Greetings!

This email contains the link to our Fall 2020 OMEA journal, the 2021 All-State audition results, "Music is Key" 2021 Conference Teacher Registration information, OMEA Composition Contest deadline 11/25, and the OMEA Award Nomination deadline.
For more details, continue reading below.
Fall 2020 OMEA Journal
The Fall 2020 Oregon Music Educators Journal is now published.

In response to the ongoing pandemic, OMEA is taking measures to preserve and protect our budget. For the 2020 - 2021 school year, we will not be printing or mailing hard copies of our journal.

We have posted the digital copy of our journal to our website, where you can also view digital copies of past publications.


2021 All-State Audition Results
2021 All-State notification emails have been sent to all teachers from no-reply@opusevent.com. Students and parents did NOT receive a notification email this year, only teachers. Please forward the results to them. If you did not receive your notification email, please see the troubleshooting steps below.

We want to remind you that we are not holding an event in January (no music will be sent, no rehearsals and no performance). We would like to thank all of the screeners from around our state who volunteered their time to provide meaningful feedback for your students; we hope you and your students will find it beneficial in their growth as a musician. See below for specific details and differences between placement and screening for high school versus middle school.
 
For High School
High School students were placed into the ensemble they auditioned for if their scores were at an All-State qualifying level. We are not publishing rankings or chair placements, only whether they would have been accepted into the ensemble or not. We plan to send teachers an email with a PDF file with certificates for students that were accepted/placed into an ensemble. Watch for an email from oregonmusicdirector@gmail.com.

For Middle School
In the interest of providing a positive learning experience and taking into consideration the many challenges we have faced this fall, we are only offering feedback from screeners, we did not place or rank any students into an ensemble. We plan to send teachers an email with a PDF file with certificates for all students that submitted an audition. Watch for an email from oregonmusicdirector@gmail.com.

Email Results Troubleshooting:
If you did not receive a notification email from Opus no-reply@opusevent.com, check the following:
·      Double check which email address your account is associated with for Opus. Whichever email address you use to log into Opus, that is the email address the notification is sent to
·      Once you have confirmed which email address to expect the notification, look for the sender no-reply@opusevent.com – if it’s not in your regular inbox, check your Spam/Junk folder.
·      If after following the above steps, you still cannot locate the email from no-reply@opusevent.com email the OMEA Executive Director, Carolyn Sutton, at oregonmusicdirector@gmail.com to troubleshoot further and/or to have the notification resent.

We have also posted the High School (only) audition results on our website (without the screener comments) Here is direct link to the file

2020-2021 OMEA "Music is Key!" VIRTUAL Conference
Friday, January 15 – Saturday January 16, 2021
Registration Open
OMEA Student Composition Contest
Deadline Extended to November 25
The purpose of an OMEA State Composition Contest is to promote music literacy, music theory, and music composition for students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Compositions may be written in any style or genre and for any solo or combination of instruments or voices (instrumental, choral/vocal, or electronic).
Minimum length of composition:
  • Elementary composers (grades K-5): 1 minute
  • Middle School composers (grades 6-8): 2 minutes
  • High School composers (grades 9-12): 3 minutes
Student compositions must be submitted electronically by an OMEA member teacher on behalf of the student. Teachers must have a google account to complete the form and upload the compositions. Compositions must be in the following formats:
   a. [REQUIRED] A pdf file of the music written in traditional music notation.
       i. Music may be neatly handwritten on staff paper, then photocopied /scanned/photographed and converted to a pdf.
       ii. Music may be written using a computer music writing program (Sibelius, Finale, Notion, etc.) and converted to a pdf.
   b. [Optional, but highly encouraged] A live recording (mp3 file) or an electronic/midi/computer generated performance (mp3 file).

  • Application fee – none.
  • Deadline for submissions November 25, 2020.


Students should be entered into the competition at their 2020-2021 grade level.  Teachers with students in grades K-11 during the 2019-2020 school year may nominate students even if their student will be advancing to a different school or music teacher in 2019-2020.  Graduating students from the class of 2020, however, are not eligible.

Compositions will be assessed and ranked based on the rubric found on the OMEA website.

Winning compositions will also be shared with the public on the official OMEA website.

2021 Composers’ Symposium (High School Only)  
Up to six high school OMEA Composition Contest finalists may be selected to participate in the Composer’s Symposium sponsored by the Oregon Coast Youth Symphony Festival at Newport.  Selected students will receive individual instruction (in-person & via Skype/Zoom) from December through April from professional composer Dr. Dana Reason at OSU.  Students will be able to revise their compositions and have their music performed at the Festival in Newport in April 2021.  Each student participating in the Symposium will receive a $250 scholarship from the Festival and have all expenses paid (motel, food, etc.) during the Symposium.  More information about the OCYS Festival and Composers’ Symposium is available by contacting Dr. Michael Dalton at dr.michael.dalton@gmail.com .

Questions about the OMEA Student Composition Contest?  Contact contest co-chairs, Kathy Briggs at kathy.briggs@smapdx.org or Josh Rist at Rist_Joshua@salkeiz.k12.or.us

OMEA 2021 Award Nominations
Due November
Our annual award nomination submission forms are open online. Deadline to submit nominations is November.

Please consider nominating a deserving teacher, administrator, or music related business member in our state.

Even if you have nominated someone before, and they were not selected, you are welcome to nominate them again for consideration each year.

Award categories are:

Here is the link to the award nomination page on our website for more information and the nomination google form links: https://www.oregonmusic.org/award-nominations-winners.html
Advocacy and Online Resources
Advocacy and Music Education Supports

We all know that music is an essential part of our students’ academic and social-emotional learning. As the music education expert in your building and district, we strongly encourage you to reach out to your leadership, be involved, and advocate for your students, your music colleagues, and yourself. Remind your administrators that music is part of a well-rounded education, as defined at the federal level by the Every Student Succeeds Act. Here are a number of resources for you:
 
 
  • National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Music Directors & Adjudicatorshttps://www.nfhs.org/activities-sports/music/
  • Articles on Performing Arts COVID-19 Guidance, COVID-19 Instrument Cleaning, Online Learning, Publishers Allowing Educational Use of Copyrighted Music, etc.
 
 

Oregon Music Education Association
560 NE F ST STE A PMB 732
Grants Pass, OR 97526
541-291-1149