Dear Sally,

And just like that, it's Festival Season! Hopefully all music selections have been made and learned, but just in case, there is GOOD NEWS further down in this newsletter about a consolidated list - consolidating bulletin selections AND all the updates - all in one place! The project of having the entire bulletin online continues to be underway, but for right now, PIANO SOLO/ENSEMBLE and VOCAL selections are available on this consolidated list. BEST WISHES for a successful and joyful Festival experience!

Please send articles for Melody Lines to me at wsfmcpresident@gmail.com. Please send no later than a week before publication. Publication months are October, December, February, April, June, August.

I would LOVE to hear from all of our WSFMC Board Members who have news and information to share.

PLEASE click on the LINKS for valuable information. Thanks!

Sally L. Palmer

WSFMC President

e-mail: wsfmcpresident@gmail.com

New & Improved WSFMC Website is now up and running! Submitted by Sally Palmer, WSFMC President & Membership Chair

Go to www.wastatefed.com and check it out!

PURPOSE of the improvements: We want our website to be available for anyone who is looking to join the Federation, join a club, become a member in whatever form that means for them.

PLEASE REFER those who have questions about what it is that we do, and what we are all about, to our website.

A huge THANK YOU to Patty Pacelli (former member of the WSFMC) for her invaluable expertise on how we could improve our site to become more professional and more appealing to prospective new members.

Elizabeth Ackerman

October 14, 1940 – November 2, 2024

Elizabeth Ackerman, our beloved friend and longtime piano teacher, died peacefully in Bend,

Oregon, after a long and courageous battle with dementia. She was 84 years old.



Elizabeth was born and raised in Haddon Heights, New Jersy. She earned her bachelor’s

degree in music theory at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland and continued her music study

at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, earning a master’s degree in Piano Performance.

She had served The Mozart Club Vancouver as President and Festival Chair. She taught for 60

years and retired at the age of 80.

The Celebration of Life was full of music and Christian values. The piano was played by her

former students and songs were sung by her adult children. Elizabeth will be missed by us all.

Queenie Hapke

Past WSFMC President/Treasurer

Past The Mozart Club Vancouver President/Festival Chair

FESTIVALS BULLETIN PIANO CONSOLIDATION!

Submitted by Selina Chu, WSFMC Festival Chair

NFMC has compiled a complete list of all the piano solos and ensembles in the bulletin, PLUS all the updates. (This list does not include APFS) It's called The 2024-2028 NFMC Bulletin PIANO Consolidation.

There's no longer a need to flip back and forth between the bulletin and the pages of updates.

CLICK HERE FOR THE CONSOLIDATED PIANO LIST

View the list here and print the sections you need. The piano PDF contains these events:

Solo

• Solo: Lynn Freeman Olson
• Solo: One-Hand Repertoire
• Solo: Concerto
• Solo: Popular Piano
• Solo: Sacred Music Piano
• Solo: Piano Hymn

Ensemble

• Ensemble: Duet
• Ensemble: Trio
• Ensemble: Quartet
• Ensemble: Piano Duo

CLICK HERE for the 2024-28 NFMC Bulletin VOICE Consolidation

The Vocal PDF contains these events:

• Art Song Solo
• Art Song Duet
• Musical Theatre Solo
• Musical Theatre Duet

DIGITAL SCORES

Whether we like it or not, we are living in the digital age. Many questions have arisen regarding the use of digital music for Festivals.

Legally obtained music IS absolutely acceptable for use in NFMC Festivals!

CLICK HERE for an informative letter from Lori Jessen, NFMC Festivals Chair.

2025 Ouida Keck Professional Development Award for the Independent Piano Teacher 

TEACHERS - this award is for you!! Please click on the links below for more information.

2025 Ouida Keck Award Letter

2025 Ouida Keck Information & Requirements

2025 Ouida Keck Award Poster

An Abundance of Award Opportunities

Curious about the awards the NFMC offers? Each of these links is a one page listing of the name of the award, the dollar amount of the award, and the deadline date for application. Easy-peasy! If there is an award that you are interested in after reviewing one or all of these lists, go to https://www.nfmc-music.org/ and click on the Competitions and Awards tab.

NFMC Junior Award Opportunities CLICK HERE

NFMC Student/Collegiate Award Opportunities CLICK HERE

NFMC Senior Award Opportunities CLICK HERE

IN TUNE! NFMC Newsletter

Our National President, Deborah Freeman, sends out IN TUNE with NFMC each month which includes some awesome NFMC Division information that you may not have ever heard about if you don't stay "In Tune!"

CLICK HERE for January 2025 IN TUNE

CLICK HERE for February 2025 IN TUNE

JUNIOR COMPOSERS COMPETITION

Submitted by Mary Kaye Owen, WSFMC Junior Composers Competition Chair

Make Plans for 2025 JCC Submissions. NOW is the time to encourage students to create their compositions!

• The deadline for submitting entries to the Junior Composers Contest is January 25, 2025.
• Applications, compositions, and mp3s must be downloaded on the NFMC online application portal (https://forms.nfmc-music.org).
• Payment is to be made online at http://www.nfmc-music.org/payment. 
• The entrant categories include Class I (up to age 8), Class II (ages 9-12), Class III (ages 13-15), and Class IV (ages 16-18).
• Pieces may be composed for one or more instruments.
• The compositions receiving 1st and 2nd Place in each category will move on to the Western Regional Junior Composers Contest.
• Entry fees are: National Fee for Classes I – IV: $5.00 State Fee for Classes I – III: $22.00 State Fee for Class IV: $25.00

For the Junior Composers event, students may participate by joining ONLY the national NFMC organization with the online membership form. Alternatively, if a student participates in junior festival, they are already recognized as a member of NFMC, as well as a member of their teacher's junior club. This allows them to also participate in the Junior Composers Contest. 



Please contact Washington State JCC Chair Mary Kaye Owen at mary.k.owen@att.net if needed.

2025 Summer Music Centers

submitted by John Van Lierop Jr, WSFMC Competitions & Awards Chair

For this issue I want to inform your studios of some Summer Music Centers opportunities. It’s not too early to start planning ahead. In some cases, the students apply early in the New Year. This is only a short list as there are many other opportunities listed on the NFMC website.

Using your search engines type in NFMC Summer Music Centers, click on Competitions & Awards, then scroll down to Summer Music Centers, and the various music camps will come up. Many include orchestral instruments in addition to piano.

The Pacific Northwest area offers the incomparable Marrowstone Music Festival. It is open to orchestral instruments only and for ages 13-21. For more information contact: info@syso.org. Marrowstone is an impactful opportunity for advanced musicians to study music in great detail, receiving world-class instruction while simultaneously forging friendships that will last a lifetime. A musician’s experience at Marrowstone includes a full-day schedule packed with rehearsals, chamber music, and the opportunity to study with our world-class faculty in daily coaching and masterclasses. 

PLEASE READ ON! for more Western Region Summer Centers and highlights of a few others.

As a reminder please inform me if you’re putting any of your students in the NFMC Junior Competitions or enrolling them in the NFMC Summer Music Centers. We want to recognize them in future Melody Lines.

National Music Week

Submitted by Ruth Brown, National Music Week Rep

National Music Week is celebrated each year during the first full week in May - the first Sunday through the second Sunday. In 2025, that is May 4 through 11.

The theme for National Music Week 2025 is: "Music . . . is unstoppable." This is also the theme of the National music week's essay contest which is open to students in grades 7-12. Membership in the NFMC is NOT required to enter this contest. The due date for submission to the contest is January 10, 2025. The rules and link to the entry form are found here: https://www.nfmc-music.org/publicationcategory/arts/ Look for form AR 13-1 under NMW Essay. In 2024, the winner for the Western Region was from Washington!

Why Celebrate National Music Week? CLICK HERE for more about National Music Week Ideas of how to celebrate and group participation are included. This is an inspiring article to read!!

NFMC Lifetime Achievement Award

In convention years the NFMC President has the honor of awarding a music club member with a Lifetime Achievement Award certificate. The deadline to submit names of those you feel should be thus honored is February 15th to your regional vice president.

CLICK HERE to read more about this award.

FESTIVAL PALOOZA!

Washington State Federation of Music Clubs' Festival Schedule:

Bellevue FMC February 8

Overlake FMC                         March 8

Greater Seattle FMC               March 15

Greater Newcastle FMC       March 22

Issaquah FMC                          March 22

Mozart FMC (Vancouver)      March 22

Puyallup FMC                          March 22

Tuned In Academy FMC        March 23

Gourmet Music and Culture

FMC                                          TBA end of March 

North Sound FMC                   TBA May

Dear State Presidents and State Liability Insurance Chairs:

Several of you have reached out directly to the insurance company with changes or corrections to certificates. All changes and corrections must go through NFMC headquarters.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Griffin

LIABILITY INSURANCE COVERAGE 2024 - 2025

NEW FEES per EVENT!!

Submitted by Dr. Yelena Balabanova, WSFMC Liability Insurance Chair



NFMC and its members are purchasing Liability Insurance only. This provides coverage to a third party for bodily injury or property damage the entity causes. You must be a member in good standing to obtain insurance!

National designated deadline to submit requests:

August 15 for events September 1 – December 31

December 1 for events January 1 – August 31



• Cost per event is $20. Add $5 extra per event if registered after the designated deadline
• Cost per event having consecutive days is $25.
• An event on a single day but at multiple sites costs $20 per site.
• No requests will be processed without an accurate address and date of event.
• If an event requires a rider of an additional insured, give the exact language required.
• Any changes requested after a certificate is issued will result in a $5 change fee.
• If you need to change an event date, and wait to inform NFMC until the original date has passed you will owe another full event fee. There is NO credit in that situation.
• A certificate verifying insurance coverage is issued only to an event that requests it. Certificates will be sent to the state liability chair and will be mailed to requested members.
• Coverage is not guaranteed until payment is received and processed by NFMC Headquarters. "No payment = No Insurance" 

WSFMC members:

Inform Insurance Chair by email in advance when you will make the payment online,

so Yelena can process the submission the same day you make the payment.

Make payment on www.nfmc-music.org/payment/

Select "Liability Insurance" under Plans

and Fill in your "Event Name, Date and Location" under Notes

Email payment receipt and forms below to YelenaBalabanova@gmail.com

CLICK HERE for the 2024-2025 Liability Insurance Request Form

Letter from NFMC Chair

Child Protection Policy Form

Preventing Child Abuse Policies and Procedures