Editor's Message - William McDevitt

If you look at the cover of this issue, you will notice that this is the 75th volume of our state publication. That means that we have had a state publication for 75 years!

I took a few days and went through the archives at the NJMEA office to get a sense of where we have been as an organization and publication. I found some really interesting things. Throughout this issue, you will find boxes like the one below that include excerpts, quotes, statements, tidbits, observations, etc. that at one time appeared in an issue. I was fascinated by how far we have come as a society and as an organization. Some of the things that I found were definitely a reflection of contemporary thinking, but (many times thankfully) have evolved. I am happy to see where we are as an organization.

Our archives go back to 1954. The publication appeared as a tabloid style print. It was the "Official Bulletin - Department of Music of the New Jersey Educators Association." It became a booklet style publication in 1960, and finally a magazine in 1974. While the archives are not complete, I managed to piece together a list of past editors, with some missing pieces. 1954-1955 Harold A. Brown 1960-1972 Herman L. Dash 1972-1973 Chester L. Cable 1973-1976 Richard D. Scott 1976-1987 Jeffrey G. Ellinwood 1988-1997 Chic Hansen 1997-2020 Thomas A. Mosher 2020-2021 William McDevitt

As we transition this summer to a new State Executive, we will be moving the NJMEA office. TEMPO will continue to be published out of this office. As always - if you have any suggestions about things that you would like to see in out professional publication, please let me know.

Finally, a personal thank-you to Debbie Sfraga for her service and dedication to NJMEA and the music teachers and students in the State of New Jersey. Through some very difficult times, Debbie kept our organization solvent and allowed the otganization to move forward. Because of her, the Presidents and past members of the Executive Board were able to their jobs. I truly value your friendship and wish you many happy years of retirement!

“During the last 10 years, according to the American Music Conference, the number of school-age musicians has increased more than 300 percent. Almost all schools now have music instruction and performance programs. Music is becoming such an established part of educational experiences that more than half of our states now have state music supervisors.”

Fall 1962 - Featured a review of a band piece by a promising young composer - Francis McBeth Spring 1963 - Listed the sessions for the First Atlantic City Football Band Clinic Fall 1965 - TEMPO added "feature writers" (articles) to the publication Fall 1967 - Did you know that TEMPO used to publish the names and addresses of members? February 1974 - 26th Annual NJMEA Opera Festival was anticipating a chorus of more than 800 November 1974 - All-State Orchestra was filmed for broadcast on NJ Public Broadcasting January 1976 - Plans for the MENC National Convention in Atlantic City were announced May 1977 - The Bridgemen Drum and Bugle Corps participated in the NJMEA Convention March 1978 - The official song for Music in Our Schools Week was "I Believe in Music" by Mac Davis November 1979 - The first Master Music Teacher Award was presented January 1987 - An article on Computer Technology was titled "Hardware: Apple vs Commodore" January 1997 - The partnership with NJ Performing Arts Center was announced