New England Music Festival Association, Inc. |
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September 2022 | Volume LXXXVII, No. 1 |
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John Deeb
New England Music Festival Association President
deebj@region10ct.org
(860) 673-0423, ext. 15419
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President's Letter to the Membership
New England Music Festival Association
September 27, 2022
A Note from Your President
John Deeb
Dear NEMFA Members,
Welcome to another school year! I hope you all got off to a fabulous start without social distancing, masks and other medically responsible protocols. I know my first rehearsal was filled with excitement, joy and a desire to be as effective an educator as I can be. After the last two plus years, we all have our work cut out for us. We’re just lucky to be doing what we love, and what we truly believe in.
The NEMFA Executive Board is already well into preparations for the Solo & Ensemble Festival and our spring concert festival. Our hosts in Woodstock, Connecticut have already logged countless hours in preparation for our March event, and we are very fortunate to have our friends in Hartford, Vermont and Griswold, Connecticut once again agree to take on the responsibilities of hosting our Solo & Ensemble Festival.
Since beginning my term as president in mid-June, I have been struck by the level of loyalty, dedication and energy coming from all of the members of the executive board. Their passion and commitment to the New England Music Festival Association and its mission and goals is inspiring and the honor I feel to be working alongside them has only intensified over the last few months.
As we are well aware, the pandemic has taken a toll on most school music programs, and if yours is anything like mine we all have quite a bit to accomplish. One of the most positive elements of our programs is the opportunity that we afford our students to participate in the events sponsored by this organization. We all value the importance placed on it by our students and know how much they look forward to both our December and March events.
As the board works to grow our membership in order to positively affect the music education of our students, I would like to request that you all make it a point to spread the word to your friends and colleagues who as of yet have not brought NEMFA to their students. If all our members would work toward bringing one new school to our membership, we would be that much further along the way to achieving our new member goals.
I hope that the 2022-23 school year is all that you can possibly hope for and I wish you all the best for a terrific fall.
Musically Yours,
John
John Deeb - President
New England Music Festival Association
(860) 673-0423, ext. 15419
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2022 NEMFA Solo and Ensemble Festival |
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IMPORTANT NEMFA SOLO/ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL DATES FOR 2022-23
October 10, 2022 - Applications Portal Opens Online
October 28, 2022 - Application Deadline - All Fees and Registrations Due
November 14, 2022 - Solo/Ensemble Performance Schedule is online
December 3, 2022 - S & E Northern Site - Hartford High School, Hartford, VT
December 10, 2022 - S & E Southern Site - Griswold High School, Griswold, CT
OVERVIEW
After two highly successful years using technology to provide our Solo & Ensemble Festival, we are excited about a return to in-person performance for this year’s event. Scheduled for the first two Saturdays in December, we invite your students to prepare and perform a piece from one of our wonderful repertoire listings (or a piece of their choice), and have it heard and evaluated by our adjudicators. The northern site, on December 3rd, will be at Hartford High School in Hartford, Vermont and the southern site, on December 10th, will be at Griswold High School in Griswold, CT. December 17th is a Snow Date for this event built into the schedule if it becomes necessary.
Your student will receive verbal feedback at the conclusion of their performance and written feedback using our evaluation rubric. Should their piece be listed on the appropriate repertoire, they will also receive a rating of their performance, a rating that we will then use to select the New England Festival Band, Chorus and Orchestra. Those selections will be made available soon after the second Solo & Ensemble Festival. The Concert Festival will be held March 23rd, 24th & 25th, 2023 at The Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, CT.
MITIGATION
The only mitigation carried over from last year is that masking is optional for all aspects of the New England Solo & Ensemble Festival.
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The application window will be open soon. Once directors have submitted their applications, they will receive a schedule for their performances on the particular Saturday that they choose to attend. Following the performances, the student adjudication feedback and selections will be available online as well as used in the acceptance process for those attending the Concert Festival.
Using those evaluations, the New England Music Festival will honor the most talented of those that performed in the Solo & Ensemble Festival in two other ways:
- A group of students, selected by their adjudicators for the power and persuasion of their performance, will be asked to perform their adjudication piece at the beginning of the Concert Festival Chorus performance in March.
- For our senior participants, the highest rated vocal student and the highest rated instrumental student, each who has been selected for the New England Concert Festival all four years will be awarded that year’s Burton O. Cowgill New England Scholarship, an honor that comes not only with due recognition, but a monetary one as well.
While these accolades will bear witness to the gifts, talents and musicianship of our participants, it is the evaluation process that carries the most value to these students. The opportunity to practice, prepare and perform a great piece of music, and to receive the compliments, critiques and corrections needed to improve from our caring adjudicators, is what the New England Music Festival Association is most proud of, most invested in providing each year, every year, despite any obstacles presented.
We hope you and your students will consider participating this year and every year as we work collectively to ensure that music remains a vital part of every student’s high school education and experience.
PLEASE SEND REGISTRATION CHECKS TO:
NEW ENGLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION, INC.
c/o WILLIAM SITTARD
PO BOX 755
OAK BLUFFS, MA 02557-0755
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Work on Revisions to the NEMFA Vocal Ensemble Performance Lists |
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Amy Ranta of The Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, CT is organizing a committee to propose revisions to the NEMFA Vocal Ensemble Performance Repertoire Lists. Amy is looking for other NEMFA choral directors who are interested in reviewing and updating these lists. She has already started sketching out ideas for revisions of her own. One of the types of selections that she is trying to include with this new revision is program material that directors may be working on in the first semester, such as Christmas, Hannukah, or other winter themed selections. Amy feels that there are some WONDERFUL a cappella selections out these of this genre that would be perfect for NEMFA Solo/Ensemble Performances as well as in concerts. She notes that when she is working with her students on a NEMFA Vocal Ensemble selection, she incorporates it into the concert that her group is preparing at the time so that is not an extra piece to prepare, but may be performed in the NEMFA Solo and Ensemble Festival and in her own school concert.
NEMFA Choral Directors who are interested in serving on this Vocal Ensemble Revision Committee should contact Amy Ranta at aranta@woodstockcademy.org to get involved. |
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2023 NEMFA Concert Festival News |
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2022-2023 NEMFA Dress Code Revision - Reported by Lyvie Beyrent |
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The NEMFA Executive Board recently voted on a revision to the Dress Code for all NEMFA Concert Ensemble as follows:
Dress code - The dress code for all ensembles in performance will be: Dark suit (black preferred, black tuxedos are also acceptable) with a tie, and a collared white shirt, OR black sleeve top (no bare midriffs, shoulders or low neckline) and a solid black bottom (below the knees black skirt or black dress pants), OR a black long gown/dress that goes below the knees. Dark shoes and dark socks or hose. No sport shoes or sandals allowed. All concert dress will be in conservative good taste.
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Paul Pierce
NEMFA Orchestra Manager
ppierce@windsorct.org
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March 2023 Orchestra Conductor |
Dear NEMFA Members,
The New England Music Festival Association is proud to present Brian Norcross, Conductor of the Franklin and Marshall College Orchestra, as the conductor of the 2023 NEMFA Festival Orchestra!
Brian Norcross has been the Conductor of Instrumental Ensembles at Franklin & Marshall College since 1986. He directs the Franklin & Marshall Orchestra, Philharmonia, and Symphonic Wind Ensemble and he teaches conducting. A champion of new music he has directed over 60 premiere performances with various ensembles.
To read Mr. Norcross' full bio, please click here .
Paul Pierce is the Orchestra Manager.
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Anthony Pandolfe
NEMFA Band Manager
APandolfe@EOSmith.org
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March 2023 Band Conductor |
Hello NEMFA community!
I hope that you are having a wonderful end to this unprecedented school year. As the summer begins, I hope you will find time to rest and recharge.
We are looking forward to the 2023 NEMFA Concert Festival. The band will be conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Peterson, Clinical Professor of Music and Associate Director of Bands at the University of Illinois. She conducts the Illinois Wind Orchestra, serves as the placement coordinator for student teachers, and teaches courses in instrumental conducting.
To read Dr. Peterson's full bio, please click here .
I am looking forward to serving again as the NEMFA Band Manager and to seeing you at the Concert Festival in March!
Sincerely,
Anthony Pandolfe
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Molly Clark
NEMFA Chorus Manager
mclark@huusd.org
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March 2023 Chorus Conductor |
Dear NEMFA Members,
The New England Music Festival Association is proud to present Dr. David Fryling as the conductor of the 2023 NEMFA Chorus. Dr. Fryling is the D irector of Choral Activities at Hofstra University, where he conducts both the select Hofstra Chorale and Hofstra Chamber Choir and teaches beginning and advanced studies in choral conducting, as well as graduate-level studies in choral conducting and choral literature. In addition, he serves as an adjunct professor for the Hofstra School of Education, where he supervises choral music education student teachers during their field placements. To read Dr. Fryling's full bio, click here.
Molly Clark is the Chorus Manager.
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Lowell Mason House Report |
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Interior Renovation and Reconstruction Steps a Long Process
The time to move forward on the interior structural integrity has now arrived at the Lowell Mason House. The permit process is now beginning that will develop the interior infrastructure that gets the house closer and closer to completion. As a result of working with the contractor and a structural engineer, a clear plan defining the usage for each room in the building is now just about one month from completion. Through this permitting process in the town of Medfield, the installation of heat, water, and sewer iservices as well as completing structural integrity requirements is the next step in the long process of completing the interior renovations. An examination of the usage of the grounds around the building is now being developed as well, and the group is working with a landscaper to begin addressing some of the immediate exterior grounds needs.
The Lowell Mason House has raised over $500,000.00 up to this date for the purpose of turning it into a study museum, practice/chamber performance space, and a meeting place for arts education advocates. We are grateful to the 15 music educators associations around the United States that have made contributions towards its restoration, including the New England Music Festival Association. Your continued interest and support in this project is very much appreciated.
In the area of programming, the Lowell Mason House is sponsoring a competition that focuses on Music Education Advocacy. In the 2022 Lowell Mason House Annual Music Education Advocacy Competition being held this Fall, applicants will be asked to submit a video, song, paper or presentation consisting of their own creative format that is uniquely accessible. Potential applicants include students, teachers, composers, performers, songwriters and anyone who loves music. The competition organizers will be challenging the applicants to reinterpret a piece of music of their choice (classical, jazz, musical theater, or popular/folk music) and adapt it in a creative way so that it may be the centerpiece of an innovative 21st century classroom lesson, presentation, or public performance. Our organization is at an exciting crossroad and we are looking for new ideas on how the Lowell Mason House can champion music education advocacy and innovation. Thanks to anonymous donors, significant prize money for the top three winners will be awarded up to $5,000.00 for first prize. For more information, please go to the Advocacy Competition link online at https://www.lowellmasonhouse.net/competition .
Thank you for considering making a tax deductible donation today. Please make checks payable to: The Lowell Mason House, P. O. Box 913 Medfield, MA 02052. If you prefer, you may also donate directly online by going to our website at http://www.lowellmasonhouse.net . Your contribution is tax-deductible as a charitable contribution to the extent provided by U.S. tax
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John Philip Sousa National High School Honor Band Festival - 2022 |
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The John Philip Sousa National High School Honor Band is now but a wonderful memory. The group played beautifully and at a high performance standard to be expected on a national-level group. The band met in Harvard, Massachusetts from June 26 to June 30, 2022 with run-out performances in Gardner and Athol, Mass. on June 27 and 28, respectively. The main concert event happened on Wednesday evening, June 29 at 7:00pm in historic Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mechanics Hall is the site of many performances of the original Sousa Band. The National Honor Band the able direction of NEMFA Alumnus Michael J. Colburn, the recent Director of the Butler University Wind Ensemble and the former Director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C. High school band students from all states and territories in the United States who were in grades 9-12 during the 2021-2022 school year were eligible to audition. The 2022 Band was comprised of 90 students representing US 25 states coast to coast. Students prepared and auditioned for this band at the beginning of December 2021.
The performance venues were significant because all three performance sites were visited by the original Sousa Band, John Philip Sousa’s professional band, between 1892 and 1928. In Athol, the Sousa Band performed 6 times, in Gardner, 2 times, and in Worcester, 27 times. A plaque commemorating the historical significance of Worcester and Mechanics Hall to the original Sousa Band was presented to Mechanics Hall in 2019 by the John Philip Sousa Foundation and is prominently displayed there. In 2022, the Sousa Foundation presented historical markers to the Town of Athol and the City of Gardner as a part of this year’s John Philip Sousa National High School Honor Band program. The Gardner performance was an outdoor event held at Monument Park on Monday, June 27, just three blocks from the theatre site where the original Sousa Band performed, with a rain location at Gardner High School. The Athol performance was held in Memorial Hall at the Athol Town Hall, a recently renovated space where the original Sousa Band performed on June 28. The attendance at both of these run-out concerts was absolutely oustanding !
The June 29th Mechanics Hall concert was opened by a professional-level ensemble from Belchertown, Mass. – The Valley Winds, conducted by Dr. Brian Messier, Director of Bands at Dartmouth College and also, a NEMFA alumnus. The Valley Winds is an ensemble, composed of professional full time musicians, music educators, and professionals from other walks of life dedicated to bringing both traditional and new compositions for wind band to the Pioneer Valley. Once again, we had a respectable audience at this wonderful event.
With everyone's help, we had an outstanding musical ensemble perform great music after the Covid pandemic threatened to cancel it. Now that it's return is established, the John Philip Sousa National High School Honors Band came back stronger than ever and we look forward to the next group to meet in June 2024. We especially wish to thank the New England Music Festival Association for being an ad sponsor along with the other businesses and organizations and the students from 29 schools all over the six New England states who made the event possible with everyone else from the rest of the country.
BAND WEBSITE:
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The 2022 John Philip Sousa National High School Honor Band - June 28, 2022, Athol Town Hall, Athol, MA.
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Meghan Ferris Web Design - meghaneferris@gmail.com |
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