Hello All!
I hope you had a successful school year and are enjoying a brief
respite before it all begins again!
We have just returned from another very enjoyable ABA Summer
Conference at Orange Beach.
There were approximately 75 directors in attendance this year….down a little
from last year, probably because of the gas prices, but we had a wonderful
time. Along with the ABA
Board and general meeting and the Music Selection Committee work, I found
the clinics to be very informative and helpful.
It was nice to hear Wayne Washam reminisce during his presentation of
our “Old Fogey Series” about his long and productive career.
A special thanks again to Robin Prickett and Art’s Music Shop for
their support of the Conference and the Music Selection Committee.
I hope you will try to attend next
year. The Conference is a
wonderful excuse to bring your family to the beach while improving your
skills and staying in the mainstream of our ABA activities.
I am happy to inform you that the Music Selection
Committee is making significant progress in cleaning and improving our
Cumulative List. Instead of
adding music to the list, the committee worked this summer to reclassify
works and to remove works that are redundant or unavailable.
We are no longer planning on printing a paper copy of the list but
will begin to correct and update it on the ABA web-site. You can then
download and use the list for your own purposes.
Also, be reminded that we are attempting to stem the flow of
directors requesting approval for individual pieces.
This process has become quite
burdensome for our Vice President. Individual
requests must be submitted to Chuck Eady by the second Friday in January for
consideration. The Music
Selection Committee will also meet during the AMEA Conference.
Pieces that are approved on request will not be automatically added
to the Cumulative List but may be approved later by the committee.
Again, I encourage you to make your “required” selection from the
list and then play whatever you want as your second or third selection.
I appreciate your patience and suggestions in preparing
for the upcoming State Assessment.
Many of you are aware now that the schedule for the Alabama High
School Graduation Exam has put us in a very difficult situation for
scheduling our State Assessment.
I will continue to work to make our schedule as agreeable as possible.
Registration for State will still be 21 days prior to the event.
Since that will be before most District Assessments, many of you may
want to pre-register for State Assessment.
Please evaluate your program and purposes and make an early decision
about what you want to do. Those
of you that pre-register but are not recommended for State Assessment will
receive a refund if you notify Gene Gooch by February 23, 2009.
I am encouraged by the progress that we see now from the committee
that was formed to evaluate our State Assessment.
Jim Knight and the committee met at the Summer Conference and with
many of your suggestions has forged a schedule for submitting a plan at
AMEA. Please feel free to
contact Jim or me if you have suggestions towards that effort.
We really want to develop a plan that will best meet the needs of all
our band programs across the State.
Finally, let me encourage you to hang together during
these rough times. I think
students need good band programs now more than ever before.
The Alabama Bandmaster’s Association has a long history of trying to
meet the needs of directors and serving our students.
The wheels sometime seem to turn slowly but we have made careful
progress. I’m hoping that
we will continue as a full organization representing urban, rural, large and
small bands from border to border to improve music education in our great
State. Thank you for all you
do! Call me if I can help you in
any way.
Wishing you much success!
Harry
