Welcome Back

On behalf of MMEA, I would like to welcome you all to another amazing year of music education in Maine! As we closed out the year last June, Matt Waite, Beth LaBrie, Heidi Corliss, Sue Barre, and I packed our bags to attend the NAfME National Leadership Assembly in Reston, VA, and NAfME Hill Day in DC. Working alongside the leadership teams from across the country and Europe, we spent five days in sessions designed around NAfME’s strategic plan and initiatives. These topics included “NAfME’s Keystone of Equity in Music Education,” the “Music Teacher Profession Initiative- A Blueprint for the Future,” “Navigating Divisive Concept Laws, Navigating LGBTQ+ Identities,” the “NAfME Small Schools Initiative,” and more.

On the second day of our trip, we were part of more than two hundred music educators who descended on the Capitol to lobby our Representatives and Senators on the need for financial support for Music Education. Our voices were united, with MEAs from across the country asking for more support for the arts. Although our meetings mainly were with staffers, Representative Pingree left the ongoing session in the House to spend a few moments with us in her office before returning to the floor. Her words of support were a direct result of the tireless work that all of you do daily across our great state.

During our time in DC, we visited the US Marine Barracks and witnessed their Friday evening ceremony featuring the Marine Band, the Drum & Bugle Corps, and the Silent Rifle Drill Team. We were in awe of being able to see such an impactful ceremony. I finally got to visit the monuments at night. I was seven years old the last time I was at the mall. Words can’t describe the feelings and emotions that ran through me. I did manage to break a personal record for the number of steps in one day, though. I believe it was just over 23,000.

Around twenty-five MMEA Board members attended a one-day summer retreat in Oakland at the end of July. Topics discussed included: How can MMEA best serve PK-8 general music teachers and students, scenarios where you want to know if you are covered by copyright law, audition repertoire review, creating a Who’s Who/Hall of Fame, re-imagining a state solo & ensemble/large group festival, and fundraising ideas for MMEA. Nate Menifield, DEIA Chair, and his newly formed committee spent the day laying the groundwork for what will be the role of the DEIA Committee as we move forward as an organization. Thank you, committee members Catherine Newell, Sarah Cousins, Ben Richmond, and Marisa Weinstein.

As many of you have noticed, we began moving toward gradually raising our fees for all our events. Although none of us want to see higher costs, we know that we are required to be fiscally responsible, and these increases will get us back from the significant losses we suffered during the pandemic years. This year, we will begin an effort to seek corporate sponsorships for our Jazz and BOC ensembles. Additionally, we will solicit private and business entities who wish to be sponsors at one of several levels of financial support. We hope that through these efforts, we can slow the need to raise the fees for conducting our business.

David Morris, our new Auditions Chair, has spent the summer working with the DaCapo audition plat-

Take Action for Music Education

We are in the midst of federal appropriations season for fiscal year 2024, and there's no better time to advocate for music education! Visit bit.ly/SupportMusicEdFY24 or use the QR code below to send a letter to your federal elected officials today—takes less than 2 minutes!

From the President

form, a system created by a music teacher and used throughout New York. This new platform replaces Submittable, yielding more than $ 5,000 in savings. Thank you, David. We look forward to piloting this system in Maine this year. Our Teacher Mentor Chair, Erin Morrison, has a large list of teachers who wish to mentor a teacher who is new or new to their content. Our new Advocacy Chair, Heidi Corliss, has begun work that will help highlight music education in our state. Savannah Wright is our new Music In Our Schools Month Chair, so look for her emails advocating for NAfME’s MIOSM theme for 2024. Hanna Flewelling, our Editor and Social Media Chair, continues to produce incredible, professional-looking documents for our association. Please reach out to these Chairs if you have ideas, questions, or stories of success that you can share.

I am thrilled to be in the presence of such a wonderful and inspiring group of music educators in our state. In the past two days, I have sent out information for four different professional development opportunities this fall for music teachers across our state. These are highly beneficial programs created for you by your peers. That is just outstanding!

In closing, MMEA’s Vision, “Advancing Music Education for All,” has never been more important than it is today in a post-pandemic world. I look forward to watching all the fantastic things you do for your students. Thank you for being such a positive influence while changing the world, one musician at a time.

Sincerely,

Andy Forster

MMEA President president@mainemea.org