Iowa Bandmasters Association
March 2021 eNews
Membership News
IBA Virtual Conference

We are excited to announce our 2021 Virtual Conference: Celebrating our Connections. This three day conference will feature performances and clinics from musicians and educators across the country. The early registration portal will open at bandmasters.org on March 15 and the 94th Iowa Bandmasters Conference will run through the Guidebook App. This year’s conference will feature great sessions by such educational visionaries as Tim Lautzenheiser, James Jordan, Dr. Shelley Jagow, Jim Stephenson, Dr. Andrew Trachsel, Robert W. Smith, Dr. Courtney Snyder, Darrin Davis, Dr. Scott Edgar, and Frank Batisti among others. I know you’re going to love the conference and I can’t wait to share it with you.


IBA Honor Bands

Congratulations to the four ensembles who were selected to play as a part of the 2021 Virtual IBA conference. Please make sure to check out their performances! It’s always a challenge to have a band perform at an IBA Honor Band level, and this year was especially difficult. Congratulations to these bands and to all of you who submitted recordings.

  • Hazel Point Intermediate 6th Grade Band, directed by Kevin Makinster and Stephanie Nuss
  • The West Lyon Symphonic Band, directed by Drew Balta
  • The Pella High School 11/12 Concert Band, directed by Dameon Place
  • Cedar Falls High School Jazz One, directed by Kyle Engelhardt


Outstanding Administrator Recognition Due March 13th

Each year IBA recognizes 3 administrators with the Outstanding Administrator Award. Members can nominate an elementary/middle school principal, high school principal, and/or superintendent for consideration for the award. If you work with an outstanding administrator please consider nominating them for the award. The recognition from you alone is meaningful to your administrator and makes the process worth it.
 
The form is live on the Public Relations page on bandmasters.org or it can be found at this link. Submissions are due March 13th, 2021. If you have any questions you can contact your district public relations committee member or Danny Kleinheinz at publicrelations@bandmasters.org.  


Retirement/Tenure Awards - Due March 20th
If you have reached the 30 year tenure mark or are planning on retiring, please submit your information in order to be recognized. 


Please contact jeana.larson@bandmasters.org with any questions.
Upcoming Dates

  • March 13    Outstanding Administrator Nomination Deadline 
  • March 15    Conference Pre-Registration Opens
  • March 20    Retirement/Tenure Notification Deadline 
  • March 22    Director of Communications Applications Due
  • May 1        Conference Pre-Registration Deadline
  • May 13-15   94th Annual I.B.A. Virtual Conference 
  • June 4       Summer Magazine Deadline
IAAE "Meet Our Match" Campaign
The Iowa Alliance for Arts Education (IAAE) is kicking off its first annual Meet our Match campaign for the Model of Excellence Mentor Program in the month of March.

The Iowa Legislature appropriated $25,000 supporting the Mentor Program to be matched by the IAAE. Your donation will ensure that Iowa Alliance for Arts Education’s Mentor Program continues to provide support to first- and second-year fine arts teachers in rural and urban communities across the state of Iowa. To date we have raised $5,700 toward the March 31,2021 goal of $25,000 and we need YOUR help to get there.

March Newsletter

For more information, please visit www.iowaalliance4artsed.org
IBA Director of Communications Application
IBA is currently looking for a new Director of Communications (former title Magazine Editor). If you are detail oriented, team minded, and interested in taking an active role in shaping the future of IBA, then this position could be for you! Interested candidates should fill out the IBA Director of Communication Application and submit it along with two letters of recommendation to chris.strohmaier@bandmasters.org by March 22nd. Interviews for the position will be held in early April.  
From the Podium
Preparations for the 2021 IBA Virtual Conference are off and running! And while the format of the conference is going to be different than what we are used to, there are going to be a lot of GREAT things for you to take advantage of, with some familiar faces and some new ones.  

There are so many people that I am excited to introduce to you and topics I’m excited to cover. Interested in intonation? Check out Dr. Shelley Jagow from Wright State or Chris Grifa from Clay Middle School in Carmel, Indiana. Interested in recruitment and retention? Check out MJ Robinson from Alston Middle School in Summerville, South Carolina or Marcia Neel from Yamaha Education. Or if it’s diversity in the classroom and the profession, check out our two panel discussions on the Roots of Jazz and Women in Jazz, or listen to Dr.Courtney Snyderfrom the University of Michigan.  

And we’ve got four featured speakers sprinkled throughout the conference. Dr. Scott Edgar will kick things off with an opening address entitled The Heart of Learning, where he will help us reconnect with and re-ground our students in a socially rich and emotionally sound environment. Friday night will feature Frank Batisti, a legend in instrumental music education. Dr. Batisti’s session entitled Beliefs; Objectives; Strategies is sure to inspire you to become the best version of yourself. If you don’t know of Frank, your musical and educational life will be forever changed after you listen to his stories.

In addition to a host of clinic sessions, Saturday will feature two outstanding speakers. Our keynote speaker this year is Dr. James Jordan. Adopted into instrumental music circles from the vocal world, Dr. Jordan’s keynote address is entitled The Great Reset: What Musicians Should have Learned from the Pandemic. If you’ve read any of his books in the “The Musician’s …” series, you know that this will be a presentation not to be missed!  

And then we have IBA’s newest Honorary Lifetime Member, Dr. Tim Lautzenheizer. Dr. Tim will speak to us about life, band, passion, and education - all those great Dr. Tim topics.  

This is just a taste of what we have in store for you at this year’s conference. The full conference schedule will come out in mid-April, and when you see it, I hope you’ll be as excited to attend the conference as I was to put it together. Until then, thanks for everything that you continue to do for our students.


Chris Strohmaier
IBA President
Iowa Bandmasters Association
94th Annual Conference
May 13 - 15, 2021