Volume 3 Issue 5 Fall 2014

Notices

Collecting Pictures Across Alberta

The Alberta Band Association’s official newsletter is continuing its online format. We are looking forward to continuing the programming that helps Alberta Music Teachers in their profession.

This year our Board of Directors is seeking the support of the bands across Alberta who are taking pictures of your Bands throughout the season. We are asking for FOIP’d photos of your bands on trips, in concerts, or just enjoying rehearsals. These photos will be collected for an upcoming project that will support all Alberta Bands in the future; however, we will need your pictures.

Please post your FOIP’d photos on Facebook, email them, or Tweet them to @AlbertaBandFeed.

If you would like to submit a short story, share your music trip pictures, or suggest that we highlight a musical event that takes place in your area, please feel free to drop us a line.

AWARDS

The Keith Mann Award is presented annually to an outstanding new band director with fewer than 6 years’ teaching experience in the province of Alberta. Created to honour the memory of Keith Mann, the recipient will demonstrate Keith’s enthusiasm and dedication to band music.

The Vondis Miller Legacy Award, which was created in memory of Vondis Miller, is a long-service award recognizing an individual who has devoted many years to sharing the joys of music making with young people.

The Elkhorn Award recipient is chosen by former Elkhorn winners.

Nominations are accepted annually and should be accompanied by supporting documentation.

All three Awards are presented at the MCA Awards Banquet.
ABA members may download the Award Nomination Form.

ZONE REPS
Zone Representatives are responsible for gathering information from people in their area and forwarding it on to Musicom.

If you are interested in being a Zone Rep please contact the ABA.

If there is an ABA member that you know of that deserves recognition, email us and we will feature that person in an upcoming Musicom.

If you have events happening in your area, let us know and we will make mention of the music activities that you have happening.

In this issue:

• Music Conference Alberta 2014
• Upcoming Alberta Junior Honour Bands
   (Northern/ Southern)
• Head Start in southern Alberta Recap
• Collecting Pictures Across Alberta
• Stay Connected

Musicom in Detail:

Music Conference Alberta

ABA, along with ACF and AMEF, is very excited to host a diverse selections of Band sessions for this upcoming Music Conference Alberta this month in Edmonton. Two of the numerous presenters that ABA is looking forward to hosting include:

In 2012, Steve joined the team at Hal Leonard as an Instrumental Editor. At Hal Leonard, he works with the production of instrumental music and educational materials for band and strings. Steve brings his recent teaching experience to Hal Leonard and is using this in the development of the new Essential Elements Interactive website designed to assist teachers and students at the beginning instrumental level.

In 2010, Mr. Smith’s composition Capilano Fanfare was selected in the Dallas Wind Symphony’s Call for Fanfares and received a performance as the opening fanfare for the 2010-2011 concert season. In 2007 Mr. Smith was honored as a “Distinguished Music Educator” by the Yale University School of Music, in conjunction with an international symposium promoting music in the public schools.

Sessions are:

• Getting Started: A Unique Approach to the First Year in Band
• Practical Techniques for Ensemble Intonation
• Reading Session with the University of Lethbridge Wind Orchestra
• Using Technology in the Instrumental Classroom to Teach Essential Elements of Music

Mrs. Wilder is widely recognized as a conductor and clinician, having conducted All-State and Honour Bands throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

Serving as a resource person for in-service sessions, she works with both local and regional school systems and universities. Her clinics on Motivational Techniques for the Beginning Band are often featured at state and national conventions.

Mrs. Wilder taught middle school band at the following schools during her 30-year teaching career: The Lovett School, Woodward Academy and Tapp Middle School. Mrs. Wilder is a contributing editor for the books Do It Band Method by James Froseth and Habits of a Successful Musician by Scott Rush. She is a contributing author for Teaching Music through Performance in Beginning Band, Vol. 1 & 2; and Teaching Music through Performance in Middle School Band; GIA Publications, Inc. Currently Mrs. Wilder serves as a consultant, clinician, author and editor for GIA Publications, Inc.

Sessions are:

• Moving from Beginning Instrumental Classes to Ensemble Performances
• Teaching through Rain, Sleet, Snow and 7^th Grade Fire Drills – Individualized Assessment for the Beginning Band
• You can be a Winner with Beginners

Upcoming Alberta Junior Honour Bands

• Northern Alberta Junior Honour Band
  February 25 – 27, 2015 | Edmonton, Alberta
  Conductor: Brent Pierce
• Southern Alberta Junior Honour Band
  February 11 – 13, 2015 | Calgary, Alberta
  Conductor: David Grimstead

There are two Alberta Junior Honour Bands — north and south. Held in conjunction with respective teachers’ conventions in Edmonton and Calgary, the honour bands provide an advanced, auditioned performance experience for Alberta’s junior high school students. Top music educators in the province lead the students through three days of fun and intensive rehearsals.

The experience culminates in a performance of a number of pieces that the students have prepared in rehearsal.

Selection Procedures will be posted shortly on the ABA website with the 2015 audition forms.

ABA Head Start Clinic Recap

On September 10, 2014 former ABA board member Tara English ran a Head Start clinic for the Three Hills Schools and 8 participating Calgary schools at St. Helena and SJAM junior high schools. With several hundred students all starting instruments together, ABA is proud to continue this event in its 5th year of success.

Following the success of the first Head Start Clinic, ABA member Brian Thorlacius ran a second clinic on October 2^nd for schools who were not able to participate in early September.

If you teach beginner band in the Calgary area, don’t hesitate to register your school at the start of September 2015. Keep a watch on the ABA website early in the school year to sign your students up.

Special thanks to all the teachers who sent students, all the clinicians who taught, St. Helena and SJAM schools for their facilities, and Tara English with support from Brian Thorlasius for organizing the event.

Stay Connected

The best ways to stay connected with the ABA are to: