THE NEW JERSEY MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION
a federated state association of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION
News From Our Division Chairs
High School Region Choruses: New Jersey has 3 regions: I (NJSMA), II (CJMEA) and III (SJCDA). Students in grades 9-12 are eligible
to audition. Each region has a link on the njmea website.
Audition dates: Region I (NJSMA) – Saturday January 7, 2017
Region II (CJMEA) – Saturday December 10, 2016
Region III (SJCDA) – Saturday November 19, 2016
New Jersey All-State Chorus: Students in grades 9-11 are eligible to audition. Note: Choral students DO NOT need to be accepted into
their Region chorus in order to be eligible to audition for All-State Chorus, unlike orchestra and band. There are 2 audition dates to choose
from, and many schools split their students between the two dates/sites. All choral directors must help out at one of the audition sites each
year, and MUST serve as a final room judge (both dates) once every four years. The All-State Chorus Audition Bulletin will be available online
at www.njmea.org by January 25, 2017. We will also email the bulletin to all directors who have participated in the past. Please read all sections carefully, print it out, and ask me any questions you may have! Audition dates for 2017 are Saturday April 22 (South) and Saturday
April 29 (North), 2017. Mark your calendars now!! Consider judging, especially if you are a new director!
Honor choirs: Both NAfME and ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) have Honor Choirs that are available to your students.
You really should participate in both organizations to afford all the opportunities for your students.
ACDA – in 2017, ACDA will host a National Conference in Minneapolis, March 8-11, 2017. The audition process was September 1-30,
2016 (just ended!) Results will be posted in November. The conductor for the High School Chorus is Eric Whitacre!
NAfME – New Jersey will host the Eastern Division conference in April. Participation is based on the students’ 2016 NJ All-State scores.
Students will be notified of acceptance in November. There will be a Mixed Chorus and a Treble Chorus for high school students, conducted
by Tim Seelig and Deanna Joseph, respectively. There will be a National NAfME conference every year. This year, unfortunately, the dates
of the National conference conflict with the NJEA convention in Atlantic City, so no New Jersey All-State Chorus or Orchestra members will
be able to participate in the National groups. NJMEA is working with NAfME so that the dates hopefully can be resolved for 2017.
Please go to the ACDA and NAfME websites for more information about these honor choirs, or ask me any questions. These conferences
feature superb conductors and are the highlight of many of our students’ choral experiences!
I know that your job is exhausting. I also know that getting to know and work with other choral directors is stimulating and fun! Your
Choral Procedures Committee are my good friends and they would like to be your friend also - In Region 1, get to know Steven Bell, Jamie
Bunce and Tom Voorhis. In Region 2, meet Hillary Colton, Matthew Lee and Wayne Mallette. And Region 3 has Cheryl Breitzman,
Michael Doheny and Helen Stanley to talk with. Also in our committee are our Audition Chair, Christine Scott and our Historian, Barbara
Retzko. We are at all concerts and auditions, and at most rehearsals as well. Come say hi and get involved! And you can always email me at
KSpadEB@aol.com Here’s to your best year ever!
Early Childhood Education
Amy Burns
973-493-5797
aburns@fhcds.org
There are some great events approaching this year for NJ elementary music educators. One is right around the corner with NJSMA’s
Denise Gagne’s Workshop on Monday, October 10th. In addition, they will be presenting a variety of Saturday workshops throughout the
school year.
In TEMPO, you will see more NJ elementary music educators contributing articles this year on a variety of subjects from folk dancing
to tech tools to methodologies. We will also continue our free online one-hour webinars that stay available for two months. You can access
them at any time during those two months. If you write a reflection and answer a couple of questions, you can receive one PD credit. Again,
all free and when it is convenient for you!
I hope that your school year has started off well and I look forward to seeing many of you at the All-Eastern Conference in April.
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TEMPO 10
OCTOBER 2016