Bay Section Update

Sandra Lewis Bay Section President

Greetings From Bay Section!

I hope you are looking forward to the chance to recharge over the holidays and perhaps catch up on some much needed “quality” friend and family time. I know that this point of the year is where I start to evaluate my ensemble’s musical trajectory, future lesson plan viability, and start to plan out new repertoire for the upcoming semester.

As I take time to reflect at this midway point of the school year, it is important to take inventory and look ahead at where you are going as well as celebrating your progress and musical benchmarks. I have always found that attending some form of professional development can provide a very needed “incentive” to re-examine my teaching practice as well as enhancing other professional and collegial relationships. The Bay Section Winter Conference hosted by San Jose State University on January 6th and 7th is an opportunity to attend sessions that are engaging and relevant. Below are just some of the clinics and sessions featured this January:

Elementary/General/Classroom Music: Demystifying the Beginning Band Classroom: Practical Strategies for Working with New Musicians, presented by Sarah Green

Multicultural-Black Music Matters: Jazz History for Your Music Students, presented by Sarah Cline

Music Technology: Sight Reading Factory - Music Literacy for Any/ Every Classroom, presented by Don Crafton

Higher Education: Creating and Sustaining a Mariachi Program, presented by Luis/Tito Talamantes

Choral: Teaching English Language Learners in the Music Classroom, presented by Jo Smith-Nilsson

Orchestra: Pedals, Looping and Strings, Oh My! presented by Matthew Major and Erica Mulkey

Band: Representation in Instrumental Ensembles: The music of Francis Johnson, A new suite of works for flexible, full and chamber ensembles, presented by Brad Hogarth

Jazz: Developing The Jazz Band Rhythm Section, presented by Dave Gregoric, Kelly Fasman, Tim Price and Nils Johnson

For a more complete schedule and registration information please go to the Bay Section Website at: cmeabaysection.org/

If you are looking for some inspiration before you return to work with your ensembles in the new year, consider joining us at SJSU for the Bay Section Winter Conference. We are a welcoming group of music educators and would be happy to share our conference with our friends from other sections.

Continuing on along the lines of how friendly we are in Bay Section, we also have a few large group festival slots that are “open”. Why not make Bay Section a “destination” festival if it works in your schedule? For the festivals that are still open, we are happy to have folks from other areas participate. Please email our Large Group Festival Coordinator Greg Conway if you are interested. gconw345@gmail.com

Regardless of how you spend your holiday break, I hope that you find the opportunity to renew and remember the reason you chose this wonderful profession of music education!

The California Music Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 California Nonprofit Public Benefit corporation that supports charitable and educational efforts to promote quality music instruction for the children and adults of California.