The 2017 AMEA Professional Development Conference was a smashing success! The AOA welcomed BYU Professor Emeritus and longtime orchestra composer and educator, Dr. Andrew Dabczynski, as a guest clinician for three sessions, sponsored by the AMEA, J.W. Pepper, and Alfred Publishing.  We all learned a great deal about helping young students with sight-reading, teaching Baroque beyond just the notes on the page, and creating a deeper learning experience in our classrooms or studios.  Besides Dr. Dabczynski, we hosted or co-hosted sessions by Jacob Bitinas, Anne Witt, Blake Richardson, and Robert Grogan on everything from technology in the classroom to dealing with parents.  I certainly learned a great deal and I know other conference participants did as well.  Next year, we plan to increase the string and orchestra presence at the AMEA conference, and we hope you will join us in Birmingham.  Besides presenting outstanding clinicians, in 2018 we plan to involve pre-college and collegiate chamber groups in masterclass type sessions as well as lobby performances.  Our goal is to begin to flood the conference with string and orchestra students and increase our presence.  Along those lines, the AOA is looking at moving the All-State Orchestra Festival to the AMEA conference starting in 2020.

What especially stood out to me at the 2017 AMEA conference was simply how determined the orchestra community in Alabama is.  As everyone knows, we are the red-headed step-child of music education in Alabama.  But that is not stopping the level of All-State Orchestra from rising every single year.  Our featured orchestra, the University of Alabama’s Huxford Symphony Orchestra, led by Blake Richardson, presented a simply spectacular performance of American music.  What heartened me most is that some band directors heard the performance and were blown away.  Exposing the band community to the potential of a full orchestra is a crucial step toward increasing orchestra programs and opportunities for students in this state.  In the same vein, as I played Copland’s majestic 3rd Symphony with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra last week, I couldn’t help but wish every single music student in Alabama, string or band, could have been present.  To me, there is nothing quite as majestic as the full symphony orchestra.

We will soon welcome conductors Sandra Dackow, Foster Beyers, and Christina Chen-Beyers, and composer, Alejandro Basulto-Martinez, to work with talented orchestra students from across the state.  The All-State Orchestra will be held February 9-12 at the University of Alabama.  Later this spring, the Alabama Orchestra Association will host our second annual Orchestral Musical Performance Assessments.  Our April 21 location will be Auburn University, and the University of North Alabama will host ensembles from across the state on April 22.  Registration is available at www.alabamaorchestraassociation.org.  We hope to see full orchestras, string orchestras, and even guitar ensembles again this year.  Please encourage your local strings or orchestra programs to participate.  At the AOA, we are orchestrating excellence!