Greetings from the beautiful “Land of Enchantment”! Summer is almost gone and with that comes the reminder that new voices and musical experiences are but a few weeks away. As the new president of NMACDA, I want to welcome new and seasoned teachers alike.
A special thanks to our new state officers who sacrificed their time, talent and personal budgets to attend our planning retreat in Ruidoso this past June. We brainstormed, solved problems and began planning for the bright future of NMACDA.
Those in attendance provided honest dialogue and their expertise. Your officers are dedicated and committed to increasing our membership, offering more musical opportunities for growth, and to finding ways to be fiscally responsible during these tough economic times. I have always said that New Mexico teachers do more with less money, and create wonderful success stories.
I have scheduled a board and R & S chair meeting in conjunction with the NMMEA conference in Albuquerque. Please plan to attend, as we have much to continue!
It is “Back to School” and with that we must fill our backpacks with the tools of our trade! Music, Binders, Pencils, but also- fun, excitement for the music and certainly some musical “magic”. Many of you have attended summer reading sessions, workshops and taken the internet tour of octavo newcomers. I encourage you to also include the tried and true standards- Gretchaninoff, Brahms, Bach- you get the idea! Our students deserve diversified and quality literature!
Our state organization sponsors the New Mexico Youth All State Choirs in January. Our clinicians for 2010 are Nathan Parker and Debra Mello. We have much to learn as we enjoy the conducting and rehearsal techniques of these wonderful conductors. Plan to join us in January at New Mexico State University.
Alan Kuncel and friends recorded our learning cd for the audition titles, and Hammond Music Service has created the learning cd’s for all the other performance titles. Music Mart has the music in stock! You may download the learning tracks at our website: nmacda.org.
We have a new website! Daniel Rodriguez, together with help from our National office has created a wonderful web experience for our membership. All registrations are to be submitted from this website. One page for you to fill out! It is simple and we are so anxious to try out the new links. Be sure to send in your pictures to be included on the web!
Our State Officers and R & S Chairs are also listed on the website. Please contact us if we can assist you in any way! New teachers and members…We are only a phone call or email away!
I wish all of you a prosperous school year! For our church and community members- we are creating two music & worship choral experiences! Watch for the upcoming state newsletter via email with all the details. Clinicians will be Dr. Doug Weeks and the incomparable John Clark. Participation will be open to anyone wishing to sing via their church or community choir director.
Thank you to Dr. Jerry Alt, Marilyn Watson, and our past officers of NMACDA. Together you have created a wonderful musical organization dedicated to quality literature and performance.
Always reach for musical and personal excellence! Our audiences, students and collegues expect no less.
Sincerely,
Diane Schutz
NMACDA President