Dear JJ,

Greetings from the Oregon Music Education Association! Click here to visit our website.

The following email includes OMEA's December News.

Make sure to Click View entire Message at the bottom to see all of the content.

Teachers, Students, and Parents may access OMEA All-State information online at  oregonmea.org/all-state/event-information/

All-State Information documents available here: Elementary School Information, Middle School Information, High School Information

• 2025 OMEA All-State Ensemble Conductors & Repertoire
• 2025 All-State Rehearsal Schedule
• 2025 Concert Photography Order Form – from Musical Memories
• 2025 Concert CD & DVD Ordering Form – from Soundwaves
• 2025 All-State Merchandise – Order form for All-State event apparel and souvenirs.

Teachers of All-State members must register for the OMEA Conference, per OMEA policy. We look forward to seeing you in Eugene, and don't forget, with your conference badge you have free admission to all of the OMEA All-State concerts!

Kristi Stingle

OMEA All-State Chair

allstatechair@gmail.com

Registration for the OMEA 2025 Conference, "Resonance," is open! Join us from January 17-19, 2025, at the Graduate Hotel by Hilton in Eugene. Secure your spot today on our website! Register before January 1st for a discounted rate and banquet ticket. This year's banquet meal will be buffet style and includes a performance by Project TRIO, awards for student composers and educators, and a great opportunity to connect with each other.

The conference schedule is available! You can view our session line-up here. 

Western Oregon University is providing up to 3 graduate credits for conference attendees.

Please secure housing as soon as you can! Click here for local hotel information.

Elizabeth Soper

OMEA Conference Chair

omeaconferencechair@gmail.com

Deb Confredo, NAfME President

Dr. Confredo is a professor of music education and the director of online graduate programs in music education at the Boyer College. In addition to numerous published articles on music education, pedagogy and research, Confredo is an instrumental editor, arranger, author and consultant for the FJH Music Company. A 42-year veteran music educator who has taught at both the elementary and secondary levels, she is in constant demand as a clinician, adjudicator, guest conductor and lecturer across the nation.

Joe Dyvig, NAfME Northwest Division President-Elect

Joe Dyvig is currently the orchestra teacher at Olympia High School, as well as the Music and Visual Arts coordinator for the Olympia School District in Olympia, Washington. Prior teaching assignments include Band, Jazz, and Orchestra in the Northshore School District, Ferndale School District, and Monroe Public Schools. 

Western Oregon University will be offering graduate level credits for attending the OMEA conference. If you are interested, you must first be admitted to WOU, this process may take up to one week. The registration deadline is December 27th.

Please click here for more information.

Individuals are invited to share new, unpublished research at a Research Poster Session included as part of the Oregon Music Education Association Conference to be held at the Graduate Eugene Hotel. Research on any topic related to music teaching and learning will be welcome.

Submissions should be in abstract form (approximately 200–300 words) and include a title, description of the research question and methodology, and summary of results (or preliminary results for research in progress). Abstracts must be submitted electronically in Word format. Complete contact information, which includes name, institutional affiliation, and email address, should be included in a separate Word file. No identifying information should be included in the abstract.

The deadline for submissions is December 13, 2024. Notification of acceptance will be emailed to authors by December 20, 2024. It is necessary for at least one author to be present at the poster session. The poster session has been scheduled for Saturday, January 18, 2024. The author(s) of each accepted paper should furnish 20 copies of the abstract and 5 copies of the completed report at the time of the conference.

Abstracts and contact information should be sent electronically to the session chair, Dr. Julius Kyakuwa, at jkyakuwa@uoregon.edu.

This upcoming February the All-Northwest Conference will be held in Spokane from the 13th - 16th.

Click here for the conference website. Pre-registration opened October 7.

Direct any All-Northwest questions to Scott.Ketron@wmea.org.

We are very fortunate to have two extremely qualified candidates who have stepped forward for the January election. An electronic ballot will be mailed to all OMEA members on December 15, voting closes at 11:59pm on January 18.

Cory Francis is the Associate Director of Bands at West Salem High School in Salem, Oregon. He has his B.M.E. from the University of Oregon. Cory is the current OMEA District 4 Co-Band Chair. He oversees the District 4 Band Festival and Solo and Ensemble, and teaches sectionals for Salem-Keizer All-City Concert and Jazz Bands. 

Born and raised in Oregon, Cory taught two years of band, choir, and percussion at Banks Middle and High School before moving to Lincoln City to teach jazz band, concert band, and choir at Taft 7-12. In Lincoln City. Cory served as a board member for the Oregon Coast Youth Symphony Festival and Music Is Instrumental which brought new instruments, clinicians, and performance opportunities to students on the Oregon Coast. Cory is currently teaching at West Salem High School where he instructs the concert bands, jazz bands, marching band, and music in special education. 

Cory has been involved with organizing the OMEA Conference for the last three years–serving as Co-Manager for the All-State Jazz Band since 2023. He is eager to serve the state as 2nd VP and 2027 OMEA All-State Conference Chair. If elected, he plans to focus his vision on resources for new teachers and advocacy for small school music programs–elevating the voices of all music educators across Oregon. Please consider him at our upcoming OMEA election!

Hannah Abercrombie is an enthusiastic and dedicated music educator in her 2nd year as the Director of Choirs at McKay High School in Salem, Oregon, where she directs four choirs, the nationally acclaimed a cappella group, Scots-Appella, and is the assistant director of the McKay Marching Band. 

After receiving her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Oregon, Hannah started her career at Douglas High School in Winston, Oregon, where she taught band and choir for six years. During her time in southern Oregon, she led her bands and choirs to top placings in state championships, revived the marching band and color guard after a 30-year hiatus, planned, coordinated, and hosted district competitions and honor events, and served as Vice President for OMEA District 10.

Hannah is excited at the chance to be a part of the OMEA leadership team and is eager to seek out inspiring experiences and opportunities to further enrich music educators in Oregon. She wants to ensure that the OMEA Conference experience is revitalizing and worthwhile for educators of all ages, backgrounds, and specialties.

Outside of work, Hannah loves spending time with her fiancé, Andrew, and snuggling with her two kitties, Meelo and Momo. She has enjoyed getting to teach in her hometown of Salem and feels grateful to be in such an amazing community of people and music.

If you need to renew your OMEA/NAfME membership, please do that sooner than later. Please click here to renew!

Your conference registration is much less expensive to OMEA/NAfME members.

Free Music Technology workshop for teachers!

Have you been thinking about teaching Music Technology in your school? Have you been asked to teach Music Technology, but don't know where to start? Attend this free workshop to learn about Digital Audio Workstations (Soundtrap for Education and Ableton Live), basic recording skills, and get ideas for curriculum.  

Saturday, February 1, 2025, 9:00am-3:00pm, PSU Lincoln Hall.

OMEA has a new, future-focused Mission and Vision statement along with a set of Core Beliefs that will guide our Strategic Planning for the foreseeable future. Many thanks to those who gave feedback in our Strategic Planning Survey, as well as members of the board who took the time over the summer to create these statements of accountability and purpose. 

MISSION: OMEA supports music educators and advocates for equitable access to a high-quality and comprehensive music education for all students in Oregon. 

VISION: OMEA will serve as the trusted source for music advocacy in Oregon and will strive to increase the quality and accessibility of music education in our state. 

Please click here to read OMEA's Strategic Plan in full.

The Executive Board took the time over the summer to edit and streamline OMEA's Policies and Procedures document. The Board of Control approved changes in September.

Please click here to read OMEA's Policies and Procedures.

40th Annual Music In Our Schools Month® 

Get ready to celebrate! March 2025 is the 40th annual Music In Our Schools Month®, a huge national-level advocacy event celebrating school music programs. This year’s theme is United Through Music.  NAfME will be releasing a toolkit, activities, and social media graphics to share as we get closer to March.  Keep your ears open from advocacy actions from OMEA leading up to and during March.  

ACTION ITEM: Reach out to your School Board NOW to get a spot on the speaking docket for March. This process can take a while so start the wheels turning ASAP. Think about the story you’d like board members to hear, and engage with students and parents to highlight as many voices as possible.

NAfME Advocacy

• The NAfME Advocacy and Public Policy team recorded a presentation on how to utilize the new U.S. Dept. of Education guidance on federal funding and arts education. 

• Read the a recently released blog regarding the same topic.

NAfME Professional Learning

Looking for more professional development opportunities? See all of the NAfME webinars on their Professional Learning Calendar.  

LINKS

• OMEA Advocacy
• Advocacy Resources 
• Program Standards for Music in Oregon Schools (working on updating for 2024, stay tuned!)

Need advocacy support? Contact advocacy@oregonmea.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.

Thank you so much for those who participated in our affinity spaces at the conference! We would lover to hear your feedback and ideas for what to improve for next year!

Cynthia Navarro

DEI Co-Chair

navarro16@gresham.k12.or.us

Amanda Sarles

DEI Co-Chair

asarles@siuslaw.k12.or.us

Kathy Briggs

OMEA Choir Chair

kathy.briggs@smapdx.org

www.oracda.net

• Join OBDA, especially if you teach high school orchestra! We are now able to VOTE, giving us an actual voice in issues that impact our competitive orchestra season (Sightreading Rubrics and other changes to the OSAA/OBDA State Championships/Qualifiers). 
• Small Ensemble Festival Changes
• Continue following copyright law with student/accompanist/adjudicator sheet music. We are working to ensure that materials will be checked more thoroughly at festivals.
• A separate category of awards will be created for Mariachi at the qualifying and state level festivals. Even if these ensembles are adjudicated in the same room as Large String Ensembles, they will be judged and awarded in a separate category.
• Rule Change--1.4.11: A student may perform in more than one ensemble. If a student performs in more than one small ensemble of 3 or less in the same category, only the highest scoring qualifying ensemble will be eligible for state. The lower scoring qualifying ensemble may be considered as an alternate if there is space available.  
•  State Qualifying Orchestra Festival Managers
• Make sure you are hiring OBDA Certified Judges who hold CURRENT certification on the date of your festival for any state qualifying event. The list is maintained by OBDA (If you are an adjudicator, please make sure your contact information is current on the list!): https://www.oregonbda.org/orchestra.html

Brigid Mayer

OMEA Orchestra Chair

mayer_brigid@salkeiz.k12.or.us

www.orasta.org

Jen Bell

OMEA Band Chair

BELL_JENNIFER@salkeiz.k12.or.us

https://www.oregonbda.org/

The long-awaited Oregon Jazz Adjudicator Database is up and running! The purpose of this resource is to provide festival coordinators with a comprehensive and diverse list of professionals who are interested in adjudicating and providing jazz education in a festival setting. Each person on the list provided their own biography, experience, preferences, etc.

The current Jazz Adjudicator Database can be found HERE. 

Those accessing the database should be able to filter and organize the list however they'd like (by location, instrument, race/gender, etc.), but won't be able to alter the spreadsheet's contents. 

It is not too late to be added to this list! Submit requests to be added to the spreadsheet by filling out THIS FORM.

Jessika Smith

OMEA Jazz Chair

jessika_smith@parkrose.k12.or.us 

Welcome back, Small Schools Music Educators!

As you begin your new school year, I wanted to take the opportunity to let you know about a few handy resources. Oregon Small Schools has a Facebook group that is a great place to connect with other small schools music educators, share ideas, ask questions, and the like.

Please find us on Facebook by clicking here.

Excitingly, NAfME has recently put together a Small Schools Initiative. The website for this initiative is full of useful videos and information provided by small schools music educators from around the country. You can find those resources by clicking here.

We all share a wonderful and sometimes challenging job. As such, we truly are one another’s best resources. From first-year teachers to established veterans, connection is key to our success! If I can be of any assistance to you this year, please feel free to reach out to me at any time. I am always thrilled to hear from other small schools music teachers.

Best wishes for a great year!

Melissa Jmaeff

OMEA Small Schools Chair

melissa.jmaeff@sutherlin.k12.or.us

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 contact JJ Sutton if you are interested in submitting an article for future publications.

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 apply!

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

Follow OMEA on Instagram 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!

Bandworld features the American Band College of Central Washington University and WIBC hosted annually in the fall in SeaTac.

Enjoy exceptional chamber music with Chamber Music Northwest's digital concerts available virtually at CMNW.org and live concerts in Portland, OR.

The Columbians Drum & Bugle Corps is a 501c3 non-profit organization serving the youth in the Tri-Cities, Washington, and surrounding areas.

Since 1750, Conn Selmer is the largest manufacturer and importer of band and orchestral instruments for students, amateurs, and professionals of all genres.

Students will have unique performance opportunities, music and theater clinics from industry professionals and by attending great shows.

Eugene Symphony is a professional orchestra performing classical, symphonic, and live music in Eugene, OR.

Delivering music since 1876. JW Pepper ® is your sheet music store for band, orchestra and choral music, piano sheet music, worship songs, songbooks and more.

Music education programs offering orchestra, band and jazz in Portland, Oregon. Celebrating our 50th anniversary!

Quality professional development in the Feierabend curricula in a fun, interactive way, so teachers can spend their time teaching.

Nova Music International offers services in music publishing, education, administration, summer camps, and events (workshops, guest conducting, clinics, adjudication, and festival management).  

The Oregon Ambassadors of Music continues to provide meaningful cultural experiences and extraordinary performance opportunities. Outstanding students from all over Oregon prepare music to perform in select cities throughout Europe.

The Oregon Children's Choir has served kids in Lane County for over 40 years. We offer excellent singing opportunities for kids in 1st through 12th grade.

The Festival is an outgrowth of ideas that formed in the Newport Symphony’s board and the Festival’s artistic leadership comes from the Music Director Adam Flatt.

Peripole is the exclusive dealers for Peripole® Halo® Recorders, Bergerault® Orff Instruments, Peripole® Percussion and the NEW Peripole® Classic™ Ukulele by Enya.

Celebrate Portland’s most dedicated young musicians as they perform both classical favorites and rarely heard works, bringing an unrivaled energy to each piece.

Quartet Violins specializes in violin, viola, cello, and bass rentals and sales. We are dedicated to providing quality instruments in great condition at an affordable price.

Southern Oregon University Music Program offers bachelor of music degrees, graduate programs focused on music performance & music education degrees.

 The music program offers a Bachelor of arts in music with 4 tracks: In all four, the liberal arts core curriculum is complemented by a deep study of music in applied private lessons, ensembles and the classroom.

We specialize in repairs, sales, and rentals of band and orchestra instruments. We also offer sales, setups, and repairs on fretted instruments such as guitars, ukuleles, and bass guitars. 

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