Back from NH, Concord to be exact, the NH MEA Spring conference. Great conference, a short one but chockful of good sessions, enthusiastic members, and terrific kids rehearsing for All State! It was a lot of fun for me to watch the students during their breaks as they perused the exhibits, interacted with one another, helped unload instruments from vans, gathered round their teachers for instructions, sat in the hall playing cards, got excited about the free MENC buttons at our exhibit table, and generally did their thing.
The sound they produced in their rehearsals (band/orchestra) was just outstanding. I could not believe such
great music was coming from such young looking people! Unfortunately, the choral rehearsals and vocal sessions were being held in another hotel, so I didn't get to hear that or meet many of the singers.....
But to a one, the people I met in NH were the friendliest and kindest. And what a treat to see all those pine trees stretching for miles as the plane passed over....(coming from congested DC....). Yes, it snowed while I was there, surprising everyone, but the intrepid teachers and students carried on..... Luckily I got out of Dodge before the next snow system was due on Sunday. One cool thing - the chef of the hotel preparing the banquet for students did an ice sculpture in the shape of the MENC Centennial Logo! I imagine the NHMEA will have photos in the next issue of their state journal (unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me!). All in all, good to be there, meet the members, have them see what's available to them resource wise from the MENC National office, and generally get to know them.
By the way - good assessment and data collection on arts education happening/soon to happen with the NH Department of Education arts division - click HERE!
RESOURCE of the week:
While flying, of all places, saw an article in the USAIR magazine for: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music - ten volumes - 4th edition - 27,000 entries on bands and artists from every genre: jazz, folk, swing, garage, rockabilly, disco, punk, techo and more. An interactive, subscription based version is scheduled to go online in August at www.muze.com; the paper version will be 10 volumes, available from Oxford University Press for the modest price of (!) $1,300.
Around the Water Cooler:
A good friend sent me a poem for Easter called "Mozart in a classroom of Children". Unfortunately, I can't reprint it here without permission (which would take forever to get, if I even could!). However, it was from a books entitled
Mixed Voices: Contemporary Poems about Music, 1991 by E. Buchwald and R. Roston, Editors, in case you're interested!
See you next Wednesday! SR
