From the Executive Director scott.ketron@wmea.org
NAfME Northwest Division Events: A lot to look forward to! N AfME Northwest Division Conference/ All-Northwest years are amazing. The
where very seat is a good seat. (Tickets for sale on in your Opus registration or on wmea.org) The concert is sponsored by the University of Montana. The band will also be offering up a total of three Jazz Sessions, one on Friday and two on Saturday. A special guest retired professor from the University of Alabama, Mark Malone will be presenting a voice recital/ session Celebrating the Life and Work of African American composer William L. Dawson, featuring a soprano Sylvia Jones. singing examples of Dawson’s songs. We were also able to secure some of the honor group conductors as session presenters thanks to the new honor group schedule. We have sessions featuring honor group conductors, Erin Bodnar, Emily Moss, and Felipe Torres. It is a great year for elementary and general music teachers! Peripole is sponsoring two talented presenters Kalani Das and Chelsea Cook complementing the package is Elementary Headliner Karen Salvador from Michigan State University. Because of the shortened honor group schedule, it is logistically impossible to run the College Fair this year. Colleges will still find some love in a special advertising deal for colleges and universities. That said the Sunday sessions schedule is robust, like Saturday with 5 session blocks! Sunday sessions will run from 8:30 AM to 3:45 PM with the WMEA Junior All-State Concerts beginning at 4:30 PM. READING SESSIONS! Yes, we have hosted reading sessions Thursday evening at 7:30 PM watch for a reception and no host bar that evening. There will be sessions for Band, Orchestra, Choir, and Elementary/ General and Jazz music teachers to kick off the weekend. Check teh schedule in this edition of Voice which will list some details. Music by under recognized arrangers and composers as well as some nuggets that you might not have thought of for a while will be featured in all the reading sessions.
distance across the northwest division is greater than the distance from San Fransico to New York, and yet students and teachers come together to celebrate music and music education from as far as Barrow Alaska to Cheyene Wyoming. At 2,725 miles these two cities are farther
apart than the 2,586 miles separating New York and San Fransico! Not to mention that in some years students come in from remote places like the Aleutian Islands, or any of the communities out on the high plains east of the Rockey Mountains. The 48 th Biannual NAfME Northwest Division Conference in Bellevue, Washington is as diverse as the division that it serves. The honor groups are a center piece of the weekend. This will be our first year together since 2019! The schedule was adjusted this year to keep the WMEA events separate from the NAfME Northwest Honor Groups, except for the WMEA Jr Jazz Band who will be featured with the NW Jazz Band/Choir concert Saturday February 18. With the housing policy changes and an awareness of costs there is one fewer night in hotels. The WMEA All State Concerts conclude on Friday evening while the NAfME All-Northwest concerts will end on Saturday afternoon for the band, orchestra, and choirs. The Jazz Concert will be on Saturday evening. In 2017 leadership was made aware that the difference between performance venues was not ok. Try as we may we were not able to secure a second auditorium as nice as Benaroya Hall. That possibility exists in Seattle, but the other halls are busy. So, we kept everything in Bellevue. With most of the activity at the Meydenbauer Center. The Northwest Choirs (minus the WMEA Choir) will perform in a reconfigured Hyatt Grand Ball Room. There should be
plenty of seats in these separate but equal spaces. You may want to visit www.wmea.org to view the preliminary conference schedule. We look forward to concert hours that feature school groups from Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington ranging from middle school to adult community groups like the PLU Ringers or the Northwest Brass Ensemble. Sammy Miller and the Congregation, an energetic, imaginative band out of New York will wrap up the first full day of sessions with a professional jazz concert In the Meydenbauer Theatre, We are always grateful to Yamaha, Ted Brown Music, JW Pepper, Manhasset Music Stands, Peripole, Hamond Ashley and new this year the West Coast Drum Shop (Formerly Bennett Drums) for providing support in the form of artists, equipment, and music. NAfME graciously has lent us President Scott Sheehan as the Keynote for Northwest Division General Session. It is going to be a great conference. We look forward to seeing you! Session Proposals and Performing Group Auditions for the 2024 WMEA State Conference Open now www.wmea.org SUBMISSION DEADLINE APRIL 15, 2023
Voice of Washington Music Educators Association January 2023
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