All-State and All-District Audition Registration for 2013

Directors, 

If you did not receive an e-mail concerning All-State and All-District Audition Registration for 2013 please contact David McDaniel or Nathan Haskew. 

The deadline for registration is Monday, December 10, 2012. 

JSU Trombone Ensemble Concert - Nov 27

On Tuesday night, November 27th at 7:30 PM at the Jacksonville State University Performance Center, our Trombone Ensemble and Trombone Quartet will be putting on our fall concert. The concert is free and open to the public - all fans of the trombone are encouraged to attend!

Thanks so much!

Dr. David Lambert
Assistant Professor of Trombone
Jacksonville State University
dlambert@jsu.edu

From National Band Association Alabama state chair, Corey Spurlin

Colleagues,

I hope you have had a successful Fall Semester. As the Alabama state chair for the National Band Association, I would like to recognize ensembles in our state that perform at any Regional or National events this year. Please let me know if your marching or concert groups have had or will have an opportunity such as this in 2012-13. In our NBA meetings at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, I would like to share the great music making and teaching that is going on across our state.

I am also writing to encourage your participation and membership in this important professional organization. If you are unfamiliar with the NBA, it was founded in 1960 and promotes the musical and educational significance of bands. It is dedicated to the attainment of the highest levels of excellence for bands and band music. We are living and working in a time where advocacy for bands is extremely important, and the NBA is solely focused on the promotion of this single artistic medium. The organization does not limit membership to a certain style or level of band participation, but is open to all teachers and performers that wish to advance the art form. 

On a national level, the NBA has numerous projects that help advance band music and education. The organization provides all members with the official NBA magazine, The Instrumentalist. The NBA also publishes the NBA Journal and provides an online directory to help communication and collegiality among band directors. Members also have access to a selective concert band music list to aid with programming. The organization holds national and regional conventions and sponsors the Revelli Composition Contest, the Merrill Jones Young Composers Contest, the International Conducting Symposium, and the Young Composer and Conductor Mentor Projects. These are just a few of the NBA projects that help develop excellence in band performance at all levels and provide an avenue for the enhancement of band literature.

On the state level, NBA presents awards at the AMEA conference and other state and regional events to recognize outstanding achievement in band performance and education. Should you become a member of NBA, you would be eligible to nominate and present some NBA awards in your county/district as well as within your own band program. This is a great way to honor a deserving colleague or student in your band or in your area. A listing of these awards, which are all free to members, can be found at: https://www.nationalbandassociation.org/awards/http://www.nationalbandassociation.org/awards.

When needed and requested, the Alabama membership of NBA also sponsors events (honor bands, clinics, guest performers, etc...) that help further the development and recognition of bands in our state. It is my goal to increase the Alabama membership in NBA by 15% so that we may be able to offer more services to our state directors and programs. I would love to hear your suggestions regarding ways that NBA can better serve your needs in the state.

I know there are many options for professional membership in our field, but NBA is dedicated to your needs as band director. If you would like to become a member, dues are $55 and there are numerous benefits other than supporting your profession:

* The Instrumentalist - official monthly magazine, sent to all active members. 

* The NBA Journal - published three times yearly (May, October (NBA insert in The

Instrumentalist) & December).

* Access to all areas of the web site, www.nationalbandassociation.org including selective music lists, conducting and composition projects, awards, grants, and much more.

You can join online or print out a form and mail in the application for membership: http://www.nationalbandassociation.org/join/

The NBA is a wonderful organization of professional music educators. I do hope you¹ll plan to join this worthwhile organization today, and I look forward to seeing your name added to our statewide roster. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best Wishes,

Dr. Corey Spurlin

NBA Alabama State Chair

------------------------------------

Director, Auburn University Marching Band

Associate Director of Bands

cspurlin@auburn.edu

334-844-3179 (office)

334-844-3170 (fax)

All-State Music Questions

 

There have been a few questions concerning the All-State music.   Below is Johnny's response on three of them.

A few questions have arisen concerning the All-State Music that I wanted to pass along. These are all concerning the exercises that students are preparing for this years auditions, not the ones you have completed for next year.

1. In the HS Clarinet Musical Study, in m. 22 there is a natural sign beneath the turn. I believe that this means that the lowest note in the turn should be a natural. However, since it would be an E natural anyway, did you mean that it should be an F natural? The F natural/E sharp seems to fit better with the other turns, but that is probably not the safest way to judge such things.

Answer: The accidental under the turn sign in m. 22 HSL clar. should have been a sharp. I discovered this my self working with a student on Monday. My original version had a sharp and I don't know how it got changed.

2. In the HS Clarinet Technical Study, in m. 14, we have had some question whether the B should be a B flat, as the key indicates, or a B natural.

Answer: HST m 14, the note is correct, but it would have been better had I spelled it with an A-flat instead of a g-sharp. It is actually a misspelled b-flat 7 chord.

3. In the MS Flute Technical Study, in a number of measures, there are grace notes. Did you intend these to be the kind before the beat, or on the beat? There has been a question as to whether they are notated properly.

Answer: The HST flute has two long mordents that should not have been; I inadvertently used the wrong symbol.

4. The last one is the most confusing one to me, because I'm not sure how you would answer this question anyway. In the HS Flute Technical Study there are mordents. I have had a question from a flute teacher who wants to know how you would interpret it. She is concerned that people will interpret it differently, and wants there to be one correct interpretation. Your thoughts? 

 

Answer: Before addressing the MST flute grace notes, I want to do a little research. I know what I meant, but I need to make sure I wrote what I meant. On all of these I will make appropriate changes and send you a new file.

From Dr. Lambert, JSU

Dear Colleagues -

Greetings from Jacksonville State University!  My name is Dr. David Lambert and I am the new trombone professor at JSU this year.  JSU has a rich history of producing outstanding trombonists, and I am extremely excited and honored to be here working with our dedicated and talented students.  I'll spare you the resume, but you can check out my bio here if you'd like:  http://www.trombone.net/news/news.cfm?ID=1625

I would also like to offer my services to you and your students as clinician and private lesson instructor.  I'm available most evenings here at the University - if your students are interested, please feel free to have them email me anytime!  They can also follow the exploits of the JSU Trombone Studio on our Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/groups/347740605310730/

Finally, I am in the process of organizing a Summer High School Trombone Choir - as soon as I lock down dates and details, I'll pass along the info.  It's a great way to keep horns on faces during the long, hot summer!

I am truly looking forward to getting to know all of you over the course of my career at JSU.  If you ever want to chat, talk shop, or just touch base and say "Hi," feel free to contact me!

Take care, and thank you.

Dr. David Lambert
Assitant Professor of Trombone
Jacksonville State University
dlambert@jsu.edu

Univ. of South Alabama All-State Podcasts

The All-State Examples are performed for you by the faculty of the school of music of South Alabama. You can find etudes here:

 http://www.southalabama.edu/music/allstate/m/

 If you have not printed off your music you can do so here:

 http://www.alabamamea.org/bandmasters/2013%20All-State%20All-State%20Audition%20Requirements.htm

Auditions for All-State/All-District will be Saturday, Jan 19, 2013 at Southside High School. 

 Thanks!

Nathan Haskew

ABA District II Annual Fall Meeting: Monday, August 27, 2012

It was so good to see the great number of District II directors who attended our annual fall meeting last Monday, August 27.  Special thanks goes out to Steve Reagan at Gadsden City HS for hosting the event.

Our entertainment for that evening was the Jacksonville HS Jazz Band and the Gadsden City HS Danceline.  We appreciate Jeff Gossett and Steve Reagan for allowing their students to perform for us.

The meeting was short and sweet; the only business acted upon was concerning funding for the Regina King Scholarship.  After discussion, etc. it was decided that funding for this scholarship will now be built in to the ABA District II school fees due at the beginning of each year, starting in the 2013-2014 school year.

You may access the meeting agenda by clicking here. 

Remember that all communication will be online or via email.  You may want to bookmark www.abadistrict2.blogspot.com and http://www.alabamamea.org/bandmasters/index.htm to stay up-to-date on all district and ABA news and deadlines. 

We have a number of band directors who have not updated their director information at https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dHZyTU1yUy1tZ2tVcy0zUXBpWnNHNEE6MQ#gid=0.  The following schools HAVE NOT updated their information on the directory:

Anniston HS

Anniston MS

Asbury HS

Boaz MS

Clay Co. HS

Claysville JH

Cleveland HS

Collinsville HS

Cornerstone Christian

Donoho School

Duran N. JH

Duran S. JH

Williams Intermediate School

Emma Samson MS

Etowah HS

Fort Payne HS

Gadsden MS

Geraldine HS

Guntersville HS

Guntersville MS

Hayden HS

Hayden MS

Hokes Bluff HS

KDS DAR

Kitty Stone Elementary

Locust Fork HS

Nichols Lawson MS

North Sand Mtn. HS

Oxford HS

Oxford MS

Sardis HS

Section HS

Wellborn HS