Megan Jones - President, Alabama Vocal Association
Funnel Vision: My Challenge to You
Greetings!
I would like to open with a special memory from this past summer and a challenge for us all for this year. This summer, I had the great privilege of having lunch with Dr. Frances Moss; Dr. Moss’ church accompanist and former student at Calhoun College, Michelle West; and Shelli Rimes, director at Madison Academy and of the Huntsville Community Chorus Youth Chorale. Dr. Moss has been a music educator since 1962 and has served as past- president of both AVA and AMEA. She currently serves as Minister of Music and Laity at Austinville United Methodist Church in Decatur. I first met Dr. Moss at Carl Davis’ final concert as director of Decatur High School. Carl had invited her as a special guest, and he shared during the concert about how she had greatly influenced him to become a choral director. Prior to this, I only knew Dr. Moss by
name, as I had watched for years as highly respected choral directors in our state were granted the Frances P. Moss Award in her honor during the All-State Choir concert.
During our lunch, I attempted to get Dr. Moss to tell me her background, at which point I was quickly told by Michelle that I would be hard-pressed to get Dr. Moss to talk about herself, as “Doc,” as she loving referred to her, is far too humble for that. I quickly understood what she meant. Dr. Moss spent the entire meal instead asking about my and Shelli’s choral programs and pouring encouragement into us. She was genuinely interested in our backgrounds and our futures. There was never a laundry list of items given about her accomplishments, though her accomplishments are many.
Instead, we
heard stories about past times in AVA and even listened as she still had ideas on how to serve the organization. We heard how
My predecessor and mentor, Carl Davis, shared with me a quote that he’d once heard from Eph Ely. This quote hung in his office for years to serve as a reminder of what kind of director and person he strived to be.
“Funnel vision – be
interested in everyone and everything. Each day, make someone’s day better. Become someone to be reckoned with.”
My
challenge to myself and to you for this year is to have funnel vision! Let us not get so bogged down with deadlines and the pressures of receiving top scores that we forget to take time to know and love the human beings behind the voices we direct.
(L to R) Michelle West, Shelli Rimes, Meg Jones, and Dr. Frances Moss 18
I also left my lunch with Dr. Moss with a newfound appreciation of how far our organization has come since her tenure as president. I encourage you all to go read about her on the AMEA website and to take time to reflect on where we’ve been and to be excited about where we are going as an organization. I am so thankful for all of the past-presidents like Dr. Moss that
August/September 2018
Dr. Moss had completely changed Michelle’s life while she was in college by investing in her.
Dr.
Moss’ heart for her singers in her Chancel Choir, her congregation, her former students, and her friends is so very apparent. I left our lunch having been reminded that the relationships we build and the lives we change through our profession is the most important part – not our résumés, our titles, or our awards. Music is the medium through which we get to reach people and to bring beauty into the lives of others. What an amazing privilege and opportunity we have as choral directors!
...the r professi or our a
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
