there. One of those sides is high-level performance. The best that it can be. Another one of those sides is exploration, the most that you could experience. And I think that here we’ve created a culture of half and half at best, and that’s great. But I would argue that for the purposes of education, for people who are going into this field to become educators, maybe we shouldn’t be spending allnighters practicing for juries, recitals, auditions, etc. If it’s coming at the cost of joining other ensembles and experiencing a wider variety of music that we can share with our future students. If I had advice to my past self, I would say take a sixth year. . . I would have expanded more and perfected less. And it’s a changing view, you know? I’m looking at my experience from within myself, so there’s always bias.

There’s always the experience that I have and the way that I’m feeling, and all these things mixed together, but I think that that would be the best thing, for educators to have more freedom to take different [classes] and to really invest themselves in their classes. {Allen goes on to describe how the experiences during Covid-19 strengthened the bonds between classmates, which seemed counter-intuitive but was a reality}.

D: So that was a positive aspect that came out of it.

A: Yeah, COVID was such a challenge, but we were all challenged together, and so, you know, we’re together apart and experiencing the same things alone. So, we weren’t alone. I definitely feel much more connected to my professors and my peers after COVID . . .

D: . . . Giving yourself permission to go through the buffet line [of class experiences] as opposed to sitting down for the high-

end steak meal that comes to you prescribed but being sort of adventuresome and exploring [throughout college].

A: It felt like, at many points, a hot dog eating contest. We’re going for the food metaphor. I was struggling to just get through the exercise, you know, and that’s not the way that something is supposed to be experienced; that’s not the way that growing and knowledge and experiences happen.

D: So, what comes after [internship]?

A: I don’t know. It does almost feel like we built a kite and all that’s left is the string. You know it’s being guided, but just as much as it needs to be— hopefully flying at the end of it and not crashing into the tree.

I feel like my time [in college], especially this last year and a half, two years, showed me my philosophy. It showed me why we do what we do and why we’re so crucial to education. And in ways that are of course difficult to put into words, but I think I did a good job covering why it’s so important. If I hadn’t had that experience, I don’t even know what I’d be doing. The way that I felt so often in high school math where I was just like, why? Yes, I can pass it, but why? I think the most important thing that we can instill is guiding people like myself to find their why. It wasn’t until going through the experience of trying to find my life; COVID was fundamental in finding it which is so funny because you’d expect that it would have drowned me in the dirt or the mud. But it was [teaching] those first graders [synchronous teaching practicum with first-graders in elementary music methods class], that is where I found my why

D: Yeah, teaching those first graders was your why. I think that’s a good place to end.

Dr. Diane Orlofsky is a Professor of Music Education at TROY University and the 2016 recipient of the Lacey Powell Outstanding Music Educator award. Allen Holmes is a Senior Instrumental Music Education major at TROY University.

Allen Holmes is a senior music education major at Troy University.

Improvisational Thought

by Dr. Matt Leder

Probably every musician that has tried to seriously improvise knows that the art of improvising demands one’s total musicianship and that it is an ultimate challenge. This subject matter is so vast of materials and methods to approach improvisation these days that even the motivated student may ask themselves, “Where do I begin”, or “How do I advance in my studies”? One could easily raise their hands up and ask, “How will I ever learn to do all of this”? The answer is easy….one step at a time! Everyone progresses at different speeds, and one must realize that music is not a competition. It is the process of self-discovery that fuels progress. Stay humble and curious. Take things one day at a time.

Often, issues in improvisation arise due to a limited grasp of jazz vocabulary. Simply put, this observation indicates that a crucial step in one’s musical training has been overlooked or hasn’t occurred yet. Most of the time one’s technical ability overshadows one’s ability to improvise. This usually causes frustration and disappointment. Sure, there are those that are gifted in improvisation, but for most part it has less to do with talent and more to do with knowing what to practice, how to practice, and more importantly how to listen and critique details of what they are listening to and how to apply it to the subject of improvising. Improvisation can also start at an early age.

Jazz is often referred to as a language. Sometimes the swing feel is broken down into, “accent on 2 and 4!” or “there is this subdivision in the triplet”, etc. Jazz is a language and there are nuances in it just like there nuances inside any spoken language. Think about the various dialects in various countries or different regions within the US. There is a difference in the way people speak in the south vs. the north, etc. Those nuances in the spoken language are beautiful and you can look for similar nuances in music if you stretch your ears. Bottom line, you must immerse yourself in the culture to truly grasp a dialect or nuance. You must listen with intent. You cannot learn this from a book, but rather through immersive aural tradition.

Words, their pronunciations, and the ways from which they are put together form a language. Through language we can convey our thoughts, communicate ideas, and express our feelings. Music is a language. Some call it a “universal language”. Consider the basic elements of music (melody, harmony, rhythm, etc.). These are the words of music. There are several different styles in the genre of jazz. For a style to be considered authentic, improvised melodies or words/vocabulary must contain certain elements indicative of the “dialects” or nuances associated with that particular style. How do we identify these? Listen! Immerse yourself in the style you are trying to imitate or perform. Listen with purpose!

This music moves forward through extensions and embellishments of earlier styles. There is a sense of tradition in this music. One must be respectful of the music and learn earlier styles to gain a fundamental understanding. One should consider this. Knowing traditional jazz vocabulary influences the shapes and sounds of a player’s more modern and creative ideas. Without a traditional background, the average jazz student’s potential for being a modern player will be somewhat limited.

So how do we accomplish all of this? Clark Terry’s simple, but profound method is great: Imitate • Assimilate

• Innovate

•

Do you have to cover or master each historical style or period to be successful? No. One should gather a workable knowledge or the basic ingredients (melody, harmony, rhythm) which make a performance credible. However, one thing to note…you can certainly cross the stream to get to the other side, but it is okay to go back to pick up those missing stones. Ellis Marsalis urged Wynton Marsalis to go back and check out Louis Armstrong when Wynton moved to NYC. Wynton Marsalis is known for his success in jazz performance, education, and advocacy. If he

can do it, we can do it too! Think about what music really moves you. Why does it move you? What are the ingredients of this music? How can you put these ingredients into your music?

As a beginning or intermediate improvisor, gathering traditional jazz vocabulary should be a priority. Listen to the jazz masters and study transcriptions. You can also keep current by studying and listening to contemporary players who have assimilated the tradition. As an educator, I try to expose my students to players in small chunks (assign five jazz masters a week, etc.). It is also important to allow the student to “drive their own bus”. Expose the student to various players, but allow them the opportunity to discover their own path / favorite players, etc. Artistry should not be directed, but rather mentored.

Listening is so crucial. You may want to have your students create a play list. Have them select recordings representing every 25 years, from the 20th century to present. A few recordings from each era could result in an hour of music which spans 100 years! This process can be repeated every few weeks so that the student’s ear is saturated in the style. You are what you eat. Well, you are what you listen to.

Bottom line, find an approach that is enjoyable and practical. Learn about the evolution of this art form every day. Imitate, assimilate, and innovate! Shed in the practice room and take it to the band stand. One must also learn by doing! Attend jam sessions, look for opportunity, or create your own opportunity. Education is a lifelong endeavor. Enjoy the journey!

In the spirit of swing,

Dr. Matt Leder

Candidates for AMEA President-Elect

Dr. Mark Foster is currently in his 32nd year of teaching band and is happy to be in his 4th year as the band director at John Carroll Catholic High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He previously taught band for 28 years in public schools at Mountain Brook Junior High School, Gardendale High School, and Hueytown High School. Bands under his leadership have consistently earned superior ratings and best-in-class awards at the district, state, and regional levels.

Dr. Foster holds the bachelor of science, master of arts, and doctor of education degrees from the University of Alabama, as well as National Board Certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. As a doctoral student, he was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education and was awarded the most outstanding graduate student in music education in 2003. Foster has presented research at the Alabama Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference, The University of Alabama Research Seminar in Music Education, The Birmingham Public Library, New Horizons at UAB, The Bessemer Rotary Club, The Vestavia Hills Lions Club, American Cast Iron Pipe Company, The Alabama Bandmasters Association Summer Conference, and the Jazz in June Conference at the Tennessee Valley Jazz Society. His research interests include band history and early Birmingham history including cultural development at the time of the founding of the city. His doctoral dissertation is entitled, “Fred L. Grambs and his influence on instrumental music in late 19th century Birmingham, Alabama.” He received the “Outstanding Performance Award” from the Mountain Brook City Schools in 2018. Dr. Foster was inducted into Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity in 2009 by his peers in the band director community in Alabama.

In addition to his work as a band director, Dr. Foster teaches music education courses at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has previously taught at The University of Montevallo, and Jefferson State Community College. Dr. Foster served as the Jazz Education Chairman from 2013-2017 as a member of the Alabama Bandmasters Association. In this role, he coordinated all aspects of the Alabama All-state Jazz Bands including hiring clinicians and adjudicators as well as facilitating the student audition process. During his time as the Jazz Chair, the number of students auditioning for the bands increased to over 200 students from throughout the state, and because of this large increase, an additional high school jazz band (Bronze Band) was added to accommodate the increased student participation.

He has served as guest conductor for numerous honor bands and clinics including The UAB High School and Middle School Honor Bands, The University of Montevallo Honor Band, The Midfest Honor Band at the University of Georgia, The Mobile

County Junior High School Gold Honor Band, The 2018 Alabama Middle School All-State Jazz Band, and The University of Alabama Middle School Trombone Choir at the UA Trombone Day 2019. As a trombone player, he has performed with Ruben Studdard, Bo Bice, The Temptations, The O’Jays, The Alabama Ballet Orchestra, The Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and The Alabama Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of The Superjazz Big Band in Birmingham, Alabama.

Dr. Foster has been married for 31 years and has two children. In his spare time, he likes to read, hike, and ride motorcycles.

Dr. Phil R. Wilson is the music teacher at Ogletree Elementary School in Auburn, Alabama, where he has taught for the past 20 years. Prior to teaching in Auburn, Phil taught at Thomasville High School in Thomasville, Georgia, where his duties included directing the chorus, assisting the band director at the middle and high school levels, and directing literary activities. Phil graduated from Troy (State) University in 2001 with a Bachelors of Music Education and went on to pursue his Masters of Music Education from Auburn University in 2007. In 2010, Phil became a National Board Certified Teacher in the area of Early and Middle Childhood Music and renewed his certification in 2019. Phil earned a Ph.D. in Music Education from Auburn University in 2020. Phil is the 2010-2011 Alabama State Teacher of the Year. Phil is a member of NAfME; The National Association for Music Education, the Alabama Music Education Association where he served as President and currently serves as a district chair of the elementary division, the Alabama Education Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Professional Music Fraternity of America, Iota Nu Chapter. For five years, Phil served on the board of the Alabama Network of National Board Certified Teachers as the director of outreach.

Legislation included on the online ballot:

Article II - Duties of Divison Presidents or Division Chairpersons and Governing Board

Section 1. Divisions of the Alabama Music Educators Association. The divisions of the Alabama Music Educators Association are the Alabama Bandmasters Association (ABA), Alabama Orchestra Association (AOA), Alabama Vocal Association (AVA), Elementary/General Division, Collegiate NAfME (cNAfME), and Higher Education Division.

Sections 2. Division Presidents or Chairpersons. Division Presidents or Chairpersons shall serve as members of the Governing Board, promote the interests of their respective divisions, and make recommendations to the Governing Board

Legislation (con’t) regarding the organization and administration of those festival events, which are the concern of their divisions. At the annual meeting of the Association, Division Presidents or Chairpersons shall be responsible for a report of the activities of their Divisions. Before relinquishing their offices, Division Presidents or Chairpersons must prepare an outline of the duties of their Divisions, with information concerning the organizational structure.

Section 3. Governing Board. The Governing Board shall schedule at least three Board meetings annually. The Board shall be responsible for establishing the official calendar of the Association, including an annual business meeting. The Board shall arrange for an audit of the Association’s financial records at least once each 12 months. No later than June 1, the Board shall report the official calendar of the Association and Division events of the coming year to the National office of the NAfME, to the Chairperson of the Activities Committee of the Alabama Association of Secondary School Principals, and to the editor of Ala Breve Magazine.

Candidates for AMEA Recording Secretary

Dr. Ted Hoffman has taught every grade level prekindergarten through twelve, including band, choir, and elementary/general music, as well as undergraduate and graduate courses in music at the college level. Currently, he is Associate Professor and Director of Music Education at the University of Montevallo where he coordinates the undergraduate music education programs, supervises field placements and internships, directs the summer Young Musicians Camp, and is faculty advisor to the Montevallo collegiate chapter of AMEA/NAfME. From 2013-2020, Ted served on the AMEA Governing Board as state advisor to the Collegiate Division and in the AMEA President’s Cabinet as Teacher Education Chair and state representative to the Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE). During this time, Collegiate student attendance at statewide AMEA activities increased substantially and the number of participating college and university campus chapters of AMEA/NAfME grew to thirteen. As Teacher Education Chair, Hoffman established the biennial roundtable meeting of music teacher educators and K-12 cooperating teachers, while also representing the State of Alabama at national assemblies of the Society for Music Teacher Education. He was a member of the Arts Education Course of Study Revision Committee and Taskforce and participated in the subsequent unpacking of the music standards in the Alabama Insight Tool. Ted maintains active membership in a number of other state, national, and international associations, and is presently Executive Director of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI), publisher of the NACWPI Journal, Chair-elect of the Instructional Strategies Special Research Interest Group (SRIG) of the Society for Research in Music Education (SRME), Facilitator of the School/University Partnerships Area of Strategic Planning and Action (ASPA) of the Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE), member of the Music Educators Journal (MEJ) Advisory Board, and founding past-president of SHAKE, the Alabama chapter of the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE). Dr. Hoffman holds degrees in music performance, education, and educational administration from Auburn, Montevallo, Southern Miss, and Nebraska. Additionally, he earned the National Certified Teacher of Music designation from the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), holds multiple endorsements in music technology from the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME), certification in World Music Pedagogy from the Smithsonian Folkways Institute, and is trained in both Orff-Schulwerk and Kodály methodologies.

His advocacy agenda focuses on equitable support for underrepresented small, rural, and urban school music programs and for the inclusion of students with exceptionalities in secondary school ensembles. Additional research interests include music teacher recruitment and mentoring, innovative curricular initiatives, and student assessment in PreK-12 and teacher preparation programs. He has published nearly two dozen articles and text chapters on these topics and has presented related research and clinics in 27 states and Canada. Ted resides in Hoover with his wife Nicole, an elementary gifted/talented education specialist and amateur flautist. They have two children, Drew, a sixth-grade trumpet player, and a third grader, Reagan, who is an aspiring pianist and vocalist.

Heather Holmes is in her 21st year of teaching and serves as Director of Bands at Oak Mountain Middle School in Birmingham, AL. During her time at OMMS, the bands have consistently performed at a high level and received regular superior ratings. The OMMS Band program has over 250 students every year. During the school day, Mrs. Holmes teaches two Beginner Band classes, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Advanced Band. The Advanced Band most recently performed at the Alabama Music Educators Conference in 2017.

Outside of the classroom, Mrs. Holmes serves as Secretary for the Shelby County Band Directors Association and is a member of the OMMS School Leadership Team. She was named Oak Mountain Middle School’s Teacher of the Year in 2017. Mrs. Holmes is active as a guest clinician and conductor for middle school bands throughout the region. In addition to teaching, she sings with the Pelham First Baptist Church Choir and helps direct the Children’s Choir. Mrs. Holmes received her Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Alabama. She is currently pursuing National Board Certification in Early and Middle Childhood Music. Prior to her appointment at Oak Mountain Middle School, she served as the band director at her alma mater, Brooks High School, for five years. Her professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, American School Band Directors Association, Alabama Music Educators Association, Alabama Bandmasters Association, and Sigma Alpha Iota. Mrs. Holmes resides in Birmingham with her husband, Jason, and their two children, Ella and William.

Culture Change in the Bandroom: One Thing at a TimeOne Day at a Time

By Susan L. Smith

Have you ever wondered what made some band programs more successful and visible than others? What makes the band culture attractive to students and parents? How and why is a positive culture built in some places and not others?

As a band director, I watched successful programs from afar. I wondered how they got that level of buy-in from their membership and families? The idea of everyone working towards a common goal on the same team was so apparent, but I did not know how to make that happen in my program. Reading the book “The Culture Code” by Daniel Coyle, I came to identify some trends and parallels to successful programs across the country.

When I arrived at the Saint James School in 2007, the band program had been successful locally. However, the membership was a small group of dedicated students and parents. The intense connection to the

program was not positive and supportive but forced and exclusive. Band parents were suspicious of anything new and different. As someone who believed in servant leadership and modeling respect and influence, I was met with some distance and skepticism. After the first year, I reevaluated our goals and priorities. I created a list of givens that guided our programming and competitive choices moving forward. We identified models of excellence in musicianship, show design, and logistics and worked to emulate those. In those ten years at Saint James, we came to set a new standard for marching band in our state. We impacted the way small groups were perceived and evaluated nationally.

Belonging and Trust

Students choose arts classes. They choose us. They want to have a place they feel a sense of belonging and trust that they are safe and valued. Belonging and trust are built each day through consistency and caring.

When they feel that belonging - they stay engaged and grow and invest in the program. Students and parents need consistent small cues to build that sense of belonging. Not just a one-time email that says “you are important...be in the band” but a narrative of reinforcement signs. From welcome to band postcards to rookie parent information nights to being asked to be involved with some facet of the band program. Just like teachers need contact points from administrators and school systems, our students and parents have to feel that sense of belonging for the program to be a priority in their lives. One way for teachers to build a sense of trust is to “fill their cup” for their students through honest feedback shrouded in love. That magical feedback includes students knowing they are part of a group with high standards and that the teacher believes they can meet those standards(Coyle, 2018).

Leadership Culture builds through motivated leadership. Directors communicate their interest and visibility through focused listening and availability. Parents and students want to know that the individual is essential to the director and the organization. No one is perfect, and allowing that to show early on can build trust with the student. If a director misses a meter change, they should own up to it instead of cutting off to make another correction. When people feel seen, they feel vested in the organization. Saying thank you verbally as well as written goes a long way. We all feel taken for granted from time to time, and a simple thank you carries tremendous weight.

I will never forget Dr. Tim talking about servant leadership that “leaders do what has to be done, when it has to be done, whether they like it or not.” Leaders are consistently modeling, and our bands are simply mirrors of us, and if we do not like something - we need to change. So pick up the trash, be last in line for lunch at bandcamp and flush the toilet! Another of my heroes, Dr. John M. Long would always say that “Band is spelled F-U-N.” I did not fully understand what he meant at the time. However, now I know that building a sense of team and belonging is imperative to have personal interactions between students outside of rehearsal. Sectional meals, movies, or game nights strengthen the personal bonds and strengthen the band! Another critical step is to highlight threshold moments. Those moments could be selecting the beginning instrument or signing up for high school band, or attending band camp for the first time. Bringing attention to these moments underscores the importance of individuals in the ensemble and solidifies their place in the group.

Action

What steps do we take to build team culture?

1. Priorities Make a list of priorities and decide your givens for the program. These givens(really your philosophy) will guide each decision you make.

2. Proficiency models Research successful band programs and find out all you can. Emulate how they rehearse, travel, sound, mentor students, and make decisions. Professional educators are more than willing to share tips and information on building their program culture. Wando, Marion Catholic, Blue Springs, Tarpon Springs, Claudia Taylor Johnson, Cedar Park,

Dobyns-Bennett, Lowndes County are all programs with a positive culture where the band is an important part of the community.

3. Team dynamics This can vary widely based on the school culture and might take much energy to adjust. Be aware of all the participants and their potential role.

4. Make it safe to fail and give feedback

Students will not be vulnerable to feedback when worried about the reaction. Making music is not the absence of error, and in order to make art, there has to be a feeling of trust to make honest mistakes.

5. Celebrate initiative. When a parent or student offers to help or tries to do something differently - draw attention to it so others will emulate this positive behavior.

6. Embrace catchphrases or visuals

Everyone loves the feeling they are in the know or part of a collective whole through an emblem or logo. Let more be part of the culture

7. Measure what matters. Decide from your priority list and use that to guide what to measure. For example, do trophies matter, or does a child’s attachment to their school music program matter? Can you have both?

8. Not in competition with another group. When students and parents realize that the only measurement stick is if the ensemble is growing musically and socially, things will move forward. Lassiter High School Band used to go to festival for comments only. One of the most exemplary concert programs in the country, and they wanted feedback from the adjudicators, not the score or rating.

Purposeful Engagement

Culture building must be purposeful and genuine. Find ways for the community to celebrate accomplishments, no matter how large or small. Reward positive behavior and choose your battles. Sometimes conflicts or issues find ways to work themselves out without drawing attention. When there are conflicts or misunderstandings, be sure to give parents and students a way to save face and allow them some grace. Being “right” at the moment might lose the student longterm. Draw attention to positive behavior and choose your battles and there will be fewer battles to fight along the way. Many leaders have a hard time delegating responsibility to parents and students, but this is key to engagement and finding ways for all to contribute to the group’s success. Be sure to always protect your brand and that of the band. How you and the program are perceived will either draw in parents and

students or turn them away. When folks are all working as a team and moving in the same direction, energies are spent on getting better rather than fighting against each other.

Building a positive culture in the band program should be a focus for each director. When we take care of people things, significant conflicts or issues tend to disappear. Connecting to our students and parents in meaningful ways is paramount to a thriving, creative learning atmosphere. When parents and administrators see the impact of working collaboratively with their students in a positive way, the trust and buyin increase exponentially. The little things are the big things and what people will remember and find meaningful. Cultures change one thing at a time, one day at a time.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

References

Arau, M. (2019) Upbeat! Creating a Positive Culture in Music Ensembles. Bandworld Magazine

Oare, S (2018) Creating Culture. Kansas Music Review

Coyle, D. (2018). The culture code: The secrets of highly successful groups. Bantam Books.

Morrison, S. (2001). The school ensemble: A culture of our own. Music Educators Journal, 88(2), 24-28.

Susan L. Smith, has taught general, choral, and instrumental music at the elementary through collegiate level in Florida, Virginia and Alabama and has served as an author, clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the United States. She is currently Lecturer in Music Education and Horn at Troy University. She is the Past President of the Alabama Music Educators Association and the current faculty advisor for the Troy Collegiate NAfME Chapter. Smith is the current Chair of the NAfME Collegiate Advisory Council and a member of the Professional Development Committee. She is also working on her PhD in Music Education at Auburn University

A Focus on Alabama State University and Civil Rights from 1965-1975

By Lebarron N. Mcwhorter

The purpose of this article is to shed some light on the events that took place at Alabama State University, one of the Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), from 1965 to 1975. These years were chosen for the fact that they were the later years of the Civil Rights Movement, NASM (National Association for Schools of Music) Accreditation was received for the first time, and significant faculty accomplishments were made.

Rationalization for the paper

There are some publications that provide historical background on Alabama State University and the Civil Rights movement. The addition of this article to the current body of literature will help provide a more complete history of the effects of the Civil Rights movement on the Music Programs at Alabama State University.

This article also hopes to highlight the progress that was made during this time period. Achievements such as accreditation and membership from SACS (Southern Association of College and Schools) was granted, nationally televised events for the Mighty Marching Hornets Marching Band were shown, university statues being granted for the school, creation of a second-year graduate program leading to an Alabama class AA teacher’s certificate was begun, NASM accreditation was granted for the school of music, and the completion of the Tullibody Music Hall. These are just a few of the Achievements that have brought the music programs and the university to the status that it has acquired today.

Brief History of Alabama State University

The Name Changes of Alabama State University

The name changes of Alabama State

University outline the history of the school. The schools’ history covers about 144 years dating from the end of the Civil War, on into the Civil Rights Movement, and now into the 21st century.

In 1867, this school began with the title of “The Lincoln Normal School.”According to the “History of Alabama State University” article from Archives and Special Collections, “the school was created by blacks in the Black Belt of Alabama that had a keen interest in providing educational opportunities for their children” (Archives and Special Collections, 2010). Through the persistent efforts of Peyton Finley, the first black-elected member of the State Board of Education, the school was able to gain university status and took on the title of “ State Normal School and University for the Education of Colored Teachers and Students” in 1874.

In 1887, according to the “History of Alabama State University” article, “on the behalf of blacks that continued to press for a more prominently supported school for black youths, the state legislature authorized the establishment of the “Alabama Colored People’s University” in Montgomery, Alabama” (Archives and Special Collections, 2010). The school changed its name yet again to “Normal School for Colored Students’’ in 1889. According to the “Names of Alabama State” article, “this change came about through the opposition by opponents that did not support the state-supported education of blacks” (Archives and Special Collections, 2010). These opponents filed suit in state court and won. In 1928, under university president Harper Council Trenholm, the school changed from a junior college to a full four-year institution, which allowed its name to be changed to “State Teacher College.”

Continued on Page 43

Alabama State University

Mighty Marching Hornets - 1967

John M. Long School of Music

High School (SEUS) Band Clinic – February 3-5

Guitar Festival – February 18

Vocal Jazz & More Workshop – February 23-24

Flute Day – February 26

Clarinet Day – March 26

M.I.C. Check – April 7-8

TROY Jazz Festival – April 7-8

troy.edu/music

1-800-586-9771 • 334-670-3322

Cole

In the following years, the school changed its name three more times to “Alabama State College for Negros” in 1946, “Alabama State College” in 1954, and finally in 1969 “Alabama State University.” These name changes display the collective effort of many people and their desire for state-supported education for blacks in Alabama.

The Establishment of Lincoln Normal School in Marion, Alabama

The Lincoln Normal School is the forerunner of Alabama State University. The establishment of this school began in 1866 when Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, president of Howard College, issued a call to local Baptist and Presbyterian Church pastors for a mass meeting to discuss the organization of a school for Negros. This meeting resulted in the start of a small school for Negros in Marion, Alabama.

Lots of help came in the form of white teachers. According to the “Encyclopedia of Alabama: Alabama State University,” the following year, “the AMA (American Missionary Association) sent Thomas C. Steward, a white teacher from Ohio, along with H.F Treadwell and May Senderling, two white teachers from Massachusetts, were sent to help establish a school in Alabama for freedmen” (Encyclopedia of Alabama, 2010). Treadwell requested help from the Freedmen’s Bureau and its commissioner, Brigadier General Wager T. Swayne, agreed on the condition that the freedmen raise five hundred dollars and purchase the land needed for developing a school. The group settled in Marion, Perry County, and at this time the buildings and grounds of the school were leased to the AMA for ten years in exchange for AMA financing and operating the school. A bulk of this money to fund the school was raised by nine former slaves known as the “Marion Nine.”

According to the “Encyclopedia of Alabama: Alabama State University,” “these men- Alexander H. Curtis, Joey Pinch, Thomas Speed, Nickolas Dale, James Childs, John Freeman, Nathan Levert, and David Harris- had already been working to provide an education for the black children of Marion, Alabama” (Encyclopedia of Alabama, 2010). Curtis was the driving force in the push for the school to be organized as the Lincoln Normal school, and on July 18, 1867, papers were filed with the probate judge of Perry County incorporating the Lincoln School in Marion.

The Schools’ Relocation to Montgomery, Alabama

In 1874, George N. Card used state funds to reorganize Lincoln Normal School, and reestablish it as the “State Normal School for Colored Students,” the first-state supported educational institution for blacks. Card reorganized the school for the purpose of receiving more state financial support. According to the “Encyclopedia of Alabama: Alabama State University,” “the school remained in Marion for thirteen years, before its name was changed to the “Alabama Colored People’s University” (Encyclopedia of Alabama, 2010). The state also allotted ten thousand dollars for the purchase of land and construction of buildings and an additional seventy-five hundred dollars yearly for everyday expenses. This school would replace the State Normal School after officials found a suitable location in Montgomery, Alabama that was accepted by whites. Blacks in favor of the school in Montgomery pledged five thousand dollars, donated land, and arranged for the temporary use of some buildings. Within eight months, the university opened its doors in Montgomery at Beulah Baptist Church, with nine faculty members under the leadership of William Burns Paterson.

The Civil Rights Movement was a major event in history and Alabama State University had a vital role in the execution of the movement. Students and faculty took leading roles in certain events of the movement. The Women’s Political Council (WPC) was an organization that was founded in 1946 by Dr. Mary Fair Burks, chairman of the English Department at Alabama State University and a member of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. According to K.E Westhauser, author of Community: Life and Learning at Montgomery’s Black University, “the WPC was formed for the purpose “of inspiring Negroes to live above mediocrity, to elevate their thinking, to fight juvenile and adult delinquency, to register and vote, and in general to improve their status as a group” (Westhauser, 2007).

In 1950, Mrs. Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, another English teacher at Alabama State, became president of the WPC. As time progressed, the WPC began to receive complaints from blacks in the city about cases of abuse from whites. Many of these complaints were about the bus system. The WPC leaders sought a meeting with the company management, at which time the women presented written reports of drivers, bus numbers, hours, and routes where incidents had occurred. The bus company did listen to their complaints. These subsequent meetings with bus officials and the city’s mayor resulted in a few weeks of better bus service and treatment of black riders. However, the abuse continued shortly thereafter. At the same time, complaints

Alabama State University and the Civil Rights Movement

The Schools’ Role in the Civil Rights Bus Boycott

were being heard by other black organizations in the city. The Citizens Steering Committee headed by Alabama State employee Mr. Rufus Lewis, local and state chapters of the NAACP, and other organizations within the city, was often called upon by the black masses in Montgomery who were victims of racial injustice.

In 1955, after the arrest and conviction of Claudette Colvin and later Mary Louise Smith, two teenage black girls who refused to give up their seats in the “black” part of the bus to white riders, the black citizenry of Montgomery became more resentful and rebellious. According to K.E Westhauser, “At that time, Mrs. Robinson proposed a boycott of the city bus company to the WPC, which took the idea under consideration (Westhauser, 2007). But there were doubters who wanted to be sure that the woman had the support of most of the blacks in the city. Others were concerned that the teenagers were too young to be the center of the boycott. The arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks was the opportunity that was needed to unite the black organizations in Montgomery.

On December 1, 1955, after Rosa Parks became the third woman to be arrested on the city’s buses, Mrs. Jo Ann Robinson knew that the moment black women had long anticipated had arrived. That’s when she began to lay out her thoughts to Park’s attorney, Fred Gray, an ASU alumnus. She spent the night hammering out a notice urging black riders to stay off the buses on Monday and secretly copied over fifty thousand flyers on college paper and equipment accompanied by two male students and a male faculty member with a key to the copy room. According to K.E Westhauser, “On Friday, WPC members distributed the notices throughout the community, by which time a meeting at the Dexter Street Baptist Church had selected Dr. Martin Luther King to inspire the masses and schedule a mass meeting for Monday night, to conclude what hoped would be the boycott’s first successful day” (Westhauser, 2007).

On Monday, December 5, 1955, thirtythousand African Americans participated in the bus boycott. That afternoon, the leaders of the African American community, including Ralph David Abernathy, the pastor of First Baptist Church, formed the Montgomery Improvement Association

(MIA) to coordinate future protests. They also appointed Dr. King as president of the organization. In a meeting held by Dr. King and the MIA that very same night, African Americans filled the pews and voted overwhelmingly to continue the boycott.

Alabama State University Role in the Sit-In Movement

College students at HBCU’s all across the southeast also played a huge role in the Civil Rights Movement as well. In particular, students at Alabama State had a huge effect on one of the landmark rulings in higher education.

Students at North Carolina A&T staged a sit-down at a white-only lunch counter in a Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, North Carolina. According to K.E Westhauser, “Students at other schools followed their example, leading to the birth of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) two months later” (Westhauser, 2007). In Montgomery, twenty-nine Alabama State students staged a sit-in at the lunch counter of the county courthouse on February 25th, and over a thousand others supported them in a demonstration of the steps of the state capitol five days later. In retaliation, a furious Governor John Patterson forced the expulsion of nine students and the dismissal of more than a dozen Alabama State faculty, including Jo Ann Robinson and WPC founding president Mary Fair Burks. Knowing that their contracts would not be renewed, they left Alabama State quietly at the end of the term. Three months later, the expelled students were vindicated by the U.S Supreme Court, which let stand a ruling that they had been denied their constitutional right to due process. The decision, Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education, is considered a landmark ruling in higher education.

Music at Alabama State University

Alabama State’s music programs.

Dr. Otis D. Simmons

Dr. Otis D. Simmons came to Alabama State in 1966, after serving previous tenures at Philander Smith College, Texas Southern University, and Southern University. Dr. Simmons came to Alabama State as Chairman of the Department of Music and his teaching duties included Secondary School music Education, Voice, and directing the University Choirs. According to the 1969 Division of Music Bulletin, “Dr. Simmons presented a scholarly report on the singing voice in 1964 to the national convention of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in Minneapolis entitled, “Neuro-Physiology and Muscular Function of the Vocal Mechanism: Implications for Singers and Teachers of Singing” (Division of Music Bulletin 1969). This same report was later published in the NATS Bulletin Vol. XXII, No. 1, October 1965 issue.

Dr. Simmons came to Alabama State during a time when the school was seeking accreditation as well as the department of music. According to the interview of Mr. Robert Williams, current Director of Bands at Stillman College, “Dr. Simmons was quite an educator and organizer. He had a very strong personality to accompany his teaching style” (Williams 2010). His organizational skills and strong personality showed when he limited the number of hours a music major could take during a semester according to his or her G.P.A. In an interview with Dr. Thomas E. Lyle, “Dr. Simmons reinforced the subject of education and history in music. He wanted students to understand the historical and educational value of music” (Lyle 2010). The restructuring of the music department was a vital component of the NASM accreditation process.

Mr. John Duncan

Notable Faculty and Staff

From the years 1955 to 1975, many music professors shaped the history of the Alabama State University music programs. Some of these professors started their music careers at Alabama State, some came to Alabama State with already vibrant careers in music, and others came to Alabama State and never left. But all of these professors within this time period changed many students’ lives and the overall scope of

Mr. John Duncan served as the Composerin-Residence; he also taught classes in orchestration and was the professor of woodwinds. Before serving on the faculty at Alabama State, he was a faculty member at Samuel Huston College in Austin, Texas. According to Eileen Southern, author of “The Music of Black Americans’ ‘, “Mr. Duncan wrote many compositions. Only a few were published, but they were widely performed on black and white college campuses in the south” (Southern, 1971).

While had few published works, his bestknown works, according to the 1964 Division of Music Bulletin, included “Three Proclamations for Trombone and String Quartet,” “An Easter Canticle,” “Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra,” and “Three Obscurants for Tenor, Oboe, and String Quartet’’ (Division of Music Bulletin 1969). Many of his unpublished compositions were performed by the Alabama State Wind Ensemble. According to an interview with Mr. Robert A. Williams, “Mr. Duncan’s music was geared towards the southern heritage of African Americans. This was even more evident during the Civil Rights Movement when his music embodied the sights and sounds of the Civil Rights Movement and Montgomery, AL” (Williams, 2010).

Dr. Thomas E. Lyle

Dr. Thomas E. Lyle joined the faculty at Alabama State in 1964. Dr. Lyle was a graduate of Tennessee State University and the University of Michigan, where he obtained both his master’s and doctoral degrees. He served previous tenures at Council Training School in Normal, Alabama, Hungerford High School in Winter Park, Florida, and at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. Dr. Lyle came to the faculty as Director of Bands and his teaching assignments included band arranging, marching band techniques, wind ensemble, and applied clarinet. According to

Dr. Lyles’ curriculum vita, “He has been named Band Director of the Year for 1985 and 13 times prior by the Birmingham Grid Forecasters” (Dr. Thomas E. Lyle Vita, 2010). Dr. Lyle is most noted for his creation of the then all-male Mighty Marching Hornet Band. According to a phone interview with Mr. Robert Williams, “Alabama State is a combination of Florida A&M, Tennessee State, and the University of Michigan (Williams, 2021).” The concepts, marching style, and culture established within the Mighty Marching Hornets are derived from the experiences that he gathered from these institutions. His 148-piece marching band gained national acclaim by presenting televised performances in New York City, Montgomery, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia. His teachings influenced the marching band to such a point that his marching techniques are still in use to this day. According to an interview with Mr. Robert A. Williams, “Dr. Lyle was also a well-noted clarinetist, composer, and arranger (Williams, 2010). Many of his original compositions for marching bands are still being performed by the Mighty Marching Hornets as standard tunes.

References

“Alabama State University, A timeline” (2010 Oct 10) Alabama State University archives and special collections. retrieved from HTTP:// www.lib.alasu..edu/archives/history /timeline.html

Bristol, C. Interview with author 2010 Nov 28, email conversation.

“Division of Music Bulletin” (1969) Alabama State University music box 1, Alabama State University archives and special collections

“Dr. Thomas E. Lyles Curriculum Vitae” (2008) Alabama State University Dr. Thomas E.

Lyles collection box 2, Alabama State University archives and special collections

Encyclopedia of Alabama: Alabama State University (2010 Oct 10) retrieved from HTTP:// www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/fa ce/Article.jsp?id=h-1612

Encyclopedia of Alabama: Modern civil rights movement in Alabama (2010 Nov 19) retrieved from http://www.encyclopediaofalabam a.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1580

“History of Alabama State University” (2010 Oct 10) Alabama State University archives and special collections. retrieved from HTTP:// www.lib.alasu.edu/archives/history /asu.html

Lyle, T. E. Interview with the author, 2010 Nov 26, video recording.

Southern, E. The Music Of Black Americans. 2nd Edition, New York, W.W Norton and Company, 1971.

“The Names of Alabama State University” (2010 Nov 13) Alabama State University Archives and Special Collections. Retrieved from http://www.lib.alasu.edu/archives/ research/history/eightnames.html

Westhauser, K.E., Smith, E.M., Fremlin, J.M., (2007) Creating Community: Life and Learning at Montgomery’s Black University. retrieved from http://www.netlibrary.com/Reader /

Williams, R. A. Interview with the author, 2010 Nov 27, video recording.

Williams, R. A. Interview with the author, 2021 Nov 1, phone recording

Lebarron Mcwhorter is currently pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Instrumental Music Education, while serving as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Department of Music at Auburn University. Mcwhorter earned the Master of Music degree in Instrumental Conducting from Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia, a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, and also has a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies in Instrumental Conducting from Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Mr. John Duncan

Alabama Bandmasters Association

Alabama Vocal Association

Elementary/General Division

Alabama Orchestra Association

AMEA Industry/Institutional Membership 2021-22

AMEA would like to express appreciation to the following partners who have joined AMEA in our efforts to promote music education in Alabama. Please support these industry/institutional members who support you as music educators!

All National Music

P.O. Box 5502, Navarre, FL 32566

Best in Class Tours, LLC

P.O. Box 770963, Winter Garden, FL 34777

Arts Music Shop, Inc.

3030 East Blvd, Montgomery, AL 36116

Gadsden Music Company

P.O. Box 132, Gadsden, AL 35902

Guardian Music and Group Travel

10929 Franklin Ave, Suite S, Franklin Park, Illinois 60131

J.W. Pepper and Son, Inc.

9053 Riverside Pkwy, Lithia Springs, GA 30135

Madison Band Supply

1604-B Hughes Road, Madison, AL 35758

Marchmaster Inc.

PO Box 73379, Newnan, GA 30271

Our Group Tour LLC

4903 Ashley Circle SE, Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763

Ronald Sachs Violins

2001 Commerce Dr N, Peachtree City, GA 30269

Southern Performances

PO Box 6852, Gulf Shores, AL 36542

Super Holiday Tours

116 Gatlin Ave, Orlando, FL 32806

The University of Alabama Department of Music Education

810 2nd Ave, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

The University of Alabama School of Music

810 2nd Ave, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

Troy University

John M. Long School of Music, Troy, AL 36082

University of Alabama at Birmingham

950 13th Street S., Birmingham, AL 35294

University of South Alabama

LPAC 1072, 5751 USA Drive South, Mobile, AL 36688