As I begin this last article for the Ala Breve, I’m reminded of Ecclesiastes 7:8. “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” Remembering All-State Festival reminds me also that the end is in sight. The Spring Concert is over and only our performance at Baccalaureate remains, quickening the planning for the next school year. I love the cyclical nature of our profession.

I consider All-State Festival as the crest of our year. The conductors were outstanding and offered our students a wealth of instruction. Not only for students, but professional development for teachers was second to none. Meg Rudolph planned an excellent array of sessions, for which many of you afforded yourselves the opportunity of attending. I hope this is a tradition that Meg is willing to continue. The best in-service occurs when we watch a master teacher at work. We were afforded this opportunity for approximately twelve hours during the festival. Watching the conductors has always been my favorite aspect of attending the All-State festival. I hope this year you were able to spend time after the festival evaluating your own rehearsals in light of the good teaching that you were able to witness over the course of the festival. Thank you Kenny Gannon and Tim Banks. Our organization has never felt so welcomed to Samford University. Your selfless patience with us has not gone unnoticed. Your willingness to address all the needs that we bring to the venue are appreciated. I hope the relationship that we enjoy at Samford is in the “middle” category of a cycle and that we can continue this relationship for years to come.

The cyclical nature of our profession has impacted the makeup of our AVA board. As my tenure as AVA president ends and Ginny Coleman’s presidency begins, Districts I, III, IV, V, and VII begin next year with new district chairmen. The executive board will also change—adding Cathy Spence as the recording secretary. Support Ginny Coleman as your new president. She is a great organizational planner and I think that you will be proud to be a member of the organization of which she is president.

Please submit to perform at the AMEA Conference. We are going to remain in the alternative performance venue within the conference center for one more year. Then the conference will move to the civic center in Birmingham. We then can enjoy the better acoustics of the concert hall. Hopefully, we will successfully address the issues which were noted in the ball room this year in Montgomery. We are meeting in June with Garry Taylor to address these concerns. I think that the hall provides a good facility acoustically for our ensembles. Submissions are due by June 1.

The AVA summer board meeting is June 4–8 in Tuscaloosa. Should you have anything you would like the board to discuss, please forward your communication before the meeting in June.

Your NAfME membership is ending June 30th. Remember to renew your NAfME membership before the end of school. I wish you all the best as you end the school year.

I appreciate the opportunity to have served as AVA president for the past two years. I consider that we all have a responsibility to serve the organization that has served all of our individual school programs. See you at Fall Workshop.

Carl Davis