Sarah Schrader - President, Alabama Orchestra Association
yourselves available to judge this event. Thank you Sam Nordlund, Julie Hornstein, Dr. Kathy King, Amy Nice, April MacDonald, and the Auburn University Music Ambassadors for all your help during the Festival. It would not have been a success without you.
As the school year comes to an end, take a moment and reflect on all the amazing things you accomplished this year. As you reflect, I hope you are thinking on how you and your students have grown, developed, bonded, and had a great time through music.
AOA has had an amazing year and I am proud to have been a part of it! We had stellar turnout for All State Orchestra, held the VERY FIRST Orchestra Music Performance Assessment, and elected rock star officers for 2016-2018.
AOA took a huge step forward this year and held the its first statewide Orchestra Music Performance Assessment (OMPA).
The festival was a huge
success! We had 14 ensembles from around the state travel to Auburn University on April 22nd
and 23rd to
perform in front of judges and peers. Full Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Guitar Ensembles from all ends of the state participated coming from as far away as Florence and Mobile. I am so thrilled that so many teachers took advantage of this opportunity to perform away from their home town. It was a joy to listen to each and every one of the orchestras and I am so proud of what our talented directors are accomplishing with their students. You should all be commended for the jobs you are doing and for taking the initiative to bring your students across the state to experience this type of competition. I hope your experience was better than expected! Thank you Dr. Guy Harrison for your leadership in spearheading the planning of and hosting this event. Thank you also Dr. Anne Witt, Dr. Howard Goldstein, Dr. Blake Richardson and Melissa Dufrechou for making
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OMPA is open to all Full Orchestras, String Orchestras, and Guitar ensembles. All State Orchestra 2016 was a huge success! The students and conductors did an AMAZING job! I am so proud of all the students and teachers of the students who participated this year.
AOA’s OMPA is open to all full orchestras, string orchestras, and guitar ensembles.
Groups receiving a superior rating at the 2016 OMPA were:
*BTW Strings Magnet, Montgomery - Chin Mei Li
*Dunbar Magnet School Guitar Ensemble, Mobile - Felicia Lett
*Tiger Strings Youth Orchestra, Sinfo- nia Strings, Auburn - Dr. Guy Harrison
*Montgomery Music Project - Noemi Oeding
Gadsden City High School Titan Orchestra - Keith LaBenne
Dunbar Magnet School Orchestra, Mobile - Felicia Lett
Tuscaloosa City Schools High School Orchestra - Stephen Finley
Fairhope Quartet - Kim Shannon (*denotes straight ones received)
AOA will be holding OMPA again next year.
Look for information on the
particulars to come out this summer or early fall. We hope to see all groups return and hopefully more groups to take advantage of this opportunity. AOA’s
Competition to get in was high this year and it showed because you all were top notch! Thank you to all the parent volunteers and sectional coaches/judges who helped make this All State Orchestra great. We couldn’t have done it without you!
All State Orchestra 2017 will be February 9th
through 12th of Alabama Music Building. two weeks of October.
and held at the University Music
excerpts will be posted online on August 15th
and auditions will be held the first The 2017
Festival Orchestra conductor will be Dr. Sandra Dackow. Sandra is an active conductor, arranger, and clinician and is the music director of the Hershey Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania. Sinfonia Orchestra Conductor Dr. Foster Beyers is the Director of Orchestras at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. He was recently appointed Director of Orchestral Activities at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA beginning in the 2016-2017 academic year.
Consort String Orchestra
Conductor Dr. Christina Yi-Ping Chen- Beyers currently serves as the Orchestra Director of the University Orchestra in Fargo-Moorhead, and was recently invited to lead the European Middle School Honors Orchestra in Berlin which is organized by AMIS (The
May/June 2016
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