Rusty Courson - President, Alabama Bandmasters Association
I would like to thank everyone for the opportunity to serve as President of ABA. It is indeed an honor and a humbling experience to be selected to lead our professional organization. Many thanks to John Cooper, our immediate Past- President, for your leadership and guidance over the past two years. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call on me. Just as all of you, I’m teaching throughout the day, but I can assure you that I’ll get back to you as soon as I possibly can. You can always reach me through email at
courson.rusty @
lee.k12.al.us, through my cell phone at (706) 289-4721, or my office phone at (334) 664-4435. If you leave a voicemail on my office phone, it is saved as an .mp3 file and sent to me through email as well.
A very special thanks to our board members for a very productive summer conference meeting. I expect to have more details by the next issue of Ala Breve, but the board voted to contract with Dorian Business Systems (DBS) to bring our technology possibilities into the 21st Century.
convention, thanks to the leadership of Mike and the assistant chair of that committee, David Allinder. In addition, our online directory has not been updated in a number of years, and Mike has been working hard to take care of that. If you need to update your personal information and haven’t heard from your district chairman, or you’re a new director, please contact Mike at
thetubaman@charter.net with your information.
At this point, we are in our second full year of self-published all-state exercises. Although all of the exercises for wind players were published on the website just before the close of the 2012-13 school year, our newly created All-State Music Review Committee had recommended revisions on several of the pieces, so all UPDATED exercises are now published and available. If you or your students downloaded the initial publications, please make sure to go back and download the CURRENT and LAST revision to ensure that your students have the CORRECT material.
Eventually, we will be able to conduct our all-state auditions, all-state registration at the district and state levels, MPA registration, and solo and ensemble registration completely on line (of course, we’ll still have to physically mail Harry McAfee a check…which is obviously an important part of the process!!!). Some of you may be more familiar with DBS through their primary product, Charms Office Assistant, which many of us have utilized with our band programs for several years. Be watching for updates.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to the outstanding clinicians that presented at our summer conference this year.
Dr. Jed
Smart, Dr. Ken Ozzello and Mr. Randall Coleman, Dr. Ward Miller and Dr. Will Petersen, and Mr. Terry Ownby presented outstanding clinics with valuable and informative information. In addition, we also need to thank Frank Godfrey and Jeff Therber with DeMoulin Uniforms, Wayne Broom with AWB Apparel, and Paul Freehling with Art’s Music Shop for sponsoring our annual Wednesday evening Social Hour.
I also want to thank our new President- Elect/Vice-President, Mike Holmes, for all of his help this summer.
The music
selection committee had an incredibly productive session during our summer
ala breve
I’m writing this in between making last minute preparations for band camp. We’ve just wrapped up our auxiliary and percussion camps this week, and many of you have already completed a week of band camp as well. To those of you like myself that have been doing this for awhile, please remember to be helpful to our other
colleagues, especially those directors that are just entering our profession. To our new directors, WELCOME! With that being stated, please be receptive when others offer you help!!! I can tell you unequivocally that I could not have survived my first years as a band director without the assistance and guidance of SO MANY that were willing to help. One thing that I learned early on from my good friend Steve McLendon: During the year, when you’re hosting a home football game, contact the band director at the visiting school and make sure they’re aware of available facilities, directions to the stadium, instructions regarding parking, etc. See if your band boosters are willing to provide visiting bands with water after halftime (think about it…one less thing to have to load to travel!!!). We try to get enough water donated to get throughout the year to provide for our group as well as visiting bands, so it really ends up not costing our program anything financially.
Treat
directors and those associated with their programs with respect and admiration. SO MANY of the world’s problems could be solved if we would simply treat people right. Keep that in mind as you progress through the school year. I hope all of you have a GREAT year!!!
Whether you sing in the choir, dance in a musical theater production, play an instrument in a band, have a passion for opera, or lead worship for your church, the University of Mobile Center for Performing Arts has the program for you!
If you desire a university that prepares you to make a difference in today’s culture, UMobile is for you!
center for performing arts The course of study is music - the four-year journey is the real education!
To schedule an appointment to audition:
cpaauditions@umobile.edu or call
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