Tennessee Musician - Vol. 67 No. 2

The Official Publication of the Tennessee Music Education Association 

TMEA Profiles in 

Excellence Series 

Brenda 

Dent 

Gregory 

p. 14 

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CONFERENCE 

PREVIEW 

EDITION 

p. 23 

VOLUME 67, NO. 2

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TENNESSEE MUSICIAN TABLE OF CONTENTS | 2015 | VOLUME 67, No. 2 

Editor’s Column 6 

Perspectives (letters to the editor) 8 

TMEA President’s Message 10 

The Score – News from Across the State 12 

TMEA Profiles in Excellence Series 14 

– Brenda Dent Gregory by Michael Chester 

Teaching Leadership in our Orchestras 18 

by Susan Mullen 

What’s New in Music Technology 20 

by Mike Klinger 

TMEA Professional Development 23 

Conference Preview Information 

State General Music Chair Column 32 

State Choral Chair Column 34 

State Orchestra Chair Column 36 

State Band Chair Column 38 

State Higher Education Chair Column 40 

State Education Technology Chair Column 42 

TMEA Board and Council Directory 44 

Ad Index 47 

TMEA Back Then 48 

2 | TENNESSEE MUSICIAN | 2015 | VOLUME 67, NO. 2

The Official Publication of the Tennessee Music Education Association 

2014-2016 EDITORIAL AND ADVISORY BOARDS 

* Denotes Chairperson 

West Tennessee 

Dr. Betty Bedsole* 

Professor of Music 

Union University 

Dr. Carol King-Chipman 

Director of Bands & Associate Director of Bands 

Barret’s Chapel K-8 & Bolton High School 

J.D. Frizzell 

Director of Fine Arts 

Briarcrest Christian School 

Ginna Houston 

Elementary Music Specialist 

Bells Elementary School 

Dr. Andrew Palmer 

Orchestra Director & Strings Specialist 

White Station High School 

Middle Tennessee 

Matthew Clark 

Choral Director 

Oakland High School 

Cameron M. Gish 

Director of Bands 

Hillsboro Elementary/Middle School 

Susan Mullen 

Strings Director 

The Webb School 

Sara Panjehpour 


La Vergne Lake Elementary School and Smyrna 

Elementary School 

James W. Story, Jr. 

Professor of Music 

Volunteer State Community College 

East Tennessee 

Sandra B. Kerney 

Choral Director 

Ross N. Robinson Middle School 

James D. Phillips 

Orchestra Director 

Oak Ridge High School 

Kevin Smart 

Assistant Director of Bands 

Fulton High School 

Gerald Jerome Souther 


Woodmore Elementary School 

Tennessee Musician Advisory Board 

Dr. Dru Davison 

Fine Arts Advisor 

Shelby County Schools 

Wincle Sterling 

Arts Instructional Advisor 

Shelby County Schools 

Dr. Nola Jones 

Coordinator of Music 

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools 

Melissa Dufrechou 

Fine Arts Specialist 

Williamson County Schools 

Sarah Cummings 

Professional Development Specialist, Choral Music 

Knox County Schools 

Walter Mencer 

Instrumental Music Specialist 

Knox County Schools 

Tennessee Musician Editorial Staff 

Dr. Catherine M. Wilson 

Senior Associate Editor of Business Affairs 

and Advertising 

Justin T. Scott 

Associate Editor and Bureau Chief 

Laura Boucher 

Associate Style Editor 

Jazmin Johnson 

Associate Director of Social Media and 

Constituent Relations 

Allison Segel 

Pre-Production Editor 

Natalie P. Bingham 

Production Editor 

Slate Group – Rico Vega 

Creative Director 

Slate Group – Ian Spector 

Publisher 

Michael W. Chester 

Editor-in-Chief 

The Tennessee Music Education Association (TMEA) was officially formed in 1945 as 

a voluntary, non-profit organization representing all phases of music 

education at all school levels. The mission of TMEA is to promote the 

advancement of high quality music education for all. Active TMEA 

membership is open to all persons currently teaching music and others 

with a special interest or involvement in music education. Collegiate 

membership and retired memberships are available. Membership 

applications are available on the TMEA web site, www.tnmea.org. 

The Tennessee Musician was founded in 1948 with J. Clark Rhodes 

appointed by the TMEA Board of Control as inaugural editor. Tennessee 

Musician was preceded by an earlier publication, Tennessee Music 

Editors’ Downbeat, which was discontinued by the TMEA Board of 

Control at the spring board meeting, held in Chattanooga, Tennessee 

in 1948. Tennessee Musician is published by Slate Group – Lubbock, 

Texas and is mailed to members four times each year at an annual 

subscription rate of $6.00 (included in dues). Non-member subscription 

rate (includes S&H): $30.00 per school year; single copies: $10.00 

per issue 

Place non-member subscription and single copy orders at TMEA, 129 

Paschal Drive, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37128 or e-mail to editor@ 

tnmea.org. 

All editorial materials should be sent to: Michael Chester, Editor-in-Chief (615- 

904-6771 ext. 31600) E-mail: editor@tnmea.org. Submit materials by 

e-mail in Microsoft Word format. 

Advertising: Information requests and ad orders should be directed to: 

Catherine Wilson, Advertising Manager (402-984-3394) e-mail: admanager@tnmea.org. 

All advertising information is on the TMEA web 

site, www.tnmea.org. 

Deadlines for advertisement orders and editorial materials: 

Issue No. 1 – Deadline: May 15 (in home delivery date August 15); Issue 

No. 2 – Deadline: September 15 (in home delivery date December 15); 

Issue No. 3 – Deadline: December 15 (in home delivery date March 15); 

Issue No. 4 – Deadline: February 15 (in home delivery date May 15) 

Tennessee Musician is copyrighted. Reproduction in any form is illegal 

without the express permission of the editor. 

Postmaster: Send address changes to: Tennessee Musician, c/o National 

Association for Music Education (NAfME), 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, 

Reston, VA 20191-4348. 

Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Organization U.S. Postage Paid at Lubbock, Texas. 

ISSN Number 0400-3332; EIN number 20-3325550 


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AUDITION DATES 

Saturday, January 31, 2015 

Monday, February 16, 2015 

Saturday, February 28, 2015 

CAREERS IN MUSIC DAY 

Tuesday, November 4 

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MTSU Box 47 

Murfreesboro, TN 37132 

(615) 898-2469 

www.mtsumusic.com 

Middle Tennessee State University is an AA/EEO employer.

EDITOR’S COLUMN 

Michael Chester 

EDITOR IN CHIEF 

OST OF US should be familiar enough with the ground breaking work of author Jim Collins, 

and his set of bestseller books on corporate leadership and management, Built to Last and 

his follow up Good to Great. For those of you who are not familiar with Jim Collins, I challenge 

you to read these books and to apply the knowledge and wisdom to your own teaching 

and program building. The basic premise in Good to Great, according to Collins is that 

good is the enemy of great. He goes on to make several comparisons between the differences 

between good and great, and identifying key benchmarks and norms shared by CEO’s and 

other company leaders that create a culture and climate of success. I find the message of the 

book intriguing, especially if we apply these ideas to our day-to day affairs. 

We are all in essence CEO’s of our own domains. Whether that domain starts from a cart 

as you travel from classroom to classroom, portable classroom, or rehearsal hall, you are the 

one in charge. You get to make the personal decision whether to approach teaching and your individual program as merely 

a mediocre, marginal, or exceptional practitioner of your art. Some of you will have just finished your regional concert performance 

assessments and I ask the question, did you achieve the results you were looking for? Some of you are probably 

on schedule to finish your evidence collection for the Tennessee Arts Growth Measures and again I ask the question, what 

result are you hoping to achieve? 

MI pose those questions not to be combative, but to spark 

dialogue. Is a rating of excellent or superior good enough? 

Is a rating of a 3, 4, or 5 good enough? For some of us in 

the profession, the answers to these questions are simple 

enough. For others, these questions might generate heartfelt 

introspection. At what points in our lives and in our 

careers do we come to the realization (if ever) that good 

enough still isn’t great enough? 

I can say for myself that it is question that I’ve been wrestling 

with for quite a while. Take the very publication you’re 

(hopefully) reading right now, the Tennessee Musician. I 

cannot express how much I appreciate many of you, across 

the state, who took the time to email, call, and write about 

how much you loved the new layout, the new look, the vibe, 

and the content. We at the Tennessee Musician are working 

overtime to produce a great looking magazine with 

an additional depth of content. While that may simply be 

the logical step in the evolution of this publication, I still 

missed the target. 

I was fortunate enough to hear from others of you who 

did not like the last issue. Yes, I am aware that you had to be 

outside to read it. No, there was not a set of special glasses 

that you had to wear in order to read the articles. Yes, the 

font was too small and too dark to read in natural indoor 

light. The intention was to produce an attractive publication, 

with great articles that would look great in digital 

and print editions. While the text looks good and is easier 

to read electronically on a backlit tablet, the sacrifice came 

with the print edition, which did not meet our criteria or 

expectations for distribution. After looking at the mistakes 

of the previous issue, we have decided to try our hand at 

this again. I am hoping that we hit the mark this time. 

It’s been an interesting journey, so far, serving as a fulltime 

music educator and editor-in-chief. Though my education 

was not in journalism, my approach has been to apply 

the skill sets that one would typically use when taking 

over a new program as a director, or teaching music in an 

unfamiliar educational environment. The learning curve 

is huge, but eventually you figure it out and get the hang 

of it. For me, one of the hardest parts of this role has been 

learning when to “pull the trigger” to send something off to 

print production and learning to figure out the difference 

between good enough and great enough. Though neither 

of these two ideals is a final destination, coping with the 

reality that what may now be great enough today, will pale 

in comparison to the standards being set tomorrow, keeps 

me awake at night. As I think about it, I find that these ideas 

continue to fuel my desire for excellence as a music educator, 

as an editor-in-chief, and as a human being. 

Here’s to what drives you! 

Michael Chester Tennessee Musician Editor-in-Chief 


Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 

Music 

Music Education 

Performance 

Composition 

D EPARTMENT OF 

Music 

Clarksville, Tenn. 

Master of Music degrees in 

Music Education 

Performance 

The APSU music experience offers 

•Individualized instruction by 

outstanding faculty 

•State-of-the-art facilities 

•Nationally recognized 600-seat 

concert hall 

•Tennessee Center of Excellence for 

the Creative Arts 

•20 vocal and instrumental student 

ensembles 

•Summer graduate program 

•Beautiful campus and friendly 

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Performance scholarships available 

by audition. 

2015 audition dates: 

Jan. 24 

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Contact: 

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Department of Music 

(931) 221-7808 

rosed@apsu.edu 

APSU Music Department welcomes 

new faculty: 

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Jeffrey Williams, tenor 

Ensembles at APSU: 

Brass Quintet 

Chamber Singers 

Clarinet Choir 

Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble 

Flute Choir 

Governors Own Marching Band 

Governors Singers 

Guitar Ensemble 

Horn Ensemble 

Jazz Collegians 

Jazz Combo 

Opera Workshop 

Orchestra 

Pep Band 

Percussion Ensemble 

Saxophone Quartet 

Trombone Choir 

University Choir 

Wind Ensemble 

www.apsu.edu 

THINK MUSIC -- THINK AUSTIN PEAY

PERSPECTIVES 

I’d like to take a moment to say thank 

you for Johnathan Vest’s article “National 

Core Standards: An Introduction.” It 

seems like every time I turn around there 

seems to be a new educational initiative 

that we are all asked to embrace. Vest’s 

article was easy to read and simple to understand. 

I’m not sure how long the “new” 

standards will be in place, but I’m glad to 

see the Tennessee Musician keeping us all 

informed. 

— Rhonda Meade 

It was exciting to receive my issue of 

the Tennessee Musician in the mail, only 

to find that I could not read a single page 

of it. The print was too small and the text 

was very difficult to read. Please fix this 

immediately. I have enjoyed reading the 

Tennessee Musician for many years and I 

want to continue to enjoy reading it. 

— Teresa Schill 

I thought the Catalano and McWhirter 

article was quite eye opening about teacher 

assessment. Don’t think that I didn’t 

make a copy and place it in the office mail 

boxes of my principals. It seems too often 

that we try our hardest to create lessons 

for our evaluations, only to fall short based 

on a principal’s observation of content 

mastery. 

— Jean Anne Montgomery 

SHARE WITH US 

Have something to say? Do you love 

or hate a particular article? To share 

your thoughts on what you read in the 

Tennessee Musician, please e-mail 

editor@tnmea.org 

School of Music 

Audition Dates for Spring/Fall 2015 

UNDERGRADUATE: 

November 8, 2014 

January 10, 2015 


February 7, 2015 

March 21, 2015 (Admission only) 

GRADUATE: 





WWW.BELMONT. EDU/MUSIC 


PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 

Jeff Phillips 

YOU PROBABLY NOTICED IT: there’s a huge 

elephant in the room. It’s in the meetings we 

attend with our local associations, but mainly 

it’s there after the business is done, sometimes 

before it all starts. It’s in all of our regions 

too and it travels from group to group 

daily. The elephant in the room needs to be 

addressed before we can move on with some 

of the business we need to do in our State, so 

even though it may be unpopular, let’s bring 

the animal out in the open. 

What in the world is he talking about now? The “divisions 

among our divisions.” It’s been said that “perception is reality” 

and there is no greater example of that in our field of music education 

and specifically here in our State. One of the comments I 

get from teachers that aren’t NAfME members (and even some 

that are) is that “there’s nothing there for me; it’s all run by (fill 

in the blank with whatever area you don’t teach).” I’ll admit, that 

was a comment I made once upon a time! “MENC/TMEA: they 

were all just a bunch of choral and elementary music people; they 

have nothing to do with MY area: BAND!” If you proclaim that in 

your association (and change the emphasis) you’ll probably get a 

great “us versus them” discussion going and, unfortunately, several 

will agree with you. As I began to ask our TMEA membership 

about things we can do better, I was somewhat amused that each 

faction had similar feelings about the others: instrumental folks 

think the choral and elementary music folks are running everything; 

the choral directors think the instrumental teachers are 

taking over; the elementary teachers are pretty sure they don’t 

have a voice in the association at all. Even among these there 

are further divisions: concert choir versus show choir; Orff versus 

Kodaly; and band versus orchestra! PLUS, in our state we’ve 

got three different regions for each one, so we ALL know about 

those people in the (fill in the blank) region and how messed up 

they are! I suppose that some of this is just natural as we want to 

protect our territory, but in reality, is this really helping? (Just as 

an FYI: when you look at the 2015 Conference offerings, I think 

you’ll see a good balance of sessions and concerts among all areas 

as we made great efforts to do this!) 

In our State and in our Nation, there is too much currently at 

stake to continue bickering among ourselves. The only way to 

push forward and determine a viable path for music education 

in our schools is to recognize that we need each other in order 

to be a strong unified voice. State and national leaders will listen 

to large groups of constituents and our collective efforts can and 

do make an impact. 

I’m past-President of a national band organization (the American 

School Band Directors Association). For years this group 

struggled with how to make a national voice for band programs. 

Only after several years of work to change some minds and agreeing 

to join forces with NAfME and the Music Policy Roundtable 

has progress been made with this! We currently have music associations 

in our state that talk of cutting ties to our national association 

and that “our dues can be spent here at home.” What we 

have to realize is that further dividing our efforts both in the state 

will cut our impact on current legislation and give us no place on 

the national advocacy efforts. ALL music educators in our state 

at all levels MUST be members of our state and national organization! 

Currently in our state we have a myriad of issues facing music 

education: scheduling, funding, staffing, certification and evaluation, 

just to name a few. These same issues are also on the national 

front. It is important that we not only keep vigilant efforts 

here, but that we are able to be aware of what is happening in other 

states and in Washington. The recent email blast from NAfME 

about the Broaderminded campaign and the petition for the 

ESEA (No Child Left Behind) is a perfect example of how NUM- 

BERS matter. If a Senator hears your opinion that probably won’t 

even make it past the receptionist’s desk. If the same message is 

echoed by hundreds of voters and then multiplied in fellow Senator’s 

offices on Capitol Hill, the message begins to resonate. 

Over the next few months we will have opportunities to make 

our voices heard for music education. March is “Music in Our 

Schools Month.” What type of efforts can you do in your community 

to promote your program and music education? We have 

new legislators in Nashville. Our goal (with our Advocacy chair, 

Joel Denton) is to encourage you to meet in person with YOUR 

local representatives and briefly discuss the importance of music 

education (look for more on this soon in an email blast). Can you 

imagine the impact if music teachers of all levels began calling 

and visiting the offices of our congress and senate representatives? 

In May, most high schools have “signing days” for athletics, 

but can you organize one for students in your music department? 

We can make a difference, but it’s more powerful when we make 

it TOGETHER! 

There’s safety in numbers and if we are going to make an impact 

on music education in our region, state, and on a national 

level, we’ve first got to “get over ourselves” and deal with that elephant 

in the room! It’s not band vs. orchestra and choral vs. instrumental 

and we’ve got to get past the East-Middle-West mentality 

and work for the STUDENTS of Tennessee. 

Jeff Phillips TMEA President 


music AT UNION UNIVERSITY 

to exalt 

to inspire 

Jackson, Tennessee 

731.661.5345 

uu.edu/music 

EXCELLENCE-DRIVEN CHRIST-CENTERED PEOPLE-FOCUSED FUTURE-DIRECTED

THE SCORE 

SHELBY COUNTY SCHOOLS 

News From Across the State 

The Shelby County Schools partnership 

with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra 

was in the spotlight on February 5, 2015, 

as 1500 elementary students were able 

to attend the orchestra’s annual Young 

People’s Concert (YPC). Not only were 

the students able to attend this live arts 

performance, but their teachers involved 

them in arts integrated learning through 

the curriculum unit which is a big part of 

the YPC experience. Additionally, each 

YPC participating school will receive an 

up close and personal orchestral experience 

with two MSO pre- and post-concert 

educational ensemble visits. We are 

very glad that this partnership and collaboration 

between SCS and the MSO 

continues over the years to provide our 

elementary students with this rich live 

arts experience. 

The Idlewild Performing Recorder 

Ensemble from Idlewild Elementary, 

Memphis, TN, under the direction 

of Allen Moody, Orff music teacher 

at Idlewild, was one of the children’s 

performing ensembles at last fall’s 

American Orff-Schulwerk Association’s 

National Professional Development 

Conference in Nashville, TN. The 

Idlewild Performing Ensemble has a 

history of excellence in music making. 

Students are selected on the basis 

of audition and school-wide behavior. 

Members meet before school to rehearse 

for their various performances 

and are routinely selected to participate 

in All-West Choral and All-City Orff 

ensembles in Memphis, TN. Allen Moody 

from Memphis, TN, received his B.M. in 

Music Education from the University of 

Memphis in 2009. He completed his Orff 

levels at the University of Memphis as 

well. He is an Orff Music Specialist with 

Shelby County Schools and co-hosted the 

First-Timer’s Orientation at the Denver 

Conference in 2013. 

The Orff Music Program of Shelby 

County Schools (SCS) hosts an annual 

Orff Music All-City Concert. The 

All-City Concert is a district wide Orff 

music teacher collaboration to prepare 

students to perform together after having 

rehearsed their own individual vocal, 

instrument, and dance assignments 

separately at their own schools. The students 

come together for two days of rehearsal 

before the free and open to the 

public concert. Last year’s April 3rd concert, 

themed Snapshots of Sound, cochaired 

by Orff Music specialists, Scharion 

Bradley, Macon Hall Elementary, and 

Elisabeth Lay, Lincoln Elementary, was 

performed to a packed house at the Cannon 

Center for the Performing Arts. Over 

325 SCS 4th and 5th grade students sang, 

danced, played recorder, guitar, and Orff 

pitched and un-pitched instruments to 

accompany themselves as they performed 

favorites from past All-City concerts. 

Each All-City concert is a multicultural 

Shelby County 

Schools 

program and this year’s May 7th concert, 

All-City 2015: Our World, Our Song, cochaired 

by Orff Music specialist, Lynn 

Bivens, Shady Grove Elementary, and 

Maria Spence, Shelby Oaks Elementary, 

will be no exception. The selections for 

All-City 2015: Our World, Our Song include 

the processional, Man in the Moon/ 

Dance Song; the Netherlands folksong, 

Sarasponda; a rousing medley of Camp 

Songs; the Japanese folk song, Sakura; the 

Spanish folk song, There’s a Fiesta; a fun 

children’s song, Safari; the Earlene Rentz 

choral piece, I Want Two Wings; and the 

Finale, Proud Mary. 

This year SCS hosted a series of master 

classes and clinics with artists such 

as jazz educator Ronald Carter, Professor 

Emeritus at Northern Illinois University 

and renowned lyric soprano, Kallen Esperian. 

Overton High and Central High 

School Jazz bands were selected as finalists 

for the Savannah Swing Central National 

Jazz Band Competition. This is the 

second consecutive year Central has been 

selected. Overton High has been selected 

for the past three years, and this year 

placed 2nd nationally at the Competition. 

SCS is proud to have 65 schools with 

strings programs, and in October, over 100 

students from across the district participated 

in an All-City concert, highlighting 

different genres of music from classical 

to rock. SCS continues to be involved 

with the Metropolitan Opera’s HD Live 

in Schools partnership as well as active 

partnerships with local arts agencies such 

as Ballet on Wheels featuring the Cordova 

High School Orchestra. 

Williamson County Schools 

In May, the 6th annual district wide 

ArtsFest will feature over 1,000 works 

of student art and many All-City performance 

ensembles with clinicians sucah as 

Dr. Ryan Fisher, Dr. Reginald McDonald, 

Dr. Albert Nguyen, and others. Additionally, 

Shelby County Schools has partnered 

with the Berklee College of Music City 

Music Network to present educational 

materials and resources to the film “Take 

Me to the River” which was made available 

to the music teachers in the Berklee 

City Music Network and the “Amp Up” 

music teachers in New York City. 


WILLIAMSON COUNTY SCHOOLS 

Greetings from Williamson County 

Schools! Students and teachers in WCS 

music programs have been busy this year. 

We were excited to send 20 students to 

All-State Choir and 21 in All-State Band 

and Orchestra with well over 200 attending 

the regional Mid-State performances. 

Four WCS students were selected to perform 

with the National Honor Choir, National 

Honor Band, and National Honor 

Orchestra as well. As the district’s music 

programs have continued to grow, we have 

been fortunate to be able to add two full 

time band directors and several part-time 

elementary music specialists. 

Band and orchestra directors from 

across Williamson County Schools and 

Franklin Special School District collaborated 

to present their annual Honor Band 

Middle Tennessee State University 

TENNESSEE 

and Festival Orchestra performance. The 

band features some of the county’s finest 

middle and high school student musicians. 

Students who were nominated by 

their band director got to audition for a 

spot in this prestigious ensemble. Those 

who were selected gathered to rehearse 

the day before the concert under the direction 

of a guest clinician. The event is 

completely teacher driven and has been a 

tradition in the county for over 10 years. 

The festival orchestra was premiered in 

2014 as our county has continued to add 

string programs and teachers. 

WCS is particularly excited to announce 

its 2nd Annual district-wide Fine 

Arts Festival sponsored by the Williamson 

County Association of Realtors Good 

Works Foundation and hosted by the 

Factory at Franklin. The event will feature 

four stage areas sponsored by Mathnasium 

and Franklin Synergy Bank from 

which students in kindergarten through 

high school will perform from 10:00 in the 

morning until 6:00 in the evening. Events 

will include jazz bands, concert choirs, 

elementary mass choirs, Orff ensembles, 

show choirs, orchestras, and a percussion 

ensemble. This event serves to spotlight 

the talent, achievements and importance 

of arts education in our schools. The fact 

that the event is sponsored by a Realtors 

foundation, a bank, and a math tutoring 

company highlights how the community 

recognizes strong music and arts programs 

as an integral part of educating the 

whole child, improving our schools and attracting 

businesses to a community 

East Tennessee State University 

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY 

The MTSU School of Music is pleased 

to announce exciting happenings this 

year. 

MTSU’s Wind Ensemble recently 

premiered “The Master’s Hand,” composed 

and conducted by Timothy Mahr 

in memory of Joseph T. Smith. Additionally, 

NAXOS issued EARTHRISE, a new 

Wind Ensemble CD, Reed Thomas, conductor 

and David Loucky, trombone soloist. 

MTSU students performed winning 

student works at the NAfME conference 

and won snare and ensemble awards at 

this year’s PASIC. The Knoxboro-Bones, 

student trombone quartet, presented concerts 

in six Knoxville area schools. 

Recent faculty activities include H. 

Stephen Smith, voice, performing with 

the Memphis Symphony; guitarist Bill 

Yelverton performing at Mississippi State 

University and Wofford College; and Michael 

Parkinson directing the Kansas All- 

State Jazz Band. MTSU’s Brass Quintet 

performed with Belmont and Vanderbilt 

quintets, premiering Tri-Star Fanfare by 

Jamey Simmons. Cedric Dent and TAKE 

SIX were recently inducted into the Gospel 

Music Hall of Fame. Don Aliquo, Michael 

Linton, Matt Lund, Paul Osterfield, 

and Jamey Simmons each have new CDs 

in release. 

Among recent alumni achievements: 

Tracey Phillips won the Dove award for 

Instrumental Album of the Year; Steven 

Malone directed the NBC production of 

PETER PAN LIVE; Jesus Santandreu is 

resident composer for the Beijing Wind 

Orchestra; singer Seth Carico, is performing 

with Deutsche Opera; jazz alumni returned 

to present a big band concert directed 

by John Duke. Finally, the Master 

of Music degree is now official at MTSU 

with NASM approval. Visit mtsumusic. 

com for more information. 

EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY 

Dr. Christian Zembower, Director of 

Bands and Associate Professor of Music 

at ETSU, has been accepted to present at 

two separate band conferences in the future. 

He will be presenting “Singular Successes: 

Contributions to the Wind Band 

Idiom” at the March, 2015 College Band 

Directors National Association (CBDNA) 

National Conference in Nashville, hosted 

by Vanderbilt University; and also at 

the July, 2015 World Association of Symphonic 

Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) 

International Conference in San Jose, 

California, hosted by San Jose State University. 

Dr. Zembower’s presentation is based 

on a research article that will be published 

in the Fall, 2014 volume issue of the 

WASBE Journal on the same subject area 

and title as the upcoming presentations. 

The article/presentations are based on 

research of eleven composers who were 

all very successful in their compositional 

output in other genres, but only contributed 

one (published) work to the wind band 

idiom. 

Tennessee Music Education Assocation | 13

TMEA PROFILES IN EXCELLENCE 

by Michael Chester 

BDG: Tom Tucker and Bill Hull: my 

high school band directors, my church 

choir director: Dr. Henry Martin Puryear, 

Jr., and during my undergraduate college 

years: Joseph T. Smith, Neil and Margaret 

Wright, Tom Naylor, Horace Beasley, and 

John Duke. 

Brenda 

Dent 

Gregory 

Siegel High School 

Murfreesboro, Tennessee 

HERE IS AN OLD AXIOM OF VIRTUE, often attributed to Paul Ivey that states, “Study 

the unusually successful people you know, and you will find them imbued with 

enthusiasm for their work which is contagious. Not only are they themselves excited 

about what they are doing, but they also get you excited.” Such is the case 

with Tennessee Music Education Association member Brenda Dent Gregory. 

Gregory, a 33-year career accomplished 

musician, artist, and music educator, 

who brings to her rehearsal hall a passion 

for teaching and a zeal for music that inspires 

the many students that have come 

her way over the years. Along with associate 

director Wendy Payne, Gregory currently 

serves as choral director at Siegel 

High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 

a position she has held since the school 

first opened its doors in 2003. Recently, 

the Tennessee Musician was able to visit 

Brenda Dent Gregory for a conversation 

about her experiences in music and teaching. 

Tennessee Musician (TNM): Tell 

us about your earliest experiences in 

music growing up. 

Brenda Dent Gregory (BDG): I started 

piano lessons at the age of 7, later joining 

the church youth choir at Highland Park 

14 | TENNESSEE MUSICIAN | 2015 | VOLUME 67, NO. 2 

Baptist Church in Columbia, and then 

started band in 7th grade. 

Music was an integral part of Gregory’s 

childhood. Though her father had more 

of an athletic background growing up, her 

mother had a background in music, who, 

along with her five siblings, sung in the 

church choir and played clarinet in the 

high school band. Stories shared about her 

mother’s time as a member of the choir 

and band would influence Gregory to follow 

a similar path, even down to the instrument 

selection of clarinet. During her 

high school years, Gregory was quite an 

accomplished musician in her own right, 

selected for the All-Middle Tennessee 

Bands and the Tennessee All-State Bands. 

TNM: During your student years, 

which teacher(s) had the most impact 

on your life and why? 

TNM: What experiences influenced 

your decision to become a music 

teacher? 

BDG: The joy and commitment exhibited 

by both my high school band directors and 

my church choir director . . . they made the 

job look fun! 

Gregory was fortunate to be surrounded 

by several great music teachers who 

created an aura of high expectations. She 

credits her love of singing to experiences 

as a member of the Highland Park Church 

Choir. Her experiences as a member of the 

Columbia Central High School Band program 

were nothing short of exceptional. 

She attributes this to the fact that her directors 

created a balance in the band program, 

with a highly competitive marching 

program and renowned concert program. 

Again, high expectations were at the epicenter 

of her musical experiences, no 

doubt serving as model and influence in 

her own teaching. 

Gregory later attended Middle Tennessee 

State University, earning both a 

Bachelor of Music degree 

and a Master of Arts degree, 

respectively. Many of her 

university professors and 

instructors during this time 

were themselves experienced 

music educators, who would 

continue to nurture and challenge Gregory’s 

own philosophy of teaching. 

Gregory began her teaching career right 

after finishing her graduate studies. In a 

humorous account of being at the right 

place at the right time, Gregory recounted 

a meeting with Don Boyd that was setup 

by then director of bands, Joseph T. 

Smith. Boyd, who was at that time, director 

of bands at Shelbyville Central High 

School (Shelbyville, TN), was looking for 

and assistant band director who could 

also teach the choir program and lead the 

general music program at Harris Middle 

School. Gregory was immediately hired 

and would spend the next two-years in 

that capacity. Later, at the invitation of 

Brad Rogers, a friend from her high school 

band days in Columbia, she applied for a 

similar position at Oakland High School 

(Murfreesboro, TN), where Gregory

SIEGEL HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR STUDENTS performing scenes from Once on This Island. 

would spend the next 19 years of a highly 

successful tenure. 

Gregory’s own sense of high expectations 

for her students would garner the 

attention of her principal at the time, Ken 

Nolan, who would later be named as the 

principal of Rutherford County’s newest 

building project, Siegel High School. Nolan 

requested that Gregory join a select 

group of educators to open the new high 

school in 2003. As a charter faculty member, 

Gregory began to build her choir program 

at Siegel from the ground up. 

With a school population of approximately 

2000, the choir program at Siegel 

High School consists of an instructional 

environment built around a seven-period 

day, with modifications based on the day 

of the week. Most Mondays, Wednesdays, 

and Fridays operate on 50 minute class 

periods. Tuesdays and Thursdays operate 

on 42 minute class periods. The choir 

program offers several unique ensemble 

offerings, designed around the diversity, 

needs, and skill sets of the students. The 

vocal ensemble classes offered at Siegel 

High School include: Women’s Select 

Choir, Chamber Choir, Women’s Chorale, 

and the Concert Choir. Each of these 

classes meet during the school day and are 

taught by both Gregory and Wendy Payne, 

who serves as the associate director of 

the choir program. Payne is regarded very 

highly by Gregory as a trusted colleague 

who shares the same vision of focusing on 

the students. In addition, Gregory teaches 

Music Theory courses. On any given day, 

Gregory teaches over 150 students. 

TNM: How much time do you spend 

outside of the normal school day 

working with students on individual 

or group instruction and performance 

preparation? 

BDG: In the fall, one day a week for a couple 

of hours. In the spring, with the spring 

musical, we rehearse two days out of the 

week for a three hour rehearsal period. 

With honor choirs, and Mid-State and All- 

State, sometimes we spend every day after 

school, working with sections, or individuals. 

We do put in the hours here . . . most 

directors who are in charge of really good 

programs . . . that’s just what you do. 

TNM: Is private instruction available 

to the students, either before, 

during, or after school? 

BDG: Private instruction is available 

both during and after school. We have four 

instructors who come in to teach every day. 

We let the students miss their choir period 

one day a week for their voice lesson. Our 

instructors then teach additional lessons 

after school. 

TNM: How do you encourage students 

to go the extra step for lessons, 

and how do you convince the parents 

that private lessons are a beneficial 

investment in their children? 

BDG: It did take a while to get this established. 

When I was at Oakland High 

School I started with a voice teacher by the 

name of Donna Shearron, who still teaches 

for me. She started with a small studio 

of about five students. Over time, these 

students grew musically, and loved their 

voice lessons. Other students took notice 

in the marked improvement of those who 

were taking voice lessons. After a while, it 

just caught on. By the time I came to Siegel 

High School, many of the students came 

from the Oakland program to Siegel High 


School, and with that, followed the culture 

of private lessons and why they were important. 

My Siegel High School parents 

are and continue to be strong advocates of 

the private lesson program, talking it up to 

many of the 8th grade choir students prior 

to their joining the Siegel High School 

Choir program. 

TNM: Do you have any kind of ancillary 

school support organization? 

BDG: We have a wonderful choral booster 

club here at Siegel High School. We have 

a nucleus of parents who support us financially 

by planning fundraisers and providing 

support for our performances. They are 

an incredible group of parents! 

TNM: You have a very supportive 

and collegial administration that 

supports the choral program and music 

education at Siegel High School. 

What are some things that you do to 

cultivate that relationship? 

BDG: I think communication is very 

important. I think a lot of administrators 

have a lot of concerns when ensemble directors 

are not communicating adequately 

with the parents. I think you have to go the 

extra mile to convince your administration 

that you really are on board with communicating 

with your parents and students. 

Invite your administration to come and 

watch your students do what they do. Put 

tickets on their desk for them and their 

families. Make them a part of what you do. 

Involve them in what it is that the students 

are doing. It’s up to you to bring them into 

the rehearsal hall. 

One of the many striking aspects of the 

choir program at Siegel High School is just 

how many things are taking place. The 

choir rehearsal hall, with its warm and inviting 

vibe, is quite an epicenter of activity. 

Clean, organized, and ready for the set 

of students, the walls of the Siegel High 

School Choir Rehearsal Hall are adorned 

with the pictures of smiling students, both 

past and present, proud of their legacy, 

achievement, and hard work. 

Last year the Siegel High School Choir 

program was invited to perform at the National 

Association for Music Education’s 

National In-service Conference as part 

of the special event, “Disney’s Tarzan.” 

The students have also worked with the 

Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and with 

Eden Espinosa, who played “Elphaba” in 

“Wicked” on Broadway. Another highlight 

occurred about 10 years ago, when 

the Siegel High School Choir was invited 

to perform with 

Josh Groban on his 

Nashville concert. 

The students have 

traveled extensively 

with the choral 

department to Europe 

(London and 

Paris), and several 

times to New York 

City. Each year 

the program traditionally 

places 

several students 

in the All-Middle 

Tennessee Choirs, 

around 15 students 

in the Tennessee 

All-State 

Choir, and around 

5 to 6 students in 

the Tennessee Governor’s School for the 

Arts. Last year, one of the students, Ellen 

Robertson, won the high school division 

in the Orpheus Vocal Competition at Middle 

Tennessee State University. Several 

former Siegel High School Choir students 

have gone to schools like NYU, Indiana 

University, and Vanderbilt. Gregory has 

even had several students go onto careers 

as professional musicians, like country 

music artist Chris Young. 

With as many years as Gregory has 

spent as a career music educator, it could 

be easy to become complacent, even satisfied 

with the status quo. Even more so, it is 

very easy for someone with Gregory’s stature 

to become cynical, especially in these 

changing and uncertain times in education. 

SIEGEL HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR STUDENTS in concert. 

TNM: How much of an impact has 

No Child Left Behind, the State of 

Tennessee’s selection for Race to the 

Top funding, Common Core, and the 

TEAM Evaluation had on you as a 

music educator? 

BDG: You know . . . really and truly I 

think it’s every music educator’s choice to 

decide how much those things can affect 

them in a negative way. I think you have to 

keep your eye on the ball. That’s really easy 

for someone to say with 33 years of experience 

and the perspective that I have. I think 

it’s really hard for young educators because 

when they get into the profession, they are 

barraged with all of this periphery. With 

the TEAM Evaluation, I believe the TEAM 

Rubric is awesome for ensemble. There are 

things that we do naturally in an ensemble 

setting, like problem solving, giving feedback, 

and group settings. For a music educator, 

it should be easy to apply what you 

already do in an ensemble to the verbiage 

on the rubric. Common Core is yet another 

example. It’s things we already do. 

TNM: One of the truly remarkable 

aspects of your program focuses on a 

well-rounded approach to musicianship 

and repertoire. As an ensemble 

director there are numerous factors 

to consider when making selections 

like ensemble, size, talent and skill 

sets, venue, and audience appeal. 

How do you make choices on repertoire 

selections? 

BDG: Ensemble size is certainly a factor, 

as well as experience level. This year in my 

top ensemble, I have quite a few freshmen 

men, with vocal changes still taking place. 

I’m looking at different works and asking 

myself, “what can these young tenors and 

baritones handle, especially in terms of 

range?” I wanted to really explore a Capella 

singing more this year, so this has been one 

of the things I have been looking at in terms 

of rep selection. If we perform at a chorale 

festival, there are certain considerations 

and requirements we have to balance and 

decide on. We really try to incorporate 

music from every time and style period, 

as much as we can. I like to expose the students 

to all sorts of genres of music. 

Something to take note of, which in 

many ways is an important skill and trait 

as a music educator, is the art of networking 

and remaining an active part of 

the music community. For Gregory, this 

comes naturally and results in creating 

opportunities for her students to connect 

with performing musicians all over the 


world. Gregory herself performs as a vocalist, 

and when the opportunity allows, 

Gregory can be found performing in community 

theater productions. We asked 

about how remaining active as a performer 

inspires her artistry as a musician and 

educator. 

TNM: As a musician and educator, 

what kind of activities do you engage 

in that inspires and nurtures your 

artistry? 

BDG: I still do some singing, not as much 

church choir as I would like, but when I 

have the opportunity, I do solo in church. 

One of the things that I really love is community 

theater. I was able to perform with 

Graduate. Nichols would go on to win 

a Grammy Award, four Emmy Awards, 

and nine Tony Awards. Nichols recently 

passed away in November of 2014. 

TNM: What is it about the work of 

directors Susan Stroman and Mike 

Nichols that make them among your 

favorite? Where do you draw inspiration 

from their productions? 

BDG: For Stroman, she does a lot of 

Broadway revivals, and in particular she 

received a Tony Award for her revival of 

Oklahoma, which is an old, old show. I saw 

this production, and I was amazed at how 

fresh her work was with a piece that was so 

old. I immediately loved her approach. She 

you hope your students will take 

away from your teaching and program 

when they graduate? 

BDG: Just one thing—a love for music. 

TNM: If there is one piece of advice 

or words of wisdom for aspiring 

teachers, what would they be? 

BDG: Keep your eye on the ball! With 

all of the additional paperwork, evaluations, 

PLCs, etc., it can be overwhelming. 

Remember why you got into teaching 

music in the first place . . . keep that in the 

forefront of your mind every day. Nothing 

else is as important as your personal connection 

with your students on a daily basis. 

It’s easy to let that “peripheral” stuff take 

Remember why you got into 

teaching music in the first 

place. Keep that in the forefront 

of your mind every day. Nothing 

else is as important as your 

personal connection with your 

students on a daily basis. 

— Brenda Dent Gregory 

the Stones River Theater Company in a 

production of Jekyll and Hyde. I had the 

opportunity to perform in that show with 

some former students from my days at 

Oakland High School, which was a lot of 

fun. I think it’s important to not only be on 

our side of the art, but also the student side 

of the art as well. I think that sometimes we 

forget what it’s like to be in their shoes. I remember 

taking all sorts of notes when I was 

in the production. I took notes about the rehearsal 

processes that a director would use. 

I even took notes about things to avoid as a 

director. 

We asked Brenda Gregory about any 

additional sources of inspiration as an 

artist, musician, and educator. She mentioned 

the creative work and output of 

Susan Stroman, an American theatre director, 

choreographer, film director, and 

performer. Stroman is a five-time Tony 

Award winner: four for Best Choreography 

and one as Best Director of a Musical 

for The Producers. She also mentioned 

the work of Mike Nichols, an American 

film and theatre director, producer, actor, 

and comedian who won the Academy 

Award for Best Director for the film The 

SIEGEL HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR STUDENTS selected for a special performance of Disney’s Tarzan at the 

NAfME Inservice Conference. 

brought a modern and fresh approach to 

her productions. I’ve heard she’s an incredible 

person to work with…..just one of those 

“forces of nature” kind of ladies. That’s 

what I love about her. Mike Nichols is kind 

of a man after my own heart. He’s just one 

of those old school directors who doesn’t 

take any gruff. He’s one of those rough directors 

who is perfectionistic, not wanting 

to accept anything except the artist’s best 

work. I can relate to him in that regard. I 

have a little bit of that personality myself. 

That’s what I like about him. 

Gregory is truly the epitome of a great 

music educator. Even to this day, she finds 

ways of remaining inspired, culturally literate, 

and intellectually engaged in music 

and the performing arts. She continues 

to share her love of music and teaching 

with her students, and her artistry can 

be felt through the generations of her 

former students. 

TNM: What is the one thing that 

all your energy and focus. Don’t let it . . . it’s 

about the kids. 

Brenda Dent Gregory, truly an icon of 

music education in the State of Tennessee. 

Her work stands as a testament to 

putting students first. Her work pays homage 

to the legacies of her teachers of the 

past and to those who have had the fortune 

to cross paths with her and to inspire 

her. Brenda Dent Gregory . . . her work as 

a music educator speaks for itself. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: The feature article, “Profiles in 

Excellence” will be an ongoing series that 

highlights the work being done by Tennessee 

Music Education Association 

members. Highlights of these recorded interviews 

will be archived for future generations 

to access as a part of a special TMEA 

oral history project and will be made 

available as a future podcast for download 

at tnmea.org. 


TEACHING LEADERSHIP IN OUR ORCHESTRAS 

W 

HEN RECRUITING for 

our school programs or 

youth orchestras, we 

often refer to the fact 

that our musicians learn 

‘leadership skills’ in our 

ensembles, using that as a selling point to 

parents, students, and grant givers alike. 

But what do we mean by this, exactly? 

We’d like to think that students learn the 

characteristics of solid leadership simply 

by showing up to rehearsals, but we know 

that some never quite make that transformation. 

Do directors deliberately teach 

leadership from the podium, or do they 

just hope that students will glean it by being 

part of the group? My goal is to have an 

orchestra full of section players who could 

sit first chair and capably lead the section. 

Most of us have had a student in our 

orchestra who seems to be a natural 

born leader. He or she exudes that special 

something that seems to make others 

more energetic and engaged in the music 

and better behaved in general. If he 

happens to be the most talented player in 

your group, it’s a huge bonus. You instantly 

have a concertmaster that makes your 

job as a conductor so much easier. She 

helps keep the others energized and models 

good orchestral behavior. You’d like to 

clone that child, or at least bottle the personality 

so that the others could take a 

drink now and then. You relish the years 

by Susan Mullen 

you have that student in your group and 

always feel an enormous void when they 

leave. Imagine what a difference it would 

make in your orchestra if all your players 

had that indefinable quality! 

Though most students will not walk 

into your orchestra already endowed 

with the leadership skills you desire, you 

have an enormous impact on whether 

they leave with them. You can teach students 

how to incorporate the following 

highlighted behaviors into every rehearsal. 

In fact, I believe that these traits may 

be some of the most valuable that a player 

can learn while under your baton. Of 

course, it is necessary for conductors and 

teachers to impart that each and every 

player in the group is vital. Additionally, 

players should know that building leadership 

skills shouldn’t begin after getting the 

section leader position, rather, these skills 

are essential in order to get that position. 

For those students for whom leadership is 

not natural, this is invaluable. Ultimately, 

they will see how easy it is to transfer 

many of these habits into the non-musical 

world as well. 

Though most students will not walk into your orchestra already 

endowed with the leadership skills you desire, you have an enormous 

impact on whether they leave with them. 

COMMITMENT 

Be ready with your tuned instrument, 

music and pencil before the downbeat. Arrive 

a few minutes early to warm up on the 

hardest sections in your music. 

Stay engaged with the ensemble 

throughout the entire practice. Don’t constantly 

check the time or be the first to 

dart out when it’s over. 

Be the first to pick up your pencil to 

mark something in your part that the conductor 

has just mentioned; this could be a 

phrasing, a definition of a term you didn’t 

know, or just to mark an X in the margin 

of a section you need to practice at home. 

Do this every time and quickly. Others will 

follow your lead; I guarantee it. 

Offer to help the conductor hand out 

music, arrange the room before or after 

the rehearsal. It shows that you care about 

the group. 

CONFIDENCE 

In your private practice, work on the 

hardest sections first. Play them until they 

are easy! This will help you stand out in 

the next rehearsal. 

Compliment the abilities of your stand 

partner and the group. Don’t panic if 

things don’t stay together or intonation 

is particularly bad that day. Avoid voicing 

anything negative. Setbacks are perfectly 

normal. “Come on guys, we can do this!” 

is an encouraging comment to make when 

the orchestra is having a bad day. 

POSITIVE ATTITUDE 

Show interest in what is going on 

around you. When one section of the orchestra 

is being rehearsed, follow along in 

your own music to see how your part fits 

with theirs. 

Respond positively when a section or 

someone plays particularly well. A foot 

shuffle (the musician’s alternative to clapping) 

is always welcome and keeps the 

mood high. 

When your conductor asks you to rehearse 

the same section for the umpteenth 

time, don’t be a groaner! Never 

be the one to complain about anything, 

whether it’s the length of the rehearsal or 

the temperature of the room. Your director 

will always address a real problem if 

you have one, but complaining about the 

small stuff only poisons the atmosphere of 

the ensemble and is hard for any conductor 

to turn around. 

CREATIVITY 

Ask the conductor about phrasing or dynamics 

if they are not marked in the music 

or are not clear to you. Always be thinking 

how to make the music more interesting. 

Read up about the composers or pieces 

you are playing, learn interesting facts 

about them, and share them with your 

stand partner or the entire group. 


Listen to a recording of one or more of 

your pieces outside of rehearsal to learn 

about other orchestra’s interpretations. 

Talk about what you heard if you find it interesting. 

COMMUNICATION 

Raise your hand and ask questions 

whenever you have one. If you don’t understand 

something in the music such as 

a rhythm, a bowing, or a dynamic, chances 

are someone else doesn’t either. Speak in a 

clear, loud voice so that all can hear. Don’t 

mumble or be apologetic about having a 

question in the first place. 

*Some orchestras prefer that only section 

leaders ask the conductor questions 

about the music and that the others in 

the section ask the section leader. Ask the 

conductor what they prefer. 

If you have something important to tell 

your conductor, pull them aside before or 

after rehearsal and ask if it’s a good time 

to talk. Look them in the eye and speak 

up. A director is much more likely to take 

even bad news well if you are up front and 

willing to speak to them directly. Do not 

disrupt rehearsal with information not directly 

related to the music. 

APPROACHABILITY 

Walk into your rehearsal without your 

earbuds in. Make eye contact and greet 

those you see with a friendly hello or 

strike up a conversation before class. 

Examine your body language and facial 

expressions. Someone who is sitting 

slouched or slumped forward into the 

music stand during rehearsals can seem 

closed off and unwilling to talk. Those 

who sit erect, make eye contact with others 

in the orchestra and keep a pleasant 

look on their face give off the impression 

that they are willing to interact. 

Maintain good personal hygiene. You 

are much more likely to be spoken to if you 

smell fresh and have your teeth and hair 

brushed than if you don’t. 

SENSE OF HUMOR 

Encourage those around you to laugh at 

mistakes rather than be too discouraged 

by them. Be quicker to laugh at your own 

mistakes than at others’, of course, or it 

may be taken the wrong way. 

Never be timid about moving with the 

music. Swaying in time with a melody is 

great fun and usually encouraged! 

Occasional jokes keep the group’s energy 

and morale higher. 

Remember, timing is everything! Never 

interrupt a teaching moment, or you may 

feel the conductor’s wrath. 

As directors, we set the tone in our private 

musical communities. I suggest that 

our students should understand that we 

expect continuous improvement, both 

as musicians and as human beings. If we 

set the standard for excellence, they will 

strive to reach it. What changes young 

people is being part of a strong community 

that reaches unreasonably high together. 

We as teachers can help that process by 

encouraging them to take steps in that direction. 

Susan Mullen is currently on the faculty 

of The Webb School, in Bell Buckle, Tennessee 

where she serves as an instructor of 

Strings. She is currently serving the Middle 

Tennessee School Band and Orchestra 

Association (MTSBOA) as an Orchestra 

Representative on the organization’s executive 

board and also serves as a member of 

the Tennessee Music Education Association’s 

Tennessee Musician editorial board. 

OFFERING BACHELOR OF MUSIC DEGREES 

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High academic and performance standards 

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Substantial scholarships are available to qualified performers 

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See our website for more details. 

CARSON-NEWMAN MUSIC | C-N Box 72048 | Jefferson City, TN 37760 | (865) 471-3328 | www.cn.edu/music 

Information contact: Dr. Jeremy J. Buckner | jbuckner@cn.edu 


What’s New in Music Technology: A Report from NAMM 2015 

I 

LOVE MID-JANUARY when I can 

leave the cold and grey Pacific 

Northwest and head toward the 

warmth and clear skies of Anaheim, 

California, for the annual 

National Association of Music 

Merchants (NAMM) convention. I always 

look forward to all the new and exciting 

developments heading our way as music 

educators in music technology. This year, 

I was not disappointed. 

You may have heard that MakeMusic 

Inc. (the company that created Finale 

and SmartMusic) relocated to Boulder, 

Colorado to merge with a company called 

Peaksware. Some positions at MakeMusic 

were eliminated, and a number of employees 

who received offers to join the new 

venture in Boulder chose not to make the 

move, precipitating the rumor that the 

company had gone out of business. Not 

true! I met with Peaksware president Dirk 

Friel and the company’s marketing director 

Sonia Bertek, who reassured me that 

things are moving forward. Peaksware 

develops software platforms that connect 

creators, instructors, and performers and 

helps them set specific goals. You get expert 

instruction that can help both user 

and software perform at the highest levels. 

Rest assured that Finale and Smart Music 

are ongoing, supported products. 

SOFTWARE APPS 

I found three smaller software/app 

companies that offer promise for the music 

education market. Imitone ($25) 

translates sound into MIDI, the language 

of digital music. Simply put, just play or 

sing through a microphone into any MIDI 

software, such as that found in Garage- 

Band, and this product will convert the 

track into a MIDI track. Think of the possibilities 

of this. I was blown away by their 

demonstration. 

The Piano Maestro app for iPad by 

JoyTunes is free download for music 

teachers and students. You can download 

the app at www.joytunes.com then register 

as a teacher or student. It is a fascinating 

new approach to learning how to 

play the piano. Simply place your iPad on 

the music rack of a piano and launch Piano 

Maestro, load in a song, and hit play. 

As the music scrolls along, you can play 

along as a built-in iPad microphone hears 

your playing and shows the notes you are 

playing along the way. If you have a lab 

with headphones, the app will also work 

through a MIDI connection on an electronic 

midi keyboard. Once you have finished 

a level and get your passing score, 

you move on to the next level. Over four 

million people have now downloaded this 

tool. 

by Mike Klinger 

MusicPlayAlong is a free download and 

is an accompaniment app (audio MP3) for 

music practice. It provides an electronic 

music score with high-quality accompaniment 

and synchronized music tracer. It 

is a dream companion for all music students. 

You can slow down or speed a piece 

up by 50 percent without changing pitch 

or sound quality. There are “song collections” 

for specific instruments and categories 

as well. 

Finally, please check out a couple of my 

own favorite web-based tools: Weezic 

is free, and you only pay for access to the 

songs you wish to play. MatchMySound 

is also free and is currently in beta stage. 

Both are wonderful practice tools for your 

students. 

DIGITAL AUDIO 

Probably the biggest news at NAMM 

2015 was that Avid Technology would 

now be offering a free version of Pro Tools 

called Pro Tools First. It will allow for 

sixteen tracks of audio, MIDI, virtual instruments, 

and auxiliary tracks. Storage 

is in the cloud and allows you to store up 

to three projects. If you want to work on a 

new project, then simply bounce a project 

to disc and store it onto your hard drive. 

Avid also announced Pro Tools 12 Academic 

($299), coming out in the second 

quarter of this year. Both Pro Tools 12 and 

Pro Tools First will allow for song collaboration 

in the cloud, and a new Marketplace 

portal built into the software will 

offer users the capacity to purchase extra 

sounds, effects, etc. The Marketplace will 

serve as a portal where musicians can get 

paid for their work on song collaborations. 

Sibelius and Media Composer are also 

Avid products. Look for them to follow in 

a similar fashion with collaboration and 

Marketplace portals in new versions soon. 

Tascam introduced two new handheld 

recorders at NAMM. The DR-44wl 

($299) is a four-track recorder that includes 

Wi-Fi for transport control, file 

transfer, and audio streaming to your 

smartphone or PC. New built-in stereo 

condenser microphones feature shock 

mounting and are mounted in a true XY 

pattern for perfect stereo imaging. A pair 

of XLR inputs is also available for fourtrack 

recording, and all four feed into an 

improved microphone preamp and AD/ 


DA stage. The DR-22wl ($149) also has 

Wi-Fi for transport control, file transfer, 

and audio streaming to your smartphone 

or PC. Other innovations like the Scene 

Dial make it easier than ever to capture 

great-sounding recordings and share 

them online. The DR-22wl also has the XY 

pattern microphones for stereo recording. 

There were a number of new audio interfaces 

announced at NAMM as well. 

Focusrite Audio Engineering introduced 

two new models that look promising for 

music educators. The iTrack Dock for 

iPad ($199) is a comprehensive, studio-quality 

iPad recording interface featuring 

dual Focusrite microphone preamps 

for plugging in two microphones 

plus two line inputs for guitar or bass, an 

instrument independent stereo monitor 

and headphone output, and a USB port for 

class-compliant MIDI instruments and 

controllers. The iTrack Dock provides everything 

required to record, monitor, and 

control music on Lightning iPads—with 

precision Focusrite digital conversion 

at up to 24-bit, 96-kHz sampling. It even 

charges and powers the iPad at the same 

time. The iTrack Studio ($199) is a complete 

recording package for iPad, Mac, and 

PC. This is a great low-cost solution for 

school labs. It includes iTrack Solo audio 

interface, CM25s, studio condenser mic/ 

cable, HP6s stereo headphones, 1.2m device 

link cable, USB cable, and recording/ 

mixing software. 

M-Audio introduced the Deltabolt 

1212 Thunderbolt 12-channel interface 

($499). It comes with Octane X preamps, 

audio performance up to 32-bit, 

192-kHz, full duplex 12-input/12-output 

simultaneous recording in a compact 

desktop form. 

JUST FOR KICKS 

Korg introduced the new Little Bit Synth Kit ($159). It’s a build-you-own synthesizer 

kit that comes complete with power adapter, oscillator, keyboard, 

micro-sequencer, envelope generator, filter, delay, mix, split, speaker, battery, 

cable, and instructions (download). How fun is this? 

Mike Klinger is the owner of 

The Synthesis Midi Workshop 

(www.midiworkshop.com), 

which specializes in educational 

sales and training in music 

technology. He offers music 

technology courses online and 

at his Retreat Center in Carson, 

Washington, in the Columbia 

River Gorge. 

Cumberland University Music 

34 majors, 37 minors, 8 graduate degrees 

in a small campus environment. 

Cumberland University offers the 

B. Mus in Music Education, Music 

Performance, General Music. 

Scholarships Available 

Apply for choral or instrumental 

scholarships by March 31, 2015. 

cumberland.edu/music 

Contact Molly Agee at (615) 547-1331 or magee@cumberland.edu 


It Pays to Step Up to Yamaha! 

Purchase any qualifying “Step Up” Yamaha stringed or wind instrument between 

October 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014 and receive either a $50 or $100 rebate, 

corresponding to the level of your qualifying “Step Up” instrument purchase. 

Join the thousands of professionals who depend on Yamaha. 

To find a Step Up to Yamaha dealer nearest you 

visit www.4wrd.it/SUTY2014TM 

©2014 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved 


TMEA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE PREVIEW 

WE ARE PLEASED TO ONCE AGAIN 

host the TMEA Professiona 

l Development Conference 

in the Home of the Blues and 

the Birthplace of Rock N’ 

Roll, Memphis! The event will be held in 

Cannon Center for the Performing Arts 

and the Cook Convention Center. The 

conference hotel is the Sheraton Memphis 

Downtown, which is attached to the 

convention center, has just completed 

a multi-million dollar renovation. This 

renovation has completely changed the 

look and layout of the lobby, as well as 

renovating all guest rooms. We are very 

excited about these changes and we are 

sure you will enjoy your stay. 

The event this year is more streamlined, 

with careful consideration to the timing 

of various events. There are no sessions 

that are at the same time in the same discipline 

and no meetings during a session. 

Other changes this year include discipline 

specific “visit the exhibits” time, 

in addition to the conference-scheduled 

time. There are fewer, but higher quality 

sessions for conference attendees. 

No performances are scheduled during 

the All-State students’ rehearsal breaks. 

More Conference Performances will be 

held in the state-of-the-art Cannon Center. 

THE HEART OF IT ALL Memphis Cook Convention 

Center and Cannon Center for the Performing 

Arts, Memphis, Tennessee. 

Brad Turner 

TMEA Conference Chair 

The Event This Year Is More Streamlined, 

With Careful Consideration To The Timing 

Of Various Events. 

There are many restaurants and attractions 

located near the convention center 

within walking distance. The National 

Civil Rights Museum is located right 

off of Main Street on Mulberry Street. 

The Memphis Grizzlies will be hosting 

the New Orleans Pelicans on April 8, 

in the FedEx Forum. Rain – A Tribute 

to the Beatles will be performing 

at the Orpheum Theater on April 11. 

Of course, you are within a few blocks of 

world famous Beale Street! 

We are very excited about this fantastic 

venue and city to host the All-State Ensembles 

and TMEA Professional Development 

Conference! I encourage you to 

book your hotel and attend this wonderful 

event. 

EXHIBIT 

HALL 

HOURS 

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 9:00 am – 6:00 pm 

(Grand Opening – 11:00 am) 

Friday, April 10, 2015 9:00 am – 3:00 pm 

(12:00 pm – 12:50pm – No sessions scheduled 

Great time to vist the exhibits!) 

Additional open time 

to visit the exhibits 

can be found 

in the schedule. 


TMEA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE PREVIEW 

CONFERENCE MEETINGS 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015 

12:00 PM TMEA Board Meeting and Luncheon – 

Sheraton Nashville Room 

6:00 PM Tennessee Division II Marching Band Contest Roundtable – 

TMEA Suite, Sheraton 

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 

8:00 AM General Music Caucus – Room: 205 

9:00 AM General Session – Awards Presentation and performances 

by the Tennessee Treble Choir and All-Collegiate Choir – 

Cannon Center 

11:00 AM Exhibit Hall Grand Opening – Visit Exhibits 

12:30 PM Awards Luncheon – Sheraton Nashville Room 

1:30 PM TN Musician Editorial Board and Staff Meeting – Room: L4 

2:30 PM Da Capo Meeting – TMEA Suite Sheraton 

5:30 PM Jazz Caucus – Room: 203 

5:30 PM Higher Education Caucus – Room: 205 

6:30 PM Phi Beta Mu Meeting – TMEA Suite Sheraton 

FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 

9:00 AM Tennessee Bandmasters Association Meeting – Room: 204 

10:00 AM Orchestra Caucus – Room: 205 

10:00 AM CNAfME Business Meeting – Room: L4 

11:00 AM ASTA Membership Luncheon – Sheraton Nashville Room 

3:00 PM Band Caucus – Room: 202 

3:00 PM Choir Caucus and Roundtable – Room: 204 

6:00 PM Phi Beta Mu Meeting – TMEA Suite Sheraton 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS 

General Music Professional Development Sessions 


11:30AM -12:20 PM Stay Calm and Teach General Music - Sarah Burns - 

Room: L4 

12:30 - 1:20 PM Offervations: Orff Techniques for a Level 5 Observation - 

David Potter - Room: L2 

2:30 - 3:20 PM The Choral Warm-up Experience – Rollo Dilworth - 

Room: L2 

3:30 - 4:20 PM Teaching About Diversity Through Music Appreciation - 

Catherine Wilson & Angela 

Tipps - Room: L4 

4:30 - 5:20 PM Music Literacy What’s Common in the Core - 

Susanne Burgess - Room: L2 

5:30 - 6:20 PM Why C is Red? - Emelyne Bingham - Room: L4 

6:30 - 7:20 PM Technology & The Quaver Music 6 - 8 Curriculum - 

Graham Hepburn - Room: L2 


9:00 - 9:50 AM Sing, Play, Think, Learn - Margaret Campbell-Holman - 

Room L2 

10:00 - 10:50 AM Visit the Exhibits 

11:00 - 11:50 AM Feel Like Funkin’ It Up: Classroom Application 

of the African American Music Aesthetic - 

Loneka Battiste - Room: L2 

1:00 - 1:50 PM Rhythmic Harmony: Extreme Body Percussion for Older 

Students - Sarah Burns - Room: L2 

2:00 - 2:50 PM Creating Your Own Resources for Student Engagement 

and Empowerment - Chatherine Wilson & Angela Tipps - 

Room: 205 

3:00 - 3:50 PM Children’s Literature in the Orff Music Classroom - 

Michael Beyl - Room: L2 

4:00 - 4:50 PM Do Recorders & Technology Play Well in the Classroom? 

Quaver K - 5 Curriculum 

Overview Graham Hepburn. Room: L4 

Choir Professional Development Sessions 


12:30 - 1:20 PM Choral Conducting for Secondary School Directors, 

A. Jan Taylor – Room: Ballroom D 

2:30 - 3:20 PM Chopping Down the Rhythm Tree: The Status Quo Has 

Got to Go! - Curtis Tredway – Room: 204 

3:30 - 4:20 PM Stax Music Academy Presents: Welcome to Soulsville - 

Jiana Hunter - Room: Nashville, Sheraton 


9:00 - 9:50 AM Improving Concentration Skills for Singers - Kyle Ferrill - 

Room: 204 

10:00 - 10:50 AM Integrating Melodic and Harmonic Diction into Theory / 

Aural Skills Curricula: A 

Comprehensive Musicianship Approach - Eric Wilson - 

Room: 203 

1:00 - 1:50 PM ACDA Undergraduate Conducting Master Class - Jeffery 

Ames - Room: 202 

2:00 - 2:40 PM Visit the Exhibits 

4:00 - 4:50 PM How Long is a Dot - Jason Bishop - Room: 203 

Orchestra Professional Development Sessions 



1:30 - 2:20 PM Uncovering Tales of Violinist’s Left-Hand Technique - 

Soh-Hyun Altino - Room: 203 

2:30 - 3:20 PM Common Bowing Challenges in Orchestral Playing - 

Emily Hanna Crane - Room: 202 

3:30 - 4:20 PM Music Theory is Your Friend - Douglas Gordon - Room: 203 

4:30 - 5:20 PM Rhythm: Cut the Learning Curve 50% - 90% - 

Kevin Fuhrman - Room 204 


1:00 - 1:50 PM Striking a Balance: Student Centered Instruction 

in the Large Ensemble Paradigm - 

Emelyne Bingham - Room: Nashville, Sheraton 

2:00 - 2:50 PM An Overview of Shifting: From Technical Issues to Artistic 

Possibilities - Wesley Baldwin - Room: 203 

4:00 - 4:50 PM Achieving a 5 in 4/4 time: How to Fit the TEAM rubric to 

Your Existing Rehearsal - Lisa Michaels - Room: 205 

Band Professional Development Sessions 


12:30 - 1:20 PM TBA Marching Evaluation System Training Session - 

Room: 202 

1:30 - 2:20 PM What Makes My Students Tick? Educational Psychology 

to Improve Study and Practice Habits in Student Musicians - 

Eric Branscome - Room: 205 

4:30 - 5:20 PM Express Yourself: Enhancing Communications through 

Expressive Conducting - 

Armand Hall & Ryan Fisher - Room: 202 

6:30 - 7:20 PM The Band Director’s Guide to Concert Percussion: 

How to use “drummer” language to get the sounds 

you want - Jason Walsh - Room: 202 


April 8–11, 2015 MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 

Band Professional Development Sessions Continued 


8:00 - 8:50 AM Percussion from the Podium - Michael Mann - Room: 203 

11:00 - 11:50 AM Conducting Your Way to Better Classroom Management - 

Sarah Labovitz - Room: 202 


4:00 - 4:50 PM Achieving a 5 in 4/4 time: How to Fit the TEAM rubric to 

Your Existing Rehearsal -Lisa Michaels - Room: 205 

Collegiate Professional Development Sessions 


11:30AM - 12:20 PM TMEA Research Poster Session 1 - Room: 205 

12:30 - 1:20 PM TMEA Research Paper Session 2 - Room: 204 

3:30 - 4:20 PM TMEA Research Poster Session 3 - Room: 205 


1:00 - 1:50 PM Why Bands Stuck in the Curriculum and Why You 

Should Know - William Lee - Room: 204 

TI:ME TECHNOLOGY SESSIONS 

All sessions will take place in L6, the TI:ME Room 


Session 1 11:30 AM 

Four Simple Ways to Record Your Students 

Jody Underwood 

Session 2 12:30 PM 

Music Technology Labs - The Easy Way! 



Technology Tools for the K-12 Music Instructor – Including iPads! 



It’s About TI:ME 

Mike Lawson 


Composing Music With Notation (Classroom Activities) 

Floyd Richmond 

Session 11 10:00 AM, FRIDAY 

Building a Digital Portfolio of Your Students’ Work with Ease 

Robin Hodson 

Session 12 11:00 FRIDAY 

SmartMusic Tips and Tricks 

Larry Marchese 

Session 13 1:00 PM, FRIDAY 

It’s About TI:ME 

Mike Lawson 


Sightreadingfactory.com 

Don Crafton 


Soundboard 101 



Avid for Music Educators: Pro Tools 

Jeremiah Ellison 

Professional Development Conference 

f 

has Gone Mobile! 

Access Your Free App at 

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also available in all app stores- Search TMEACONF2015 


Teaching with music resources in the cloud 

Robin Hodson 


Avid for Music Educators: Sibelius 

Jeremiah Ellison 


Finale 2014 Composing and Arranging Tips and Tricks 

Larry Marchese 



Assessing Students Easily Using Cloud Based Music Software 

Robin Hodson 


GarageBand iPad Activities for the Music Classroom 


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TMEA Selected Performance Ensembles Overview 

Ensemble Performance Times and Locations 

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS - CHAMBER CHOIR 

- Dr. Ryan Fisher, director 

Chamber Choir is a 16-20 member select chamber ensemble composed of undergraduate and graduate students 

at the University of Memphis. This auditioned ensemble performs works of many style periods ranging from 

early Renaissance through contemporary. 

WHITE STATION HIGH SCHOOL CHORALE 

- Nikisha Williams, director 

The Chorale is the premier vocal ensemble at White Station High School. The Chorale is an auditioned, fifty-voice 

ensemble, and is made up of students in the 10th-12th grades. In April 2012, the Chorale was invited 

to perform at the 2012 Tennessee Music Educator’s Conference, an honor reserved for only the best choirs 

in the State of Tennessee. 

TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE 

- Dr. Colin Hill, director 

The Tennessee Tech Percussion Ensemble, directed by Dr. Colin J. Hill, plays a significant role in the percussion 

curriculum at TTU. Comprised of an all-undergraduate membership, the ensemble performs an average of 

four concerts annually, in addition to monthly campus presentations with the TTU Percussion Club. 

HUME-FOGG ACADEMIC MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL SILVER JAZZ BAND 

- Dr. Richard Ripani, director 

Hume-Fogg Academic High School is an inner-city, academic magnet high school in Nashville/Davidson 

County Tennessee. As a part of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, we serve a very diverse community. 

Hume-Fogg is a nationally recognized public high school, having been ranked academically as one of the top 

50 in the USA for several years by both Newsweek and US News and World Report. 

HENRY OLIVER MIDDLE SCHOOL WIND ENSEMBLE 

- Susan Waters, Katie Harrah, and Kevin Jankowski, directors 

Although a comparably young program, the Oliver Middle School Bands have already received numerous 

local, regional, state, and national awards. The bands have consistently received Superior ratings at MTSBOA 

adjudications as well as Solo and Ensemble Festival, and are 8-time recipients of the Tennessee Bandmasters 

Association Sweepstakes Award. 

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ACADEMIC MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL WIND ENSEMBLE 

- Will Sugg and Todd Shipley, directors 

This is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Magnet High School Wind Ensemble’s third invitation and 

performance at the Tennessee Music Education Association State Conference. The MLK Band program is 

recognized as one of the finest in the state and the Southeast. There are over 250 students actively involved 

in the program in one of five bands serving grades 7-12. 

TULLAHOMA HIGH SCHOOL SYMPHONIC BAND 

- Justin Scott and Greg English, directors 

Tennessee Bandmasters’ Association Hall of Fame Honor Band 

The Tullahoma Band has a long history of excellence. Built on foundations of sequential learning, team 

teaching, and private instruction, the program has been able to maintain a consistent standard of excellence 

for over thirty years. The Tullahoma Band serves East Middle School, West Middle School, and Tullahoma 

High School. The high school program offers Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, 

and various chamber ensembles. 

BELMONT UNIVERSITY WIND ENSEMBLE 

- Dr. Barry Kraus, director 

The Belmont University Wind Ensemble is one of the premier instrumental ensembles in the Belmont 

School of Music. The members, representing more than 30 states and multiple degree programs 

on campus, are selected by audition. During the last decade, the ensemble has quickly developed 

a reputation for performance quality and creative programming featuring diverse repertoire. 

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT MARTIN WIND ENSEMBLE 

- Dr. John Oelrich, director 

The Wind Ensemble meets each semester and consists of the finest wind, brass and percussion musicians on 

campus. The ensemble utilizes a flexible instrumentation to accommodate the wind band’s large and varied 

repertoire. Including both standard and contemporary works, the Wind Ensemble performs compositions 

representing the vast history of the wind band and cultures worldwide. 

MEMPHIS CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL CONCERT SINGERS 

The Concert Singers is one of six performing choral ensembles at Central High School in Memphis, Tennessee. 

The group, which consists of 48 select singers, consistently receives superior ratings at state, regional and 

national festivals. The ensemble performs diverse repertoire from all style periods of historyranging from the 

Renaissance to vocal jazz. The Concert Singers performed for the Tennessee Music Education Association 

State Conference in 2003 and again in 2011. 


7:30pm – Tennessee Bandmasters 

Association 

Honors Recital Ballroom A 


9:00 – 11:00am: General Session - Cannon 

Center 

TN Treble Choir Warm-up Cannon, 

Collegiate Choir Warm-up Ballroom A. 

8:00am 

11:00am: Exhibit Hall Grand Opening. 

11:30am – 12:20pm: MLK Jr. Academic Magnet 

High School Wind Ensemble 

(10:30am Warm-up) Ballroom A 

1:30 – 2:20pm: University of Memphis 

Chamber Choir 

(12:30pm Warm-up) Cannon Center 

2:30 – 3:20pm: Tennessee Tech University 


(1:30pm Warm-up) Ballroom A 

3:30 – 4:20pm: Henry Oliver Middle School 

Wind Ensemble 


6:30 – 7:20pm: Memphis Central High School 

Concert Singers 


7:30 – 8:20pm: University of Tennessee at 

Martin Wind Ensemble 



10:00 – 10:50am: Tullahoma High School 

Symphonic Band TBA Hall of Fame 

Performance 

(9:00am Warm-up) Cannon Center 

11:00am – 11:50pm: White Station High Chorale 

(10:00am Warm-up) Ballroom A 

12:00 – 12:50pm: No Performance Visit 

Exhibits 

2:00 – 2:50pm: Belmont University 

Wind Ensemble 


5:00 – 5:50pm: Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet 

High School Silver Jazz Band 


6:00pm: Friday Night Concerts Cannon 

Center 


Tennessee All-State Registration, Auditions, and Rehearsal Locations 


Student Registration (All Ensembles): 

3:00 – 5:00pm (CST) Cook Convention Center Main Lobby 

Judges Meeting: 

Band: 5:00pm (CST) Cannon Center Ballroom C 

Orchestra: 5:00pm (CST) Cannon Center Ballroom E 

Rehearsal Locations: 

9 – 10 Orchestra: Sheraton Heritage Ballroom 

11 – 12 Orchestra: Cannon Center Ballroom E 

9 – 10 Band: MCCC Chickasaw 

11- 12 Band: Cannon Center Ballroom C 

SATB Chorus: MCCC Cotton Row 

Women’s Chorus: L13 – L14 

Men’s Chorus: L10 – L11 

Jazz Band: River Bluff 

Orchestra Audition Locations (Strings Only): 2nd Floor Sheraton 

Warm-up: Sheraton Ballroom 

Violin 1, 9 – 10: Jackson 

Viola 9 – 12: Beale 

Cello 9 – 12: Oxford 

Bass 9 – 12: St. Louis 

Violin 2, 9 – 10: Knoxville 

Violin 1, 11 – 12: Natchez 

Violin 2, 11 – 12: Memphis 

All-State Band and Orchestra Wind and Percussion Audition Locations: 

Cook Convention Center and Cannon Center 

Warm-up: Cannon Center Ballroom B 

Flute 9 – 12: L6 

Clarinet 9 – 10: L4 

Clarinet 11 – 12: L2 

Saxes: L 9 

Trumpet 9 – 12: Cannon 201 

Double Reeds/Low Reeds: South Mezz Conference 

French Horn 9 – 12: Cannon 203 

Trombone 9 – 12: Executive Conf. 

Euphonium/Tuba 9 - 12: Ballroom E 

Percussion 9 – 12 & Orchestra: Ballroom C 

Orchestra Woodwinds: Chickasaw 

Orchestra Brass: Cannon 205 

Tennessee All-State Ensemble Conductors Overview 

Alfred L. Watkins – 9th and 10th Grade All-State Concert Band 

Mr. Alfred L. Watkins is the recently retired Director of 

Bands at Lassiter High School, a position he held since 1982, 

completing a 37-year career as a high school director of 

bands. 

Joe Miller – SATB Choir 

Joe Miller is conductor of two of America’s most renowned 

choral ensembles: the Westminster Choir and the Westminster 

Symphonic Choir. He is also director of choral activities 

at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. 

Kevin L. Sedatole – 11th and 12th Grade All-State Concert Band 

Kevin Sedatole serves as Director of Bands, Professor of Music, 

and Chair of the conducting area at the Michigan State 

University College of Music. 

Kathleen DeBerry Brungard – 9th and 10th Grade All-State String 

Orchestra 

Kathleen DeBerry Brungard received a Bachelor degree cum 

laude in music education from Wesleyan College, Macon, 

Georgia, and a Master of Music degree from Northwestern 

University in Evanston, Illinois. 

Giancarlo Guerrero – 11th and 12th Grade All-State Symphony 

Orchestra 

Giancarlo Guerrero is the Music Director of the Nashville 

Symphony Orchestra and Principal 

Guest Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami 

Residency. 

Rodney Whitaker – All-State Jazz Band 

Internationally renowned bassist and Mack Avenue recording 

artist, Rodney Whitaker, currently holds the titles of Professor 

of Jazz Bass and Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan 

State University. 

Paul Carey – All-State Men’s Chorus 

Commissioned Composer – Dies Irae for the 2015 TMEA All- 

State Men’s Choir 

Paul Carey studied composition with Alfred Blatter, Herbert 

Bruen, Ben Johnston, and Eugene Kurtz, and harp with 

Shirley Blankenship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Dr. Robert Ivey – All-State Women’s Chorale 

Robert Ivey is an Assistant Professor of Music at Brenau 

University where he conducts the Vocal Chamber Ensemble 

and Spectrum Singers. He also directs the music education 

program that has grown in numbers since joining the Brenau 

music faculty in 2009. 

Rollo A. Dilworth – Tennessee Treble Choir 

Rollo A. Dilworth is Professor of Music and Director of 

Choral Activities and Music Education at the North Park 

University School of Music in Chicago, Illinois. He also serves 

as director of the Music Institute of Chicago Children’s Choir. 

A. Jan Taylor – Tennessee All-Collegiate Choir 

A. Jan Taylor, educator, pianist, singer and choral conductor, 

is Director of Choral Music Activities at Prairie View A&M 

University. Prior to her appointment at Prairie View, Taylor 

taught general music, in the Houston Independent School 

District. She has served as adjudicator and choral clinician 

for numerous choral competitions, festivals, and regional 

choirs across the State of Texas. 


Tennessee All-State Ensemble Rehearsal Schedule 


3:00 – 5:00pm Registration for all ensembles 

(main lobby Cook Convention Center) 

5:30pm Auditions for all Bands and Orchestras 

7:00 – 9:00pm Rehearsal for all Choral and Jazz Band in designated areas 


All Instrumental Ensembles: 

9:00am – 12:00pm Rehearsal Designated areas 

2:00 – 5:00pm Rehearsal Designated areas 


All Choral Ensembles: 

9:00am – 11:30am Rehearsal Designated areas 

11:30am *College Fair Exhibit Hall 




Band and Orchestra Ensembles: 

9:00 – 11:30am Rehearsal Designated areas 



Jazz Band: 

9:00 – 11:30 am Rehearsal Designated areas 



7:30pm Sound Check / Warm-up Ballroom A 

FRIDAY CONTINUED 

All Choral Ensembles: 

9:00am – 12:00pm Rehearsal Designated areas 

2:00 – 5:30pm Rehearsal/Staging Designated areas 

5:00pm SATB Warm-up Rehearsal room 

5:45pm Men’s Warm-up Rehearsal room 

6:30pm Women’s Warm-up Rehearsal room 

6:00pm SATB Choir 

Concert Schedule: 

7:30pm Women’s Chorale 

6:45pm Men’s Chorus 8:30pm Jazz Band (Ballroom A) 

SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2015 

9:00am String Orchestra 

10:00am Symphony Orchestra 

Concert Schedule: 

11:00am 9-10 Concert Band 

12:00pm 11-12 Concert Band 

Compose Your Future 

Bachelor of Music Degrees in Performance and Education Accredited 

by the National Association of Schools of Music 

Nationally recognized traditional, jazz, and contemporary ensembles 

Competitive scholarships that can provide full tuition based on audition 

PO Box 70661 • Johnson City, TN • 423-439-4270 • www.etsu.edu/music 


Tennessee All-State Ensemble Repertoire 

9th and 10th Grade All-State Concert Band 

Alfred L. Watkins, conductor 

Program to be selected from the following: 

Fanfare and Flourishes 

Fantasy on “Prospect” 

Sheltering Sky 

Sabre and Spurs March 

First Suite in E-flat for Military Band 

11th and 12th Grade All-State Concert Band 

Kevin L. Sedatole, conductor 


“Marche Hongroise” from La Damnation de Faust 

Rest 

Four Scottish Dances 

I. Pesante 

II. Vivace 

III. Allegretto 

IV. Con brio 

Give Us This Day: Short Symphony for Band 

9th and 10th Grade All-State String Orchestra 

Kathleen DeBerry Brungard, conductor 


Concerto Grosso in D minor, Op. 3, No. 11 

I. Allegro 

II. Largo e Spiccato 

III. Allegro 

“Nimrod” from Enigma Variations 

Fiesta Jubiloso 

Signs of Life 

II: Allegro 

Irish Tune from County Derry 

Hoe Down from “Rodeo” 

11th and 12th Grade All-State Symphony Orchestra 

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor 

Russian Easter Overture 

Capriccio Italien 

James Curnow 

David Gorham 

John Mackey 

John Philip Sousa/Schissel 

Gustav Holst 

Hector Berlioz/Gotoh 

Frank Ticheli 

Malcom Arnold/Paynter 

David Maslanka 

Antonio Vivaldi 

Edward Elgar/ 

Barnard 

Joseph Compello 

Russell Peck 

Percy Aldridge 

Grainger 

Aaron Copland 

Nicolai Rimsky Korsakov 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 

All-State Jazz Band 

Rodney Whitaker, Conductor 


Tone’s for Joan’s Bones 

Chick Corea/Tomaro 

Superstition 

Stevie Wonder/Tomaro 

Sweet Georgia Brown Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, Kenneth Casey/Nestico 

A Night in Tunisia 

Dizzy Gillespie/Mossman 

Cottontail 

Duke Ellington 

Django 

John Lewis/Tomaro 

All-State Men’s Chorus 

Paul Carey, conductor 


Joshua Fit de battle 

Abendlied 

Tshotsholoza 

The Word was God 

O vos omnes 

Sweet Rivers 

Dies Irae 

Lambscapes 

Barnes 

All-State Women’s Chorale 

Robert Ivey, conductor 


All That Hath Life and Breath 

Il Est Bel et Bon/He Is Good and Handsome 

Ich wollt’, meine Lieb’ 

Tundra 

Sing Me to Heaven 

No Time 

Revelation 

Still I Rise 

Tennessee Treble Choir 

Rollo A. Dilworth, conductor 


Art Thou Troubled? 

J’entends le Moulin (I Hear the Windmill) 

Shenandoah 

The Duel 

Al Shlosha D’Varim 

Let Me Fly 

Moses Hogan/Eklund 

Josef Rheinberger/Carey 

Jeffery Ames 

Rosephanye Powell 

Carlo Gesualdo/Carey 

Reginald Unterseher 

Paul Carey 

Eric Lane 

Rene Clausen/Weiler 

Pierre Passereau/Greyson 

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy 

Ola Gjeilo 

Daniel Gawthrop 

Arr. Susan Brumfield 

Z. Randall Stroope 

Rosephanye Powell 

Georg Friedrich Händel/Leavitt 

arranged by Emily Crocker 

Arranged by Rollo Dilworth 

Cristi Cary Miller 

Allan E. Naplan 

Arranged by Rollo Dilworth 

Tennessee All-Collegiate Choir 

A. Jan Taylor, conductor 


Gloria from The Masque of Angels 

Dominic Argento 

Weihnachten from Sechs Sprüche, Op. 79 Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy 

Pilgrim’s Hymn from The Three Hermits 

Stephen Paulus 

Take, O Take Those Lips Away from Three Lyrics for Chorus George Walker 

O Western Wind from Three Lyrics for Chorus 

George Walker 

Hold On! 

Marques Garrett 

All-State SATB Choir 

Joe Miller, conductor 


Why Learne to Sing? 

Nunc Dimitis 

Der Abend, Op. 62, No. 2 

Elegy 

Ballade to the Moon 

Witness 

Patrick Dunnevant 

Gustav Holst 

Johannes Brahms 

Daniel Elder 

Daniel Elder 

Stacy Gibbs 


World Class Faculty and Affordable Tuition 

Personal Attention and the Benefits of a Large University 

New Natalie L. Haslam Music Center 

www.music.utk.edu 

865-974-3241 

The University of Tennessee is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 

504/ADA/ADEA institution in the provision of its education and 

employment programs and services. 

AUDITIONS 

For Music Major or Minor: 

January 15, 2015: Graduate vocal 

February 7, 2015: Graduate 

February 14, 2015: Undergraduate 

February 21, 2015: Undergraduate 

March 8, 2015: Graduate 

For Pride of the Southland 

Marching Band Non-Majors: 


March 1, 2015 

April 4, 2015

TMEA STATE GENERAL MUSIC CHAIR 

• David Potter – Orffervations: Orff 

Techniques for a Level 5 Observations 

Charlene Cook 

• Michael Beyl – Children’s Literature in 

the Music Classroom 

I 

’M SO EXCITED, and no, I can’t 

hide it (someone should use that in 

a song . . .). Over the last few weeks 

I’ve had the pleasure of choosing 

sessions for the General Music 

strand of our TMEA Professional 

Development Conference coming 

up April 9 – 11th. I have also been contacting 

ALL of the presenters informing 

them they have been selected to present 

and I can tell you they are all pleased and 

excited to have the opportunity to share 

their thoughts with us. I would like to encourage 

you to join us in Memphis to gain 

professional knowledge and network with 

colleagues from across the state. 

When choosing sessions for General 

Music, I quickly realized this is a 

wide-ranging area. What is great for those 

of us teaching Pre-K and Kindergarten 

students won’t be as exciting for those 

teaching secondary students, therefore I 

had to ask conference chair Brad Turner 

for “extra” sessions. He graciously said yes 

(Thanks Brad). I hope the sessions I have 

chosen will be appropriate for your needs. 

Thursday will begin with the performance 

of the Tennessee Treble Honor 

Choir under the direction of Dr. Rollo 

Dillworth during the conference opening 

session. Dr. Dillworth will present a session 

focusing on choral warm-ups later 

in the day. I want to take this opportunity 

to thank Tiffany DePriest for all the work 

she has done to arrange and organize the 

choir. The hours have been endless. I also 

want to thank all those who listened to the 

auditions in November. The General Music 

caucus will be held during the pre-concert 

rehearsal time – please join us bright 

and early. I would like to propose some 

ideas for summer professional development 

and would like suggestions and feedback. 

Look forward to these sessions on 

Thursday and Friday: 

• Loneka Battiste – Feel Like Funkin’ It 

Up: Classroom Applications of the African 

American Music Aesthetic 

• Sarah Burns – Stay Calm and Teach 

General Music and Rhythmic 

Harmony: Extreme Body Percussion 

for Older Students 

• Catherine Wilson and Angela Tipps – 

Teaching About Diversity Through 

Music Appreciation and Creating 

Your Own Resources for Student 

Engagement and Empowerment 

• Emelyne Bingham – Why C is Red: 

Teaching Music to Students on the 

Autism Spectrum 

• Quaver Music will present two 

sessions using their technology 

centered programs 

• TI:ME (Technology In Music 

Education) will also present 

technology focused sessions 

I look forward to seeing you in Memphis. 

I want to “pick your brains” concerning 

future plans for your professional 

development needs and wants. 

-Charlene Cook 


MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE 

MARYVILLE COLLEGE MUSIC DEPARTMENT 

Degrees and performance opportunities: 

B.A. in Music 

B.M. in Music Education 

B.M. in Vocal Performance 

B.M. in Music Theory/Composition 

Ensembles: Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band, 

Concert Choir, Community Chorus, and 

small a cappella groups 

Music scholarships are available, 

and worth up to full tuition! 

MARYVILLECOLLEGE.EDU 

Call Ashley Abbott at 865.981.8153 for details.

TMEA STATE CHORAL CHAIR 

PAPERWORK, field trip 

forms, permission slips, 

hotel reservations, sub 

plans. Does your All State/ 

TMEA Conference check 

list look like this? It sometimes 

feels that it’s so 

overwhelming and stressful 

to make the preparations to attend the 

conference and be away from school for 

several days. In fact, I’ve had some colleagues 

choose not to attend because “it’s 

too expensive,” or “too much work to just 

send a few (or maybe just one) students 

to All State.” But for me, as soon as I leave 

school on that first day of conference and 

head towards our annual professional development 

event, I feel this sense of relief 

and anticipation as I think about seeing 

friends and colleagues from across the 

state, attending the motivating sessions 

and performances, and enjoying the excitement 

my students have at being able to 

sing in these wonderful choruses. 

For your sessions, you have many choices 

which range from getting down to the 

nitty-gritty with music theory skills in 

the choral rehearsal, enhancing your performances 

with choreography, improving 

concentration skills for singers, and 

learning to include some “soul” in your 

Janet Johnson 

repertoire. ACDA will present a 

Master Class of college student 

conductors who will conduct 

an area high school choir and be 

critiqued by a master conductor. 

My students were privileged to 

be the demo choir a few years 

ago and it proved to be a very enjoyable 

and valuable experience 

for the high school singers, the 

college student conductors, and 

the audience of TMEA members. 

As well as getting valuable information 

and being inspired 

at the sessions, we have several 

wonderful choirs performing 

during the conference. Brad 

Turner, who with input from 

the board in creating the schedule, 

has worked very hard not to 

have any overlap with sessions 

and performances. This year 

you shouldn’t have to choose 

between attending a session and going 

to a choral concert. Please look over the 

schedule very carefully and arrange to attend 

as many of these events as possible. 

It’s really discouraging for a clinician or 

a choral director who has worked so hard 

on their presentation to have a sparse audience. 

Our choral caucus/roundtable will meet 

on Friday, April 10 at 3:00 pm in room 204. 

Please try to attend this meeting. This is 

one of the few chances that we as choral 

directors across the state get to meet each 

other and share ideas. I would like to focus 

on the round table aspect of the meeting. 

At the present moment, things are rather 

calm with no “burning issues” that must 

be debated and voted on. I’ve been warned 

by some in my region NOT to create any! 

If you have a topic you’d like to bring up 

(and lead discussion on) or an issue you 

think we could all relate to, please email 

me. As you walk through the convention 

center, you will see groups of music directors 

sitting together laughing, sharing 

ideas, solving classroom problems and 

just generally enjoying each other’s company. 

At the roundtable, we have a chance 

to connect the 3 regions. 

In teaching both middle and high school 

choirs, I see the importance of building 

that connection between elementary, 

middle, and high school. There has been 

some discussion of including an auditioned 

middle school chorus to TMEA in 

the future. It would perhaps work like the 

Treble Choir does now, with auditions by 

CD and then performing on that first day 

on the same concert as the elementary 

group. The reasoning behind this is that 

those who participate in the awesome 

Treble Honor Choir then have to wait several 

years before they are able to participate 

again. There are several of us who 

would like to keep that momentum going 

with our young singers. 

Lastly, I’d like to encourage you to regularly 

check out the TMEA website and 

especially the choral page for updates 

and conference information. I’ve tried to 

include calendar events, reminders, and 

general chorus information. One new addition 

is the requirement for all students 

to have a notarized medical form that you 

will make a copy of and turn in at registration. 

Everyone should have received a 

director’s packet from your region which 

will have All State information and copies 

of documents you can use. If you have 

events or notices you would like for me to 

include on our website page, send me an 

email. 

I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming 

festivals and performances and 

look forward to seeing you at conference. 

-Janet Johnson 

This year you shouldn’t have 

to choose between attending 

a session and going to a 

choral concert. 


TMEA STATE ORCHESTRA CHAIR 

Ben Reagh 

• Giancarlo Guerrero, Nashville Symphony 

(11th-12th Symphony Orchestra) 

-Please visit www.tnmea.org/orchestra 

for more details and their music selections. 

• Achieving a 5 in 4/4 Time: Fitting 

TEAM Rubric in Your Rehearsal- Lisa 

Michaels, Fort Loudon Middle School 

• Why C is Red? Autism and Music- Emelyne 

Bingham, Vanderbilt University 

• What Makes My Students Tick? Educational 

Psychology and Practice Habits- 

Eric Branscome, Austin Peay State 

University 

THE 2015 TMEA CONFER- 

ENCE WILL BE HERE SOON. 

We are excited to be returning 

to the Cook Convention 

Center and the Cannon Center 

for the Performing Arts in 

Memphis for a 2nd straight 

year. The 2014 conference 

was a success, and the TMEA board and 

council has been working very hard in the 

preparations for this year’s conference to 

make it even better, specifically in the areas 

of scheduling and logistics. I hope everybody 

has already begun making plans 

to attend the conference and its sessions 

and concerts. 

The conductors for the All-State orchestras 

are: 

• Kathleen Brungard, renowned educator, 

author, and clinician (9th-10th String 

Orchestra) 

Here are some highlights of what 

the conference will have to offer 

that may be of special interest to 

orchestra/strings teachers: 

All-State Orchestra Concerts on Saturday, 

April 11: 

• 9th-10th String Orchestra- 9:00am 

• 11th-12th Symphonic Orchestra- 

10:00am 

Meetings on Friday, April 10 

• ASTA Board Meeting- 9:00am 

• Orchestra Caucus- 10:00am 

• ASTA Luncheon- 11:00am 

Sessions addressing specific string 

techniques: 

•Violinist’s Left Hand Technique- Soh- 

Hyun Altino, University of Memphis 

• Bowing Challenges in Orchestral Playing- 

Hannah Crane, Austin Peay State 

University 

• Overview of Shifting: From Technical to 

Artistic- Wesley Baldwin, University of 

Tennessee-Knoxville 

Sessions featuring a performance ensemble: 

• Student Centered Instruction in the 

Large Ensemble- Emelyne Bingham, 

Vanderbilt University 

-This session will feature the Nashville 

Youth Strings Orchestra as the demo 

group. 

Sessions addressing topics for all 

teachers of instrumentalists: 

• Chopping Down the Rhythm Tree- Curtis 

Treadway, University of Texas- El 

Paso 

• Rhythm: Cut the Learning Curve 50- 

90%- Kevin Fuhrman, Minneapolis, 

MN 

• Music Theory is your Friend- Douglas 

Gordon, Jacksonville State University 

*(For session dates and times, be sure to 

refer the official final conference schedule 

along with verifying those meeting times 

listed above.) 

In closing, I hope you will agree that we 

have a great list of presenters and topics 

lined up for the upcoming conference, 

with the focus being on ideas, techniques, 

and strategies that will make us better 

music educators. I believe this year’s 

conference offers sessions that can, and 

should, benefit everyone. And I am looking 

forward to seeing you all in Memphis. 

-Ben Reagh 


APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY 

*Saturday, December 6, 2014 

Instrumental Areas Only 

*Saturday, January 17, 2015 

All Areas 

*Saturday, January 31, 2015 

All Areas 

AUDITION DATES: 


Instrumental Areas Only 


Instrumental Areas Only & 

Hayes Young Artist Competition 

($7,500 annual renewable scholarship) 

*To be eligible for the competition, prospective students must audition on these dates. 

music.appstate.edu/prospective-students • 828-262-3020 

THE BRAINS OF A NATIONALLY RANKED 

RESEARCH UNIVERSITY + THE HEART OF 

A SMALL COLLEGE + THE SOUL OF 

GREAT MUSIC. 

Where it all comes together. SIU School of Music. 

Audition Dates: Saturday, Feb. 7, and Monday, Feb. 16 

Can’t make it then? Make an appointment. 

Information is online at music.siu.edu. 

Get “in” on this: Students from 

Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, 

Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin 

are eligible for the in-state tuition rate! 

Graduate assistantships available: 

$6,000 stipend + full tuition waiver. 

Contact the instructor in your 

specialty at 618/536-8742. 


TMEA STATE BAND CHAIR 

AS YOU READ this conference 

edition of the Tennessee 

Musician, I encourageyou 

to attend this year’s 

conference in Memphis. 

Professional development 

is widely viewed as an essential 

means of improving 

teaching and learning. It is important 

for all educators to have regular opportunities 

to share ideas with colleagues and 

seek out new strategies, technologies, and 

resources. The TMEA Conference provides 

the content specific sessions and 

the informal sharing that every music 

educator needs to grow as a professional. 

I sincerely hope you will take advantage 

of this opportunity and attend this 

year’s conference. 

The conference management team has 

put together an outstanding schedule of 

professional development sessions, concerts, 

and guest speakers. The variety of 

sessions will offer something for every 

band director. Session topics include: 

classroom management strategies, concert 

percussion pedagogy, the TEAM 

evaluation rubric, conducting techniques, 

training session on the TBA Marching 

Evaluation System, and educational psychology. 

In addition to the inspiring sessions 

being presented at conference, the 

following ensembles have been chosen 

to perform at this year’s conference. I 

have no doubt these performances will 

be exceptional. 

Debbie Burton 

PERFORMANCES 

• Martin Luther King Jr. Academic 

Magnet High School Wind Ensemble 

• Tennessee Tech University 


• Oliver Middle School Wind Ensemble 

• University of Tennessee at Martin 

Wind Ensemble 

• Tullahoma High School 

Symphonic Band – Tennessee Bandmasters’ 

Hall of Fame Performance 

• Belmont University Wind Ensemble 

• Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High 

School Silver Jazz Band 

While at the conference, be sure to attend 

the caucus meetings. This is your opportunity 

to take part in discussions about 

TMEA policies and procedures that affect 

all band programs across the state. The 

caucus meetings are scheduled on Thursday 

and Friday afternoons. With the addition 

of a TMEA Jazz Project Chair, the 

Thursday caucus meeting will be dedicated 

to issues and topics related to jazz education. 

The following is a message from 

the Jazz Project Chair, Richard Ripani. 

MESSAGE FROM JAZZ PROJECT CHAIR, 

RICHARD RIPANI. 

Greetings! This year at the TMEA Convention 

we will for the first time have an 

opportunity to meet as a caucus to discuss 

jazz education issues only. I am proud to 

have been asked to serve as TMEA’s Jazz 

Project Chair. 

My goal is for the directors at the TMEA 

Jazz Caucus to not only discuss topics, 

but also to vote on and decide those things 

on which we can agree. I think there are 

a lot of such topics, and I want to hear 

from you about this. I will be compiling a 

list of issues that seem common to many 

of us so that we can have a head start at 

the caucus. 

Here are examples of topics that have 

been mentioned to me already: 

• “Fix the jazz bass trombone audition. It 

makes no sense to have those students 

play both of the tenor trombone pieces 

and also the bass trombone piece. In 

addition, the tenor trombone pieces are 

in such a high register that few, if any, 

bass trombonists can play them.” 

• “The jazz audition pieces need to have 

tempos adjusted. Some of them are 

really too fast for high school players (or 

anybody?), and tend to make for some 

very sloppy auditions.” 

• “We should consider having the high 

school jazz students play something 

more difficult for their solo changes, not 

just Blues in F.” 

If you have topics that you would like to 

have addressed, please send them to me in 

an email and I will get them on the agenda! 

I can be reached at richard.ripani@mnps.org. 

STATE CONCERT FESTIVAL 

The 2015 Concert Festival will be April 23 

and 24 at Stewarts Creek High School in 

Smyrna, TN. Bands and Orchestras qualify 

by receiving superior ratings in both 

concert and sight-reading from either the 

2014 or 2015 regional concert festivals. 

The registration window will be open 

from March 2, 2015 to April 1, 2015. The 

registration form will be available on the 

TMEA website. All entries must be postmarked 

by April 1, 2015 and must include 

the $350 registration fee. The State Concert 

Festival will have a maximum of 32 

ensembles and performance groups will 

be scheduled based on the order of postmarked 

responses. For more information 

about this event, see the Concert Festival 

Handbook on the TMEA website. 

CLINICIANS FOR THE 2015 TMEA STATE 

CONCERT FESTIVAL 

Dennis Fisher, Associate Director of 

Wind Studies, University of North Texas 

Richard Floyd, Director of Austin 

Symphonic Band, Texas 

Steven Moore, Associate Dean, 

University of Miami 

David Vandewalker, Assistant Director 

of Bands, Georgia State University 

-Debbie Burton 


TMEA STATE HIGHER EDUCATION CHAIR 

Eric Branscome 

• The future of the edTPA 

• Preparing the 21st century music 

educator 

ALL-COLLEGIATE CHOIR 

As you may already know, 

the call for participation in 

this year’s Collegiate Honor 

Choir is posted on the 

TMEA Conference page. 

As you may also know, last 

year’s Collegiate Orchestra 

did not have enough enrollment for 

the ensemble to make. For the sustainability 

of the collegiate ensembles, please 

encourage the choral directors and choral 

music educators on your campuses to 

send vocalists to the conference to participate 

in this year’s collegiate choir. In addition 

to singing in the ensemble, they will 

greatly benefit from the networking and 

professional development opportunities 

that are available at the conference. 

This year’s clinician is Dr. A. Jan Taylor, 

Director of Choral Activities at Prairie 

View A&M University in Texas. She 

comes highly recommended for her work 

as a music educator and as a choral conductor, 

and we look forward to working 

with her in April. 

Exhibition (Mini) Concerts 

In addition to the collegiate ensembles, 

several wonderful chamber ensembles 

are scheduled to perform in the exhibition 

hall during the conference. For a performance 

schedule, stop by the exhibition 

hall or preview the display 

boards that will be posted 

around the convention center. 

Higher Education and Collegiate 

Sessions 

Many wonderful sessions have 

been selected for both the collegiate 

and higher education 

divisions of TMEA. I hope 

you all plan to attend these 

sessions to support our colleagues 

and students. A special 

thanks goes to Dr. Lee at UTC 

for organizing the poster sessions 

that will be available at 

the conference. 

Current Issues in TN Music 

Education 

As you are all aware, there 

have been and continue to be 

innovations in education and 

music education across the state and beyond. 

In some cases reform trickles down 

from the ivory tower and into the schools. 

Recently, however, reform has more directly 

impacted public school music programs 

and we at the collegiate level may 

struggle to stay abreast of current trends. 

As collegiate music educators, the reality 

is that while we were public school music 

educators once upon a time, it is now easier 

for us to become disconnected from the 

world of music education as it exists today 

– the world for which we are preparing 

our students to enter as competent, capable 

music teachers. 

As we prepare for the upcoming conference, 

I would like for us all to reserve 

Thursday at 5:30 for the Higher Education 

Meeting wherein we can discuss how 

our colleges and universities are dealing 

with public school and higher education 

innovations in music education. I would 

also encourage us all to come prepared 

with a short mental list of issues facing 

our programs, questions about what may 

be coming around the bend, and possible 

solutions for addressing current and 

forthcoming innovations. 

Some suggestions include: 

• The TN Promise and university 


• The future of the Residency program 

• Continued implementation of the 

Student Growth Portfolio 

Graduate Credit for Professional Development 

Finally, in cooperation with TMEA, the 

Austin Peay State University Department 

of Music now offers graduate credit to 

practicing music educators for participation 

in the annual TMEA Conference and 

other professional development venues. 

Graduate credits can be applied towards 

Continuing Education Units and towards 

a Master’s Degree in Music Education at 

APSU. For more information or to register 

for graduate professional development 

credits for the TMEA conference, 

visit http://www.apsu.edu/music/graduate-credit-professional-development. 

If you have other ideas for increasing 

involvement in TMEA and the annual 

conference, or ways in which university 

music education programs might serve as 

advocates for music professional development, 

feel free to post comments on the 

higher education blog on the TMEA website. 

-Eric Branscome 


Bachelor of Music • Bachelor of Arts • Master of Music 

Instrumental Performance • Vocal Performance • Theory/Composition • Music Education 

Instrumental 

and Vocal 

Auditions 

Music Performance Grants 

are awarded on the basis of 

audition to Music majors and 

non-Music majors. 

Prospective Music majors will 

audition for admission to the Music 

Department on these dates: 



March 28, 2015 

To schedule an audition: 

www.utc.edu/music/auditions.php 

or call (423) 425-4601 

SCAN WITH 

FOR MORE INFO 

Visit the Music 

Department website 

by scanning the code. 

www.UTC.edu/Music 

BARCODE SCANNER 

UTC is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA institution. E041054-001-15

TMEA STATE EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY CHAIR 

Lisa Leopold 

of someone in your county or school system 

that uses technology in innovative 

and interesting ways, send me their contact 

info. 

GREETINGS! As we approach 

the time when everyone 

begins thinking 

about plans for the TMEA 

Conference, I want to inform 

you about some exciting 

things you will see in the 

area of music technology. 

First, I am happy to announce a 

new partnership between TMEA and 

TI:ME (Technology Institute for Music 

Educators). The mission of TI:ME 

is to assist music educators in applying 

technology to improve teaching and 

learning in music. They were formed 

in 1995, and have four primary goals: 

1. Develop standards for music 

technology in-service teacher training 

courses in public or private educational 

settings. 

2. Develop course materials for music 

technology in several specific areas to 

include sequencing, notation, telecommunications, 

computer-assisted instruction, 

and other courses. 

3. List and define skills required to 

obtain proficiency in the understanding 

and use of technology as it is applied to 

the teaching of music. 

4. Provide a forum for discussion, 

research, and development 

for music educators to 

improve their understanding 

and use of technology. 

Beginning at the TMEA conference, 

we will form a Tennessee 

state chapter of TI:ME. 

Additionally, TI:ME will be 

hosting a regional micro-conference 

within the TMEA 

conference. What this means 

for TMEA members is access 

to the best music technology 

sessions available included in 

your regular TMEA registration 

fee. Please visit www.time.org 

for more information 

about the organization. 

The second exciting thing 

I want to announce is a new 

format for the Tech Boutique 

that will be located in the exhibit hall. Romeo 

Music has generously agreed to be 

our sponsor again, so make sure to come 

by and support them! Since TI:ME will be 

down the hall presenting great sessions 

all week, we are going to leave the Tech 

Boutique open for roundtable style discussions, 

based around specific themes 

or needs in music technology. The topics I 

am considering so far are: 

1. Recording your ensembles/music 

production 

2. What we can do with 1:1 technology 

(every student with a device) 

3. Music Technology as a class 

4. SmartMusic 

5. Useful apps for music education 

If you currently use any of these things 

in your class, I would love to have you as 

part of the discussion. We have a wealth 

of knowledge within our organization, and 

my goal is to bring people together with 

similar interests to talk and share ideas. 

Please email me at lwleopold@gmail.com 

to let me know if you are interested in being 

part of a roundtable. Also, if you know 

Music technology is a great avenue to offer 

music education to students outside of our 

traditional music ensembles. Elementary 

music teachers have always known what it 

means to use every tool we have to engage 

every student in the building. In my term 

as State Educational Technology Chair, 

I look forward to opening the discussion 

to everyone to see how we can use technology 

for the benefit of our students. 

-Lisa Leopold 


Start your life 

in music today! 

Experience 

the Music Within 

Real. Hands-on. Learning. 

Learn from a faculty of world-class performers 

and teachers who truly care about you, in a 

state-of-the-art music facility. Our program 

is designed to help you create a positive, 

diverse, and successful life in music, whether 

it’s in the classroom or on the stage. 

2014-2015 Audition Dates* 

Saturday, January 24, 8:00 am (Honor Band) 

Friday, January 30, 3:00 pm (Honor Choir) 

Monday, February 16, All Day (Junior-Senior Day) 

* Additional dates may be arranged on an individual basis. 

UT Martin Department of Music 

731-881-7402 | MUSIC@UTM.EDU 

WWW.UTM.EDU/MUSIC 

Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music 


TMEA BOARD AND COUNCIL 2014-2016 

TMEA OFFICERS 2014-2015 

Executive Director: Ron Meers 

129 Paschal Drive 


H 615-890-9308 

C 615-542-5012 

execdirector@tnmea.org 

President: Jeff Phillips 

Hendersonville High School 

123 Cherokee Road 

Hendersonville, TN 37075 

W 615-824-6162 x 31042 

H 615-824-4977 

C 615-957-9008 

jpband@bellsouth.net 

President-Elect: Johnathan Vest 

University of Tennessee at Martin 

16 Mt. Pelia Road / 108 Fine Arts 

Martin, TN 38238 

W 731-881-7482 

C 615-579-8700 

johnathanvest@att.net 

Past President: Dian Eddleman 

University School of Jackson 

232 McClellan Road 

Jackson, TN 38305 

W 731-424-3418 

H 731-424-3418 

C 731-695-8270 

deddleman@usjbruins.org 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

State General Music Chair: 

Charlene Cook 

East Ridge Elementary School 

1014 John Ross Road 

Chattanooga, TN 37412 

H 423-629-4123 

C 423-304-1072 

cookcl@epbfi.com 

State Choral Chair: Jan Johnson 

Signal Mountain Middle/High School 

2650 Sam Powell Trail 

Signal Mountain, TN 37377 

W 423-886-0880 x 336 

C 423-326-8116 

johnson _ j@hcde.org 

State Orchestra Chair: Ben Reagh 

Smyrna High School 

100 Bulldog Drive 

Smyrna, TN 37167 

W 615-893-5815 x 23720 

C 615-519-8086 

reaghb@rcschools.net 

State Band Chair: Debbie Burton 

John Overton High School 

4820 Franklin Road 

Nashville, TN 37220 

W 615-331-8586 

C 615-887-7718 

dlburton98@gmail.com 

State Higher Education Chair: 

Eric Branscome 

Austin Peay State University 

Department of Music 

P.O. Box 4625 

Clarksville, TN 37044 

W 931-221-7811 

H 931-542-2160 

branscomee@apsu.edu 

State Collegiate NAfME Chair: 

Michael Mann 

Union University 

1050 Union University Drive 


W 731-661-5231 

C 615-533-8859 

mmann@uu.edu 

State Educational Technology Chair: 

Lisa Leopold 

Normal Park Museum Magnet 

1219 West Mississippi Avenue 


W 423-209-5914 

C 719-232-7281 

lwleopold@gmail.com 

TMEA COUNCIL 

WTVMEA President: 

Lalania Vaughn 

Tipton - Rosemark Academy 

8696 Rosemark Road 

Millington, TN 38053 

W 901 -829 -4221 x 4307 

H 901-829-2292 

C 901-489-1254 

lvaughn@rebelmail.net 

WTVMEA President Elect: 

Roland Wilson 

Colonial Middle School 

1370 Colonial Road 

Memphis, TN 38128 

W 901-416-5239 

C 901-619-6714 

wilsonrr@scsk12.org 

WTSBOA President: Chris Piecuch 

Overton High School 

1770 Lanier Lane 

Memphis, TN 38117 

W 901-416-2136 

H 901-683-5042 

C 901-831-4854 

chris.piecuch@yahoo.com 

WTSBOA President –Elect: 

Stephen Price 

South Gibson County High School 

1000 Hornet Drive, PO Box 249 

Medina, TN 38355 

W 731-783-0999 

H 731-499-3888 

prices@gcssd.org 

MTGMEA President: 

Ashley Copeland 

Watertown Middle School 

515 West Main Street 

Watertown, TN 37184 

W 615-237-4000 x 1536 

C 615-809-6712 

clarinet35@comcast.net 

MTVA President: 

Alexis Yatuzis-Derryberry 

Lascassas Elementary School 

6300 Lascassas Pike 

Lascassas, Tennessee 37085 

W 615-893-0758 

C 615-519-1392 

ayatuzisderryberry@mac.com 

MTVA President Elect: 

Shawn Frazier 

Middle Tennessee Christian School 

100 Middle TN Christian School 

Road, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 

W 615-893-0601 

C 615-962-0499 

presidentelect@mtva.org 

MTSBOA President: Craig Cornish 

Middle Tennessee State University 

PO Box 63, MTSU 


W 615-898-2486 

C 615-962-0321 

craig.cornish@mtsu.edu 

MTSBOA President –Elect: 

David Aydelott 

Franklin High School 

810 Hillsboro Road 

Franklin, TN 37064 

W 615-472-4465 

H 615-220-6964 

C 615-337-2579 

davida@wcs.edu 

ETGMEA President: Teresa L. Ryder 

Farragut Primary School 

509 Campbell Station Road 

Knoxville, TN 37934 

W 865-966-5848 

H 865-692-8837 

C 865-310-5208 

teresa.ryder@knoxschools.org 

ETGMEA President-Elect: 

Margaret Moore 

Lanier & Montvale Elementary 

Schools 

P.O. Box 5082 

Marysville, TN 37802 

C 865-216-5482 

mamcmoore57@aol.com 

ETVA President: Jason Whitson 

Volunteer High School 

1050 Volunteer Street 

Church Hill, TN 37642 

W 423-357-3641 

H 423-571-6596 

C 423-571-6596 

jason.whitson@hck12.net 

ETVA President Elect: 

Kention Dietch 

Farragut High School 

11237 Kingston Pike 

Knoxville, TN 37934 

W 865-966-9775 

C 865-671-7137 

kenton.deitch@knoxschools.org 

ETSBOA President: Lafe Cook 

Dobyns-Bennett High School 

1800 Legion Drive 

Kingsport, TN 37664 

W 423-378-8589 

C 423-502-2279 

lcook@k12k.com 

ETSBOA President –Elect: 

Gary Wilkes 

Chattanooga School 

for the Arts and Sciences 

865 East Third Street 


W 423-209-5837 

C 423-718-4874 

wilkes_ gary@hcde.org 

CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT TEAM 

Conference Chair: 

Brad Turner 

Arlington Community Schools 

5475 Airline Rd. 

Arlington, TN 38002 

H 901-867-1870 

C 901-438-8020 

brad.turner@acsk12.org 

Conference Exhibits Chair: 

Jo Ann Hood 

829 Rocky Mountain Parkway 

Antioch, TN 37013 

H 615-361-1579 

C 615-957-1266 

jhood10105@aol.com 

Conference Registration Chair: 

Mark Garey 

Freedom Middle School 

750 New Highway 96 West 

Franklin, TN 37064 

W 615-472-3544 

H 615-790-8756 

C 615-347-0757 

mgarey86@comcast.net 

Conference Performance Group Chair: Randal Box 

Brentwood High School 

5304 Murray Lane 

Brentwood, TN 37027 

W 615-472-4236 

H 615-395-7018 

C 615 567-1081 

ranbox@comcast.net 


All-State Instrumental General Chair: 

Martin D. McFarlane 

Wilson Central High School 

419 Wildcat Way 

Lebanon, TN 37090 

W 615-453-4600 x 3077 

H 931-247-1361 

C 931-247-1361 

mcfarlanem@wcschools.com 

All-State Choral General Chair: 

Brian Russell 

Stewarts Creek High School 

301 Red Hawk Blvd 


W 615-904-6771 

C 615-945-1825 

russellb@rcschools.net 

ENSEMBLE CHAIRS 

Treble Honor Choir Chair: 

Tiffany DePriest 

Madison Creek Elementary 

1040 Madison Creek Road 

Goodlettsville, TN 37072 

W 615-859-4991 x 212 

C 615-308-5364 

bowhead0313@gmail.com 

SATB Ensemble Chair: 

Lia Holland 

Robertson County Schools 

3276 New Chapel Road 

Springfield, TN 37172 

W 615-584-5782 

liahol@comcast.net 

9th-10th Grade Concert Band Chair: 

J.R. Baker 

White House Heritage High School 

7744 Highway 76 

White House, TN 37188 

W 615-478-7181 

john.baker@rcstn.net 

11th-12th Grade Concert Band: 

Will Sugg 

Martin Luther King Jr. 

Academic Magnet School 

613 17th Avenue North 


W 615-329-8400 

C 615-483-3961 

william.sugg@mnps.org 

All State Jazz Band Chair: 

Bob Chandler 

Franklin Road Academy 

4700 Franklin Road 


W 615-369-4492 

H 615-948-1490 

C 615-948-1490 

chandler@franklinroadacademy.com 

PROJECT CHAIRS 

Tennessee Musician Editor-in-Chief: 

Michael Chester 

Stewarts Creek High School 

301 Red Hawk Parkway 


W 615-904-6771 

C 615-308-6098 

editor@tnmea.org 

Webmaster: 

Lisa Leopold 

Normal Park Museum Magnet 

1219 West Mississippi Avenue 


W 423-209-5914 

Lisa Leopoldv continued 

C 719-232-7281 

lwleopold@gmail.com 

Tri-M Chair: 

Todd Shipley 

Martin Luther King Jr. 

Academic Magnet School 

613 17th Avenue North 


W 615-329-8400 

todd.shipley@mnps.org 

MIOSM Chair: 

Tiffany DePriest 

Madison Creek Elementary 

1040 Madison Creek Road 

Goodlettsville, TN 37072 

W 615-859-4991 x 212 

C 615-308-5364 

bowhead0313@gmail.com 

Research Chair: 

William Lee 

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 

615 McCallie Avenue 


W 423-425-4601 

H 423-425-5269 

william.lee@utc.edu 

Membership Chair: 

Cynthia Wieland 

Bon Lin Middle School 

3862 North Germantown Road 

Bartlett, TN 38133 

W 901-347-1520 

wielandcf@scsk12.org 

Retired Teachers Chair: 

Bobby Jean Frost 

5816 Robert E. Lee Drive 


H 615-665 0470 

C 615-973-1537 

Music Merchants Industry Chair: 

Rick DeJonge 

KHS America 

12020 Eastgate Boulevard 

Mt. Juliet, TN 37122 

W 615-773-9922 

rdejonge@jupitermusic.com 

Women’s Chorale Ensemble Chair: 

Amanda Ragan 

Oak Ridge High School 

1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike 

Oak Ridge, TN 37830 

W 865-425-9644 

aragan@ortn.edu 

Men’s Chorus Ensemble Chair: 

John Kimbrough 

Jackson Christian School 

832 Country Club Lane 


W 731-668-8055 

C 931-265-8848 

johnny.kimbrough@jcseagles.org 

9th-10th Grade String Orchestra Chair: Gary Wilkes 

Chattanooga School for the 

Arts and Sciences 

865 East Third Street 


C 423-718-4874 

gwilkes428@gmail.com 

11th-12th Grade Symphonic Orchestra Chair: 

Sandy Morris 

Chattanooga Youth Philharmonic 

Orchestra 

701 Broad Street 


C 423-596-2703 

sandyronmorris@gmail.com 

Tennessee Musician Advertising Manager: 

Catherine Wilson 

501 Barton Shore Court 

Lebanon, TN 37087 

C 402-984-3394 

admanager@tnmea.org 

Jazz Education Policy Chair: 

Richard Ripani 

Hume-Fogg Academic 

Magnet High School 

700 Broadway 


W (615)291-6300 

rripani@yahoo.com 

Advocacy and Government Relations Chair: 

Joel Denton 

Ooltewah High School 

6123 Mountain View Road 

Ooltewah, TN 37363 

W 423-238-9586 

denton_joel@hcde.org 

Society for Music Teacher Education Chair: 

Jamila McWhirter 

MTSU School of Music 

MTSU Box 47 


W 615-898-5922 

jamila.mcwhirter@mtsu.edu 

National Association for Music Education 

Announces the Creation of 

Touching the Lives of 20 Million Children 

Give A Note Foundation was established by the 

leaders of the National Association for Music Education 

in order to expand and increase music education 

opportunities for all children and help them develop 

skills needed for success in the 21st century. 

To make a donation, 

please visit 

www.giveanote.org 


• Intensive professional training with a superb 

liberal arts education—in Music City U.S.A. 

• Internationally recognized faculty and uniquely 

personal student/teacher ratio in an 

undergraduate-only music program 

• State-of-the-art classrooms, studios, and 

performance halls—a new dimension in the 

learning experience 

• Degree programs offered in instrumental 

and vocal performance, composition, and 

musical arts—and five-year Bachelor of 

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of Music/MBA programs 

• Ranked as one of the nation’s top twenty 

universities 

Vanderbilt Symphonic Choir • Tucker Biddlecombe, Director 

AUDITION DATES 2014/15 

December 6, 2014 • January 23–24, 2015 

February 6–7 • February 20–21, 2015 

Blair School of Music 

Vanderbilt University 

Nashville, Tennessee 

blair.vanderbilt.edu 

Dwayne Sagen 

Assistant Dean for Admissions 

Dwayne.P.Sagen@vanderbilt.edu 

(615) 322-6181

TENNESSEE MUSICIAN ADVERTISER INDEX | VOLUME 67, No. 2 

A very special 

thank you to all 

of our advertisers 

who support the 

work of music 

educators at all 

levels in the State 

of Tennessee. 

ADVERTISER 

Appalachian State University 37 

Austin Peay State University 7 

Belmont University 8 

Carson Newman College 19 

Cumberland University 21 

D’Addario (Ad 1 of 2) 9 

D’Addario (Ad 2 of 2) 39 

East Tennessee State University 29 

Lee University 

Inside Front Cover 

Maryville College 33 

Middle Tennessee State University 5 

NAMM 1 

National Guild of Piano Teachers 32 

QuaverMusic.Com 

Back Cover 

Slate Group 49 

Smoky Mountain Music Festival 46 

Southern Illinois University 37 

Tennessee State University 35 

Union University 11 

University of Memphis 26 

University of Missouri 43 

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 41 

University of Tennessee at Knoxville Bands 3 

University of Tennessee at Knoxville 31 

University of Tennessee at Martin 43 

Vanderbilt University 46 

Yamaha 22 


department of Car- 

College 

(now Carson Newman 

University) hosted a band festival 

on April 20, 1951 with Edwin 

Franko Goldman, serving 

as guest conductor. One-day 

music conferences were requested 

by music teachers to 

the Tennessee State Department 

of Education. TMEA 

revises the state constitution 

allowing six division instrumental 

and vocal music associations 

more responsibility 

for planning music education 

events and festival projects. 

TMEA voted by a huge majority 

to recommend a basic 

core and college endorsement 

plan for special certification 

of music teachers. The cover 

featured the Dobyns-Bennett 

High School Vocal Ensemble, 

under the direction of Miss 

Marie Hutchinson. 

TMEA BACK THEN 

Ison-Newman 

N THIS ISSUE, membership 

in TMEA 

nears record numbers 

among the 11 southern 

states. The music 

TENNESSEE MUSICIAN March-April 1951 – Volume III, No. 4 (Vernon H. Taylor, Editor-in-Chief) 


Slate Group is a proud print partner 

of Tennessee Musician and other 

state Music Education Associations. 

CONTACT IAN SPECTOR TODAY! 

800.794.5594 | ian@slategroup.com 


Tennessee Music Education Association 

129 Paschal Drive 

Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37128 

Grades K-8 

The Future of Music Education 

TODAY! 

 

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Tennessee Musician - Vol. 67 No. 2

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