June, 2019 

 

Musically Yours,

                                                                     Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                           Lyvie Beyrent

                                                                       Recording Secretary

     March 19-21, 2020 - Hanover High School, Hanover, 

                                       NH

   Chorus Program  

   for Concert Festival 2020

 

   Alleluia - Jake Narverud
   Awake the Trumpets Lofty Sound -  

   G F Handel
   Wandrers Nachlied - Blake Wilson  
   Rise Up (Women) - Jake Runnestad
   Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel (Men) -  

   Ryan Main

   O, What a Beautiful City - Shawn Kirchner

 

 

 

   

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends, 

I hope this letter finds each and every one of you well at the end of the school year! It is a time for rest, a time for celebration, and time for reflection. It is essential for us to reflect on the NEW ENGLAND AWESOMEness that was of last years entire festival because last year was an incredible New England Festival and it was all in part to your incredible students and preparation as the educators.

 

Thank you for all that you do for all of our excellent students and communities. What you do in the classroom is life-changing for so many of our students all across New England! Thank you. There is a bigger picture of what we do as music educators, and it is easy to lose that picture amid the bureaucracy and challenge. I hope each and every one of you had a very successful year.

 

I will be reaching out to many of you in regards to helping me with the new job. Please contact me if you would like to help me this year as part of the Chorus Committee, On-site Hearing, etc. (email: [email protected]).

 

Our conductor for the 2020 concert festival is Dr. Cory Ganschow, Director of Choral Activities from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.

 

As an active conductor and choral scholar she has chosen a program that highlights her cornerstone as a musician by highlighting both the Soprano and Altos, and Tenors and Bass sections by selecting an SSAA and TTBB piece for the concert festival. The music chosen for the program provides challenging and educating musical selections. Please refer to the list below. Dr. Ganschow is looking forward to working with your students and our wonderful organization.

 

I hope all is well! 

 

Keep Smiling, 

 

Eddie Wilkin  

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

Conductor, pianist, and singer Eddie Wilkin encourages all to find their artistic voice through music. He comes to this philosophy from past experiences at home, in school, and through his recent musical activities.

Eddie studied Music Education at Castleton University (formerly Castleton State College), located in Castleton, Vermont. As a result of the opportunities he had with the ensembles under the supervision of Sherrill Blodget and Glenn Giles, he realized that he wanted to pursue conducting. After graduating with a Bachelors degree of Music in Music Education, he went on to pursue a Masters degree in Choral and Orchestral Conducting from the University of Rhode Island where he studied with Mark Conley, Ann Danis, Gene Pollart and Brian Cardany. Currently, he is finishing up at Castleton University for a second Masters in Music Education with a focus on The Community Choral experience and warm-ups designed for the aging singer. He has also accepted admission to the Doctorate of Education program at the University of New England to study Transformational Leadership.

During his undergraduate and graduate career Eddie has been an active conductor of large choral and instrumental groups such as Concert Choirs, Chamber Ensembles, Symphony Orchestras, Wind Ensembles, as well as Chamber Strings.

Currently, he is the Director of Choral Activities at Fair Haven Union High School, in Fair Haven Vermont. He is also the Artistic Director and founder of The Slate Valley Singers (a community chorus), the Conductor for the Rutland City Band, and at the Union Church of Proctor in Proctor, Vermont. Previous conducting appointments have been with Lakes Region Youth Orchestra, Grace Church in Rutland Vermont, and as a guest with The Philharmonic Orchestra "Mihail Jora" of Bacau, Romania. Professional appointments include President of the Green Mountain Music District, VT-ACDA Student Activities Chair, and the NEMFA- Choral Manager.

Eddie thoroughly enjoys working with all ages of vocal and instrumental ensembles with varied sizes and experience levels.

For more information: www.edwardwilkin.com

Dr. Cory Ganschow is currently Director of Choral Activities at Bradley University. She is extremely active as an adjudicator and clinician for honor choirs across the country including All-State, All-Region, and All-District Choirs. Prior to teaching at Bradley, Ganschow was Coordinator of Music Education and Associate Director of Choral Activities at Western Connecticut State University. She has taught choir in the Texas and Illinois public schools, continues to sing professionally, and is a published researcher and presenter in the areas of choral sound, rehearsal approaches, and engagement.

 

Her life's work emerged from experiencing a moment of sound so profound that her core-beliefs about choral singing were transformed. That transformation lead to her infinite search for how to not only re-create that sound for her students to experience, but how to teach others to re-create that sound and experience for their students: a search that lead to the discovery that choral sound is more than a combination of perfected musical, acoustical, and technical elements. The greatest contribution to a choir's sound is its unified intention to create a moment that will change the human spirit. And so, Ganschow's mission continues as she works to define the exact phenomena that craft those moments, because, in the end, that change in the human spirit is the legacy left behind.

 

She holds a  Ph.D. in Choral Music Education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, a  MME  from Illinois State University and a  BME  from Millikin University where she studied conducting with Dr. Brad Holmes.

 

The 2019 NEMFA Orchestra performed a stunning concert in March at the 92nd Concert Festival in Woodstock, CT. Under the direction of Dr. Kathleen Horvath, they presented an exciting program featuring bravura playing across all sections. She taught the students basic conducting techniques to help them understand rhythmic challenges, led them in numerous stretching exercises to reduce injury and fatigue from long rehearsals, and even gave the festival chorus a run for their money by having them sing their parts! A wise person once told me always to listen with the intent to steal (an axiom I have, naturally, stolen), and so I'd like to pass on a few insights Dr. Horvath shared with the ensemble:

 

The amount of growth shown by the students in the short time from the first rehearsal to the final concert is always amazing, and this year was no exception. Thank you to the host site directors, students, and families; all of them were tremendously accommodating throughout the process, and were eager to help whenever asked. Thanks as well to all the directors who assisted by running sectionals, filling in on parts, getting the students there in the first place, and all the other tasks large and small that are involved in creating such an outstanding experience for our musicians.

 

The upcoming 2020 festival will be under the baton of Mr. Allen Tinkham, whose biography is below. As the director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Composers Orchestra, he is a champion of new music. He has won the ASCAP National Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music nine times, and leads Chicago's only professional orchestra performing exclusively the works of living composers. Chicago area music critics have recognized him not only as an outstanding conductor, but also as an excellent educator; he brings a unique set of skills and knowledge to the NEMFA stage, and I eagerly anticipate the work he does with our students.

 

It is never too early to start thinking ahead for a performance, and to this end, I am pleased to announce the program for next year's festival. The concert opens with "The Machine Awakes," an electro-acoustic composition written by Steven Bryant in 2013. Working with electronics is a new technique for the NEMFA orchestra, and fits with the conductor's reputation for "Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music." The largest work on the program is the first movement of the "Symphony No. 1 in E Minor" by Florence Price. Price is a composer who is likely to be unfamiliar to many students and directors; according to Tinkham, she is noted as the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. The symphony we will perform comes from 1932; while it definitely contains echoes of Dvorak's "New World Symphony," it is in no way derivative, creating a sonic world uniquely its own. The closing piece on the program is Franz von Suppé's "Light Cavalry Overture." Although the operetta for which it was written is rarely performed, this 1866 overture contains many familiar melodies and may be Suppé's best-known work.

 

What a program! Covering a variety of time periods and styles, there are exquisite moments for every section of the orchestra, and numerous solo opportunities throughout the ensemble. I hope you will share this repertoire with your students, and get them excited about taking part. As you make your way through the various pompous and circumstantial events of the concluding school year, I hope there is some time on the horizon to rest from the breakneck pace of the rest of the year! Best wishes to all, and if you have any comments, questions, complaints, or suggestions regarding the NEMFA orchestra, please do not hesitate to be in touch.

Sincerely,

Scott Benson

.

Allen Tinkham is increasingly recognized as one of the most inspiring and exciting conductors and teachers of his generation. He is hailed by the Chicago Tribune as both a conductor and teacher, described as working "wonders" conducting with "uncanny control" and as one of Chicago's most important "educators, mentors and inspirational guides in the training of tomorrow's orchestral professionals."

As the Music Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO), Tinkham oversees artistic programming and faculty and leads the Symphony Orchestra each season including appearances at Orchestra Hall in Symphony Center and Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park. Tinkham led the orchestra in its Carnegie Hall debut, first live broadcast, first recording release, and six international tours on four continents.

 

Since Tinkham joined CYSO, programs have tripled and the budget has doubled. CYSO's Symphony Orchestra is regularly broadcast by WFMT and has received numerous Illinois Council of Orchestras Youth Orchestra of the Year and Programming of the Year awards. The orchestra is internationally acclaimed as "one of the country's most famous youth outfits." (Muso Magazine) John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune said of their recent performance of Varèse's Amériques, the first ever by an American youth orchestra, "The performance would have done credit to an adult professional orchestra."

 

As an advocate and champion of contemporary music, Tinkham has won nine American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers National Awards for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music (ASCAP). Tinkham is also the Music Director of the Chicago Composers Orchestra, Chicago's only professional orchestra performing exclusively the works of living composers.

 

In high demand as a guest conductor and educator, Tinkham has conducted summer festivals and NAfME All-State Orchestras throughout the U.S. including the All-Eastern and All-Northwest Orchestras. He was the Assistant Conductor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's holiday concerts for six seasons, and he has guest conducted the Colorado Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and the Members of Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

 

Tinkham attended the Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan School of Music, and American Academy of Conducting of the Aspen Music Festival. He was invited to the 14th International Nicolai Malko Competition and the 4th International Conductors Competition Sir Georg Solti and is a laureate of the League of American Orchestras Bruno Walter Conductor Preview.

 

Tinkham began his career as Apprentice Conductor at the Oregon Symphony and before the end of his apprenticeship was appointed Music Director of CYSO-the youngest to win the post in its history.

 Dear Colleagues,

 

NEMFA Band Manager

Band Director, Hartford High School  

White River Jct., Vermont.   

 

. 

Dr. Elizabeth Peterson, clinical professor of music, and associate director of bands, joined the Illinois faculty in the fall of 2015. She conducts the Illinois Wind Orchestra, serves as the placement coordinator for student teachers, and teaches courses in instrumental conducting. Prior to her appointment at the University of Illinois, Dr. Peterson was a tenured professor of music education at the Ithaca College School of Music. During the seventeen years she spent at Ithaca College, she conducted numerous ensembles including the Symphonic Band, Brass Choir and All-Campus Band. She taught courses in conducting, undergraduate and graduate courses in music education, and supervised student teachers. Dr. Peterson was the co-conductor of the Ithaca Concert Band (community band) for fifteen years. Her current research focuses on the experiences of first-year teachers.

Dr. Peterson is active as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and school music consultant in the United States and Canada. She presents clinics at the local, state and national levels in the field of music education. Dr. Peterson's two books,  The  Music Teachers First Year: Tales of Challenge Joy and Triumph,  and  The Music Teacher's Later Years: Reflection with Wisdom  are both published by Meredith Music.

Dr. Peterson received a Bachelor of Music Education and Bachelor of Literature, Science and Arts degree from the University of Michigan where she studied trumpet with Armando Ghitalla. She received a Master of Music in Music Education and Trumpet Performance from Northwestern University, where she studied trumpet with Vincent Cichowicz, and performed in the North Shore Community Band under the direction of John P. Paynter. She earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education from Shenandoah Conservatory.

Prior to her appointment at Ithaca College, Dr. Peterson was an arts administrator and director of bands in the public schools of Ohio and Illinois. She holds a number of professional memberships including the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, National Band Association, Mu Phi Epsilon, Phi Kappa Phi, and Pi Kappa Lambda. Dr. Peterson is a member of the American Bandmasters Association and the Midwest Clinic Board of Directors.

by Thomas E. Reynolds

 

LOWELL MASON HOUSE REPORT

 

June, 2019

• Partnering with local arts organizations by providing office and meeting space to support the arts and the importance of arts education in our schools
• Building an up-to-date rehearsal and performance space which will include music technology and recording facilities
• Restoring and preserving the house to include a Lowell Mason museum

 

Thank you so much for your interest and support in this project. As you can see, we are making great progress towards the full restoration of the house. Donations are always welcomed and we can now see the house moving closer to completion. Thank you for considering making a tax-deductible donation today. Please make checks payable to: The Lowell Mason House, P. O. Box 913 Medfield, MA 02052. Your contribution is tax-deductible as a charitable contribution to the extent provided by U.S. tax law. ·

 

- Thomas E. Reynolds