Penney Adair, President
Alabama Orchestra Association
IN ANTICIPATION Hello everyone! At the time of the composition of this arti- cle, All State Orchestra Festival on February 7-10 is a short 3 weeks away! Things are shaping up nicely and we all await the wonderful music and educational experiences to come! We had a great interest in the Festival this year and it shows in the number of auditions. There were a total of 406 auditions with 225 accepted into the three orchestras and with numbers like these, what better venue than University of Alabama with it’s wonderful concert hall in the Moody Music Building and accommodating faculty and students! The sound in the hall from the youngest string orchestra to the full symphonic Festival orchestra is phenomenal and has such a lasting, positive effect on the students. Thank you U of A once again for hosting Alabama All State Orchestra Fes- tival this year!
Our guest conductor for the Festival Orchestra will
be Jeffery Meyer from Ithaca NY. Mr. Meyer is the Director of orchestras at Ithaca College School of Music and founder and artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Philhar- monic. The String Sinfonietta’s guest conductor is Dr. Mark Laycock. Dr. Laycock is the Associate Professor of Music at Wichita State and also serves as Director of orchestras and coordinator of Instrumental Conducting. Jacquelyn Dillon, also from Wichita, will be the Consort String Orchestra con- ductor. Ms. Dillon is the Director of string and orchestral studies, Professor of music education and string pedagogy and Associate chair of the School of Music at Wichita State University.
Our composition competition was, for the second
year, an exciting success. We had 16 entries from all over the United States (and one from Italy) but in the final decision, the winning composer was Robert Bradshaw of Gloucester, Massachusetts. A brief biography of Mr. Bradshaw follows: The music of Robert J. Bradshaw (1970) has been described as “contemporary work that is accessible to a va- riety of audiences”, and is frequently heard around the world, from Lincoln Center to Singapore. Fulfilling commissions since 1989, he has created a substantial collection of com- positions that are “well crafted, thoughtful, and emotional with his unique voice always heard”. Sought for a wide va- riety of commissions, Mr. Bradshaw strives to forge a unique connection between composer, musicians and audiences. Peter Stickel, Executive Director of the New England String Ensemble, writes of Mr. Bradshaw’s collaboration: “His in-
28
sight…into the creative process of composition was stunning and transforming for each audience with whom he worked. He was an inspiration to students and professionals alike.” Mr. Bradshaw’s compositions and projects have received awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, American Music Center, American Composers Forum, Harvard Musical Association, Harpley Foundation, Argosy Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Mr. Bradshaw is a member of Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), So- ciety of Composers Inc., National Association of Composers, American Music Center, the American Composers Forum and is listed by Meet the Composer. A graduate of the Uni- versity of South Carolina, where he earned degrees in Com- position (M.M.), Theory/Composition (B.M.) and a Performance Certificate in Trumpet, his works are available through Beauport Press Music Publications (
www.beauport-
press.com). Mr. Bradshaw resides in Gloucester, Massachu- setts with his wife, Lori and their children, Reid and Sarah. Other pieces selected for the Festival Orchestra are
the Brahms Academic Overture and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol. The String Sinfonietta will be perform- ing Mozart’s Divertimento in F. Major, “Adieu” by Todd Coleman and a good time will be had by all with “Granny, Does Your Dog Bite” by Gary Gackstatter. The newly named Consort Orchestra will be performing “Entrance of the Queen of Sheba” by Handel, “Ashokan Farewell” by Custer/arr. by Unger, “Toccatina” by Hofeldt and “Declara- tions” by Jeff Bishop.
Onto other news, the AMEA conference was another success this year with enlightening information on grant writ- ing by Michael Gagliardo, a very informative session on bow techniques with Dr. Peter Rovit and Dr. Anne Witt lending her expertise with playing and teaching rhythms on string in- struments. Everyone attending Dr. Witt’s session received a copy of her publication “A Rhythm A Week for Strings”. Thanks to everyone who contributed with information ses- sions and also to the presiders! We’re already looking ahead to next year’s conference with some exciting ideas for per- formances and new session topics!
Let me end with a special thank you to all of the
AOA Governing Board, District Chairs, judges, sectional leaders and volunteers who spent countless hours insuring the success of the Alabama Orchestra Association’s 2008 All State Festival! Everyone involved is essential and so appre- ciated! Great job!
ALA BREVE
From AOA
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64