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Featured In This Issue:
The Doctor Is In...
This month’s question: “How do you decide what performance sites to use for your festival programs? Get the answer here.
Festivals of Music News
Performance site information on exciting new venues for 2007 is now available on the web site at www.festivalsofmusic.com
Student Leadership Workshops with Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser will again be a feature of selected Festivals of Music locations. The full 2007 schedule is here!
Music In The Parks News
Music In The Parks is still accepting applications for 2007 but some locations and dates are approaching capacity. Also, the opportunity to select performance times is based on the date of application, the earlier you apply determines when you will be contacted to schedule. Go to the web sitewww.musicintheparks.com to register your group.
EPN Travel Services News
Passport deadline extended! WHTI – Deadline Extended
As the current session of Congress recently came to a close, SYTA and our industry partners enjoyed a legislative victory. US legislators approved a report pushing back the deadline by which travelers must have a passport to enter the US by land to June 1, 2009 . The air travel deadline remains January 8, 2007 .
The deadline was extended to give the Departments of Homeland Security and State time to implement a PASS card program and certain other provisions, including a provision to provide an alternative procedure for groups of children traveling across an international border under adult supervision with parental consent. The June 1, 2009 deadline may be shortened if they are able to put these provisions in place prior to that date.
You can be assured that SYTA will be aggressively involved in proposing a solution to implement the procedure involving youth group travel. We will continue to work with Congress, the Departments of Homeland Security and State, and our industry partners on this effort to enhance border security through the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, and will keep you apprised of any new developments.
Staff News
Lisa Gelsinger is now the Hotel Manager for EPN Travel Services. Lisa is working from her home office in Ephrata , PA.
Brian Rossick has relocated to the Orlando , FL area. He continues to work as a Tour Coordinator for EPN Travel Services from his home office in Florida .
Brenda Miller has returned to our staff full-time. Brenda worked as a tour coordinator for EPN Travel for several years before taking a few years off to spend time with her new baby, Gabrielle. Brenda is now back in the office full-time and we are thrilled to have her back!
Whitney Fox joined the EPN Travel staff in September as a Tour Coordinator and will be a valuable addition to EPN. Whitney has worked in the travel industry since 1998, and has participated in a Travel & Tourism course offered by the Oxford and Cambridge Royal Society for the Improvements of Art and Science in London , England . She has had the opportunity to visit numerous countries, including Germany , Austria , Italy , Switzerland , Russia , Thailand , Singapore , Hong Kong , Indonesia , Canada , and Mexico . Whitney looks forward to planning your next tour, be it in the United States or abroad!
Finally, we are very excited to announce the marriage of Nicki Messner and Chris Vandevort. Nicki and Chris were married in Fleetwood , PA on October 21, 2006 . The couple spent their honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas , Mexico . Congratulations Nicki and Chris!
Featured Articles
Warming-up, and turning the ensemble or wearing them out?
By Carl Bly
Warming-up the ensemble and tuning the group should be synonymous! And for the directors who are going to stop reading right here because they “do not have time in their schedule to tune”, or “my students can’t do that” (my favorite!), please read on. By not tuning you are making it that much harder for your students to play the music.
And the Clarinet Players Keep Forgetting to Play F Sharps
by Dr. Steven P. Katzenmoyer
It’s Friday afternoon, the last period of the day in Lower Upper Northcentral Cupcake Junior High School , time for band class. The students file in, you begin your rehearsal with a carefully thought-out warm up followed by a few announcements about a pizza sale and auditions for an upcoming festival. You then turn your attention to a concert march in the key of F. The students start to play, and the clarinet players keep missing the F Sharps. After three tries at the same sixteen measure passage, you start to lose your patience.
Directing a Community Band
By Jim Seidel
As a band director of both a Jr. and Sr. Band program for many years I have often been asked why do you choose to conduct the historic Ringgold Band. Any public school director of bands, who takes great pride in their program, knows it is a draining yet fulfilling experience. Why add a weekly rehearsal combined with additional score study to an already exhausting time commitment and take more time away from the family? The answer is a very simple one for me.
The WHY of it All
By Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser
Have you ever stopped to think WHY we do what we do? WHY do we dedicate our time, our intellectual energies, our creative talents…ultimately OUR LIVES to the world of band directing?
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