Members of the Alabama Orchestra Association,
The other members of the Executive Committee, Anna Marie, and I look forward to welcoming you to Huntsville, January 18-20, 2024, for the Alabama Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference. It is not too early to start making plans to attend the AMEA Conference, and I remind you that you must be a current member of NAfME to register.
The “headliner” clinician for the Alabama Orchestra Association will be Brenda Brenner, the Professor of Music Education and Director of the Jacobs Academy at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She specializes in string music education, teaching applied violin, as well as courses in violin and string pedagogy. Dr. Brenner holds degrees from Wichita State University and the Eastman School of Music. In addition to her appointment to the Music Education Department, she serves as co-director of the IU String Academy, which has been featured in concerts throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America. As director of the Fairview Project, a program in which every first and second grader in a Title I school learns violin as part of the curriculum, Dr. Brenner researches the cognitive, academic, and social outcomes of early instrumental music instruction. Dr. Brenner is an active performer of chamber music, an active international clinician, a Past President of the American String Teachers Association, and is on the Board of the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. Dr. Brenner will present four sessions at the 2024 AMEA Conference:
Setting Up for Success – Some of the most important factors that determine success in playing a stringed instrument involve the beginning “set up” stage, which includes establishing a proper playing position and developing free and open muscular motions. Teachers can ensure success for their students by establishing a series of procedures that break down the setup tasks into a sequence of exercises that allow their students to look and sound great!
From Poof to Portato: A sequence of bow strokes – Bowing technique is a crucial foundational skill in string playing that creates good tone quality and forms the basis for musical style. In this session, methods of teaching fundamental bow strokes and bow choreography in group settings from beginning through intermediate levels will be explored. Literature utilizing the various strokes will be presented.
Winning with Warm-Ups – An effective warm-up routine that integrates technical and musical elements as a preparation for playing repertoire is a key to successful teaching. Separation of both left- and right-hand difficulties before attempting them within the repertoire is essential. This clinic will examine how to design an effective routine and will present examples of warm-ups using standard repertoire from the string orchestra literature.
Theory is Awesome – Learning music theory concepts deepens students’ understanding of music. Knowledge of intervals, solfege, chord structure, and musical form strengthens the comprehension of musical style, allows students to contribute intelligently to the musical decision-making process, and perform with more understanding and awareness. Strategies for building practical theoretical skills in the beginning through advanced string classroom through games, musical activities, and improvisation will be presented in this clinic.
In addition to the sessions presented by Dr. Brenner, we will also host sessions rooted in the art of listening from the podium, score study, behavior strategies that work, practicing with purpose, and empowering perspectives from women in music. Members of the Alabama Orchestra Association are also invited to participate in our third-annual AOA Lobby Performance which includes leadership, membership, and collegiate students. We will also hold our annual Saturday morning J.W. Pepper reading session, so be sure to bring your instrument! I know the Conference sounds extremely busy, and it is, but there is also plenty of time for sharing meals, exchanging ideas, networking, and building relationships.
I am also excited about the 2024 North and South Region Orchestra and All-State Orchestra Festivals. Please see the AOA website, found below, for information regarding the North and South Region Orchestra Festivals, occurring January 6-7, 2024. The 2024 All-State Orchestra Festival will take place on the campus of the University of Alabama, February 8-11, 2024.
At the 2024 AOA All-State Orchestra Festival, the Festival Orchestra will be led by Robin Fountain, the Emeritus Professor of Conducting at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music. Mr. Fountain is a sought-after guest conductor throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, and has recorded for Parma/Naxos, Novona, and Blue Griffin records, most recently Michael Kurek’s Symphony No. 2 with the European Recording Orchestra, Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2020, Mr. Fountain concluded a fourteen-season tenure as Music Director of the Southwest Michigan Symphony and had previously enjoyed an equally long and productive tenure with the Williamsport Symphony in Pennsylvania. Mr. Fountain holds degrees from Oxford University, the Royal College of Music in London, and Carnegie Mellon University.
The Sinfonia will be led by César Leal. He currently serves as Director of Orchestral Activities at the Sunderman Conservatory in Gettysburg College, where he is also a professor of musicology. A Colombian-born artist and researcher, his scholarly and creative activities often intersect a diverse array of interests, including music and culture during fin-de-siècle Paris, Franco-American artistic interactions, soundscapes, Jewish patronage and modernism, Latin American cultural identities in the U.S., and race, class, gender relations in music. Dr. Leal has led professional ensembles across the U.S., Panama, Colombia, France, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. He holds degrees from the University of Kentucky, Florida International University, and Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá.
The Consort String Orchestra will be led by Jennifer Drake. Inspired by the power of music to connect people, ideas, and communities, Ms. Drake is a conductor, violist, teacher, clinician, and camp director. She is known for her versatility, humor, and energy, and has been a transformative force for the arts in Boise, Idaho, since 1999. Ms. Drake is the Music Director of the Serenata Orchestra, the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the assistant conductor and principal violist for the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. Additionally, she is the principal violist for the Boise Baroque Chamber Orchestra, as we as a violist for the Boise Philharmonic. Ms. Drake is the founder of the Idaho Viola Camp and the co-artistic director for the Idaho Orchestra Institute.
Please encourage your students to participate in the North/South Region Orchestra and All-State Orchestra Festivals. More information regarding auditions can be found here: https://alabamaorchestraassociation.org
All-Region/All-State Orchestra
Deadlines for Audition
Submission/Registration
- October 13, 2023: String and Harp Audition Materials Due
- November 10, 2023: Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion Audition Materials Due
Thank you for all that you do to ensure that orchestral music thrives in the State of Alabama. May we strive to build musical communities where our students find safe spaces to express themselves, their experiences, their hopes, and their dreams for a kinder world where all are loved, nurtured, and supported. May this be our mission and may music be our vehicle.
Musically yours,
Joseph Lee, President
Important Dates
2023-2024 Academic Year
- North All-Region Orchestra: January 6-7, 2024 (Huntsville)
- South All-Region Orchestra: January 6-7, 2024 (Greenville)
- All-State Orchestra Festival: February 8-11, 2024 (Tuscaloosa)
- Orchestra Music Performance Assessment: April 5, 2024 (Alabaster)