| The ATSSB Newsletter is the official publication of the Association of Texas Small School Bands. Articles of interest to its members are encouraged as are letters to the Editor. All must be signed and may be subject to editing for length and/or content and may be anonymous if so requested. Send all correspondence by email to KL2000G@aol.com or klgriff@tenet.edu or you may snailmail them to ATSSB; P.O. Box 1508; Van, Texas 75790. |
by Don StocktonI hope this finds you having a wonderful summer. Now is the time to start thinking about organization for next year. I like to choose next year’s music in May so the students can have it for the summer. I also like for each student to have an exercise book with which they can work on technique. Now is also the time to finalize plans for next fall’s drill. Are you taking a trip next year? This is the time to plan the agenda and plan fundraisers. Now is also the very best time to visit the local music store to browse the concert music files. Those who wait until the convention in February to choose their spring contest music are usually disappointed. This is a great time to get a sightreading folder in order. No matter what the rules, I think the best way to teach sightreading skills is to read, read, read. I like to incorporate sightreading into my daily drill. By the way, marches are great for sightreading training. The frequent repeats give students a second chance on every strain and the students love to play them. Summer is also a great time to update solo and ensemble files. Here is a tip for you young guys: ask for a list of the most often purchased solos and ensembles from the music dealer. These will be playable and winners. Summer is also the time to recharge. Don’t forget to attend TBA!
ATSSB will sponsor a clinic at TBA this summer. I would like to encourage each of our members to attend. This clinic involves a tryout process that I think you will find very interesting. I will explain the procedure that we have been using in Region X for the past three years. I think that it is faster, easier, and more accurate. We have a computer program in place that allows the total results of the contest to be posted about 15 minutes after the last person performs. Just think, the 75th clarinet player just finished performing and the panel is finished 30 seconds later! The computer breaks all ties, throws out the high and low judges, and ranks the section within minutes of the last person’s performance. This will be a very interesting clinic and I strongly urge each Region and Area Coordinator to attend. The title of the clinic is “All-Region Tryouts: Better, Easier, Faster.” It will be given on Tuesday, July 23, at 1:30 p.m. in Fiesta Rooms A-C in the Convention Center.
Have a great summer and I’ll see you at TBA.
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by Ronnie PageIt is hard to believe it is already July, but we can be certain the calendar is not confused. I have had a hectic summer, as I am sure many of you have. The nicest thing about it is there are no strict schedules, and NO BELLS, which is a welcome respite. I hope each of you take some time for yourself and your family before the fall onslaught.
Addressing ATSSB matters, I call your attention to the first annual update for the Prescribed Audition List (PAL) enclosed with your newsletter. Here you will find all of the information you need for the Area and All-state tryout processes. There is one page of the PAL to replace. The timpani tryout page had an omission of a rhythm in the errata. Just replace the timpani page with the one provided and you will be current. The colored update pages should be placed in the very front of your PAL for reference. Remember, this is YEAR A!
I eagerly anticipate this years all-state agenda - it will be a learning year. This is nothing new for our organization since we have been learning and adjusting steadily from our recent beginnings. I believe the conservative approach in the early years was prudent; the SARC and State Board were each resistive to radical change. The fact that so much change was initiated this year signals a mood of confidence among our membership.
I have had feedback regarding the two-band format, as well as the instrumentation of each band. I have heard member’s arguments for smaller bands, and some for even larger instrumentation. Both the SARC and the SBOD addressed these issues in depth before making a recommendation to the membership, with much contemplation and debate involved in the process.
After some thought and discussion it has been decided that the SARC will not meet in August, but will wait until after the two-band process has been tested before any of these issues will be analyzed. I will choose one representative from each area to serve on the SARC and we will have a preliminary meeting in February. We cannot predict the outcome of the process prior to the bands being selected, meeting, rehearsing, and performing. Any decisions prior to that could only be based on conjecture.
Once we have been through the process as an organization we will have a better vision upon which to base action. Dr. Gary Garner will serve as clinician of our first concert band, and what a great judge of depth, quality, etc. we will have. We will rely on his insight to help us make those critical decisions. I am sure the quality of the concert band will improve yearly, as the present band has. You can be certain the Symphonic Band performance will be enhanced by our all-state qualifiers working more on the folder they receive at Area! This may not be as apparent the first year as it will the second, when it is evident that the final tryout for chairs at state means much more!
I encourage each of you to take an active part in our organization. I was somewhat dismayed to see such slight attendance at our Region 21 spring meeting. There was good representation, but why not 100%? We have a great “grass roots” organization where any of us can serve. In what other organization could directors from Class A high schools serve in elected statewide offices? Not many that I am familiar with. The point to be made is that ATSSB was not founded, nor is it’s course determined by “high muckety mucks”. All important ideas brought to the state committees have come from ordinary members like you and me, and begin at the local or region level. The worst thing that can happen to an organization is to lapse into a “let someone else do it” mentality, soon followed by the “they do what they want to anyway” syndrome .
Your region officers, state officers, students, and association all need your support! Get involved in the process and let’s perpetuate the excitement that came with the first successful ATSSB year. We have so many unique things to offer our students: an uncommonly friendly environment in the tryout process; a marvelous chance to make memories; such charming “character” in the Scottish Rite Auditorium; 250 students - two elevators!; what an adventure! This package is too precious to leave in someone else’s care!
For those of you venturing into new jobs this year we wish the greatest blessings. We will miss those of you who have moved up in classification, (either by choice or reassignment), or on to other ventures. We hope each of you will remain active in support of us remaining in small schools and will welcome your return someday! We look forward to seeing you in San Antonio for TBA.
Remember - music is a gift from God; we must allow no one to doubt it’s worthiness.
Fine, Ronnie Page, President Elect PS - I would like to compile a list of Jeff Foxworthy type sayings about small school band programs. You can use your creative imagination to help me. Just jot down your ideas and get them to me in one of the following manners. I will compile them and publish them in a future newsletter. Each of them need to start with “You might be a small school band director if .......”.
Here are a few examples:
You might be a small school band director if you loose half of the Tuba section for Friday nights ball game because he had a bicycle wreck!
You might be a small school band director if you are issued a set of bus keys and a key to the janitor closet after you sign your first contract.
You might be a small school band director if your high school clarinet cases are used for footrest for those whose feet won’t yet reach the floor.
You might be a small school band director if you could hold band rehearsal at volleyball, one act play, track, or basketball practice.
etc. ...
How to get them to me:
Fax - (903)839-4454 email - rpage @ tenet.edu Or bring them to the ATSSB
booth at TBA.
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by Kenneth L. GriffinDon’t forget to pay your dues before you enter students in ATSSB auditions - the entry will be returned if you do not enclose a copy of your membership card! Membership renewals for 1997 are enclosed with this Newsletter (note the increased dues after October 1!). If you lose this renewal form, just cut a check for the dues ($25 before October 1) and mail to me (let me know of any changes in address, etc. - also let me know your major instruments and your email address for our database).
Try to attend the ATSSB-sponsored clinic at TBA: “All Region Tryouts: Better, Easier, Faster” with Don Stockton as the clinician. It is scheduled for Tuesday, July 23 at 1:30 p.m. in Fiesta Rooms A-C in the Convention Center.
Enclosed you should find a cover page for the Prescribed Audition List (we will be using Year A) along with the July Newsletter. This cover page updates officers, audition dates, etc. and you should put it at the front of your PAL. You will get an update each July for the current year’s audition which will include up-to-the-minute errata, etc. We will of course still have PAL’s available for new members at our table at TBA (or for old ones who lose theirs!), so plan to stop by and pay dues, pick up a PAL or just visit a while. The music is taken from the same books that were used last year with the exception of tuba (see list in this issue). If you don’t get a chance to come to TBA, I will mail a copy of the Prescribed Audition List to everyone who joins as a new member after that time. I will be glad to send you another copy if you misplace yours after TBA - just call or drop me a note and I will respond as soon as possible. We had these PAL’s printed and collated professionally, but it is very possible that an error was made - a page left out, facing the wrong way, stapled wrong, etc. Let me know if you find an error and I will send you a replacement.
This coming year should prove very exciting for ATSSB in that we will have two all-state bands! Dr. Tim Lautzenheizer (the ultimate band enthusiast!) will be the clinician for the Symphonic Band and Dr. Gary Garner from West Texas A&M University will be the clinician for the Concert Band. We have also commissioned a new work for the Concert Band by Fred Allen. The piece will be premiered at the concert, so make plans to attend. We have also commissioned a piece from each clinician in 1998 (Ed Huckeby) and 1999 (John O’Reilley).
There will be an ATSSB State Board of Directors breakfast meeting at 7:00 a.m. in the Ramada Emily Morgan Majestic Room. Your board includes all elected state officers, all Region Coordinators, all Founding Members, and invited guests. If you would like to have input on matters relating to ATSSB State Board of Director activities, I would suggest calling or writing your Region Coordinator (or any state officer) and telling them of your concerns so they can advise the full Board.
We will have our ATSSB General Session at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, July 22 in CC102 in the Convention Center. Please make plans to attend if you will be at TBA.
Please take a minute and look over the 1996-97 Membership Renewal form enclosed. Mark any corrections, fill out all the blanks (especially if it says “NONE GIVEN”) and put it in a safe place to be paid when your school budget year begins (or go ahead and send in the check now while you are thinking about it!). Just remember that after October 1, the dues increase to $50 unless you are joining as an Associate Member (everything is the same, you just cannot run for office, vote, or enter students in any ATSSB competition).
I hope to be able to visit with a lot of you at TBA. Remember that TBA
is essentially over on Tuesday, so we will in all likelihood close down
the table that afternoon. So make plans to drop by before then if you can.
Good luck as you begin another year with your students, especially if you
are at a new school (be sure to let us know your new address!).
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The Association of Texas Small School Bands State Board of Directors Called Meeting 5:15 p.m. February 16, 1996 Ramada Emily Morgan Hotel
The State Board of Directors of the Association of Texas Small School Bands met in a called meeting at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, February 16, 1996, in the Ramada Emily Morgan Hotel in San Antonio.
Present at the meeting were Fred Angerstein, John Canfield, Kenneth Griffin, Tom Hall, Michael Hardy, Richard Herrera, Jesse Lotspeich, Ed Lowes, Ronnie Page, Fred Pankratz, Forrest Perry, Elmer Schenk, Scott Stephenson, Don Stockton, Neal Sutton, Don Thoede, Darryl Trent, Ron Welborn, Eric Wharton, and Jennifer Willison. Guests present included Area C Coordinator Mark Melton and Area E Coordinator David Smith.
The meeting was called to order by President Don Stockton at 5:16 p.m. Ronnie Page gave the invocation. After a short discussion of Constitutional directives and Association needs, John Canfield moved and Ron Welborn seconded that the SBOD authorize Executive Secretary Kenneth Griffin to raise the Area fee from $10 to $15 should a careful scrutiny of available funds and expected income necessitate an increase. Motion carried.
The Directors were told that patches for the All-State Band were being provided by Fruhauf Uniforms because Bobby Goff and an official with Sol Frank Uniforms could no longer continue to do so (not because Sol Frank Uniforms had changed hands - they hadn’t).
They were also told that there could be a hotel fee to be paid to the Association (instead of to the hotel) so we could police the prepayment and rooming assignments better in the future.
Mr. Stockton announced that he was appointing Rodney Bennett, Elmer Schenk, and Richard Herrera to a committee being put together by Dick Floyd that is studying the UIL State Marching Contest.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:33 p.m.
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