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Alabama Orchestra Association Clay McKinney, President


Hello from AOA. I hope your year is going well and that your spring performance plans are coming along smoothly. This is a time when we pull together to accomplish much and the expectations of our students are high. So high are the expectations of our students and their commitment


to those


expectations that we are bold enough to predict the future. At the time of this writing we are having the All State Orchestra festival. Usually as your president I would tell you that All State was wonderful and talk about how well it went, because by the time you read this it will have happened and be over. The question I take pause to answer is, “How is it that I am able to write such a thing?” ,“Why am I comfortable doing that?” I am okay with that because I know it will be great and I know that it will be great because we have great people in this state to lead it and we have great students who are up to the task with their talent and their energy. I feel lucky and honored to be surrounded by so many flexible and giving musicians.


in our program there are certain things that we believe should be and certain things that should not be. What those things are, are as individual as each of us. I challenge each of us though to think about this when it comes to our students, their playing, and their artistic achievement. What things should be and what things should not be, when it comes to their music making? Or, do we just accept what is, and move on. Like any well-designed, well-oiled machine, that is our greatest strength, our greatest asset while at the same time being


Cultural Arts Center in Dothan Alabama. The orchestra is open to all orchestra


students


living in the Southeast district of AOA. It is a bold new move like many things we have done these past twenty years. I hope that we continue to be mindful of what we are moving towards, that it will be of a quality and an expectation that meets or exceeds that of the rest of our artistic life and community arts involvement. I think we will. I think


Etowah Youth Symphony Orchestra


our biggest stumbling block. There is a fine line between giving in, throwing in the towel, accepting mediocrity and moving forward to the next challenge with a fresh face because you know something better lies ahead. As a group we walk that line very well because we understand that moving forward and accepting mediocrity are not mutually exclusive. We are human so at times we fall too far to one side or the other but we always get back to the middle somehow. This is why we have grown, are still growing, have success and have wonderful students.


AOA Clinician Sandra Dackow


The challenge I would like to give to all of us in the AOA to reflect on is this “Are the expectations of my students, high as they are, as high as those of my colleagues and community leaders?” When we think about community or outside involvement


ala breve


We have new string faculty in the state, we have new youth orchestras and we have new events. The Southeast district will be having the first of what we hope will be many district honor orchestra festivals in the state. This is new uncharted territory for our state or at least it is territory we have not explored in quite some time and that is very exciting. The Southeast district honor orchestra festival will take place April 27-29 with a final concert on Sunday April 29 at 2:30 p.m. in the


we will continue to walk that fine line between mediocre apathy and quiet resolve, with patients and ease as we always have. If the past is any indication, what lies ahead will be spectacular and we will continue to accurately predict a bright future.


All-State was excellent. It was the best ever. To everyone that helped you were fabulous. You know who you are and you know you are fabulous because you know we will be calling on you again and again. Students you were great, really great, you blew me away.


Booker T. Washington Arts HS String Quartet 43


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