May 2019 Southwestern Musician

MAY 2019

20 20 2019 01 19 Summer Organ Institute June 9-15

High School Band and Orchestra Camp Band: grades 9-12/Orchestra: grades 10-12 June 16-22

Middle School Band and Orchestra Camp Grades 7-9 June 23-29

Summer Piano Institute gre June 23-29

All-State Choir Camp July 9-13

Contents V O L U M E 8 7 ɵ I S S U E 9 ɵ M AY 2 0 19

Features Celebrating Four Decades of Service to TMEA . . . . . . 13 Join us as we wish our longest serving staff member the best in her retirement, and learn more about her career and TMEA’s history through this tribute.

[K A R E N C R O S S]

Inspiring Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Music teachers are artists responsible for creating beauty and sparking an artistic curiosity in each student. Consider how you develop your own musicianship and enable that of your students.

[B R A D L E Y G E N E V R O]

13

CEDFA Summit XX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Learn more about the completely revised format for the twentieth Summit hosted by the Center for Educator Development in the Fine Arts.

How the Busiest People Alive Thrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 As you navigate this final month of the school year, consider these ideas for improving your wellness and preventing burnout. This summer offers the perfect opportunity to put some ideas into practice!

[L I S A G A R N E R S A N TA A N D S H A U N A K AY T H O M P S O N]

Columns President’s Notes . . . . . . . . . 5 [J O E

M U Ñ OZ]

Executive Director’s Notes . . .9 [R O B ER T

F LOY D]

Updates

Band Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Attend Your Spring Region Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Orchestra Notes . . . . . . . . . 31

Submit a Proposal for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 May Is Membership Renewal Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

[J O H N

CA R R O L L]

[M IC H A EL

S T R I N G ER]

Vocal Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 [J E D

R AG S DA L E]

Clinic Proposals and the Selection Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Elementary Notes. . . . . . . . 48 Thank You, SOUTHWESTERN MUSICIAN Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

[A B I G A I L

H AW ES]

College Notes . . . . . . . . . . . 54

on the cover

Nolan Baird and Noah Jyrkama perform with the Doerre Intermediate School Symphony Orchestra at the 2019 TMEA Clinic/Convention. Photo by Karen Cross.

[V I C K I

BAKER]

Southwestern Musician | May 2019

1

Editor-in-Chief: Robert Floyd UĂ R\G@tmea.org 512-452-0710, ext. 101

Managing Editor: Karen Cross

kcross@tmea.org 512-452-0710, ext. 107

TMEA Executive Board President: Joe Muùoz PXQR]M#SHDUODQGLVG RUJ 3775 South Main Street, Pearland, 77581 281-997-3219 – Pearland HS

Attend Your Spring TMEA Region Meeting Region

Date

Time

Location

1

May 11

10:00 a.m. meeting, Amarillo HS Cafeteria 9:30 a.m. food

2

May 18

10:00 a.m.

*X\HU +6 'HQWRQ

3

May 11

10:00 a.m.

Lake Highlands HS

4

May 10

5:30 p.m.

Mt. Pleasant HS

brian.coatney@pisd.edu 2200 Independence Parkway, Plano, 75075 469-752-9396 – Plano Senior HS

5

May 18

9:00 a.m.

Terrell Academy for STEM/VPA

6

April 27

1:00 p.m.

3HUPLDQ +6 %DQG +DOO

7

May 18

10:00 a.m.

*UDKDP +6

Past-President: Robert Horton

8

May 4

10:00 a.m. meeting, Midway HS Auditorium 9:30 a.m. food

9

May 4

9:00 a.m.

President-Elect: Brian Coatney

rhorton@conroeisd.net :HVW 'DYLV 6WUHHW &RQURH 936-709-7806 – Conroe ISD

Band Vice-President: John Carroll MRKQ FDUUROO#HFWRUFRXQW\LVG RUJ 1800 East 42nd Street, Odessa, 79762 432-553-2780 – Permian HS

Orchestra Vice-President: Michael Stringer mstringe@aisd.net :HVW $UNDQVDV /DQH $QQH[ $UOLQJWRQ 682-867-7662 – Arlington ISD

Vocal Vice-President: Jed Ragsdale MHGUDJVGDOH#WRPEDOOLVG QHW 1RUWKSRLQWH 5LGJH /DQH 7RPEDOO 281-357-3230, ext. 1106 – Memorial HS

Elementary Vice-President: Abigail Hawes DELJDLO KDZHV#FÀVG QHW 13734 Lakewood Forest Drive, Houston, 77070 281-370-4040 – Moore Elementary

College Vice-President: Vicki Baker 9%DNHU#WZX HGX 3 2 %R[ 'HQWRQ ² 7H[DV :RPDQ¡V 8QLYHUVLW\

:LOOLV +6

10

May 13

6:30 p.m.

/DPDU 8QLY 0XVLF %OGJ

11

May 4

12:00 p.m.

McCollum HS

12

May 5

2:30 p.m.

Madison HS, San Antonio

13

May 4

10:00 a.m.

*HRUJH 5DQFK +6

14

May 18

10:00 a.m.

Del Mar College

15

April 28

2:00 p.m.

McAllen Memorial HS

16

May 6

5:00 p.m. meeting, 4:00 p.m. steering committee

Frenship HS

17

May 11

9:30 a.m.

Shadow Creek HS

18

April 13

10:00 a.m.

Anderson HS

19

May 4

10:00 a.m.

Pasadena Memorial HS

20

Mar 30

9:00 a.m.

Adamson HS, Dallas ISD

21

May 4

10:00 a.m.

Jacksonville HS

22

May 13

7:00 p.m. meeting, 6:00 p.m. UIL

UTEP

23

May 11

9:00 a.m. meeting, 8:30 a.m. coffee

Kerr HS

24

May 11

10:00 a.m.

Frisco Centennial HS

25

May 18

10:00 a.m. meeting, Allen HS 9:30 a.m. food

Communications Manager: Karen Cross | kcross@tmea.org

26

April 25

6:00 p.m.

Connally HS

Financial Manager: &ULVWLQ *DIIQH\ | cgaffney@tmea.org

27

May 11

9:00 a.m.

Cypress Creek HS

Information Technologist: Andrew Denman | adenman@tmea.org

28

May 11

10:00 a.m. meeting, Harlingen CISD PAC 9:30 a.m. food

29

May 18

12:00 p.m.

Holmes HS

30

May 18

10:00 a.m.

Chisholm Trail HS

TMEA Staff Executive Director: 5REHUW )OR\G | UĂ R\G@tmea.org Deputy Director: Frank Coachman | fcoachman@tmea.org Administrative Director: Kay Vanlandingham | kvanlandingham@tmea.org Advertising/Exhibits Manager: Tesa Harding | tesa@tmea.org Membership Manager: Susan Daugherty | susand@tmea.org

Administrative Assistant: 5LWD (OOLQJHU | rellinger@tmea.org

70($ 2IÀFH Mailing Address: 3 2 %R[ $XVWLQ Physical Address: 7900 Centre Park Drive, Austin, 78754 Phone: 512-452-0710 | Toll-Free: 888-318-TMEA | Fax: 512-451-9213 Website: www.tmea.org 2IÀFH +RXUV Monday–Friday, 8:30 A.M.–4:30 P.M.

31

May 18

10:00 a.m.

%LUGYLOOH )LQH $UWV &HQWHU

32

April 30

6:00 p.m.

Cedar Park HS

33

May 18

10:00 p.m.

Summer Creek HS

Southwestern Musician (ISSN 0162-380X) (USPS 508-340) is published monthly except March, June, and July by Texas Music Educators Association, 7900 Centre Park Drive, Austin, TX 78754.

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Southwestern Musician | May 2019

UTEP MUSIC CAMPs 2019 BOCAL MAJORITY DOUBLE REED CAMP June 10-13 www.bocalmajority.com

EL PASO SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA CAMP June 17-22 Contact Dr. James Welsch: james@epsyos.org

UTEP DRUM MAJOR AND LEADERSHIP CAMP June 25-28 Contact Dr. Andrew Hunter: sahunter@utep.edu

UTEP ALL-STATE CHOIR CAMP J u l y 8 -1 2 Contact Dr. Elisa Wilson: ewilson@utep.edu

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N V I S I T M U S I C . U T E P. E D U

Submit a Proposal for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention Why Should I Submit?

What Topics Do Attendees Want?

What Do I Need to Include?

Offering 300 professional development clinics is one of the most amazing aspects of the TMEA Clinic/Convention!

Convention attendees have spoken, and they want clinics offered by teachers who are in situations like them. They want to learn from those who teach the same grade levels and in similar environments. Share what you know and help colleagues across the state return home with new ideas and strategies!

Attendees want clinics on these topics: • rehearsal techniques • teaching methods (elementary–college) • instrument methods • classroom management • repertoire selection • technology integration • conducting techniques • recruiting & retention • urban/rural challenges & solutions • special-needs instruction • and much more

Your proposal should offer a complete summary of what you will present, and the title should be an obvious indicator of the content. Submit a short biographical statement on each clinician. Be prepared to offer a very short summary as well as descriptive details about what and how you will present and to what audience. Be very clear about what attendees will walk away from your clinic knowing.

BE A CLINICIAN AT THE EVENT THAT CELEBRATES TMEA’S CENTENNIAL!

www.tmea.org/clinicproposals DEADLINE: JUNE 1 4

Southwestern Musician | May 2019

B Y

J O E

M U Ñ O Z

PRESIDENT’S NOTES

Lifelong impact

W

May—Attend your spring Region meeting (see page 2).

May—TMEA membership year opens for online and mail/email submission.

May–June 1—Submit proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

May 1—Texas Music Scholar award materials postmark deadline.

June 13–14—CEDFA Summit XX, Austin Airport Hilton.

June 30—All 2018–2019 TMEA memberships expire.

July 25–27—TBA, TCDA, TODA Conventions in San Antonio.

February 12–15, 2020—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

ith the end of the school year in sight, we begin to wonder what music students will remember from their experiences in our classrooms.

We hope our students have grown through the course of the year, but how can we gauge their improvement?

Looking for content transference can be a valuable assessment tool. Transference is simply the transfer of something.

Educationally, transference would be how information is cognitively applied from one skill or concept to another. The end of the school year is a great time to assess how students have transferred what they have learned and how they have transitioned to new or different applications of that knowledge.

Here are a few examples of how we can assess cognitive transference. In the elementary setting, greeting the students with a sol, la, sol, mi song (e.g., “Good morning boys and girls”) is a great way to focus students prior to the lesson.

This not only focuses the students after they have entered the music room but also sets the foundation for interval development. During this last month of school, find a sol, la, sol, mi song and sight-sing it with your students. After the sight-singing, engage your students in a discussion of how they were able to approach the music and do so well. Draw the correlation back to the greeting song.

In performance divisions, modifying fundamental exercises is a great way

Never underestimate the influence you have on creating advocates for music education.

Southwestern Musician | May 2019

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to assess the cognitive transference. Are the students able to apply the developed fundamentals/concepts to the modified fundamental exercises? Assessing the rhythm achievement on a sightreading selection is another way to gauge cognitive transference. Finding a sightreading exercise that contains a specific rhythm that has been a focus is a way to check to see if the students have been able to synthesize the rhythm to be accessed in a new presentation. These exercises can give you the information you need to evaluate your teaching strategies to build greater transfers of information into short- and longterm memory.

One of the most important educational transferences occurs every day in what students learn from you by example. Your consistent model of professionalism, dedication, and passion for music is a powerful teaching strategy. Cognitive transfer of your love for music makes a difference with your students. They can’t wait to get to your class and see you. Your positive approach to music education transfers to your students by making them feel safe in your classroom and comfortable to take musical and educational risks. They begin to understand that failure is part of the educational process and that, with hard work, they can develop musically and overcome their setbacks. By extension, students start to realize that if they can take risks in your class, they can take risks in other classes as well. In this way, you have a positive

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Southwestern Musician | May 2019

impact on your entire campus.

Music for a Lifetime Imprinting on our students a lifetime love and support of music and other fine arts is essential. This imprinting happens over time and is a result of their daily interactions with you and their peers.

Working toward common goals, improving skills, experiencing good and bad days, and enjoying the feeling of accomplishment after each performance all foster their strong connection to music. Never underestimate the influence you have on creating advocates for music education. Take time to have discussions with your students about their experiences through music and how those experiences have helped develop who they are.

The growth they have gained in music is a model for what is possible personally and educationally.

My school district, like many around the state, has an elementary school senior walk. Seniors return to their elementary schools and walk the halls to show elementary students what they can accomplish.

Our seniors also go back to thank the teachers who helped set the foundation for their academic success. Who is the teacher with the longest line of seniors waiting to say thank you? The elementary music teacher! That long line includes not only the students who continued in band, choir, or orchestra, but also those involved in athletics, Academic Decathlon, and every other

high school activity. They reminisce about the grade-level performances and fun they experienced in the music classroom. They remember with fondness the teacher who saw them every five days. This exemplifies the incredible influence each of you has on the students who experience only what you can provide—a high-quality music education! Your students will remember you and the positive experiences they had because of your dedication to them and because you taught them using a music curriculum that helped them be better students, better representatives of the school community, and better people.

As the school year draws to a close, take time to appreciate how you have affected the students you teach. Celebrate the musical participation of every student. They may not fully realize the impact music has had on them, but you will. For years to come, they will thank you on social media, like your posts about future activities, and reminisce about the wonderful time they had in your program. Years later, you will see the pride they have in their own children who are now participating in music.

At that point, you will truly understand the positive influences you have made through music education.

2020 Convention Proposals You can continue to submit convention proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/ Convention online through June 1.

Proposals for clinics, product showcases, and music showcases are being accepted at www.tmea.org/clinicproposals.

Having read our 2019 convention survey results, it’s clear that many attendees have specific requests to improve clinic offerings and have questions about how clinics are selected. Please read the details on page 19 to better understand these requests and the selection process. The Executive Board looks forward to the challenging task of building our best professional development program to date.

Rather than this convention simply being a party to celebrate TMEA’s Centennial, we look to it as an opportunity to offer the best possible learning opportunity for teachers across our state and around the world! It’s only through your proposals and that of your colleagues that we will be equipped to deliver on that commitment!

TCU SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Summer Music 2019 TCU Yamaha “Sounds of Summer” Percussion Camp June 7&8 Brian West, director TCU Clarinet Workshop June 10&11 Gary Whitman, director TCU Band Camp June 17-20, High School Session June 21&22, Middle School Session Bobby R. Francis, director TCU Flute Workshop June 24&25 Shauna Thompson, director TCU Saxophone Workshop June 26&27 Joe Eckert, director TCU Harp Workshop July 10-12 Laura Brandenburg, director TCU All-State Choir Camps Purple Camp, July 14-17 White Camp, July 17-20 Sheri Neill, director Christopher Aspaas, conductor TCU String Workshop July 22-24 Elisabeth Adkins, director

To register, please visit our website at www.music.tcu.edu/smi.asp or contact TCU Extended Education at 817-257-7132.

May Is Membership Renewal Month!

Renew your membership for the 2019–2020 year this May. Don’t wait for the rush of a new school year!

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www.tmea.org/renew

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Southwestern Musician | May 2019

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTES

Legislative session update

D

o you remember when by rule elementary music met 120 minutes a week and pull-out didn’t exist?

How about sixth-grade students entering middle school being offered only 2–4 electives, 2–3 of which were music? Today that number can exceed 12–14 options. Remember when high school credits toward graduation were actually earned in high school and not beginning as early as seventh grade? There was no such thing as Early College High School, or P-Tech, or taking high school LOTE courses in junior high. Finally, some of you senior citizens like me will remember when only 18 credits were required for graduation, instead of today’s 26.

Clearly, these are changing times in public education. You live it every day.

In public schools, 63% of students are from low socioeconomic families, 19% are English language learners, and 69% of the campuses in our state are Title I schools. The legislature, then, is faced with the charge of where to spend education dollars to do the most for the most students. (The populations mentioned above are defined to be the most underserved.)

May—Attend your spring Region meeting (see page 2).

May—TMEA membership year opens for online and mail/email submission.

May–June 1—Submit proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

May 1—Texas Music Scholar award materials postmark deadline.

June 13–14—CEDFA Summit XX, Austin Airport Hilton.

June 30—All 2018–2019 TMEA memberships expire.

July 25–27—TBA, TCDA, TODA Conventions in San Antonio.

February 12–15, 2020—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

Focusing on the Future The Texas Tribune, a member-supported, nonpartisan media organization that focuses on public policy, politics, and government, recently hosted a festival entitled “The Future of Public Education.” TMEA was one of the event’s sponsors. Our goal was to have the values of arts education included in that important discussion. We were successful to a degree, but omnipresent throughout the panel discussions were the challenges of how to address the prevalence of students not reading on grade level in third grade and how to graduate students to meet the workforce needs of a thriving and expanding economy.

When students face tough decisions between courses and activities, your classroom must provide them an experience they are not willing to give up, even if someone suggests or advises it.

Southwestern Musician | May 2019

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There was also specific discussion about economically disadvantaged and ESL students leaving school without literacy skills and with no hope of being successful in a Texas economy of the future.

The challenges we face at the state level are not driven by key leaders purposely devaluing arts experiences in our schools.

Rather, the concern is that the role of arts education in whole-child development becomes overshadowed by other pedagogical and curricular priorities. As a reminder, current law requires K–5 students receive TEKS-based instruction in music, art, and theatre. Students in grades 6–8 must complete one TEKS-based fine arts course. Finally, every student must graduate earning one high school fine arts

could soon include technical applications courses, dependent upon the passage of pending legislation.

Thus, with increasing challenges and distractions to students’ time and schedules, and with CTE and workforce preparation becoming a higher priority in the eyes of the legislature, it is imperative that our music classrooms be safe and welcoming places where students want to be. It is in our classes where they learn the joy of making music with their friends—an unparalleled experience in their school day. When students face tough decisions between courses and activities, your classroom must provide them an experience they are not willing to give up, even if someone suggests or advises it.

Our discipline engages students in learning and has the potential to touch their lives like no other subject. credit. In 2011 that requirement was put in place to include students on all graduation programs and was continued in the Foundation High School Program. There are no bills filed that change any of these requirements or policies, so we continue to be protected in law and rule.

School Finance and Student Preparedness When the governor-appointed Commission on Public School Finance met throughout the past year, their charge was to “develop and make recommendations for improvements to the current public school finance system or develop new methods of financing public schools,” not re-establish priorities for what programs should be supported and to what degree.

However, as I mentioned in a recent column, several years ago the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board set a goal that by the year 2030, 60% of Texas citizens between the ages of 25–34 will have earned an associate or college degree. Our state is projected to miss that goal by two decades. Reacting to that unmet goal, the Commission on Public School Finance expanded their school finance focus to address this shortfall in meeting the workforce needs of the thriving Texas economy.

This has resulted in even more attention on career and technical education, which 10 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

Recruiting and Retaining While students are taught music each year in K–5, and many satisfy their middle school course requirement through our classes, recruiting and retention at the secondary level remains critical, as does the role of elementary teachers encouraging their students to take their music study to the next level.

Certainly this does not mean that we lower standards or expectations, but it does mean that we become more efficient in our lesson planning and reasonable in our demands for rehearsal and practice time. It must be clear that our expectations are in line with the time required to achieve them. We all know that students want to be part of something that is of high quality, but most of those students will not be music majors and do have other priorities in their lives that are also important.

Admittedly, it is a fine line to walk, but it is a critical one that may determine the future of our programs moving forward.

The Impact of CTE So in these last days of the session what threats are of highest concern? The most critical is weighted funding for career and technical education being expanded from 9th to 6th grade. This has already been adopted in HB 3, the House education bill.

In addition to supporting the 60×30 goal

addressed above, the rationale is, in the words of House Public Education Chair and bill author Dan Huberty, “an attempt to help the children who need it the most.”

In the earlier days those courses were welding, auto mechanics, and woodworking, but now they include manufacturing, engineering, cybersecurity, and other technology courses. We must, however, keep the threat in perspective. In previous sessions, legislators filed bills that would take weighted funding for CTE down to 8th grade, but those bills never made it into law. In these cases, the bills didn’t pass for multiple reasons. One was the fear that this incentive would push more middle schoolers into CTE pathways rather than toward college enrollment; another was the projected cost of implementing that change. Additionally, most middle schools have neither the available space nor the staff to expand to any significant degree.

If such a bill is signed into law, the short-term impact to our programs will not likely be of significant concern, even though CTE programs have grown on some middle school campuses without additional support dollars (motivated by improving their A–F accountability rating with more students completing a coherent sequence of CTE courses). However, the long-term impact could be more severe as new middle school CTE courses are developed and new teachers are trained.

Stay Focused on Why We Teach In summary, we must remember that we teach the one subject with the potential to truly motivate children, to keep them coming to school, and to foster success across the curriculum. Our discipline engages students in learning and has the potential to touch their lives like no other subject.

I encourage you to read page 22 in the April issue of Southwestern Musician.

It highlights thoughts from our 2019 AllState musicians about why music is important to them. Not one talked about honor band, a superior UIL rating, a festival bestin-class award, or a marching band trophy. They talked about how music touched their lives and how it made them feel. If you approach every class and strive to meet each student’s needs with this mindset, our profession has a much better chance of surviving these external challenges that tend to come and go through the years.

Have a wonderful summer!

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Celebrating Four Decades of Service to TMEA

by Karen Cross

I

t was the fall of 1979. Jimmy Carter was our president and Bill Clements our governor, a gallon of gas cost 88 cents, and kids across America were rejoicing at the invention of the Happy Meal. In TMEA’s world, the Executive Board had recently hired Past-President Bill Cormack to fill the Executive Director position that was vacant after the untimely death of Joe Lenzo in 1978. To be better positioned to advocate for music education, Cormack and the Board also decided to move the TMEA office to Austin. That same year, TMEA purchased its first computer.

Soon after renting a small Austin office for himself and a secretary, Cormack contacted a temp agency to get someone to help with office duties. Around that same time, a young Tesa Kelly had signed up with that temp agency after her previous employer shut down its business. Now almost 40 years later, we look back with such gratitude that when Cormack made that call for help, Tesa was the answer.

Over these four decades, Tesa (now Harding) has been an essential part of TMEA’s growth in size and service to music education for all Texas schoolchildren. While it’s with sadness that we announce Tesa’s decision to retire this June, we invite you to join us in honoring her faithful service and immeasurable contribution to TMEA’s mission and members. We hope you enjoy learning a little more about her, and by extension, TMEA’s history in this tribute to Tesa.

A Look Back Though quite young, Tesa still managed to arrive at TMEA with association work experience. Through her high school’s VOE program, she had worked for the Lumbermen’s Association of Texas, maintaining exhibitor records and helping with their conventions.

When Tesa started with TMEA, her primary work was processing memberships. Of course, in 1979, that looked a bit different than it does today. If you were a member then, you tore a membership form out of your August issue of the magazine, wrote in your information, and mailed it to Austin with your check for $15 (or $25 if you also wanted to register for the convention).

Since Tesa’s first TMEA convention in 1981, our exhibit hall has quadrupled in size, from 320 booths to over 1,360!

Southwestern Musician | May 2019 13

A Portrait of Dedication As Bill Cormack ended his term as Executive Director, he offered parting comments in the May 1993 issue of Southwestern Musician. He said that while he couldn’t thank everyone who had been part of his life, he would mention a few, including his four TMEA coworkers. He had this to say in tribute to Tesa: Tesa Kelly was hired in October 1979. She came to us a temporary worker and on Friday afternoon of the first week she was here, I asked her if she could stay with us, and she said she would have to call her husband to let him know that she would be late. I informed her that I didn’t mean after 5 p.m.—I meant permanently. She consented, and next to me, has been here the longest of all. We have watched her raise her daughter and have all felt as though we were parents along with her. We have watched her grow in her position and she now handles the exhibit business, advertising, and all of the bookkeeping. She has been a tremendous force in this office and if we were to use one adjective to describe her work these past 14 years, it would be “dedication.”

Tesa received your form, wrote your name and membership ID number (the next one in line) in a log book, and then entered your details into the office computer—the Sperry UNIVAC. After logging member records, she typed your member card, and mailed it to you.

As the office staff prepared for the February convention, Tesa also typed convention badges and stuffed attendee packets. And since conventions don’t stop in deference to our personal lives, Tesa even assembled packets at her home less than a week after giving birth to her daughter, Angela! (That year would be the only convention out of 39 Tesa couldn’t attend.)

Tesa recalls that one of the most valuable aspects of her initial time working for TMEA was the flexibility Cormack offered. His philosophy was simple: as long as the work got done, he didn’t care when it happened (he was definitely ahead of his time in offering flexible workplace schedules!). Being able to work and be present during her daughter’s first years of growing up was an incredible benefit for this caring mother, and that benefit didn’t go unnoticed—it laid a firm foundation for years of dedication to TMEA. In addition to processing memberships and typing thousands of member cards and convention badges, Tesa put to work her high school shorthand training when Cormack dictated his letters to her (remember real mail?). Not too long into her tenure, he also asked Tesa if she could 14 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

handle the association bookkeeping, and she agreed to take it on. Her reliability and work ethic had clearly made a quick impression—and that hasn’t changed a bit in these 40 years.

The first TMEA convention Tesa worked was in 1981, and our total attendance was just over 8,300, with an exhibit hall featuring 174 exhibitors in 320 booths.

As TMEA’s membership and convention grew steadily, Tesa took on more responsibilities, ultimately taking on the management of the exhibit show and advertising for TMEA publications.

As Cormack prepared to retire in 1993, he changed Tesa’s title to Exhibits and Advertising Manager to reflect the work she had been doing for years. At that point, our convention welcomed over 13,000 attendees and the exhibit hall had grown to feature almost 250 exhibitors in over 500 booths. Fast-forward another 26 years to Tesa’s final convention this year.

Convention attendance topped 30,000 and our exhibit hall was sold out to over 450 exhibitors occupying 1,360+ booths!

Executive Director Robert Floyd recalls that when he started working for TMEA in 1993, Tesa was the most knowledgeable resource to inform him on the day-to-day operations of TMEA. “She certainly knew much about TMEA’s history as well as the institutional wisdom of why things were done a certain way. By then, she already had fifteen years of experience in the TMEA office and not only was managing

exhibits and advertising but also was keeping our books.”

Having worked in adjoining offices with Tesa for over 20 years, TMEA Membership Manager Susan Daugherty offers these fond reflections: “She has the highest ethics and work standards, but she also relates to her exhibitors on a human level. She treats every person as she would want to be treated. Watching Tesa deal with members (and others) has taught me to be a gentler, kinder person, with more empathy for the members we serve.”

Some Things Change and Some Remain the Same Reflecting on her years of service with TMEA, Tesa explains that for the most part, things have remained the same. The organization still exists to support highquality music education for all, we still publish a magazine funded primarily by our advertisers, and we still host a convention that includes an amazing exhibit show.

Tesa says the most noticeable changes have come in how we further that mission, continuing our historically valuable offerings while expanding programs for an ever-growing number of members and convention attendees. As we all think back to the how of the 1980s, we’re increasingly grateful for the rapid changes in technology that have allowed us to support our growth, spread our message, and produce over 30,000 badges without a typewriter in

sight! Across her decades, Tesa has seen our staff size triple and has helped move the office three times—in 1982 when TMEA purchased its first building, 10 years later when we had a new facility constructed, and finally after another 10, when we constructed what today remains our TMEA headquarters.

How Could You Stay 40 Years?

Tesa often gets asked (sometimes chided) about how she could possibly work in one place 40 years. “I just never had a reason to leave,” is her simple answer.

Taking that further though, she says the reasons to stay have been the people and the organization’s purpose. Throughout her time working here, she has built relationships with many, starting with the Cormacks, who became her extended family, and continuing with staff, exhibitors, members, volunteers, Executive Boards, partner companies, and more. “What I value the most in working for TMEA has been the relationships created, the trust bestowed on me, the scheduling flexibility I’ve had throughout the years, and the employee benefits,” Tesa explained. Unlike many other jobs, TMEA offers the chance to be a part of something meaningful—no matter the task, each staff member has a part in helping schoolchildren develop a lifelong love of music.

And while 40 years does sound like a long time to spend in one place, Tesa’s role has evolved dramatically in that time, from temporary part-time clerk to fulltime Exhibits and Advertising Manager.

“Being given the freedom and support to create processes and develop ideas that enhanced whichever role I was in at the time is what I’ve appreciated most about my work here,” Tesa explains.

Like our members who join TMEA to support their professional development, many years ago, Tesa joined the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE). Attending their events, she gained new ideas for marketing to exhibitors, improving exhibitor support, and delivering the best opportunity for attendees to connect with our music industry partners at the annual convention. Tesa has served in many capacities with IAEE, twice as Chapter President, and in 2014, she was awarded the national IAEE Merit Award that honors members who have made outstanding contributions to their IAEE chapter.

Having worked with Tesa for over 25 of these 40 years, Executive Director Floyd expresses great admiration for her decision to stay with TMEA this long: Tesa is the consummate professional who approaches her job responsibilities

with the highest level of commitment and dedication, and she has never wavered from this standard in 40 years.

I have always appreciated how much Tesa gives of herself to TMEA, and I also have admired her commitment to

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her profession of meeting planning and trade show management. She has held virtually every office and chaired every committee in local professional associations and has received international recognition for her high level of service.

She personally works with the representatives from over 500 companies and colleges and universities to support their presence in our exhibit hall and manages advertising for Southwestern Musician. Despite that workload, she has a way of making them each realize their requests or concerns are of utmost importance and deserve her personal and undivided attention—and they get it. Our sustaining members love her as much as we do!

Looking Forward Each TMEA staff member has a deep gratitude for the reliable and trustworthy constant Tesa has been for us and our organization. As Tesa points out, it’s the people who make this organization what it has become, and she is surely the best example of that.

While our TMEA family won’t be the same without her, we all celebrate that she can take this opportunity to spend more time with family and enjoy the many adventures that lie ahead! We wish her the best of everything that is to come!

Karen Cross is TMEA Communications Manager and Managing Editor of SOUTHWESTERN MUSICIAN.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your TMEA world for so many years and for all the kind words—they mean more than you will ever know!

Thank You! We asked a few longtime exhibitors to offer their reflections on Tesa’s retirement. They clearly speak for many of our music industry partners who have such respect for Tesa and for the support she’s given them throughout the years.

Tesa has been a big part of TMEA her entire career, and her guidance to vendors has always been top-notch. She always had a smile on her face and in her voice, and her leadership will be missed. Thanks, and best wishes on your retirement!

—JUDY PINE, WEST MUSIC No matter what the issue, Tesa has always been there to help. While I’ve never met Tesa personally, I feel as though we have been friends for years, I will miss working with her. Tesa, I would like to wish you a very relaxing and enjoyable retirement!

—MARY RIMA, GETZEN COMPANY Congratulations to Miss TMEA on her retirement, and congratulations to the music industry for having such a wonderful, caring person take care of us these past 40 years! You will love retirement, Tesa, and we love you!

—BOB & LAURA BERGIN, RETIRED, RHYTHM BAND & SWEET PIPES Without a doubt, Tesa is one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met.

For 40 years she has consistently shared her time and talent to help our company be successful. By providing thoughtful, creative, and innovative solutions she made the TMEA convention exhibiting experience a joy.

Thank you for always greeting us with a smile, and giving so much of yourself for the benefit of others. Enjoy the next chapter of your life!

—RICHARD GORE, PENDER’S MUSIC COMPANY You have made up your mind to retire while you are still young and energetic—the way I’ve always perceived you. Your years of organizing, coordinating, and strategically placing hundreds of exhibits for the booming, world-class TMEA conventions could be accomplished only with your zeal and enthusiasm for nothing less than success—and successful it has been! Thank you, and God bless in your retirement.

—GEORGE JACOB, A MERICAN DRUM

—Tesa Harding Southwestern Musician | May 2019 17

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Clinic Proposals and the Selection Process

T

he window for submitting clinic proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention remains open through June 1.

Based on overall responses from 2019 convention attendees, the most important topics are rehearsal techniques, instructional pedagogy, and instructional methods presented by educators currently in the classroom. For more specific topic requests by teachers in each TMEA Division, look to your VicePresident’s column in this issue.

Attendees Want to Attend Clinics By Teachers Like Them TMEA members continue to comment that clinics should be presented by teachers who are like them—those who teach the grade levels they teach, who work in environments like theirs, and who face similar challenges and have found strategies that work. The Executive Board wants to deliver on that

request. The best way we can improve in this area is to have a higher number and greater variety of clinic proposals submitted by teachers at every grade level, in every instructional area, from every school size, in every type of community.

Are you the only music teacher in a small school helping your students succeed? Are you successfully teaching in a school that serves families of extreme poverty? Members have repeatedly requested clinics by teachers who make it work in the most challenging situations, with little financial or community support. If you or someone you know is succeeding under these circumstances, it’s time to apply to present a clinic on how you have supported success despite the difficulties you face.

While our clinic schedule is always full, receiving more proposals means the Executive Board will have a greater opportunity to create a purposeful, diverse program of clinics for all teachers, featuring the work by similarly situated colleagues.

How Clinics Are Selected Many members have asked questions about how clinics are selected, and some have expressed concern that the clinic proposal survey leads to popularitybased selection. While we do survey members about clinic proposals, those results are only one aspect of the review.

Each Vice-President leads the review of proposals that pertain to their division. Board members look for completeness of the proposal, pedagogical merit, applicability for the members, topic demand (as voiced by members through the post-convention survey), and variety (20 clinics on the exact same topic won’t be accepted, even if all 20 are good proposals). While each Vice-President is responsible for that initial review and selection, once a draft of accepted clinics has been created, the three TMEA Presidents review the entire schedule to ensure overall balance and applicability are achieved.

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Southwestern Musician | May 2019 19

BAND NOTES

A wonderful time to learn!

W

hen you receive this issue, you’ll be nearing the end of the school year. While it’s exciting to look forward to summer break, this time of year can also be a bit melancholy (saying goodbye to seniors or to eighth graders heading into high school), and it can definitely be a challenging time to keep everyone focused on learning.

There are many pressures toward the end of the year, but we still have a bit of festivity in the air. On our final programs, we get to play some music that perhaps we simply chose not to play for our annual assessment at the secondary level. I try to make sure we are preparing something challenging to help keep our minds on business until the end of the year. With the early dates of some UIL assessments, some directors have time to learn an entirely new program that would be UIL-worthy for their spring concert. The results can be musically rewarding, while continuing to motivate students to improve on their instruments. Some directors take this opportunity to work on chamber music for their spring concerts.

Private lesson teachers often hold studio recitals in May. This is a great

It’s a wonderful time of year to learn. I hope you will enjoy all it offers.

20 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

B Y

J O H N

C A R R O L L

May—Attend your Region meeting (see page 2).

May—TMEA membership year opens.

May–June 1—Submit proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

May 1—Texas Music Scholar award materials postmark deadline.

May 15—Invited middle and high school jazz band application deadline.

May 15—All-State Jazz audition music is released.

June 13–14—CEDFA Summit XX, Austin Airport Hilton.

June 15—Invited high school percussion ensemble application deadline.

June 15—Deadline for Region Honor Band qualifiers to be postmarked to Area Listening Center Chair.

June 19–20—Area Honor Band Listening Center sessions.

June 30—All 2018–2019 TMEA memberships expire.

June 30—Deadline for Area Honor Band qualifiers to be postmarked to State Band Chair.

July 25—State Honor Band competition.

July 25–27—TBA Convention in San Antonio.

February 12–15, 2020—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

way for students to learn new literature.

Similarly, at our school, we are hosting our first “Young Artists” recital to encourage this focus of individual skill development and a varied performance opportunity.

I am a strong believer in the value of band camp participation for our students.

I encourage you to consider the opportunities available to your students and help guide them to a camp that you know would suit them well. There are several wonderful opportunities across our state, and it’s great fun for our students.

I am aware that some directors use this time to audition their students for their band placements for the following fall semester; in fact, some directors use audition materials for band camp placement for their own bands’ placement. I think this is a wonderful idea. It provides the director something concrete to give students while

L A U N N A 46TH

preparing them for the fall semester, plus it gives an opportunity to simultaneously work on band camp music, possibly getting more students interested in camp.

I have also found it useful during the last few weeks of school to teach something pedagogical that has not yet been addressed. It may be higher mastery of scales and arpeggios, or it may be a technical warm-up that utilizes unfamiliar fingerings, such as seldom-used enharmonics. End-of-school rehearsals can include articulation studies, as well as newly introduced flow studies.

Some directors give their students a copy of their music library list and let them select pieces to sightread; it’s a great way to offer students a sense of ownership.

Some of us have a performance even following the final bell of the school year—for graduation. We explain to our freshmen,

sophomores, and juniors why this event is so important to our band program: this performance will be attended by our school board members and administrators, as well as many who would never otherwise ever hear us, including out-of-town family members. We also remind them that they will also want a strong band present when they graduate.

For directors involved in marching band, the month of May seems to bring a whirlwind of activity in preparing for the fall, and this is certainly a way to keep students focused. Many directors have started presenting a reveal event where next year’s marching show is introduced. Some hold auditions for drum majors, color guard, drum line, section leadership positions, and other positions as well. We are caught in that wonderful blend of still learning musical concepts through our concert

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Southwestern Musician | May 2019 21

medium and preparing for the expansive marching season.

It’s a wonderful time of year to learn. I hope you will enjoy all it offers.

Urban School Teaching TMEA continues to focus on the importance of high-quality music programs in our urban schools. We have repeatedly seen how urban schools with limited financial resources can be a very rewarding setting for the right teacher. Most importantly, students in these settings benefit greatly from the music programs that allow them to take risks, experience acceptance and support, and discover the joy of making music with others.

As we welcome those who are graduating from college into our profession, we recommend you consider opportunities to teach in urban schools. Some may hesitate to start in what can be a most challenging environment. Keep in mind that while music changes lives in every school, when you teach in an environment that serves so many who face extreme challenges at home, your classroom can become the most positive environment they experience and your ensemble a caring family they wouldn’t otherwise know.

Whether you’re just starting out or moving to a new location as an experienced educator, keep every option in mind, knowing that we must be focused on providing a quality music education experience for every student in every school.

Spring Region Meetings Please be sure to attend your Region meeting as you close your year (see page 2 for a schedule of meetings). Many decisions are made at this meeting concerning the next school year. To be an active part of the decision-making process for your Region, you have to show up!

Clinic Proposals The offerings of clinics and performances are the heart and soul of our annual convention. When you receive this magazine, the opening date for clinic proposals will have passed. I respectfully encourage you to consider submitting a clinic proposal on a topic of interest to you.

Our convention survey responses tell us that members wish more clinics were taught by Texas directors who were in their situation. You can help us accomplish this!

So many of you are successful in many 22 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

ways, and you might not have realized other colleagues are wondering how you accomplish what you do. Please consider submitting. The deadline is June 1. As you consider this opportunity, keep these popular topics identified by those who teach band in mind: • Rehearsal techniques • Instrumental methods • Recruiting and retention • Teaching methods • Technology integration • Classroom management • Repertoire selection • Conducting techniques • Urban/rural challenges & solutions • Advocacy New: Invited Percussion Ensemble At its March meeting, the Executive Board approved the addition of an Invited Percussion Ensemble for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention. High school percussion ensemble directors can now apply online. June 15 is the application deadline.

Go to the Band Division section of the TMEA website for details. We look forward to welcoming this new invited group to our event!

Invited Middle and High School Jazz Ensemble Applications May 15 is the deadline for submission of applications and recordings to perform as an invited middle or high school jazz ensemble at the 2020 TMEA Clinic/ Convention. Please go to www.tmea.org/ jazzapplication for more information. If you have a jazz program of which you are proud, I hope you will consider applying for this.

All-State Jazz Ensemble Audition material for the TMEA AllState Jazz Ensembles will be released by TJEA and available from sheet music vendors on May 15. Please consider this avenue to showcase some of your best jazz students.

Region and Area Honor Band The deadline for the initial Honor Band entry was March 1. If you entered, you will still need to complete your Honor Band entry. The competition rules, procedures, and guidelines are posted on the TMEA

website. Please remember that the intent is to produce the best recording possible while staying within the spirit of the rules.

You will need to upload the recording and application materials, obtain signatures, complete the clinician part of the entry, and mail in the scores with no identifying school information visible. Please read every word of the rules and policies. These may be found at www.tmea.org/honorband.

If you have entered but decide to withdraw from the competition, please revisit the online entry system and select “not entering.” If you decide later to withdraw, please contact your Region Band Chair in writing.

If your band advances from Region to Area, or from Area to State, please check the website to confirm the accuracy of the information posted.

The Area Honor Band competition will be held Wednesday–Thursday, June 19–20.

Locations, chairs, and hosts of each of the four area listening centers are posted on the website within the Band Division. If your group advances from Region to Area, there will be an Area fee assessed, and your Region Chair should automatically forward your entry to the appropriate Area Honor Band Chair.

The State Honor Band competition is held on the first day of the Texas Bandmasters Association convention in San Antonio (Thursday, July 25). We thank the TBA Board for allowing us time and space at that convention for this event.

Summer Meetings Let me encourage your attendance at the upcoming CEDFA (Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts) summit in Austin on June 13–14. Please go to www.cedfa.org for more information and you can learn more on page 35.

Also, I hope you will make plans to attend the annual Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA) Convention/Clinic, July 25–27 in San Antonio. This conference is full of concerts, fellowship, and great clinics, and it provides a great boost into the new school year. Bring your family and enjoy the learning and camaraderie.

I hope you will continue teaching those wonderful students until that final bell.

Then I hope you will get some valuable rest, get rejuvenated, and come back for a wonderful 2019–2020 school year.

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by Bradley Genevro

M

any experts in our profession talk about achieving high levels of musicianship and artistry but fail to discuss the pathways to meet such goals. Far too often, the terms musicianship and artistry are used without any coherent context. How can we achieve mastery in concepts that many young teachers and music students struggle to define? I believe that before we can talk about achieving higher levels of musicianship and artistry on the podium, we first must be aware of the individuals in the process. The following are steps in preparing a conductor and ensemble to elevate their individual and, then, collective artistry and musicianship.

We aren’t just music teachers.

We are artists responsible for creating beauty in the world and sparking an artistic curiosity in our students. We must embrace our position as artists if we want to be successful at any level in our professional lives and if we want to maximize the impact of music in the lives of our students and communities. Too often, we allow the daily grind to interfere with our development and growth as artists and musicians.

Take a moment and reflect on your professional life while you answer these questions:

If you are truly honest with yourself, the answers to these questions might not be what you’d wish. These are pointed questions, and anyone can come up with a multitude of excuses for why having better answers isn’t important. But at the end of the day, without time for ourselves, we severely limit our potential for artistic growth. Before we can talk about interpretation, we first need to think about our inspiration—the time when we reflect, grow, explore, and listen to our inner musical voice. True artists are lifelong learners who accept that they will never know enough to do as well as they want. That constant thirst for knowledge continues to keep us fresh and passionate about the product and process. If we lose that edge, we lose forward momentum, which eventually will have an adverse effect on our teaching and the achievements of the ensembles entrusted to us.

Once we discover how to provide ourselves with time for growth and development, we can turn our attention to nurturing a more artistic and creative environment for our ensemble members. It isn’t possible to achieve a high level of musical artistry if the ensemble members aren’t fully invested in the music-making process. How does a conductor create an environment that is conducive to that type of musical and artistic success? It begins and ends with one simple concept—trust.

Trust takes time to develop and it must be nurtured over time.

Ensemble members need to know their conductor cares about them as people first, musicians second. Once that rapport is cultivated, we can look forward to achieving higher artistic goals with the ensemble and the entire program. Creating an environment of trust and passion is a result of the leadership philosophy modeled by the conductor.

We must embrace our position as artists if we want to be successful at any level in our professional lives and if we want to maximize the impact of music in the lives of our students and communities.

• What are you doing to enhance/develop your musicianship?

• Do you allow time, each day, for your personal growth?

• Who are your mentors? How much time do you spend with them?

• Do you surround yourself with positive or negative people?

• Are you too busy to attend concerts, listen to recordings, or read?

Southwestern Musician | May 2019 25

What is leadership and how does it pertain to the artist musician/conductor?

The word leadership is used a lot in our profession. Conductors are looked upon as leaders. The most successful leaders prioritize trust, creating a safe environment for student musicians to explore their artistry and creativity. If you ask anyone about the role of the conductor, it won’t take long before the word leadership is used. There are certain terms that need to be defined prior to deciding what leadership means to the artist/musician.

Leader—a true leader influences others to be their best.

Follower—anyone can be a follower, even while holding a leadership position. If you are stuck in the status quo, lack vision, or aren’t motivating those around you to be their best, you are a follower.

strengths and feels that their contribution is valued as part of the overall performance of the organization.”

• “Being in your element is not only about aptitude, it’s about passion: it is about loving what you do.” Do you?

• “The creative impulses of most people can be suffocated by negative criticism, cynical put downs or dismissive remarks.” Are you supportive or someone who suffocates?

In Talent Is Never Enough by John C. Maxwell, he states, “To reach your potential, you must first believe in your potential, and determine to live way beyond average . . . It is one thing to believe that you possess remarkable potential, it is another thing to have enough faith in yourself that you think you can fulfill it.” Do you?

When musicians believe their individual contributions are paramount to the success of achieving higher artistic outcomes, I consider their buy-in is complete.

Influential Leadership—is the ability of a leader to assist followers in achieving goals that any individual never thought possible. This type of leader lifts everyone up and makes them better than they are as individual musicians.

Effective Leader—is a person with a passion for a cause that is larger than themselves—someone with a dream and a vision that will better society, or at least some portion of it.

If your students were asked about your leadership style, what would they say? If they were asked to use three words that best describe you and your musicianship what would those be? If you were asked the same questions about yourself, would the words you chose be the same words of your ensemble members?

In Sir Ken Robinson’s book Out of Our Minds, he offers the following: • “Being a creative leader means we are ensuring that everyone in our organization is playing to their creative 26 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

These questions from two worldrenowned authors help us reflect on our teaching and our philosophy of how we do what we do and, more importantly, why we do what we do.

Do your students know the why about you?

In Simon Sinek’s TedTalk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” he said that “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” How many of us take the time to share with our students why we decided to become artists/teachers? I’m sure you might think you don’t have time to do that—you have concerts, halftime shows, booster meetings, and more to prepare. I fully believe that we can’t afford not to talk about this with our ensembles. If we want to establish an ensemble environment that is functioning at the highest artistic and creative levels, it all begins with the students understanding why their leader/conductor makes music.

I believe this is a major step toward establishing trust. Do each of your ensem-

ble members believe they are valued and that their contributions are significant in achieving the performance outcomes of their ensemble? The investment I referred to earlier comes into play here. When musicians believe their individual contributions are paramount to the success of achieving higher artistic outcomes, I consider their buy-in is complete. It is only then that the learning environment will be ripe for the ultimate in artistic and musical outcomes.

In my 30 years of teaching both public school and higher education, attending decades of sessions, clinics, and presentation, I have never heard the music-making process between conductor and musician defined any better than it was by Leonard Bernstein when he stated: It is not so much imposing one’s will on them like a dictator; it is more like projecting his feelings around him so that they reach the last person in the second violin section. And when that happens—when 100 musicians share his feelings, exactly, simultaneously, responding as one, to each rise and fall of the music, to each point of arrival and departure, to each little inner pulse—then there is a human identity of feeling that has no equal elsewhere . . . the conductor and their orchestra will remain knit together through it all and function as one.

As Bernstein so eloquently stated, this is when true artistry, musicianship, and creativity are functioning at the highest levels. Through the use of influential leadership, there is nothing obstructing the communication between the conductor and musicians. Everyone on stage has allowed themselves to become vulnerable to the process, and through that established trust, true artistry can shine. Not the artistry of the conductor, nor that of the ensemble, but what is created is a sense of one. You don’t notice the individual, all you see and hear is the beauty of the composer and what they have shared with the world.

Bradley Genevro is Director of Bands at the University of Texas at El Paso.

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B Y

M I C H A E L

S T R I N G E R

May—Attend your spring Region meeting (see page 2).

May—TMEA membership year opens for online and mail/email submission.

May–June 1—Submit proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

May 1—Texas Music Scholar award materials postmark deadline.

May 1—HS Full, JH/MS Full, and JH/ MS String Honor Orchestra Part A online submission deadline.

June 1—Upload and postmark deadline of entry materials for HS and JH/MS Full, and JH/MS String Honor Orchestra.

June 8—First round of Honor Orchestra judging (HS and MS/JH Full, MS/JH String).

June 30—All 2018–2019 TMEA memberships expire.

July 25–27—TODA Convention in San Antonio.

August 1—Deadline for waivers to the audition process to be received at TMEA headquarters.

September 15—HS String Honor Orchestra Part A online submission deadline.

February 12–15, 2020—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

ORCHESTRA NOTES

Leave it better than you found it

A

bout 30 days before the end of every school year, my wife, a school counselor, begins a countdown on Facebook to the last day of school. It has become something the entire school looks forward to, and if the posts don’t start soon enough, she receives multiple email and text message reminders that her countdown should have begun. As an orchestra director, I would always get a chuckle out of the countdown as it was a constant reminder that the days were running short to check in instruments, complete the inventory, organize the music library, make sure uniforms were sent to the cleaners, and prepare my class rosters to submit to administration and counseling. Most years, these tasks would keep me at school extremely late on those last few days because there simply wasn’t enough time in the workday to complete them without sacrificing instruction.

Keep Your Focus As you enter these last few days, remember that instruction is your most important task. Even after the conclusion of spring concerts, we must keep our students playing and learning. While there may not be a performance for which to prepare, the end of the year is a great time to continue to develop the students’ reading skills. Use this time to pass out music you are considering for next school year. The music you and students choose to take for a test drive not only stretches their reading skills but also gets them excited about

Find ways to keep instruction fun and meaningful. Reflect on the past and look forward to the future.

Southwestern Musician | May 2019 31

what’s on the horizon. This practice also has the huge benefit of finding the pitfalls within pieces, allowing you to determine ways to address those specific skills during summer vacation. If you’re like me, you purchased many new works during the school year that have remained on a shelf. Reading these works at the end of the school year often reminds you of why you purchased them. Perhaps you will find just the right piece that will teach a skill you want to focus on next school year.

A Trip Down Memory Lane One of the most meaningful and enjoyable times at the end of our school years were “memory lane” days. The last few days that we played each school year, I passed out pieces that students experienced as far back as beginning orchestra, and we read them again. I would never tell them what piece we were about to play and enjoyed watching their eyes light up as I passed out one of their favorites from years gone by.

As this activity became tradition, students would run into the orchestra office the day after the spring concert asking if we could play a certain piece, and the request was usually followed by a hilarious story of

why that piece was their favorite.

Of course, I always tried to work in these favorites along with pieces that had challenged them and stretched their learning.

It was always fascinating to me to see how far the students had grown—something they once viewed as impossible was now easy for them to read with no instruction from me. On the last memory lane day, I concluded by asking the senior class if they had accomplished the challenge I gave them at the beginning of their freshman year: to leave the program better than they found it. This question usually sparked a lot of conversation with the orchestra about the different accomplishments of that class and how they influenced the trajectory of the program. It was always a wonderful day of sharing and it reminded the entire ensemble that the ultimate goal was to persistently improve.

As you finish your final days, I encourage you to reflect on your instruction this year. Have you left your program better than you found it? It is extremely important for us to reflect on all aspects of our instruction (positive and negative) at the end of the school year while it is still fresh on our minds. I find it helpful to make lists

of techniques and exercises that worked well, including the specific skills they taught the students, along with the piece that used that skill. I also make lists of skills that I view as deficient in our program and thoughts on how to address those deficiencies. These lists help guide me when evaluating summer learning opportunities and they help me select clinics to attend during our wonderful TODA convention. They also help me ask specific questions of my colleagues about how they have addressed these same challenges.

As you race to the finish line this year, take some time to enjoy the last few days with your students. Find ways to keep instruction fun and meaningful. Reflect on the past and look forward to the future.

The administrative tasks that are required at the end of each school year can make us lose our focus and keep us from giving our best to the students. I challenge each of you to keep the main thing your focus, even when it seems there are not enough hours in the day. When the final bell rings, we all want to be able to look back and see that we left our programs better than we found them.

Marching Arts Director Symposium June 17-19, 2019 Classroom sessions and interactive masterclasses led by leaders in the drum and bugle corps, college and high school marching band activities seek to inspire educators with practical and creative tools to take their teaching and ensembles to the next level.

CPE Credit up to 16 hours available for symposium participants.

online registration is open now: tamuc.edu /music 32 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

New: Invited Mariachi Ensemble At its March meeting, the TMEA Executive Board passed a motion to add a performance by an invited high school mariachi ensemble at the 2020 convention. This ensemble will be selected from recordings that will be submitted in early fall and will be adjudicated by a fivemember panel using similar processes we use for the honor orchestra competitions.

Make sure to keep an eye on the TMEA website for entry information and instructions. We look forward to showcasing our state’s outstanding mariachi talent!

year, members surveyed have requested that more clinics be offered by teachers in Texas classrooms. Also know that survey responders who teach orchestra listed the following as their most important topics: • Rehearsal techniques • Instrument methods • Conducting techniques • Teaching methods • Recruiting and retention

• Technology integration • Classroom management Thoughtful proposals that address a specific instructional skill become highly effective clinics that help your fellow teachers improve instruction for their students.

Please consider submitting your proposal or encouraging someone you know who has a wonderful idea to submit theirs to be part of the celebration of TMEA’s Centennial!

• Repertoire selection

Committee to Study Possible All-State Mariachi Ensemble The Executive Board also approved the formation of a committee to be chaired by the President-Elect to study the possible addition of an All-State Mariachi Ensemble. The committee will meet this summer and will consist of some of the leaders of mariachi education in our state.

Once a proposal has been submitted, it will be reviewed by the Executive Board for possible action and addition of a new ensemble as early as the 2021 convention.

TODA Convention Summer professional learning is one of the most important things we can do as teachers to continue to improve the instruction that happens in our classrooms. There is no other orchestra-specific learning like the TODA Convention. Dates of this year’s convention are July 25–27 and once again coincide with the TBA and TCDA conventions, offering a wonderful exhibit floor and time to visit with all our colleagues. I highly encourage you to attend these wonderful few days that allow us to learn and recharge our batteries for the upcoming school year.

While you are at the convention, attend the TMEA Honor Orchestra listening sessions for HS Full, MS/JH Full, and MS/JH String. You will be amazed by the wonderful teaching and learning that is occurring in our schools and will begin your year inspired at what students can accomplish in the next school year.

2020 TMEA Clinic Proposals Clinic proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention are due by June 1.

Go to www.tmea.org/clinicproposals to submit a clinic for the convention. Each

The Pursuit of Excellence

2019

SUMMER CAMPS JUNE 9 –13 JR. HIGH BAND CAMP JUNE 16 –20 INSTRUMENTAL CONSERVATORY CAMP JUNE 23 –27 ORCHESTRA CAMP JULY 21–24 ALL - STATE CHOIR CAMP

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY

1751 Avenue I, Suite 225 Huntsville, TX 77340 936-294-1360

WWW.SHSU.EDU/ACADEMICS/MUSIC

MEMBER THE TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM ™

Southwestern Musician | May 2019 33

Summit XX: The ART of Fine Arts Teaching

T

o celebrate its 20th annual summit, the Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts (CEDFA) is transforming the traditional conference into an environment that is differentiated, dynamic, and responsive to the needs of professionals in fine arts education.

Music Educators—We Heard You CEDFA listened to the concerns that past Summit attendees expressed through survey responses and as a result is shaking up the format and programming for the Summit. At this year’s event, there will be no sit-and-get breakout sessions, and there will be no death-by-PowerPoint. Instead, CEDFA is carving out time for you to combine your creative energies with those of your colleagues across disciplines to address current challenges in your classrooms.

Collaborate Through Hands-On Sessions We invite you to engage your colleagues through professional learning communities and expose the issues standing in the way of teaching and reaching all your students. Together, you will learn and apply the problem-solving approach of design thinking to structure creative work.

Design thinking is a collaborative, prototype-driven practice that involves iterating through ideas, creating samples for how these ideas might work in the real world, testing them to gain feedback, and further refining solutions. During the breakout sessions, you will step through these stages and test your creativity addressing issues in one of nine broad topic areas.

Summit XX topic areas concern the top issues or requests stated on the 2018 Summit survey and include the following: • Classroom Management • Social and Emotional Learning • Cultural Awareness • Technology Integration • Parent/Community Connection • Leadership in Arts Education • Inquiry-based & Project-based Learning • Professional Learning Communities • Inspiration, Wellness, and Renewal Tap Into a Creative Force One of the unique aspects of the Summit is the wide range of fine arts educators present. CEDFA welcomes all fine arts educators who seek to improve as teachers. Attendees hail from a wide range of discipline areas, diverse geographic regions, varied school environments, disparate grade levels, and they possess differing amounts of professional experience. Summit XX will provide opportunities for both novices and experts. In fact, this Summit is an occasion unlike any other to collaborate, network, and grow.

There are no spectators at this year’s event—all voices are welcome.

Join us as we reimagine fine arts professional learning and discover the art of fine arts teaching! Space is limited. Learn more and register early at www.cedfa.org.

Southwestern Musician | May 2019 35

Graduate Courses

Intensive Music Education Courses as Brief as Two Weeks (plus online components)

June 4 to July 5 Introduction to Applications in Music Technology: MUSI 5342 • Dr. Keith Dye (O) Classroom & Rehearsal Behavior Management: MUED 5344 • Dr. Janice Killian (O) Applied Music Literature: Choral Conducting MM: MUAP 5302 • Dr. Alan Zabriskie • M-F 1pm-3pm (L) Conducting Techniques and Analysis I: Choral Conducting MM: MUAP 5306 • Dr. Alan Zabriskie • M-F 3pm-5pm (L) Choral Ensemble: Choral Conducting MM: MUEN 5101 • Dr. Carolyn Cruse • T&Th 6pm-8pm (L)

June 3 to June 14 Teaching Music in Urban Settings: Meeting the Needs of Culturally Diverse Learners: MUED 5344 • Dr. Jacqueline Henninger • 8am-12pm (L,V) Band Conducting Methods: MUAP 5310 • Dr. Eric Allen • 1pm-5pm (L) Foundations of Music Education: MUED 5340 • Dr. Jacqueline Henninger • 1pm-5pm (L,V)

June 17 to June 28 Choral Directors Workshop (during All-State Choir Camp - June 24-29): MUSI 7000 • Dr. Carolyn Cruse • 8am-12pm (L) Band Rehearsals: Strategies to Maximize Student Engagement and Development: MUSI 7000 • Dr. Keith Dye • 8am-12pm (L,V) Graduate Theory Review with AP Primer: MUTH 5300 • Dr. Peter Fischer • 1pm-5pm (L) Learning & Music: MUED 5332 • Dr. Janice Killian • 1pm-5pm (L,V)

July 8 to July 19 Vocal Choral Pedagogy: Voice-Building in the Choral Rehearsal: MUED 5325 • Dr. Carolyn Cruse • 8am-12pm (L,V) Styles in Wind Literature of the 19th & 20th Centuries: MUTH 5305 • Dr. Peter Martens • 8am-12pm (L,V) Tests & Measurements: MUED 5333 • Dr. Janice Killian • 1pm-5pm (L,V)

July 9 to August 9 Advanced Applications of Technology in Music Education: MUSI 5343 • Dr. Keith Dye (O) Topics in Orchestral Music Education: Rehearsal Strategies for the MS and HS School Orchestra: MUED 5327 • Dr. Blair Williams (O) Graduate Music History Review: MUHL 5300 • Dr. Stacey Jocoy (O)

O = online • L = live • V = video conference

TTU Summer-Only Options

• Master’s

in Music Education in Music Education (Distance) • MM in Choral Conducting • Master’s

Early enrollment encouraged for anticipated summer scholarship eligibility.

SUMMER 2019 Performance Camps

MARIACHI CAMP

June 11-14, 2019

June 25-29, 2019

ALL-STATE CHOIR CAMP

July 7-13, 2019

BAND & ORCHESTRA CAMP

B Y

J E D

VOCAL NOTES

R A G S D A L E

You made it!

W

May—Attend your spring Region meeting (see page 2).

May—TMEA membership year opens for online and mail/email submission.

May–June 1—Submit proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

May 1—Texas Music Scholar award materials postmark deadline.

May 10—Deadline for 2020 Convention Performing Choir application and recording upload.

June 13–14—CEDFA Summit XX, Austin Airport Hilton.

June 30—All 2018–2019 TMEA memberships expire.

July 25–27—TCDA Convention in San Antonio.

August 1—Deadline for waivers to the audition process to be received at TMEA headquarters.

February 12–15, 2020—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

hether it’s your first or forty-first, you’ve made it through a year of teaching, and you are a resounding success! All (or hopefully the majority) of your students will be promoted to the next grade or will graduate from high school and their success has been greatly influenced by your guidance. You may not feel like you’ve contributed to the success of your students on campus, or perhaps even in your own classroom, but you have! You need to be proud of that, regardless of UIL ratings or percentage of All-State or Region audition participation. And, whether or not the boys’ choir can actually sit still and be quiet for 15 seconds, you’ve still had a hand in their overall success!

The question is, do you feel good about that? Do you even realize your part in their lives? We all teach students who we also find ourselves counseling, helping with auditions or UIL competitions, or watching at one of their extracurricular performances or competitions. We also have students we barely say a word to, and this is something I try to fight every day. I make a point at least to say hello to those students who are in the room from bell to bell, but whom I never see before school, during lunch, or after school. These students receive the same fine arts credit as those who seem to never leave the room. Most have

You have a positive, lifelong influence on each student who enters your classroom.

Therefore, you are a success and you, indeed, make a difference in each of your students’ lives.

Southwestern Musician | May 2019 39

chosen to be a part of your class. Celebrate these students as often as you can.

I started a Friday tradition in each choir, called “Friday Brags.” This is a time for students to tell of a success from beyond our rehearsal walls during the past week.

“My pig sold at the FFA show last weekend!” Two claps. “I scored a goal during our soccer match!” Two claps. “I made a 98 on my AP Chemistry test!” Two claps. “I made a 76 on my Algebra II test, and that’s amazing for me.” Two resounding claps, a few whoops and hollers and a “Way to go, dude!” Does it take time out of rehearsal?

Yes. Does it rejuvenate and validate your students? Absolutely. I don’t wait until the end of the period. We do it right after warm-ups or sightreading, guaranteeing everyone gets to brag. Yes, you will need

to moderate at times when they start bragging about going to Denny’s and getting a Grand Slam breakfast the night before.

Regardless, find a way to celebrate success.

We display choir officers’ pictures on the wall. I started a chamber choir, and they also get their group picture on the wall.

All-State members have their pictures on the wall. However, we also need to realize that not every student wants their picture on the wall and they don’t all want to brag about something on Friday. Some just quietly want to know someone cares and will always care about them, even when they slip up a bit, or fall completely. End class a minute early so you can approach that student and ask them how they are doing.

Make sure you get to a positive place with

Convention Proposals Due June 1

You Are a Success Can you save everyone? The answer is that you may never know, but you can still do your best to positively influence them, and when it’s time to send them on their way, you say a little prayer and hope for the best. Don’t lose sleep over it. You might lose some sleep because you stay up or wake up early to plan for what’s next, but don’t dwell on what you can no longer control.

I was in a local pharmacy recently and bumped into two former students. One, a 2008 graduate, was in line with me and we caught up. He joined choir his senior year because some friends convinced him to, and despite his late arrival, he earned a solo spot in the spring pop show, playing guitar while he sang. We reminisced about his singing “Closing Time” and laughed, recalling how he had to change the lyrics from “One last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer,” to “One last call

Small School All State July 22-23 • $40

Enrollment Form: UTPB.edu/Choral-Camp-SS

Si

gn

up

TO

D

AY

!

Submit Clinic and Music Showcase Proposals for TMEA’s 2020 Convention, February 12–15.

them, and then tell them how wonderful it is, even if it’s someone you had to write up the week before. This interaction will help the needed healing process between the two of you.

Large School All State July 29-31 • $70 Enrollment Form: UTPB.edu/Choral-Camp

ity n rtu nce o Invites you to All State Choir Camp pp elle e O Exc r e 9AM - 4PM • Lunch provided each day • All events at the Wagner h ets W Nöel Performing Arts Center • 432-552-3286 • Music@utpb.edu Me 40 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

s r e t a t All-S . y l r a E t .

Star ith HSU rted w a t s t e G

June 23-26 2019

ALL-STATE CHOIR CAMP

at Hardin-Simmons University We invite all high school vocalists with the desire to advance their technique and get an early start on ALL the All-State Choir music to participate.

CONDUCTORS Dr. Dee Romines & Dr. Matthew P. Fritz

REGISTER ONLINE BY JUNE 10: www.hsutx.edu/choircamp

REGISTRATION FEES

QUESTIONS?

Resident ................................................. $325 Commuter .............................................. $275 Late Registration (after June 10).......+ $25 All-State Choir Member Discount ......-$100 $50 non-refundable deposit toward tuition

Dr. Dee Romines: dromines@hsutx.edu

COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS

for chocolate bars so finish your Hershey’s or Twix.” Now he’s married and a father, and he works as a mechanical engineer.

He explained to me that the one year he was in choir is his fondest memory of high school. We shook hands and parted ways; it was my turn to check out. Then the young man behind the counter said, “You may not remember me . . .” I looked up and said his name, which surprised him.

He had also been in choir only one year, his junior year, then he seemingly fell off the face of the earth. He recounted, “Yeah, I wasn’t the best kid, but I remember you trying to make us better.” I have only a few memories of him and one is of the day he stormed out of rehearsal cursing because I wouldn’t let him go to the bathroom. Another memory was of him being called into the assistant principal’s office and not returning for a long while. As we briefly chatted, he apologized, and he told me about the different jobs he’d worked.

He said that he was a lot better now, even if he was 30 years old and working the cash register at the pharmacy. I told him to not worry about the past. The reality is that I was proud of him.

I relayed that life takes us on some twists and turns, but we navigate through them, albeit with some bumps, bruises, and scars along the way. He smiled. I still see him occasionally when I visit that pharmacy, and we continue to chat and exchange pleasantries. Back in 2006, I never would have thought that could ever be the case.

We all have students who come back and visit and students we never see again.

Within five minutes, I encountered two whom I hadn’t seen in the 10 years since they left the choir room. Most of the time, the impact we have on any student isn’t obvious. What we need to remember is that we are always influencing them. You have a positive, lifelong influence on each student who enters your classroom. Therefore, you are a success and you, indeed, make a difference in each of your students’ lives. Let that be your thought at “Closing Time” when you lock that classroom door for the summer. Take a deep breath before that first step toward your car with keys in hand and remind yourself—we made it!

Spring Region Meetings Please be sure to attend your Region meeting as you close your year. The schedule of meetings is on page 2. Many decisions are made at this meeting concerning the next school year. To be an active part of the decision-making process for your Region, you have to show up!

Invited Performing Group Deadline Nears May 10 is the deadline to submit an online application and complete the recording upload to be considered for selection as an Invited Performing Choir at our 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

Applicants will be reviewed by a committee of choir directors who are repre-

sentative of the categories submitted for consideration. An effort will be made to include choirs from as many classifications and geographic locations as possible.

Propose a Clinic for the 2020 TMEA Convention After reading through our convention survey responses, it’s clear that our members want clinics to be presented by Texas teachers who are in situations like theirs.

It might seem obvious, but the best way we can accomplish this is by having many more clinics proposed by Texas teachers like you! Consider the following topics that attendees who teach choir report are important to them. If you know of strategies that have been effective in these areas, think about how you could offer that expertise and experience via a clinic or ask the same of a colleague who you believe could offer a successful clinic. For more information on submitting and details about the selection process, please read the information provided on page 19 of this issue.

The top clinic topic requests by attendees who teach choir: • Rehearsal techniques • Teaching methods • Repertoire selection • Classroom management • Technology integration • Conducting techniques • Recruiting and retention • Urban/rural challenges and solutions Keep Learning This Summer Multiple opportunities exist for continued learning and rejuvenation this summer. See page 35 for more details on the Center for Educator Development in the Fine Arts Summit XX, featuring handson sessions where you will participate in engaging discussions to address issues of classroom management, social and emotional learning, cultural awareness, technology integration, and much more.

I look forward to seeing you at the summer TCDA Convention in San Antonio, July 25–27. This event is always such a great way to reconnect and get recharged for a new year!

42 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

TCU SCHOOL OF MUSIC

OG R F D E N R 2019 HO

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SESSIONS JULY 14-17, 2019

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SECTION LEADERS CHRIS AHRENS NORTH MCKINNEY HIGH SCHOOL MICHAEL DEAN TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL KAY OWENS MARTIN HIGH SCHOOL MARK ROHWER FLOWER MOUND HIGH SCHOOL CHERYL WILSON GARLAND HIGH SCHOOL

FOR REGISTRATION INFO, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.CHOIRCAMP.TCU.EDU Find us on facebook @TCUChoirCamp

Lynn University’s Conservatory of Music offers Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Professional Performance Certificate programs.

Dean Jon Robertson Artist faculty Woodwinds Jeffrey Khaner, flute Joseph Robinson, oboe Jon Manasse, clarinet Eric Van der Veer Varner, bassoon Brass Marc Reese, trumpet Gregory Miller, French horn Dan Satterwhite, trombone Kenneth Amis, tuba

Instrumental Collaborative Piano Lisa Leonard Talented students choose Lynn for:

Strings Elmar Oliveira, violin Carol Cole, violin Guillermo Figueroa, violin Ralph Fielding, viola David Cole, cello Timothy Cobb, double bass

• Our distinguished faculty • Specialized chamber music program • Full-tuition scholarships* for all enrolled students

Harp Deborah Fleisher Chamber Music Chauncey Patterson Composition Thomas McKinley

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Piano Roberta Rust

Wind Ensemble Kenneth Amis, music director and conductor

+1 561-237-9001 | lynn.edu/music *Room and board scholarships also available to eligible students Lynn University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, pregnancy or parenting status, veteran status or retirement status in its activities and programs. In accordance with Title IXof the Education Amendments of 1972, Lynn University does not discriminate on the basis of sex. Inquiries concerning the application of the non-discrimination policy may be directed to the University Compliance Officer/Title IX Coordinator at 3601 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton, FL 33431; via email at titleixcoordinator@lynn.edu; by phone at +1 561-237-7727 or to the U.S. Dept. of Education OCR. Lynn University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call +1 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Lynn University. © 2019 Lynn University

How the Busiest People Alive Thrive

By Lisa Garner Santa and Shauna Kay Thompson

D

o you often feel like you don’t have enough time to get everything done or find yourself experiencing an overwhelming level of stress?

While we aren’t medical doctors, physical therapists, or mental health care providers, we have explored and directly experienced enhanced wellness from a variety of practices and are pleased to share what we’ve learned. We hope it can help others who have demanding jobs with great responsibilities.

Burnout is prevalent among music educators. Dr. Lynn Cooper (Midwest Clinic, December 2004) sited discipline issues, school reform and change, curricular issues, lack of support, low pay, excess paperwork, and multiplicity of roles as the primary causes of burnout. Music educators are often led to believe that the harder and longer you work, the more you will accomplish. We believe that more intentional activities, coupled with self-care, will allow for more productive days, a longer career, and a more balanced life. Four essential elements require our focus to ensure better overall wellness: nutrition, sleep, exercise, and mental health.

Consider the following five-pronged strategy and some pragmatic approaches within each that can help bring these elements into your work life:

Set Appropriate Boundaries These days, it’s easy to allow students, parents, and colleagues to gain access to us 24/7. If we don’t protect our personal time, we can quickly develop a feeling of burnout. To determine what’s appropriate for you, first identify your priorities. Make a list of 3–5 priorities in your life and get specific. Rather than simply naming family as a priority, document something like “spend one hour of intentional, uninterrupted time with my family most evenings.”

How you spend your time should reflect your list of priorities to create a more intentionally balanced life.

Sleep is an area where we all must build protective boundaries. Research tells us that adults need a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night and some people need more. Sleep is necessary for your brain to function at its highest capacity, your digestive system to run smoothly, and your muscles to recover from fatigue created by exercise or long work days. To protect your sleep, think whimsically and treat yourself like

Wellness Tools to Fuel Teaching and Prevent Burnout

Southwestern Musician | May 2019 45

a toddler! Determine your bedtime to ensure you get the needed amount of sleep, and set an alarm to remind yourself to begin your bedtime routine to support that schedule. Eliminate screen time, particularly on your phone and social media, right before sleep. Even if you haven’t finished everything on today’s to-do list, remind yourself it will be there tomorrow and that you need adequate sleep to work through it more efficiently.

Conversely, it can be helpful to acknowledge there will be periods when this balance is impossible. Instead of feeling like you’re failing, plan for those times of intentional imbalance. For example, you may need to reduce family time during competition week, so commit to spend more time with them and less time at work the following week.

Make Nutritious Meals and Snacks The food you put into your body turns into the energy that fuels your work day and mental thought processes. In our fast-paced days, many of us struggle to find the time to eat balanced meals frequently throughout the day. Here are three simple steps you can take this week: Eat More Frequently: Whether you’re trying to lose weight or can’t seem to find time in your day, it is tempting to skip meals.

When you sleep at night, your body goes into a state of fasting,

46 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

and your metabolism slows down. Your metabolism won’t increase again until you eat your first meal of the day. This is why breakfast is critical! After you break your fast, your metabolism will rise, allowing nutrients to be broken down and used by your body and facilitating weight loss, if that is one of your goals. To maintain your active metabolism, eat at least every 2.5–3 hours throughout the day. This will also eliminate the “brain fog” or afternoon crash we often experience.

Prepare: When trying to eat more frequently, it might be tempting to grab the most readily available food. Do a little prep work the weekend or evening before to ensure the most accessible food isn’t something out of a vending machine and instead contains balanced nutrients. Unless advised by your doctor to avoid some food group, try to eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates throughout the day to allow your body to process the nutrients. You don’t need to cram all your vegetables into one salad at lunch; eat them in smaller portions, several times through the day. Snacks are equally as valuable as sit-down meals!

Some of our favorite snack ideas as we transition between classes include hard boiled eggs, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, chopped fruit, nuts, and yogurt.

Beware of Added Sugars: In our American diets, there are many packaged foods, even some claiming to be health foods, that contain excess amounts of added sugar. Different from naturally occurring sugars in foods such as fruit, added sugar has an addictive quality. One of the ways we most frequently consume these added sugars is through soft drinks. Whether real soda with sugar or diet soda with artificial sweeteners, these drinks keep us addicted to sugar and cause sweet cravings all day. Try replacing

soda with carbonated water or black coffee. It might take some time to break the habit, but once you do, you will notice fruits and vegetables tasting much fresher and sweeter.

Incorporate Fit Breaks Taking 5–10-minute exercise breaks can change your physical and mental state and help prevent injury from the repetitive movements often experienced by conductors and instrumentalists. It’s easy to find an excuse not to exercise (it’s too hot, I’m out of shape, I’m not flexible, I’m too busy). With short fit breaks you’ll build basic strength and mobility without even breaking a sweat! Here are a few ideas: Breath of Joy: Inhale (not fully) through the nose as you swing the arms forward and parallel to the earth, inhale through the nose more as you swing the arms open to the sides, and finish inhaling through the nose a third time as you swing the arms up and overhead. Exhale through the mouth in one big sigh as you fold your body over. Repeat several times at a pace that feels appropriate for your fitness level. This exercise saturates the blood with oxygen while releasing tension in the shoulders and hips, leaving you feeling energized and mentally alert.

Empty Coat Sleeves: Imagine you have a raincoat on that is about three sizes too big. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth as you rotate your torso to the right allowing the arms to spiral out from the body and then flop around and onto it. Then immediately rotate left, allowing your floppy arms to follow. This breathwork, along with the twisting in the torso, will help improve the natural detoxification processes of the body while also providing an energetic pick-me-up.

Neck and Shoulder Mobility: From a seated or standing position, reach your left fingertips toward the ground as you take your right ear toward your right shoulder—for a deeper stretch, apply gentle pressure to the left side of your head with your right hand.

Repeat on the other side. While standing, interlace fingers in front of you, and then rotate the palms away from the body. Press through the palms as you round the torso, broadening the space between your shoulder blades in your upper back. Return to neutral. Clasp your hands behind you. As you straighten your arms, draw the shoulder blades toward each other, opening your chest.

Hand and Wrist Health: Rotate wrists in circles, alternating directions. Gently flex the wrist—assist the stretch by gently drawing the back of the hand toward the torso with the opposite hand.

Gently extend the wrist—assist the stretch by gently drawing the fingers toward the body with the opposite hand. Repeat on the other side.

Three Minutes of Silence This simple practice is like restarting your computer. Find a quiet place, and if that’s not possible, use noise reducing head-

phones. Set a timer for three minutes. Sit comfortably upright or lay flat on the floor in silence. You are likely to notice that your mind races, perhaps even listing all the things you need to get done. This is okay. Don’t try to limit your thoughts or stop them.

Just bring your awareness to your breath. Notice your breath and all the sensations related to it. If you notice that you’ve returned to your other thoughts, just gently come back to the breath. Three minutes may feel like a long time at first. As you become comfortable with being still for even a few minutes, your body and mind will learn to easily relax and release tension. Just three minutes of silence can help clear the mind and renew a sense of energy.

Make Positive Affirmations Inviting positive affirmations into your day doesn’t mean that you have to accept a Pollyanna mindset. Positive affirmations are a way to focus your thinking and your action toward creating a productive and supportive internal environment.

If you notice yourself complaining about a situation or assuming others have negative thoughts about you, take a moment to craft a statement that inspires a positive outcome. For example, if you’re prone to thinking that you are a disappointment, think instead, “I enjoy developing my skills as an educator.” If you find yourself craving fast food, consider thinking, “I choose to eat foods that nourish my body and mind.” Start affirmations with an “I” statement, followed by an action that moves you in the direction you desire to go. Write statements on cards that you can keep in your wallet or purse or display them where you can easily refer to them when you are in the moment of choice.

Putting It into Practice Every month is busy for educators, but May offers its additional challenges, with end-of-year activities and the task of keeping your students and yourself fully engaged through the last day. During this final month of the year, practice at least one of these ideas offered. Then, over summer break, take advantage of the slower pace to incorporate more of them into your daily life. Your break from the classroom should be an opportunity for restoration, so take that time to focus on improving your overall wellness to help lessen future feelings of burnout.

Lisa Garner Santa is Professor of Flute at Texas Tech University and Shauna Kay Thompson is Assistant Professor of Flute at Texas Christian University.

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Check out our magazine article submission guidelines at www.tmea.org/magazine Southwestern Musician | May 2019 47

ELEMENTARY NOTES

B Y

A B I G A I L

H A W E S

In Memoriam Joshua Flores March 9, 1977–February 3, 2019

Moments that matter

L

ike many of you, I have been assigned school duties outside my regular classroom. It’s often during that morning bus lane duty or breakfast line supervision that students ask me questions about what their particular class will get to do or learn about in music that day. But, by far, my favorite are the ones who excitedly stop me and exclaim, “I get to come to music today!”

Some students radiate that sense of joy and expectation year-round. However, there are times when that may not be the case. I’ve found that it’s the students in higher grade levels who are often the ones who begin to lose steam this time of year. How can we keep that enthusiasm going strong, filling our few moments left with them for the year with meaningful musical experiences?

If you find yourself in such a predicament this May, fear not! Many times, just approaching things from a different perspective, shaking things up a bit, or trying out a new activity can reinvigorate those classes that might need a little push! While you may have similar practices of your own, I’ve found a few endof-year traditions to be particularly helpful when it comes to enlivening older

How can we keep that enthusiasm going strong, filling our few moments left with them for the year with meaningful musical experiences?

48 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

May—Attend your spring Region meeting (see page 2).

May—TMEA membership year opens for online and mail/email submission.

May–June 1—Submit proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

June 13–14—CEDFA Summit XX, Austin Airport Hilton.

June 15—Deadline for 2020 Convention Performing group application and online recording upload (choirs and instrumental).

June 30—All 2018–2019 TMEA memberships expire.

July 25–27—TCDA Convention in San Antonio.

February 12–15, 2020—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

students as their thoughts turn toward the approaching summer.

A multiday collaborative composition project is one activity I save for this final quarter of the year. Students choose their small groups and create original percussion compositions using classroom percussion. They write and rehearse during class, and on the final day, they perform!

You might even audio-record and post the performance on your teacher webpage (if possible) for others to hear.

Another way to involve older students is by putting them to work! In my school district, two classes combine for each music class period. While teaching a classroom of 44 first graders can be a wild ride any month of the year, as you’ve likely experienced, May certainly presents unique challenges! Consider utilizing “Guest Music Teachers”—fourth and fifth graders whose lunch/recess time is during firstgrade music time. Depending on the student’s comfort level, they could either help

desperately want to play the “Wolf Game” on their final day in fifth-grade music!

As another school year comes to a close, I wish you and your students many more enthusiastic musical moments. Whether with your outgoing fifth graders or those kindergartners (who don’t seem so little anymore!), remember that they get to see you today. Make the moments matter!

Best wishes to you and your students as you prepare to complete another year of musical learning. May the summer be filled with all your favorite things—rest, recharge, and now, getting ready for TMEA’s Centennial year!

Attend Your Spring Region Meeting If you haven’t already, please plan to attend your upcoming Region meeting (see page 2 for details). If you’re not sure which Region you’re in, go to www.tmea.org/findmyregion to look up your Region number and meeting information.

Whether with your outgoing fifth graders or those kindergartners (who don’t seem so little anymore!), remember that they get to see you today. Make the moments matter! hand out “behavior bucks” (if your school has a behavior incentive like this in place) or even assist you with a lesson segment.

You’ll find they really enjoy getting to play the games and sing the songs they learned with you in their younger years! This was particularly true in my case, which leads to another one of my favorite May traditions: “Flashback Friday.”

Not just for Fridays, a flashback day is held on whatever day of the week I see that class of fifth graders for the final time before they leave for middle school.

Consequently, I might call it a “Throwback Thursday” or even “Wayback Wednesday” if it falls on either one of those.

Leading up to this very special day, students brainstorm and list as many activities as they can remember from the years they were in a music class I taught. Then, on their final class day, the class celebrates by participating in as many of those activities as possible in the given class time. It truly is a special way to send those students off to middle school, and each year I’m surprised at the number of students who so 50 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

The spring and fall Region meetings are fantastic opportunities to hear the latest in TMEA news, as well as to stay in contact with other teachers in your Region. Take this opportunity to share and reflect on the past year with your colleagues. While some Regions might have a clinician lined up for this day, others might host a simple and quick “share session” after the general membership meeting. Why not encourage each attendee to come prepared with one idea to share with the elementary members in attendance? Whether it’s a game, a website, a song, a procedure, or even one of those important end-of-year behavior management incentives, everyone in attendance leaves with at least one new trick in their bag for those final weeks of school.

Call for Clinic Proposals Speaking of sharing, clinic proposals for next year’s convention are now being accepted. Do you know someone who might need a little encouragement to take the plunge and send in their proposal?

Contact them soon and urge them to go

for it! Have you and a colleague (or two) always thought about getting together to present at TMEA? Let this be the year you finally submit. And, if you’re reading this and are thinking of submitting a proposal yourself, consider this your little nudge to do so.

Wondering what kinds of clinics members look for when choosing from among each year’s lineup? Based on our recent survey results, elementary division attendees are most eager to attend sessions addressing the following topics: • Teaching methods • Classroom management • Technology integration • Rehearsal techniques • Special needs instruction • Repertoire selection • Instrument methods • Urban/rural challenges and solutions Clinic proposals are now being accepted online at www.tmea.org/clinicproposals through June 1. Let’s not let the vast wealth of expertise, experience, and innovation within our great state of Texas go untapped—please consider sharing your time and talents with our membership at next year’s convention. Don’t delay—apply today! I look forward to reviewing this year’s clinic proposals very soon.

Please see page 19 for more details on the Executive Board’s focus on clinic proposals and the selection process.

Apply to Perform at the 2020 TMEA Convention Please thoughtfully consider applying to bring your instrumental or vocal ensemble to perform at next year’s convention where we will celebrate TMEA’s Centennial! You’ll certainly inspire other members by sharing your wealth of experience in the form of a TMEA performance, and your students will leave with memories to last a lifetime.

Applications for Invited Elementary Performing Groups are now being accepted online through June 15. Questions? Please visit www.tmea.org/elementaryapplication for more information concerning this process, or email elementaryvp@tmea.org.

TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC

SCHOLARSHIP AUDITIONS Scholarships are available for both music and non-music majors.

These awards are intended to provide recognition for scholarship and talent in the study of music.

For specific qualifications for each award, visit

www.tlu.edu/music-scholarships.

SCHOOL OF MUSIC DEPARTMENT HEADS

Wei Chen Bruce Lin

Douglas R. Boyer

Deborah Mayes

Director, School of Music and Director of Choral Activities dboyer@tlu.edu 830-372-6869 or 800-771-8521

Choral Accompanist

Beth Bronk

Asst. Professor, Collaborative Pianist

Director of Bands bbronk@tlu.edu

Eliza Jeffords

Carla McElhaney

Kurt Moede Instructor, Horn

Keith Robinson Instructor, Tuba & Music Education

Jill Rodriguez

Director of Strings ejeffords@tlu.edu

Instructor, General Music

Robert Mark Rogers

FACULTY

Asst. Professor, Bassoon

Mark Ackerman

Shaunna Shandro

Instructor, Oboe

Asst. Professor, Voice

Adam Bedell Instructor, Percussion

Individual audition dates may be requested if necessary.

Instructor, Saxophone & Jazz Band

Instructor, Double Bass

Director of Vocal Studies sconoly@tlu.edu Director of Piano Studies edaub@tlu.edu

Sunday, May 19, 2019 | 1-3 p.m.

Scott McDonald

David Milburn

Shaaron Conoly

Eric Daub

SCHOLARSHIP AUDITION DATES:

Asst. Professor, Piano

Carol Chambers Instructor, Music Education

Paula Corley

Eric Siu Asst. Professor, Violin

Sophie Verhaeghe Instructor, Violin

Steven Vogel

Instructor, Clarinet

Jeanne Gnecco

Instructor, Trombone & Euphonium

Instructor, Flute

Robert Warren

Chad Ibison

Asst. Professor, Piano, General Music & Music History

Asst. Professor, Guitar

Monica Kang-Sasaki Asst. Professor, Piano; Collaborative Pianist

Lance Witty Asst. Professor, Trumpet

Elizabeth Lee Asst. Professor, Cello

BACHELOR OF MUSIC IN ALL-LEVEL MUSIC EDUCATION | BACHELOR OF MUSIC IN PERFORMANCE | BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MUSIC

tlu.edu/music

Have a great summer break!

The TMEA staff and Executive Board hope you enjoy a restorative and rejuvenating break from the classroom!

52 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

TMEA values the opportunity to publish a magazine that informs members of association news, offers them sound pedagogical concepts, and results in an archival record of our history. Our sincere gratitude goes to the following companies and institutions that advertised with us in one or more of the issues in Volume 87, making this resource possible.

THANK YOU, ADVERTISERS! Abilene Christian Univ Alfred Music Publishing All Things Musical Allegro Apparel & Plaques, LLC Alvin Community College Amati Violin Shop, Inc. American Way Marketing, LLC Austin College Austin Community College BAC Musical Instruments Baylor Univ Belmont Univ School of Music Blast of Brass Blinn College Bocal Majority Bassoon Camp, LLC Boptism Music Breezin’ Thru Inc. Brigham Young Univ School of Music Bucket Drumming BYU-Idaho Department of Music Carnegie Hall Carnegie Mellon Univ School of Music Clark W. Fobes CodaBow Cousin’s Concert Attire Dallas Symphony Association David Brewer Fine Violins Del Mar College Director’s Choice Disney Theatrical Productions East Texas Baptist Univ Educational Steel Products, LLC Foundation for the Advancement of String Education Floot Fire Inc. Forrests Music, Inc. Fort Worth Youth Orchestra Foundation for Music Education Frank 'n' Strings Gray Line Gatherings Plus

Hal Leonard Hardin-Simmons Univ Houston Masterworks Chorus Howard Payne Univ Idyllwild Arts Summer Program Ithaca College Lamar Univ Lawrence Univ Lone Star Percussion Lung Trainers, LLC Luther College Lynn Univ Macie Publishing Company Malmark, Inc. MarchingApparel.com Mark Custom Recording Service, Inc. Mighty Music Publishing Mika Hasler Competition Music & Arts Music in The Parks Music Is Elementary MusicFirst N-Tune Music and Sound NiceChart Inc. Northwestern State Univ Oklahoma City Univ P.A.C.E. Travel Palm Beach Atlantic Univ Peripole, Inc. Print Music Source QuaverMusic.com RDG Woodwinds, Inc. Rhythm Band Instruments, LLC RhythmBee, Inc. Richland College Roosevelt University Sam Houston State Univ Scents of Soy Smoky Mountain Music Festival Southwest Strings

Southwestern Univ Stanbury Uniforms, Inc. Stephen F. Austin State University Tarrant County College Northeast Tenor Madness Texas A&M International Univ Texas A&M Univ/Commerce Texas A&M Univ/Corpus Christi Texas A&M Univ/Kingsville Texas Association for Symphony Orchestras Texas Choral/Orchestra/Band Associations Texas Christian Univ Texas Flute Society Texas Lutheran Univ Texas State Univ Texas Tech Univ Texas Wesleyan Univ Texas Woman’s Univ The Houston Saengerbund Trinity Univ Univ of Central Oklahoma Univ of Houston Univ of Mary Hardin-Baylor Univ of Miami Univ of New Mexico Univ of North Texas UT/Arlington UT/Austin Butler School of Music UT/El Paso UT/Permian Basin UT/Rio Grande Valley UT/San Antonio UT/Tyler Valiant Music Supply Inc Wayland Baptist Univ West Music West Texas A&M Univ Yamaha Yokebreaker Productions Young Audiences, Inc. of Houston Southwestern Musician | May 2019 53

COLLEGE NOTES

B Y

V I C K I

B A K E R

In Memoriam Kyle David Stoetzel May 4, 1998–April 1, 2019

What are your plans?

O

ne of the priorities in pre-service educator preparation is teaching students to write and implement lesson plans. We stress the importance of writing student learning objectives using behavioral verbs, aligning curricular goals with the TEKS, and incorporating appropriate assessment instruments. We share adages, such as “Failing to plan is planning to fail,” “Plan your work and work your plan,” and “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

MacKenzie Masten, an affiliate of Assessment and Curriculum Development (ascd.org) described the process of lesson planning as follows: Teachers are constantly thinking with the end in mind for every standard and strand. Trajectories, pacing guides, and scope and sequences, you have thoroughly planned your teaching moments accounting for each mini lesson. You know exactly how much time you have and you over plan trying to predict how each student will respond. You even search out the best manipulative possible to try to make sure learning will occur in each little mind.

While lesson planning is a critical part of the instructional process, we should carefully evaluate our answer to the question Can effective instruction occur without careful planning? As you think about that, consider the following story.

When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.

—Chinese Proverb 54 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

May—Attend your spring Region meeting (see page 2).

May—TMEA membership year opens for online and mail/email submission.

May–June 1—Submit proposals for the 2020 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

June 30—All 2018–2019 TMEA memberships expire.

October 15—Call for Papers deadline.

February 12–15, 2020—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

Travel Plans My husband, Mark, invited me to travel with his high school choir to Canada over spring break. Being a native Texan, I could hardly turn down the opportunity to see snow (failing to consider the subzero temperatures that would be part of the package). The curricular goal of the trip was to perform in two basilicas—one in Quebec City and one in Montreal. The performances required extensive planning, including locating a venue, scheduling a date and time, selecting the repertoire, getting program approval, and preparing the music. As a result of well-designed instructional preparation, the choir’s performances were stellar.

But as the trip continued, I watched the students derive great benefit from teachable moments—unplanned, fleeting educational opportunities that a teacher senses and seizes. The first teachable moment occurred when the students stood in a chapel made of huge blocks of ice and sang “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” A silence fell across the crowd of tourists as their voices resounded off the walls of ice. That was probably the most unique place they had ever sung and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. An additional teachable moment arose when the choir was touring the Old North Church in Boston, and they spontaneously sang “Adoramus Te,” while standing next to the pews where some of the great leaders of our country had worshiped. They got

to perform in a place of great historical significance, dating back to the American Revolution, because their teacher seized the opportunity.

But it did not end there . . .

Cross-Curricular Plans As we traveled from Boston to Canada and back, I noticed how much learning was taking place without the guidance of a lesson plan. Cross-curricular objectives abounded. The students were in a country in which the residents spoke French, so they had to figure out how to communicate in a foreign language. All the students regularly used bonjour and merci, but the shoppers in the group expanded their vocabulary to include combien (how much). I also noted that they were particularly motivated to pick up the local language whenever they were trying to order from a menu written in French.

Hamburger, crêpes, and croissants were recognizable, but those who wanted to extend their culinary choices had to learn pépites de poulet (chicken nuggets) and les frites (french fries).

The students had many opportunities to increase their math skills. Canadian currency is different from that in the United States, and had a variable exchange rate. For example, $1.00 (Canadian) = $0.75 (US).

Distance was measured in kilometers, rather than miles (1.0 km = 0.62 miles).

Temperatures were reported in Celsius, not Fahrenheit (freezing point: 0°C = 32°F).

Students were having to translate and convert to understand and navigate the world around them.

Science was also addressed, as the students had a firsthand experience of dealing with the harsh climate, learning to avoid frostbite. They learned how to navigate frozen waterways while riding across the St. Lawrence River in a ferry equipped with an ice cutter. A tour guide explained how to design and build a hotel out of blocks of ice. And the list goes on.

The students were immersed in the French-Canadian culture. They listened

Southwestern Musician | May 2019 55

to their music, viewed their architecture, tasted their cuisine, admired their ice sculptures, and attended their religious service. Our Canadian tour guide, Marie, regaled us with stories about the history and traditions of the Quebec people.

So, the answer appears to be: Yes, learning can occur without careful planning.

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills mandates that students make connections between music and other curricular subjects. While music educators are quick to point out how music has a natural connection with science, language arts, history, mathematics, and the other fine arts, it does not necessarily follow that they guide their students to make these connections. However, in the setting of this choir trip, cross-curricular instruction was provided in the moment and was quite effective, even though no lesson plan had been written.

While I remain a staunch advocate for lesson planning, I encourage teachers to be sensitive to teaching moments and maximize those opportunities to enrich their students’ learning.

Convention Plans Have you ever perused the convention preview issue of Southwestern Musician and been disappointed that you did not see any sessions offered on a topic that is of particular interest to you? Now is your opportunity to ensure that does not happen in the upcoming year by submit-

Adler Bassoons F. Lorée Oboes Fox Oboes & Bassoons Fox/Renard Oboes & Bassoons Yamaha Oboes

ting proposals for sessions on the topics that interest you (and encouraging a colleague to do the same).

We depend on our membership to provide session proposals that appeal to members of the College Division. Our division encompasses a broad range of interests, due to the makeup of our members, which includes college faculty members, undergraduate and graduate music students, and future music educators.

Some of the topics that people have expressed interest in are: • Keyboard labs in public schools • Functional keyboard skills for choral directors • Keyboard pedagogy and literature • Preparation of high school students for admission into college music programs • Preparation for college auditions • Teaching fundamentals of music to high school ensemble members • Recruitment and preparation of secondary school private lessons teachers • Accommodations for special needs students in the music classroom • Classroom management training for early career music educators • Study skills for Music EC–12 TExES Exam • Research that is applicable to practitioners

Oboe & Bassoon Rentals Oboe & Bassoon Reeds Reed Making Tools Reed Making Supplies Books & Music Accessories

www.forrestsmusic.com www.facebook.com/forrestsmusic 1849 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94703 800-322-6263 510-845-7178 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM Pacific Time Weekdays 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific Time Saturday 56 Southwestern Musician | May 2019

• Motivating students • Recruitment and retention of student ensemble members • Transition from college to the classroom • Vocal health for music educators • Performance anxiety By the deadline of June 1, go to www.tmea.org/clinicproposals to submit a proposal for the 2020 Clinic/Convention where we will be celebrating TMEA’s Centennial!

Summer Plans Summer is an ideal time to attend professional development conferences.

Texas Choral Directors Association, Texas Orchestra Directors Association, and Texas Bandmasters Association hold concurrent conventions at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, July 25–27.

Certification programs are available in Kodály, Orff, Suzuki, and other areas of specialization. Since summer provides you with some free time, you can read back issues of various music education magazines that you have accumulated during the school year. Read current literature in your field and select some new instructional techniques to incorporate in your teaching.

While public schools close their doors for the summer, university doors remain open and offer various camps for band, choir, and orchestra middle school and high school students. Training opportunities include string techniques, student leadership, vocal jazz, mariachi, and many more.

Attendance at summer camps provides students the opportunity to increase their musical knowledge and enhance their performance skills while working with university faculty. Being on a college campus and interacting with music majors can open students’ minds to the possibility of pursuing a music degree, and they have access to the information they need to prepare for college auditions.

SUMMER CAMPS & WORKSHOPS 2019 Pirastro Strings Elite Soloists Program Friday, May 24 through Friday, May 31 Jeff Bradetich, director

Vocal Jazz Educator Seminar Thursday, June 20 through Saturday, June 22 Jennifer Barnes, director

String Orchestra Day Camp (Grades 2-10) Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14 Elizabeth Chappell, director

Drum Major and Student Leadership Camp Thursday, June 19 through Sunday, June 22 Nicholas E. Williams, director

Keyboard Percussion Workshop Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14 Mark Ford, director

Vocal Jazz Workshop Sunday, June 23 through Friday, June 28 Jennifer Barnes, director

Marching Percussion Camp Sunday, June 9 through Thursday, June 13 Mark Ford, director

All State Choir Camp Sunday, June 30 through Wednesday, July 3 Jessica Nรกpoles, director

Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Friday, June 14 through Saturday, June 15 Stephen F. Austin, director

Jazz Combo Workshop Sunday, July 7 through Friday, July 12 Mike Steinel, director

Flute! Repertoire and Performance Masterclass Friday, June 14 through Sunday, June 16 Mary Karen Clardy, director

UNT Summer String Institute Session 1: Sunday, July 14 through Sunday, July 21 Session 2: Sunday, July 21 through Sunday, July 28 Felix Olschofka and Daphne Gerling, directors

19th Annual Lynn Seaton Jazz Double Bass Workshop Monday, June 17 through Friday, June 21 Lynn Seaton, director 32nd Annual Bradetich Double Bass Masterclass Monday, June 17 through Friday, June 21 Jeff Bradetich, director 19th Annual Beginners and Intermediate Bass Camp Tuesday, June 18 through Friday, June 21 Gudrun Raschen, director

Summer Harp Masterclass Saturday, August 3 Jaymee Haefner, director The Alexander Technique Workshop Saturday, August 3 through Sunday, August 4 Phyllis Richmond, director

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: MUSIC.INFORMATION@UNT.EDU OR CALL 940-565-2791 COMPOSITION | CONDUCTING | ETHNOMUSICOLOGY | JAZZ STUDIES MUSIC EDUCATION | MUSIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP | MUSIC HISTORY MUSIC THEORY | PERFORMANCE | PERFORMING ARTS HEALTH

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