Dear JJ,

Greetings from the Oregon Music Education Association!!

The following email includes OMEA's March News.

Music In Our Schools Month®!

For more than 30 years, March has been officially designated by the NAfME for the observance of Music In Our Schools Month®, the time of year when music education becomes the focus of schools across the nation. You can read more about it here:

Music In Our Schools Month® (MIOSM®) - NAfME

MIOSM® Presentation from 2024 OMEA Conference

It's suddenly March and I’m overwhelmed – How do I get started?

1.Use the social media toolkit containing sample posts, graphics, and ways for you to celebrate MIOSM® online (as easy as changing your profile picture!)

○      MIOSM® Shareable Graphics

2.Harness the craziness of March!

○      Add a graphic to your program for one of your already scheduled

performances

○      Have your admin introduce the show with a Resolution

○      Hosting a festival? Have a student or stakeholder make a statement to the

audience.

○ Make your March concert/performance themed around MIOSM® and

engage with attendees. Ask them: What does music mean to ME?

Make it about the students. Let them lead, get their ideas! It is hard to ignore the voice of our amazing young musicians, especially when they get their administrators, board members, and community leaders to commit to supporting them - and music education!

I’m ready to do something bigger!

●      Reach out to school boards and local/regional elected officials. NAfME has

sample Proclamations and Resolutions.

       Look up your legislators: bit.ly/ORLOOKUP

        Proclamation vs. Resolution? Step-By-Step Process

●      Collect “What Music Means to Me” testimonials (GoogleForm)

●      More MIOSM Activity Ideas to Involve Your School and Community

More Resources to Celebrate MIOSM:

●      Advocacy concert program to include in your MIOSM® celebration.

●      Free Lesson Plans: Sounds All Around Us; Music Can Be Found in Unusual Places; Children as Culture Bearers

●      Join us on Facebook Live March 11 at 10:00AM ET for “Harmony on Capitol Hill: Celebrating 39 Years of Music In Our Schools Month®,” a congressional briefing dedicated to honoring the importance of music education and the 39th annual MIOSM®, presented by the NAfME and the Country Music Association Foundation.

●      The NAfME Collegiate Advisory Council has launched a social media campaign for March 25–29! Learn how you and your NAfME Collegiate chapter can get involved, and start planning your celebrations.



Please contact [email protected] if you have further questions. And stay tuned for more updates and resources about Music In Our Schools Month!

Keslie Demianew and Brigid Mayer have both accepted nominations to fill vacancies on OMEA's Board of Control. They are both unopposed in their nominations and will join OMEA's Board for the term July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2026. Congratulations to Kelsie and Brigid!

Please thank outgoing General Music Chair Steve Phillips and outgoing Orchestra Chair Krista Debolt for their years of service to the OMEA Board of Control. Their term ends on June 30th of this year.

OMEA General Music Chair...

Kelsie Demianew is in her twentieth year as an elementary music teacher at Cummings Elementary School in Keizer, where she teaches general and vocal music. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from Linfield College and her Master of Interdisciplinary Studies, with a focus in Music Education, from Oregon State University.

Kelsie has been active in the Salem-Keizer School District throughout her life. She was born and raised in Salem and actively participated in music as a student. As a teacher, she has served on several committees that lead to the advancement of music education in the school district. The committees include the Textbook Adoption Committee, Scope and Sequence Committee, District Music Test Revision Committee, Elementary Music Curriculum Committee. She is currently serving on her district’s Elementary Choral Festival Committee.

OMEA has also been a large part of Kelsie’s career as an educator. She has held several positions on the State OMEA board, including Recording Secretary, All-State Elementary Honor Choir Co-Chair and Elementary Music Chair. She has also served as District 4 Elementary Chair and District Chair.

Kelsie believes every child is a musician and she strives to tap into that in each of her students. She advocates for them, not only in the music classroom, but for their entire educational success. She feels that being elected to the position of General Music Chair will assist her in advocating for students and teachers throughout the state.

OMEA Orchestra Chair...

Brigid Mayer has spent the past twenty-two years teaching orchestras at all grade levels.  Her previous experience has included teaching assignments in Ohio, Georgia, Kansas and in the North Clackamas School District (OR).  She is in her second year serving as Director of Orchestras at North Salem High School.  Additionally, Mrs. Mayer teaches beginning orchestra at three elementary schools.  

Originally from Burlington, Vermont, Mrs. Mayer earned both a Bachelor of Music Education and an M.A. in Educational Administration from The Ohio State University.  While at OSU, she studied viola with Edward Adelson, and String Pedagogy with Dr. Robert Gillespie. 

Mrs. Mayer is a member of OMEA, NAfME, and ASTA.  She served as High School Orchestra Chair for Northeast Kansas Music Educators Association, and as Kansas ASTA President-Elect.  Her orchestras have performed and participated in clinics in Chicago, Orlando, Newport, and at the National Orchestra Festival (ASTA), and have consistently performed well in competitive orchestra settings.  Mrs. Mayer has served as a clinician and adjudicator in Kansas, Missouri, and Oregon, and remains an active violist.  She lives in Keizer with her husband, Mac Mayer (Whiteaker MS Orchestra), and their three children (Eben, Noah, and Helen).

For the last two years, OMEA has been exploring the possibility of adding a Secondary General Music Chair to the board. I am excited to announce that the position has been approved and that I am committed to fulfilling the role in the inaugural term. This role will serve middle and high school music teachers who are teaching anything other than band, orchestra, or choir – as well as elementary music teachers whose work lands outside of the traditional general music curriculum. Some examples include:

• World music ensembles such as mariachi or steel drum bands
• Popular music courses such as songwriting, class guitar, or rock band
• Digital music classes such as music production
• General music classes such as music survey, music theory, or dedicated special education classes.

I truly believe that these courses have an essential role in our K-12 schools as they serve a population who has traditionally been excluded from music education. If we are to build robust music education programs, these courses must run alongside traditional ensembles.

My own interest in this work has been building over the last two decades through professional development with World Music Drumming and Music Will as well as my own kids’ limited opportunities to explore the music they loved while enrolled in public schools. As the program coordinator for music education at Portland State, I have been part of modernizing our curriculum to decenter European music; provide coursework for future music educators in rock band, mariachi, and music production; and emphasize culturally responsive pedagogy in our music education program. I am excited to share my passion for broadening the options for students in our K-12 systems, for collaborating with our colleagues who are already doing the work, and supporting those who are curious about trying something new.

My goals in this role are:

1. Collect Data: Who is already teaching these types of classes? What are they teaching? Who takes them? What kind of support is in place in terms of curriculum and budget?
2. Build Connections: How can those who are teaching similar courses work together to problem solve and share best practices? Who is able to support emerging programs?
3. Provide Professional Development: What can we add to our conference to celebrate the work already being done and support teachers interested in starting new courses? How can we partner with NAfME to build on the work they are doing in this area?
4. Create a Toolkit: What do districts, schools, and teachers need to know to build new programs? How does current licensure through TSPC limit our options and how can that change?

There is a concern amongst some ensemble directors that adding alternate music courses will take students away from their programs, but the evidence around the country shows the opposite. Providing more options gets more kids involved in music and not only does not diminish the numbers in band, orchestra, or choir, but often brings more students into the ensembles.

My first step is to find out what is already happening in our state. Please take a few minutes to complete this questionnaire: Secondary General Music Survey.

Mari Schay

OMEA Secondary General Music Chair

[email protected]

Please visit OMEA's new website, www.oregonmea.org! Our previous website, oregonmusic.org, is no longer being updated and will be disabled in the near future.

We're still moving things around and getting settled, please explore and contact JJ Sutton if you find something that needs to be adjusted.

Thank you all for joining us at January's OMEA State Conference in Eugene! As we continue to refine and improve the conference experience for everyone, please take a moment to complete a survey by clicking here.

To find session and performance applications for the 2025 OMEA State Conference, click here!

Elizabeth Soper

OMEA Conference Chair

[email protected]

Stewart Schlazer and Gary Riler created the following video as a guideline for judges going into contests this spring. This video is very informative and is an excellent tool for current and future adjudicators and all educators.

Please click here to watch the 12 minute video.

Gary Riler

OMEA Chamber Ensemble Contest Chair

[email protected]

Stewart Schlazer

OMEA State Solo Contest Chair

[email protected]

NEW Contemporary Vocal Music Category for Ensembles  There have been some questions about the new contemporary vocal music category for ensembles. The contemporary literature category is for vocal ensembles only, not vocal solos. The following article was part of our OMEA Fall Journal.  Contemporary Vocal Music Category for Ensembles   Please share this information not only with your choral colleagues, but also with your OMEA district contest host/directors to help spread the word and ensure all districts, contests, and adjudicators are aware of this addition.

You can find the approved OSAA/ACDA choral repertoire list by clicking here.

Chamber ensembles should not be conducted at district or state contests.  Contest rule 1.4.5 states that ensembles may not be conducted externally. There were several issues that were brought up in our State Chamber Contest last year. To clarify:

• Nobody in the audience may show any movements during a performance that could be construed as conducting.
• When the students' attention is drawn to the audience for starts, cutoff, etc., it will raise suspicion.
• Students MAY use a gesture to indicate the beginning and end of a piece or movement.
• Students MAY NOT conduct a piece with a pattern throughout the entire performance.
• The external conducting rules apply to all ensembles.

Kathy Briggs

OMEA Choir Chair

[email protected]

www.oracta.net

Please click here for information on an August professional development gathering featuring a bass clinic, a reading session, and plenty of social time!

Orchestra resources:

1.       We have a shared google folder that you can use to upload things or look for ideas

a.       Director spreadsheet is part of that folder (feel free to update as needed)

b.       [email protected] for more information

2.       OBDA has added a page for orchestra directors to access: https://www.oregonbda.org/orchestra.html (there are several in our state teaching both band and orchestra so this is a central site.

3.       Adding to the OBDA site – links to literature lists to help as you look for music for your ensembles. 

We DO NOT have a required orchestra list. This would be as a reference and help as directors put together programs. 

https://www.uiltexas.org/pml/OrchSECodesPerfReq.htm 

(this is from Texas – there are others)

ASTA (American String Teachers) also has great resources for solos/chamber music: https://www.astastrings.org/site/teach-strings

4.       Tango website shared at the conference: https://tangosinfin.org.ar/en/ediciones-de-libre-descarga/

Festival Invitations:

DDHS Scots Invitational this spring on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024 at our beautiful Horner Performing Arts Center located at 1400 SE 130th Av. Portland, Oregon 97233. This invitational is a State Qualifying event that is open to all middle and high schools that would like to bring a Band, Orchestra or Symphony to perform.  

As part of the invitational, we will be offering a clinic led by one of our highly esteemed judges.  This year, our highly esteemed judging panel will include Ben Brooks, May Lou Boderman, Ike Nail and Karl Raschkes.  

The cost to participate in this State Qualifying event is $325 per ensemble. Please make checks payable to DDHS Music. The deadline to register was Friday, February 16th.

Summer Chamber Camps:

Delgani: https://mailchi.mp/fed592efe4f6/announcing-our-2024-summer-quartet-academy

Red Fish: redfishmusicfestival.com

Krista Debolt

OMEA Orchestra Chair

[email protected]

www.orasta.org

We are the Oregon Music Educators Equity professional learning

community! If you have a brilliant resource, song, approach, or idea

that you want to share with other music educators, please share it

here. We will include your sharing in our monthly Equity newsletter. Please click here for this month's issue.

Thank you so much for those who participated in our affinity spaces at the

conference! We’d love to hear your feedback and ideas for what to improve for next year!

Cynthia Navarro

DEI Co-Chair

[email protected]

Amanda Sarles

DEI Co-Chair

[email protected]

What can you do, RIGHT NOW? Advocacy steps to take action today!

1. Make it local: Local Advocacy Action Plan 

This resource is intended to aid music educators and music education supporters as they seek to improve the overall condition of a music program. Use the Local Advocacy Action Plan for pursuing new resources and opportunities which can improve a music educator’s ability to provide students with high quality music education experiences.

2. Educate yourself and decision makers around current challenges and talking points 

This two-page document from Arts Are Education is designed to help prepare advocates for meetings with school district or state decision makers. Whether virtually or in-person, this resource is also a great leave-behind that can clarify what communities must do to ensure quality arts education programs in their districts.

3. Contact your Oregon Legislators

Let them know about current successes in your school, district, or area and engage with them around your concerns that impact music education. Contact or visit your Oregon Legislators, or find your legislators based on your address HERE.

4. Engage with national advocacy resources

Find Resources at NAfME and the NAfME Advocacy Resource Center, or visit the Oregon Music Advocacy Website.

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. 

Laura Arthur

OMEA Advocacy Chair

[email protected]



·   OMEA Advocacy Website

Follow OMEA on Instragram at "oregonmusiceducation."

You can also follow OMEA on Facebook by liking "Oregon Music Education Association."

OMEA social media is a great way to receive news and updates in real time!

Stay tuned for the spring edition of the Oregon Music Educator, it will be released at the end of April. Please click here to access OMEA publications. Issuu will now archive all OMEA publications dating back to 1948. These older editions will be posted as access becomes available for scanning.

Please click here to access the latest edition of NAfME Notes.

Congratulations to Cecil Adderley, NAfME's President-Elect! Click here to read about, Berklee's Cecil Adderley.

A Tri-M Music Honor Society chapter opens up a world of opportunities for students who have already shown themselves to be academically capable and musically gifted. Through performance and community service, they’ll develop confidence, creativity, critical thinking, compassion, and a host of other leadership skills sure to serve them well in school and beyond.

Click here to join or renew your Tri-M membership!

All middle and high school teachers and students are invited to join Tri-M^® advisors and students for this online National Tri-M® Rally Tuesday, March 26, at 8:00PM ET/5:00 PM PT! Share ideas, network, and learn how your chapter can make a difference in your community.

Register here!

Click here to access NFHS publications and e-newsletter subscriptions.