AROUND THE STATE • Columbus State University student Victor Hernandez Ramirez has just been named a winner of the national 2017 Yamaha Young Performing Artists (YYPA) Competition. YYPA has been honoring promising 18- to 22-year-old artists from the world of classical, jazz and contemporary music since 1988. The 2017 winners join a distinguished company of more than 250 talented musicians who have been recognized since the program’s inception.
• The Woodland High School Band, under the direction of Eric Willoughby and Michael Kobito, has been selected to perform in the 2018 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
• Ola Middle School band has been accepted to perform at the 2017 Alabama Middle School Honor Band Festival. • Ola High School Choir students will be singing in Carnegie Hall in April of 2018 with composer Ola Gjeilo. Ola HS choir students will be traveling and performing in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. • Whitewate Middle School welcomes Elizabeth Haynes as the new Director of Bands. • The Whitewater High School Wind Ensemble has been invited to perform at the 2018 University of Alabama Honor Band Festival. Every year, the University of Alabama Music Department selects three to five high schools, from those that have applied, to perform at the High School Honor Band/Music Festival.
ELIZABETH HAYNES
Director of Bands Whitewater Middle School
WOODLAND HIGH SCHOOL 2018 MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE
• National Association of Music Merchants Foundation Recognizes Georgia Schools Each year, the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation recognizes school districts that demonstrate exceptional commitment to music education. Congratulations to the six Georgia school districts that received the distinction of Best Communities for Music Education. Baldwin County Schools Clarke County School District Cobb County School District Fulton County Schools Gwinnett County Public Schools Putnam County Charter School System
Milledgeville Athens Marietta Atlanta Suwanee Eatonton
The NAMM Foundation also recognizes individual schools’ outstanding music programs with its SupportMusic Merit Award (SMMA). Congratulations to Eastside Elementary School (Douglasville), under the direction of Mary Moore-Breeding, for being among the 92 schools in the nation to receive the SMMA.
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georgia music news // summer 2017