Lisa Caravan- President, Alabama Orchestra Association
I hope that everyone is off to a great start this year! We have exciting things happening in our state this year that benefits our orchestra and string programs throughout Alabama. The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) will present the Annual Honor Strings Festival next month from Friday, November 15 through Sunday, November 17 at the Moody Music Building at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The guest conductors of the festival will be Samuel Nordlund for the Senior Orchestra and Jacob Frank for the Junior Orchestra. This festival continues to bring wonderful string education to our students in Alabama and I encourage all of our string teachers to get involved with ASTA and send students to the festival. For more information on our Alabama Chapter and the festival visit
www.astabama.org. Thank you to ASTA president, Layla Humphries, and the Alabama ASTA board for organizing this great festival.
To all of our string teachers, please plan on attending the annual AMEA conference in January at the Renaissance Conference Center in Montgomery, January 23-25, 2014. I am excited to announce that the Mobile Youth Symphony under the direction of Rob Seebacher will be one of the featured performers after the keynote address on Friday, January 24, 2014. We thank the Mobile Symphony Board and Staff for supporting this trip to the AMEA conference. Please be in attendance to support the youth orchestra! Also mark in your calendars the AOA general business meeting on January 24 from 3:30-4:20 p.m. The AOA board wants to hear from you during this meeting. We are looking to hear what your needs are and how our organization can come together with you to support each other.
The following is string news that comes to us from Eugene Conner, South East District Chair, who hosted two camps this past summer:
The first was a "Beginning Violin Camp" which had 10 students. The camp was from 9-noon, Monday through Friday. The students always amaze me at how quickly they pick everything up. The other camp I did this summer was the "Expressivo" Chamber Orchestra Camp. I wanted to do something that would be more interesting and challenging for my students and more interesting to the audience than seeing the students just sit and play, so I came up with the idea of "Expressivo". We have show choirs, why can't we have show orchestras
ala breve
as well. Students have to memorize the music and learn the artistic moves to go along with that. “Expressivo" premiered at my recital last spring and the audience loved it!
Please send me information (
caravanlr@auburn.edu) about your exciting string news! I am proud of all the string music education that is happening in all parts of the state and would like to share with our AOA members!
All State auditions are taking place and wrapping up around the state. Thank you to our dedicated district chairs for making the auditions a smooth and successful process. Those district chairs are: Northern – Daniel Jamieson and Jacob Frank, East Central – Roland Lister, Central – Sarah Nordlund Dennis & Zak Enikeev, West Central – Matthew Grant, South Central – Chin-Mei Li, South West – Felicia Sarubin and South East – Eugene Conner. I am grateful for their commitment
to the orchestra
association. We could not do it without these people so thank you. If your students are in need of financial aid to attend All State, please make use of our scholarship funds. The deadline is very strict, October 15, 2013, for all financial aid applications.
Just a reminder to all about the exciting conductors and repertoire that will emerge on the stage at Moody Music Building at University of Alabama in February. Mr. James Ross will be leading the Festival Orchestra in a performance of Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein, IV. Allegro energico e passionate from Symphony No 1 by Johannes Brahms and the world premiere of the winning piece from our composition contest. The program for Sinfonia will be Overture to Rienzi by Wagner (arr. by Dackow), Kabalevsky Suite by Kabalevsky (arr. Hull), Hungarian Dance No. 5 Brahms (ed. by Schmeling) and Movement IV from Symphony No. 2 by Sibelius (arr. by Leidig) under the direction of Dr. John Fetter. We are also excited about our conductor for the Consort Orchestra, Dr. James Mick, who will conduct Contrasts in e minor by Feese, and Westminster Prelude and Fugue by Shaffer, Allegro in D by Vivaldi (arr. Frackenpohl), El Toro by Brubaker and A Modal Festival by Marsh. Read more about our conductors on
the AOA
alabamaorchestraassociation.org.
For interested exhibiters there are five potential exhibit locations in the Moody Music Building during the Festival. Exhibitors may set up any time after 4:00
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on Thursday, February 13 and remain until the concert is over on Sunday afternoon, February 16. This time window is the available time, but exhibitors are not required to be present at all times and may choose to use any periods within this time frame. There will be no reduction in fee for reduced usage. The AOA President, Lisa Caravan, must receive all requests for exhibitor
space via email at
caravanlr@auburn.edu before January 31, 2014. Three prime locations are available in the lobby. There is a fee for each spot and use of space includes up to two 6’ tables for two spots and three 6’ tables for one spot. A $100 deposit is required to reserve a lobby spot. Two other locations in the building, closer to rehearsal rooms but with less space, will be made available for a reduced price. Use of these spaces includes one 6’ table each. For more information, please visit our website and click on the 2014 festival link.
Thank you for all the work you do to make string education a success in Alabama. Thank for you for working hard with your students to prepare them for the All State auditions. Thank you to the band teachers for encouraging their wind, brass and percussion students to join in the auditions and the festival and a special thanks to Rusty Courson, president of ABA for getting the word out! We are looking forward to a wonderful four days in February!
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