Tennessee Musician - Vol. 67 No. 1

Volume 67 | 2014 | No.I 

TM ennessee USICIAN 

The Official Publication of the Tennessee Music Education Association

TM ennessee USICIAN 

The Official Publication of the Tennessee Music Education Association 

VOLUME 67 | 2014 | NUMBER 1 

Table of Contents 

Executive Director’s Greeting & Editor’s Message ...............................................................................................6 

The Score: News from Across the State .................................................................................................................8 

TMEA President’s Message ..................................................................................................................................12 

- FEATURED ARTICLES - 

National Core Arts Standards: An Introduction – Johnathan Vest .......................................................................28 

A Pilot Study: The Burden of Assessment – Michael Catalano and Jamila L. McWhirter ..................................30 

Practice Personalities: What’s Your Type? – Thornton Cline ...............................................................................32 

Why Music Education? Facts and Insights on the Benefits of Music Study ........................................................34 

- COLUMNS - 

General Music Chair – Charlene Cook .................................................................................................................14 

Choral Chair – Janet Johnson ...............................................................................................................................16 

Orchestra Chair – Ben Reagh ...............................................................................................................................18 

Band Chair – Debbie Burton ................................................................................................................................20 

Collegiate NAfME Chair – Michael Mann ..........................................................................................................22 

Higher Education Chair – Eric Branscome ..........................................................................................................24 

Collegiate NAfME – J.J. Norman ........................................................................................................................26 

3 

Volume 67 | 2014 | No.I

T 

ennessee 

M USICIAN 

Tennessee Music Education Association 

Executive Board 

Ron Meers 

Executive Director 

Dr. Jeff Phillips 

President 

Dr. Johnathan Vest 

President-elect 

Dian Eddleman 

Past-President 

Tennessee Musician Editorial Staff 

Dr. Catherine M. Wilson 

Senior Associate Editor 

Business Affairs and Advertising 

The Official Publication of the Tennessee Music Education Association 

Ginna Houston 

Elementary Music Specialist 

Bells Elementary School 

Bells, Tennessee 

Dr. Andrew Palmer 

Orchestra Director & Strings Specialist 

White Station High School 

Memphis, Tennessee 

Middle Tennessee 

Matthew Clark 

Choral Director 

Oakland High School 

Murfreesboro, Tennessee 

Cameron M. Gish 

Director of Bands 

Hillsboro Elementary/Middle School 

Franklin, Tennessee 

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 

Nashville, Tennessee 

Melissa Dufrechou 

Fine Arts Specialist 

Williamson County Schools 

Franklin, Tennessee 

Justin T. Scott 

Associate Editor and Bureau Chief 

Laura Boucher 

Associate Style Editor 

Jazmin Johnson 

Associate Director 

Social Media and Constituent Relations 

Natalie P. Bingham 

Production Editor 

Allison Segel 

Creative Director 

Michael W. Chester 

Editor-in-Chief 

Ian Spector 

Publisher 

Slate Group 

Tennessee Musician Editorial Board 

2014-2016 

West Tennessee 

Dr. Betty Bedsole, Editorial Board Chair 

Professor of Music 

Union University 

Jackson, Tennessee 

Dr. Carol King-Chipman 

Director of Bands & Associate Director of Bands 

Barret’s Chapel K-8 & Bolton High School 

Arlington, Tennessee 

J.D. Frizzell 

Director of Fine Arts 

Briarcrest Christian School 

Eads, Tennessee 

Susan Mullen 

Strings Director 

The Webb School 

Bell Buckle, Tennessee 

Sara Panjehpour 


La Vergne Lake & Smyrna Elementary School 

Smyrna, Tennessee 

James W. Story, Jr. 

Professor of Music 

Volunteer State Community College 

Gallatin, Tennessee 

East Tennessee 

Sandra B. Kerney 

Choral Director 

Ross N. Robinson Middle School 

Kingsport, Tennessee 

Dr. Gene Peterson 

Associate Director of Choral Activities 

University of Tennessee, Knoxville 

Knoxville, Tennessee 

James D. Phillips 

Orchestra Director 

Oak Ridge High School 

Oak Ridge, Tennessee 

Kevin Smart 

Assistant Director of Bands 

Fulton High School 


Gerald Jerome Souther 


Woodmore Elementary School 

Chattanooga, Tennessee 

Sarah Cummings 

Professional Development Specialist, Choral Music 

Knox County Schools 


Walter Mencer 

Instrumental Music Specialist 

Knox County Schools 


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. 

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. Tennessee Musician is published by Slate Group 

in 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 shipping & handling): $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 extension 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: Fall, August 

10; Winter, November 10; Spring, January 10; Summer, April 10. 

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 

4 

www.tnmea.org 

TM | Volume 67 number 1

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Ensembles at APSU: 

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THINK MUSIC -- THINK AUSTIN PEAY 

5

TM 

Executive Director’s Greeting 

& Editor’s Message 

To all members of the Tennessee Music Education Association, I bid you greetings 

and welcome to Volume 67 of the Tennessee Musician. As your executive director, 

I am honored to serve you and the association and want to let you know how 

committed the TMEA board of directors and project chairs are in accomplishing 

many of the goals outlined in the TMEA Strategic Plan. One particular goal in 

the TMEA strategic plan was to look at more effective ways of communication 

with the membership. To that end, we launched a new monthly e-news letter that 

is published via e-mail in the middle of each month. The e-news letter will help 

spread information across the state, such as event notification and updates, in a 

timely manner. We will continue to publish the Tennessee Musician in both print 

and electronic versions. Looking down the road, we have a great professional 

development conference scheduled in April as TMEA returns to Memphis, Tennessee. 

We hope to see you there. We have an outstanding slate of ensemble performances, 

as well as many top-notch presentations and professional development 

sessions designed with you in mind. As always, we have an outstanding panel of 

world-class guest clinicians and conductors who will create an atmosphere of learning and music-making with 

our high-caliber all-state ensembles. None of this is possible without you and your support of the Tennessee 

Music Education Association. I want to encourage all of you to do your part to ensure that the future of TMEA is 

bright by getting involved. Best wishes for continued success in the remainder of the school year. 

- Ron Meers 

Welcome to the launch of the 67th volume of the Tennessee Musician. It is a 

most humbling honor to be asked to serve in the capacity as editor-in-chief of 

a publication with a rich history, which has remained a steadfast companion 

throughout the many decades of change. The constant in all of this is you, the 

reader. We have so many great music educators in our state, each with a story 

to tell. Let this publication stand as the testament to the many talented and 

dedicated music educators, from those who are new to the profession, to those 

who have served with distinction over the course of several years. It is my sincere 

belief that we can all learn something from each other. The mission of the 

Tennessee Musician will continue to evolve, as we remain committed to delivering 

the news and information that impacts music education from across the 

state, while also focusing on the work being done by teachers like yourself. The 

endeavor of serving as editor-in-chief of the Tennessee Musician and also as a 

full-time music educator is no small feat. On the contrary, we are fortunate to 

have the time, talents, and dedication of an outstanding editorial staff and an expanded 

editorial and advisory board who help share, mentor, collaborate, and guide every facet of every TMEA 

publication. Without their expertise we could not accomplish the many tasks at hand. A very special thanks goes 

to our outgoing editor, Dr. Mary Dave Blackman for your help and guidance during this transition period. We 

wish you the very best and congratulations on your recent promotion to professor of music at East Tennessee 

State University. A work in progress is never finished and we hope to get your feedback. Feel free to send us your 

thoughts through e-mail. For now we wish you all continued success throughout the remainder of the semester 

and hope you enjoy the latest installment of the Tennessee Musician. 

- Michael Chester 

6 www.tnmea.org 


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7

TM 

the score|news from across the state 

Belmont University 

In fall 2014, Belmont University launched 

an undergraduate music therapy program making it 

the only university in the state to offer such a degree. 

Students will need a total of 136 hours including the 

required 41 BELL Core general education hours, 79 

music hours, 20 hours of music therapy courses and 

an additional 13 clinical foundations courses. In addition, 

the program will require a six-month internship, 

often outside of Nashville. Once complete, the degree 

will qualify graduates to sit for the board certification 

exam. 

Dr. Madeline Bridges, Associate Dean for 

Academic Studies and Professor of Music Education, 

received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The 

Tennessee American Choral Directors Association at 

its annual conference held June 20 and 21 in Chattanooga, 

Tennessee. Bridges serves as campus director 

of the Tennessee Arts Academy and is co-director of 

the Nashville Children’s Choir, a multi-level community 

choir program in residence at Belmont. 

Belmont University welcomes Dr. Lesley 

Mann, who joined the School of Music faculty in fall 

2014. She will teach Music Education courses and 

direct the 140 voice Women’s Choir. Dr. Mann holds a 

doctorate in Choral Conducting and Music Education 

from Florida State University. 

Cumberland University 

Cumberland University strings teacher Thornton 

Cline debuted his third book published by Hal 

Leonard (distributed in over 60 countries worldwide) 

at a free book signing/workshop that was held at 

Music and Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday, 

October 11. Cline’s new book is titled “Practice 

Personalities for Adults” and is the follow-up to his 

last best selling book “Practice Personalities: What’s 

Your Type?” 

In his book, Thornton Cline reveals nine 

practice personalities in adults based on over 25 years 

of research from over 1,000 interviews with students. 

A pre-recorded CD of Cline performing on the piano, 

violin and guitar is included along with a free Practice 

Personalities self test for adults to determine their 

Practice Personalities. 

Cline was twice awarded “Songwriter of the 

Year” by the Tennessee Songwriter’s Association 

for his hit song, “Love is the Reason,” recorded by 

multi-platinum, King of Romance artist, Engelbert 

Humperdinck and pop diva, Gloria Gaynor. Thornton 

Cline has been nominated for Dove and Grammy 

awards for his performances and songs. In April of 

this year, Thornton Cline was nominated for the first 

ever Grammy Music Educators Award. Cline is author 

of three published books and has had over 150 of his 

songs recorded by major and independent artists such 

as Engelbert Humperdinck, Gloria Gaynor, Mark 

Chestnut, Tammy Trent, Billy and Sarah Gaines, Ray 

Peterson, Tim Murphy, and the Manhattans. 

Middle Tennessee 

State University 

The MTSU School of Music proudly presented 

its first “Career in Music Day” on Tuesday, November 

4, 2014. High school students seriously interested 

in a career in music, their teachers, and parents were 

invited to spend a day on campus attending seminars, 

music classes, ensemble rehearsals, and master classes 

with the School of Music faculty. Participants had the 

opportunity to tour MTSU and meet with admissions 

and financial aid counselors. There was no cost to attend 

the event. 

MTSU proudly announces new faculty for 

2014-2015: Dr. Brad Baumgardner, academic advisor/ 

undergraduate programs; Dr. Patrick Casey, instrumental 

music education; Dr. Adam Clark, piano; Mr. 

Allen Kennedy, athletic bands; Dr. Eunbyol Ko, piano; 

Mr. Chip Henderson, jazz guitar; Dr. Joseph Morgan, 



musicology; Dr. Vanissa Murphy, music literature; 

Dr. Gregory Reish, Director of the Center for Popular 

Music & musicology; Dr. Catherine Wilson, music 

education & literature. MTSU welcomes “American 

Jazz Master” saxophonist/composer/band leader 

Jimmy Heath on October 20 for a tribute to saxophonist 

Illinois Jacquet. This concert is the kickoff for the 

establishment of a Jacquet archive at the Center for 

Popular Music and a new scholarship endowment. 

The MTSU Community Music School began 

operations on September 19 with instruction in 

string instruments for children ages 5-12 at MTSU 

and the Murfreesboro headquarters of the Salvation 

Army. The CMS director is violinist Aurora Hernandez, 

a recent MTSU masters graduate. The Tennessee 

Board of Regents has approved the change in designation 

of Master of Arts to Master of Music for graduate 

degrees at MTSU, effective immediately. Dr. Paul Osterfield 

is the Director of Graduate Studies in Music. 

University Of 

Memphis 

The Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music welcomes 

five new faculty members this year: Dean 

Anthony, opera stage director; Dr. Marcin Arendt, 

violin; Dr. Kyle Ferrill, voice; Dr. Jeremy Orosz, 

music theory; and Ben Yonas, music business. 

Dr. John Mueller, associate professor of trombone 

and euphonium, was guest soloist with the U.S. 

Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” He toured in Maine 

for a week with the Yankee Brass Band and was featured 

in a euphonium duo at the Great Western Rocky 

Mountain Brass Band Festival in Silverton, CO. 

Music education division head Dr. Ryan 

Fisher has been appointed to serve on the National 

Association for Music Education Council for Choral 

Education. 

Lecolion Washington, associate professor of 

bassoon, participated in the Festival del Sole in Napa 

Valley, CA and performed with the Sphinx Symphony 

Orchestra with Pinchas Zukerman. 

University 

Of Tennessee 

at Martin 

UT Martin welcomes Bill Waterman as the 

Director of Athletic Bands and Assistant Professor of 

Music in the area of applied tuba and euphonium. 

Prior to his appointment at UT-Martin, Mr. Waterman 

served on the faculty at the University of Michigan 

at Flint (MI), the Flint Institute of Music (MI), and 

Jackson College (MI). Additionally, he has been the 

instructor of record for classes at both Michigan State 

University and Texas Tech University. During the 

summers, Mr. Waterman serves on the faculty for Blue 

Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, MI. 

Mr. Waterman served as music director and 

conductor for the award winning Capital City Brass 

Band (Lansing, MI). During his tenure as music director, 

the brass band won back-to-back first place championships 

in the 2013 and 2014 North American Brass 

Band Association (NABBA) 10-Piece Brass Band 

category. The band also placed second overall in their 

section at the 2014 NABBA Championships. The band 

received an overall third place finish at the 2013 US 

Open Brass Band Championships in St. Charles, IL, 

where Mr. Waterman’s arrangement of “The Carrollton 

March” won the award for “best new arrangement 

or composition.” 

Mr. Waterman brings a diverse background of 

experience from the world of marching band. Over 

the past ten years he has worked as an arranger and/or 

instructor for winds and both battery and front ensemble 

percussion in Kansas, Florida, and Colorado. As a 

performer he has marched tuba, trombone, battery percussion, 

and was a two-time DCI finalist as a member 

of the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps (Allentown, 

PA). 

9

TM 

the score|news from across the state 

As a soloist, Mr. Waterman’s career is highlighted by a 2011 recital performance in Carnegie Hall. As an orchestral 

musician, he served as Principal Tuba with the Topeka Symphony Orchestra (Topeka, KS) for nine seasons. 

He has also performed with the Lansing Symphony (MI), Mason Symphony (MI), Celtic Woman Orchestra 

(MI), Big Spring Symphony (TX), and the Lubbock Symphony (TX). 

Mr. Waterman holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kansas and Master of Music 

degree from Texas Tech University. He has completed all required coursework toward his Doctorate of Musical 

Arts degree from Michigan State University. 

Got news or information worth sharing? 

Send items to editor@tnmea.org. Information may be edited for space. 

• Intensive professional training with a superb 

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• Internationally recognized faculty and uniquely 

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Vanderbilt University Orchestra • Robin Fountain, 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 



11

TM 

President’s message 

Jeff Phillips 

Greetings! I’m 

sure that many of 

you are busy working 

on your holiday 

programs, working 

on portfolios, 

maybe finishing 

marching season, 

and busy getting 

ready to wrap up 

this semester and 

plan for another 

simultaneously. As 

with every year, 

especially in education, 

change is upon 

us! That’s going to be one thing we can always count 

on. While we can’t control many of the directives 

and initiatives that are required of us, what we CAN 

control is our reaction to them and how we CHOOSE 

to deal with them. Many of these items shouldn’t be 

thought of as things that impede our classroom day to 

day teaching, but as ways that we can become better 

at our own teaching, organization, and advocacy. 

For this issue we will look at the new standards. Before 

you begin rolling your eyes and telling me how 

you just got familiar with the old standards (and how 

you never did figure out how to do the singing/playing 

of instruments or that improvisation thing), take a 

breath! 

To be successful in the classroom, we all have 

to have definable goals and a focus of direction for 

our instruction. The key component of making these 

goals is to have a set of standards for what you expect 

to accomplish and how you want to get your students 

to the desired level. Whether you take your standards 

for curriculum from an older curriculum guide, state 

or national standards, or a tried and true set of goals, 

you use standards in your classroom (if you don’t, 

perhaps we need to talk…)! Our National (and Tennessee) 

Standards have been in place for some time 

now and I think we have all had issues with how to 

incorporate so many things into our curriculum. How 

do instrumental directors incorporate singing? How 

do choral directors incorporate playing of 

instruments? What about that improvisation section, 

and are we all doing composing and arranging? These 

have been the subject of discussion for several years 

prior to tying the standards to our classroom teacher 

evaluations. Now that we have them posted in our 

classrooms and are expected to reference these when 

we teach, here “they” go and start changing them! 

This is where the “new” standards come in. Partly as 

an answer to these frustrations we’ve experienced and 

as a means to tie what we do in music education to 

21 st century skills and college readiness, other teachers 

have developed these revisions. This has been a long 

process and the “rollout” of the new standards began 

last year with opportunities for review from music 

teachers at all levels all across the country. 

What you’ll find are fewer small standards 

and some purposefully broad areas that allow YOU 

as a teacher to fit your style of teaching to incorporate 

these areas into your lessons and rehearsals. As 

we begin to look at these, think of how what you’re 

already doing (or have done for years) is already in 

line with these areas! Then, how can you utilize these 

to better teach your students and assess their performance? 

I think you may be pleasantly surprised at 

how the areas of “perform, create, and respond” translate 

into everyday music education! This is the stuff 

WE have been doing all along and now our colleagues 

in the school are going to be expected to fit their subjects 

into this model. WE have an opportunity to help 

them and incorporate MUSIC into all of our subjects 

IF we take this challenge and use it to our advantage; 

we have a built in advocacy moment just waiting for 

us! 

Take advantage of the articles and columns in 

this issue to spark creativity (or argument!) and let’s 

use this as an opportunity to make us better teachers 

and our students better musicians. The endless paperwork 

and forms, the classroom observations, new 

requirements, and everything else we have thrown on 

us each year: through all of it, let’s not forget the real 

reason that we started doing this “music” stuff in the 

first place! In all of those mounds of clerical “stuff” 

we teach an incredible art form to our students! YOU 

are the most important part of the day for so many 

children and YOU are TMEA! - Jeff Phillips 



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Q U A L I T Y . S U P P O R T . P R O F E S S I O N A L I S M . V A L U E

TM 

General Music Chair |Charlene Cook 

Greetings! I’m Charlene Cook, and it is my 

pleasure to serve as the General Music Chair on the 

Tennessee Music Educators Association Board of 

Directors. I am honored to serve in this position and 

thank President Jeff Phillips for the opportunity. 

As I write this article, I hope that ALL of us will remember 

to take time for ourselves, both personally and 

professionally. This is a difficult task to accomplish in 

our hurry up, “I need it now” or “This was due when” 

world. 

Recently, my principal hosted a book study 

on Stephen Covey’s The Leader In Me. This book 

discusses the possibilities of students implementing 

Covey’s 7 habits. I’m not usually “into” reading books 

that can be classified as “self-help”, but this book really 

hit home. I became excited about the possibilities 

for our students and our staff. The process will take 

time and effort but for the schools featured, it was time well spent. I’ll try to let you know how it turns out. 

I mention this because we have the opportunity to implement for ourselves Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw, many 

times during the remainder of the school year. “Sharpen the Saw” means take some time for yourself, relax, or 

do something you enjoy. Now I admit, this really means get away from your professional responsibilities, to 

spend time doing something you don’t normally do in your weekly routine, and to BREATHE. The “sharpening” 

opportunities I’m referring to now are professionally related. 

I’m one of those “PD geeks”. I admit it. I love attending professional development workshops where 

I can hone MY professional skills (not math, not reading, not science or test taking skills). It is so refreshing 

to “talk music” with other music education professionals. Most of us are “singletons” in our schools. We don’t 

have a natural partner or partners with whom we can collaborate, so we must find times where we can congregate 

and find new ideas or solutions 

to specific music related 

issues. 

So, with that all said, I want 

to urge you to take advantage 

of the workshops and conferences 

offered in our state and 

regions this school year. Don’t 

be surprised if you see me 

there – I’ll be happily “sharpening 

my saw.” I will post 

workshop information on the 

General Music section of the 

TMEA website as I learn of 

opportunities. 

- Charlene Cook 



15

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Choral Chair |Janet Johnson 

Change is in the air! Change is good! TMEA is 

abound with changes in leadership positions. As your 

State Choral Chair, I’d like to invite you to be an active 

participant in the process of making our organization 

stronger and more relevant to our everyday lives 

as music educators. 

As I have become more involved in the last 

few years in leadership positions at the regional and 

state level, I have become very appreciative of all 

the work that goes on behind the scenes to make our 

professional organizations run smoothly and be effective 

support systems for choral directors. I have 

been enriched and inspired by all of the professional 

relationships I’ve made with other members of the 

boards and councils who are willing to give a tremendous 

amount of time to plan, implement programs 

and events, and solve conflicts that arise. 

Following Jeff Chipman in this position will 

be no easy task. He brought energy, teaching experience, 

organizational expertise and a very forward 

thinking approach to developing standards, board 

policy and communicating with members. Thank you 

Jeff, for your service! 

What I hope to bring to this job is 32 years 

of experience, from elementary to middle to high 

school, and a passion for teaching children of all ages 

to sing. After graduating from MTSU with a music 

education degree and UTC with a master’s degree, I 

received the 4 summer Kodaly certificate from KCA 

in New Bedford, Massachusetts. I taught elementary 

music in Chattanooga for 12 years, high school 

music in Knoxville for 12 years and am presently in 

my 8 th year as the choral director for Signal Mountain 

Middle/High School in Signal Mountain, Tn., 

where I teach grades 6-12 vocal music and 2 sections 

of International Baccalaureate music. I believe this 

experience will enable me to support and understand 

the needs of vocal music teachers at all levels and 

work to make a more seamless connection between 

grade levels, unifying us and helping us all to support 

one another as we bring our best practices forward to 

teach our students. 

As we begin the implementation of our new 

national standards, I’d like to offer a word of encouragement 

to both seasoned and new teachers who 

might feel overwhelmed or concerned that too much 

change is expected. As our school has become an IB 

school and our teachers have spent much time in training, 

we have immersed ourselves in what we consider 

“best practices.” Then as Common Core emerged and 

we began to also implement those standards, we again 

heard the term “best practices” and they looked very 

similar to what we were doing as an IB school. As we 

take a look at the new National Standards, we again 

can see that what they are recommending is “best 

teaching practices.” So what does that mean for you? 

Do you have to totally overhaul your rehearsal practices, 

your busy performing schedule, and your exciting 

trip? From sessions I attended at the NAfME conference, 

I came away encouraged with a positive attitude 

about what I could do to improve my program, yet try 

to keep the same quality of music performing. 

I believe the standards are demanding that we move 

away from the old model of being mostly director centered 

and that we work to help our students become 

independent musicians who have input in the rehearsal 

process, the literature chosen and that they are made 

to be accountable for their progress in music literacy 

and in musicality. One session leader said it might be 

possible that if we would be willing to give up one 

concert a year, (perhaps fall or winter) that we could 

find the time to really work on music skills, forms, 

creativity, and yet perform well for festivals and major 

concerts. 

Do your students really understand the text of 

their music? I am guilty of sometimes working so hard 

to get the music learned that I don’t spend enough 

time on the text. Last spring my middle school choirs 

were singing an arrangement of the folk song, “Nine 

Hundred Miles.” After learning the song, I asked them 



to write the letter the person might have been reading as they walked along that track. Some of them wrote some 

very heartfelt letters. They were then able to sing the song with so much more expression. This short activity 

was a creative way of responding to the music and using their imagination. I’ve had high school singers write 

an extra verse to a ballad or folk song. I don’t believe we are being told to make any changes in our rehearsal 

practices. We are just being asked to broaden them, to add to our teaching practices to help our students become 

more independent musicians and become willing to be musical “risk-takers.” 

Most of us have always been eclectic music educators, drawing from the many approaches available for teaching 

music. That’s one of the things I love about teaching music. Even while following a set of national standards, 

unlike other subject areas, we are not limited to a certain textbook or primary approach to getting the 

standards taught. We still have so much freedom to choose repertoire and design creative lessons to get it taught. 

As I look over the websites from our three regions, it is obvious that it is an extremely busy time for us 

all and we have some exciting events planned for our students. All three groups are auditioning for All Region 

and All State choirs. Some areas are planning mass elementary and middle school choir events. If you have special 

events or announcements you would like publicized for your region, please e-mail me. 

Please look for ways to become more involved with TMEA and let your voice be heard. I look forward to communicating 

with you and learning more about each region. I wish you and your choirs the best of luck with 

your busy performing season! 

- Janet Johnson 

SCHOOL of MUSIC 

Bachelor of Arts: 

Major in Music 

Bachelor of Music: 

Majors in Church Music 

Commercial Music 

Composition 


Music with an Outside Minor 

Music Theory 

Music Therapy 

Musical Theatre 

Performance 

Piano Pedagogy 

Master of Music: 

Majors in Church Music 

Composition 


Pedagogy 

Performance 

www.BELMONT.edu/music 

17

TM 

Orchestra Chair |Ben Reagh 

I recently attended the Austin Peay Honors 

Orchestra Festival as a director accompanying my students 

that had been selected. The weekend was fantastic, 

not only for my students, but also for myself, as it 

was filled with terrific musical and educational events 

and experiences. So I want to write a little about the 

event, and share some general thoughts I have about 

honor festival weekends. 

The selected students had the privilege of 

working with two excellent string music educators and 

clinicians- Matt Wilkinson from Maryville, TN and 

Georgia Ekonomou from Atlanta, Georgia. The three 

days of rehearsals were intense, yet fun, culminating 

in an enjoyable concert on Saturday afternoon featuring 

the two honors orchestras. Of course, this is typical 

of any weekend honor event, but this was just one 

part of this festival. 

As the students began rehearsals, I was delighted 

to find out (coinciding with the orchestra 

festival) there was a recital about to begin in the 

concert hall featuring world-renowned clarinetist 

Charles Neidich that had been in residence at the 

University all week. Now I am not a clarinetist, nor 

was I in Clarksville for that reason, but my philosophy 

is “good music is always worth listening to”, 

and when you have a chance to listen to a virtuoso 

perform live (on any instrument) you do it! I was not 

disappointed. In fact, it was better than I had anticipated. 

Neidich’s selections allowed him to display 

a wide variety of perfected techniques concluding 

with a jaw-dropping performance of Sarasate’s famed 

showpiece Zigeunerweisen, originally for violin. The 

evening took me back to my college days of attending 

recitals on a near-nightly schedule. I was glad I had 

not spent the hour sipping coffee and checking e-mail 

as originally planned. 

The next evening, the students and I were 

treated to another concert featuring the award-winning 

Parker String Quartet from Boston, MA. They 

performed Haydn’s Quartet #76, No.5, followed by 

Ainsi la nuit written by Deutilieux, and concluded 

with the Mozart Clarinet Quintet featuring Charles 

Neidich as he concluded his week of performances. 

The Parker Quartet put on a superb display of the 

highest level of musicianship. 

Besides performing, the Parker Quartet and 

Charles Neidich both presented master classes on 

Friday during the day. Additionally, on Saturday morning, 

before heading to the airport, the Parker Quartet 

did a private performance for the high school students 

followed by an enlightening Q&A session. 

The APSU faculty contributed to the festival 

in several ways, as well. Dr. Emily Hannah Crane and 

Dr. Eli Lara not only organized and ran the festival, 

but also listened to chair placement auditions and led 

sectionals for the honors orchestras. Before the Parker 

Quartet concert, Dr. Gregory Wolynec gave a pre-concert 

talk to the festival students covering the history 

of the string quartet, biographical information about 

the featured composers, and insightful information 

about the music to be performed. Dr. Eric Branscome 

presented a wonderful session, applicable for both the 

parents and teachers, on the topic of how understanding 

your child’s personality and learning styles can 

help you to help them have better practice and performance 

techniques. 

So as you can see, it was a fantastic weekend 

for everyone involved. I applaud APSU for hosting 

a great event, and I know that they are just one of 

many Tennessee universities through the course of the 

school year and during the summer that hold similar 

events and summer camps for students of all ages in 

the areas of strings, winds, percussion, and voice. I 

know we all have super busy schedules, limited funds 

and limited time to do extra paperwork, but I would 



encourage all directors to have at least some of their students participate in these events whenever possible (aim 

for one a year). I am sure directors that already do will agree that the effort, money, and time given is totally 

worth it. 

The point of this article is to share my thoughts on the many positives of having students attend these 

types of events. Besides the obvious student benefits, the teachers can benefit in many ways along with helping 

your overall school program. 

So throughout the year, if you know of any events or special performances that you feel would be of interest 

and benefit to others, please e-mail me and I will be glad to pass it by way of the most appropriate means 

possible (e-mail, website, orchestra blog, articles, etc.) 

- 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: 

Saturday, February 14, 2015 

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 

19

TM 

Band Chair |Debbie Burton 

Greetings Tennessee band directors. By now 

must of us are well into rehearsing selections for upcoming 

concerts, parades, and other performance endeavors. 

The TMEA Board and Council had two very 

productive meetings over the summer and the current 

board and council members are committed to making 

our association the best it can be. TMEA continues to 

work with the Tennessee Bandmasters Association to 

improve and develop events for the betterment of all 

of our students and programs. 

Jazz Project Chair 

I am very happy to report the addition of a 

new position to the TMEA Council. This summer, 

the position of Jazz Project Chair was created and 

Dr. Rich Ripani from Hume-Fogg High School has 

agreed to serve as our first Jazz Project Chair. This 

new position will allow for a separate Jazz Caucus 

at the annual conference where matters specific to 

Jazz Bands can be discussed and then reported to the 

TMEA board. The new jazz caucus will also be responsible 

for providing a list of potential conductors 

to TMEA for our All-State Jazz Band. 

All-State Chair Placement Audition Rubric 

An audition rubric and tally sheet was developed 

and used as a pilot during the 2014 All- State 

chair placement auditions. Discussion at the caucus 

meeting was very positive about its usefulness and 

need. A final discussion and revisions were made at 

the August Council meeting and the rubric was adopted 

for wind instruments. A percussion rubric will 

be developed this year and used as a pilot in 2015 

with final revisions made at the TMEA council meeting 

in summer 2015. 

Honors Recital Proposal for the Conference 

This summer the Tennessee Bandmasters Association 

(TBA) made a proposal to sponsor a student 

honors recital at the 2015 conference. Some have 

referred this event as a solo and ensemble but I prefer 

to think of it as an honors recital. Each region, ETS- 

BOA, MTSBOA, and WTSBOA, will be responsible 

for providing two students to perform on the recital. 

This event has been added to the conference schedule 

on Wednesday evening. More details will be made 

available to each region by the TBA regional representatives. 

State Concert Festival 

The 2014 State Concert Festival was a huge 

success. Forty ensembles applied to perform and thirty-four 

were scheduled. The dates for the 2015 Festival 

are April 23 and 24 and it will be held at Stewarts 

Creek High School in Smyrna, TN. Invitations have 

been sent out and more information can be found on 

the TMEA website. 

2015 All-State Bands 

Conductor of the 11-12 grade All-State Band 

will be Kevin Sedatole, Director of Bands at Michigan 

State University. Alfred Watkins, Retired Director of 

Bands at Lassiter High School, Marietta, Georgia, will 

be the 9-10 grade All-State Band conductor. Conductor 

of the All-State Jazz Band will be Mr. Rodney 

Whitaker, Professor of Jazz Studies at Michigan State 

University. 

- Debbie Burton 



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Music scholarships are available, 

and worth up to full tuition! 

MARYVILLECOLLEGE.EDU 

Call Ashley Abbott at 865.981.8153 for details. 

21

TM 

Collegiate NAfME Chair 

Michael Mann 

Union University was the site for this year’s 

annual Kick Off for the Tennessee Collegiate Division 

of NAfME on September 13 th . 

Over 40 students and 11 Presenters from 

around the State met in Jackson for 

a day of educational sessions and concluded with new 

officer elections, constitution revisions and spectacular 

door prizes. 

Dr. Chris Mathews, Chairman of the Music 

Department and Michael Mann, Advisor Chairman 

from Union University welcomed the attendees after 

breakfast and registration. Ron Meers, Executive 

Director of TMEA, shared the importance of being 

a member of CNAfME and Dr. Johnathan Vest (UT 

at Martin) gave an in-depth and informative segment 

sharing the benefits and functions of CNAfME and 

TMEA. 

The students in attendance represented 9 

Universities across the State and were treated to their 

choice of sessions each hour with many diversified 

topics. 

This year’s presenters included: Thornton 

Cline (Cumberland University), Dr. Chris Mathews 

(Union University), Dr. Johnathan Vest (UT at Martin), 

Dr. David Royse (UT Knoxville), Dr. Judith 

Sullivan (Tennessee Technological University), Dr. 

Armand Hall (Univ. of Memphis), Dr. Ryan Fisher 

(University of Memphis), Dr. Dan Musselman (Union 

University), Dr. Michele Paynter Paise (Cumberland 

University), Dr. Eric Branscome (Austin Peay St. University) 

and Dr. Jamila McWhirter (MTSU). 

In the final session, the CNAfME students selected 

new officers for the 2014-15 year: West Tennessee 

CNAfME President is JJ Norman (UT at Martin), 

Middle Tennessee President is Kristen Roddy (Belmont 

University) and East Tennessee President is 

Kathryn Losley (UT Knoxville). The Vice President 

and Public Relations Officer is Garrett Doo (MTSU) 

and the Secretary is Amber Joy Cleveland (Univ. of 

Memphis). 

There were giveaways from companies that 

included Amro Music, KHS America/Jupiter Band 

Instruments, NAfME, Woodwind and Brasswind and 

JW Pepper. 

Some very special door prizes were awarded 

at the end of the day. Amro Music provided a baton, 

pitch pipe, tuner/metronome and a beautiful gold music 

stand. 

The grand prize was a brand new Euphonium 

donated by KHS America/Jupiter Band Instruments 

and was won by Austin Peay St. University. 

- Michael Mann 



• Competitive 

scholarships available 

• Music ensembles from 

symphony to salsa 

• 200 music 

events per year 

• Ten undergraduate 

music programs 

• Eight graduate 

music programs 

• Music living/learning 

community on campus 

• 35 full-time and 

50 part-time faculty 

• University Honors 

College courses 

AUDITION DATES 

Saturday, January 31, 2015 

Monday, February 16, 2015 


CAREERS IN MUSIC DAY 

Tuesday, November 4 

SCHOOL OF MUSIC 

MTSU Box 47 

Murfreesboro, TN 37132 

(615) 898-2469 

www.mtsumusic.com

TM 

Higher Education Chair 

Eric Branscome 

My name is Eric Branscome and it is an honor 

and a pleasure to serve for this term as the TMEA 

Higher Education Chair and I look forward to working 

with you all. A special word of gratitude goes to Dr. 

Barry Kraus for serving as the previous Higher Education 

Chair, for his dedication to this position, and for 

his leadership over the past few years. 

I am the Coordinator of Music Education at 

Austin Peay State University, and am beginning my 4 th 

year in Tennessee. I vividly remember visiting APSU 

for the first time, and my first interactions with Tennessee’s 

collegiate music educators. In those first conversations 

I remember being struck with the sense that 

this is a time of significant transition in music education 

across the state. In the few years since that initial 

meeting, we have all been impacted in some way by 

the implementation of the Student Growth Portfolio 

Model, changes to the Praxis II Music exam, the 

transition to the new Core Arts Standards, and the 

Tennessee Promise. In addition, some campuses are 

adjusting to new edTPA and Residency requirements 

for student teachers. I am grateful to all of you as collegiate 

music educators for the leadership roles you 

play in implementing positive change in music education, 

and for partnership with local school systems for 

mutual growth through these times of transition. 

Institutional Partnership 

Last year, the idea of an institutional partnership 

or membership was proposed as a means of 

encouraging, or perhaps enabling more participation 

in TMEA by non-music education university faculty 

members (administrators, applied faculty, ensemble 

members, etc…). Based on the unsuccessful attempts 

of this model in other states, there is still some discussion 

among the TMEA board regarding the logistics 

of this type of proposal. More information will be 

disseminated is it becomes available. 

All-Collegiate Choir 

This year’s all-collegiate ensemble is Choir. 

We are proud to announce this year’s clinician will 

be 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. The call for participation 

and performance selections will be available on the 

TMEA website. 

Call for Mini Concerts 

We will also be posting the call for chamber 

ensemble participation for the mini-concerts that take 

place in the exhibit hall at the annual conference. 

These performances are 20 to 30-minute programs that 

are available to student or faculty ensembles. More 

information will be available on the TMEA website. 

Annual Conference Attendance 

One of Barry’s final reports included a request 

to all collegiate music educators to consider the time 

of year of the annual conference, and to facilitate 

conversations with local schools and other personnel 

about the benefits or detriments of moving the conference 

to a different month. Ideally, the conference 

should be scheduled at a time that is ideal for a majority 

of the TMEA membership. 

I would like to continue this discussion, and 

begin an additional line of conversation concerning 

means by which Tennessee’s universities might 

endeavor to boost attendance at the annual conference, 

and participation in TMEA in general. Yes, the 

organization is strong and its members are active. 

But there may be strategies for generating increased 

participation from those who have not yet joined 

or may not prioritize participation in TMEA. As an 

example, seek-out funding sources to provide financial 

assistance for your student teachers to attend the 



conference, and provide financial assistance to the campus mentors so they can attend the conference with the 

student teachers. Ideally the campus mentors and student teachers will meet before the conference to preview 

the conference schedule and select a series of mutually beneficial sessions to attend, and then meet after the conference 

to discuss the contents of those sessions and their application to the music classroom. This model will 

obviously benefit the student teacher, and may also extend the influence of the mentor teacher beyond the classroom, 

and enhance the relationship of the university with the local schools. If your university already implements 

a model of this nature, feel free to share the specifics on the higher education blog on the TMEA website 

so we can all benefit from your experiences. 

TMEA is also working to establish a program for music educators to earn graduate credits towards a 

master’s degree in music education as they earn Professional Development Units (PDUs) for participating in the 

annual conference (more information will be disseminated as it becomes available). 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 

elementary, middle, and high school 

band, choir, and orchestra 

www.SMMFestival.com 

or call:1-855-766-3008 

25

TM 

Collegiate NAfME |J.J. Norman 

At the 2014 TMEA conference, Past President 

Dian Eddleman encouraged me to attend the NAfME 

2014 Hill Day. At the time, I had a previous engagement 

that would have kept me from attending, so I 

put it out of my mind, believing it was outside the 

realm of possibility. A month or so later, my mentor 

and our President-Elect, Dr. Johnathan Vest told me 

that I should do whatever it takes to go on this trip. 

He stated that it would kick start my career in ways 

that I could not even begin to imagine. I realized that 

I had to do whatever it took to go on this trip. Thanks 

to the help of the University of Tennessee at Martin 

Department of Music, I was able to participate in the 

National Association of Music Education’s 2014 Hill 

Day and Collegiate Advocacy Summit. 

On Friday June 27, 2014, Dian Eddleman, 

Johnathan Vest, Jeff Phillips, Ron Meers, and I 

served as the Tennessee delegation to Capitol Hill. 

We spent our time advocating for music education 

in the offices of Senator Bob Corker, Senator Lamar 

Alexander, Representative Scott DesJarlais, and 

Representative Diane Black. We discussed the new 

“STEM to STEAM” congressional caucus that has 

been formed to advocate for the arts to be considered 

a core subject, and we asked them to consider music 

education when issues of funding arise. The Tennessee 

delegations from this year (and prior years), 

along side with the NAfME national office staff, have 

started to build relationships with our elected officials 

on the hill. They recognize our passion and strong 

advocacy for our subject. 

I was also joined by 51 of the brightest collegiate 

NAfME music education students, and future 

music educators, from across the country. Together 

we discussed ways we could advocate for music 

education, future students, and our future jobs. The 

best time to advocate for tomorrow is today. We all 

agreed that Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM) 

was the best way for collegiate students to join up 

with current teachers, the state music educator associations, 

and other advocates for the arts. Collegiate 

students should be at the ready whenever called on to 

serve along side current teachers. 

Likewise, CNAfME chapters should seek out 

teachers and ask how they can get involved. Whether 

we are advocating on behalf of students, parents, other 

teachers, principals, school boards, or other elected 

officials, we are clearing the way for a better environment 

for the music education of tomorrow. 

NAfME has conducted research and made 

available some wonderful literature to assist in our 

advocacy efforts; specifically, the Broader Minded 

campaign. It provides everyone who advocates with 

helpful information regardless of the audience. We 

have all heard and probably used the advocacy tactics 

of music improving test scores and social skills. The 

Broader Minded campaign does not discredit these 

points, but rather reminds everyone that music is also 

important for music’s sake and this new campaign provides 

information on just that. Please take some time 

to visit at www.broaderminded.com. 

TMEA executive board members have already 

started planning for their trip to Hill Day 2015 and 

they want your help! I am planning on attending this 

coming year and would love for you to join us. The 

more participation we have, the stronger our voice, 

and the more changes we can make. If you are interested 

in attending please contact me to get your name 

on the list for the 2015 NAfME Hill Day. 

- J.J. Norman 



celebrate inspiring leaders and organizations 

participate in monthly conference calls and webinars 

a c c e s s o nl i n e r e s o u 

r c e s 

 

The National Network for 

Music Education Advocacy Needs You! 

Tap into the SupportMusic Coalition network and 

resources to keep music education strong. 

Join the network today! 

 

27

TM 

National Core Arts Standards: An Introduction 

Johnathan Vest 

Standards. If you are in the field of education, 

then that word immediately brings something to 

mind. That something maybe positive, like achievement 

or success. You may correlate standards with 

negative terms like accountability or testing (and 

whether these terms are negative depends on who you 

ask). Or, it may only elicit an eye roll, signifying your 

exasperation with one more thing – one more fad, one 

more idea that will eventually be replaced by the next 

of that change, and it presents a real challenge to our 

discipline. Music has never been considered a “core” 

subject by the traditional educational establishment, 

but we haven’t seen a nationwide focus away from the 

arts like this since the launch of Sputnik in 1957 

and the ensuing “star wars.” (It is worth mentioning 

that there is a STEM to STEAM Caucus that has been 

formed in Washington, D.C. [with the “A” representing 

the arts], but even this seems more focused on 

visual art and graphic design than music). 

“Music educators (as well as other non value-added tested 

subject area teachers) have not been as susceptible to the 

frequency of change in standards and curricula as our 

colleagues in math and language” 

group of people after the next election cycle. 

Why new standards? Music educators (as well 

as other non value-added tested subject area teachers) 

have not been as susceptible to the frequency of 

change in standards and curricula as our colleagues 

in math and language. Since 1994, the Nine National 

Standards for Music Education have been in place. 

These standards are fairly general, so many states 

expanded them to align with more specific curricular 

models (Danielson, Marzano, etc.) 20 years, however, 

is a long time, and the educational, scientific and 

cultural landscapes have changed drastically since 

then. The focus on STEM courses (science, technology, 

engineering and math), for instance, is part 

If music educators are going to present our 

subject as vital to the education of the whole child, 

then we must prove that it indeed is. We must show 

it. It’s not enough to tell people that what we do 

makes our students more thoughtful, more analytical, 

more literate, and more human; we must provide 

data. Music educators also take pride in how creative 

our students are becoming by participating in our 

music classes and ensembles. Creation is at the top 

of Bloom’s Taxonomy (1994). Way to go, us! I hate 

to burst the bubble, but there is nothing inherently 

creative about reading notes off a page. Note reading 

is a very basic skill, near the bottom of Bloom’s 

Taxonomy. Likewise, interpreting the gestures of 



a conductor might make for beautiful music, but it 

doesn’t reach the higher levels of evaluating, analyzing 

and creating. 

The National Core Arts Standards (2014), or 

NCAS, aim to help our students get there. What is the 

basis for the new standards? The NCAS were based 

upon the curricular model “Understanding by Design” 

by Williams and McTighe (2005). This model advocates 

for “backward design,” which means beginning 

your lesson planning with expected outcomes, and 

ending by choosing activities that will help the students 

achieve those outcomes. The NCAS 

also uses the language from Williams and McTighe 

when categorizing the standards, which I will explain 

later in this article. 

The NCAS were written with 21st Century 

Skills in mind. You probably have heard this term 

thrown around before, but what exactly are 21st century 

skills? These were coined by the Partnership for 

21st Century Skills (2002), a conglomerate of U.S. 

companies that seeks to create future employees that 

will compete in the global marketplace. These skills 

are: Critical thinking and problem solving, 

Creativity and innovation, Communication and collaboration, 

and Cross-disciplinary thinking. One of 

the goals of the NCAS is to develop these skills in our 

students so they can be successful, not only in music, 

but in life. 

The NCAS writing team recognized the variety 

of ways that music instruction is being delivered in 

schools across the country, and organized the standards 

around several areas of study: Music (general), 

Harmonizing Instruments, Composition and Theory, 

Traditional and Emerging Ensembles, and Technology. 

This means that the general music teacher who sees 

her students once a week for thirty- minutes will have 

a unique set of standards for her students, as will the 

high school band director who sees his students for an 

hour and a half every day, as will the middle school 

guitar ensemble teacher. There are, however, some 

things that are common across the areas. The NCAS 

are based on four Common Anchor Standards: Create, 

Perform, Respond and Connect. 

- Continued on Page 49 

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29

TM 

A Pilot Study: The Burden of Assessment 

Michael Catalano & Jamila L. McWhirter 

Teacher assessment is an important topic 

for music educators. Many changes have occurred 

recently with the “Race To the Top” incentive 

program, the implementation of Common Core 

Standards, and the Tennessee Educator Acceleration 

Model (TEAM). 

Arts specialists are assessed regularly by 

administrators who appear to have little or no training 

in these subjects. However, these administrators 

are to evaluate arts teachers on content knowledge 

in their areas. On several occasions, I have spoken 

with fellow music educators who feel that it is unfair 

for an administrator to score for content knowledge 

when the administrators themselves do not typically 

possess this knowledge. 

My original idea for a pilot study was to explore 

administrator efficacy regarding assessment of 

arts specialists, more specifically music specialists. 

When trying to find studies that dealt with administrator 

efficacy, I was not successful in locating information 

on the subject from the perspective of the 

administrator. I spoke informally with an administrator 

about how he felt about having to observe 

music teachers. He expressed a little discomfort 

in having to assess music teachers, but that “good 

teaching is good teaching” regardless of subject matter. 

Therefore, I began to wonder, “What does 

good teaching look like?” Can it “look like” good 

teaching and not actually be appropriate for the 

students in the class? As my thoughts began to take 

shape, I constructed a survey that asked administrators 

how they felt about assessing music teachers. In 

addition, I embedded a video of a short music lesson 

into the survey that was to be scored for the teacher 

content knowledge portion of the TEAM rubric. 

I designed a lesson that focused on teaching 

sixteenth notes to a class of first grade students. The 

person I chose to teach the lesson is a colleague who 

is an academic coach and an amazing teacher. She 

does have a degree in music although it is not in music 

education. She has had no prior experience teaching 

general music in the public school. The lesson itself 

was designed mostly using the format as laid out by 

the book Explicit Direct Instruction: The Power of 

the Well-Crafted, Well-Taught Lesson. The lesson 

started with a clear daily target followed by accessing 

prior knowledge using the rhythm/visual icons (Coke 

and Pepsi) that were used to teach quarter and eighth 

notes. A new icon was introduced to represent the 

sixteenth notes (Dr. Pepper) and was then followed by 

some rhythm reading by the class. The lesson ended 

with the students learning a the song “No One’s In the 

House But Dinah” that had within it a sixteenth note 

grouping that the students were to try and identify, 

followed by the reiteration of the clear daily target. 

The lesson was constructed to exhibit great teacher 

qualities and techniques, such as using strategies that 

involve different modalities, good structure and pacing, 

meaningful repetition, pair sharing, etc. However, 

there were also items included that a person trained 

in music education would recognize as inappropriate, 

such as singing in a range that is too low, randomly 

using different rhythm syllables, teaching a song inappropriately, 

and teaching content several grade levels 

beyond the recommended standards. 

The survey was sent to administrators across 



the state of Tennessee, but only forty-three responded. 

The survey consisted of 11 multiple-choice questions, 

a 15-minute lesson, and one short answer question. 

Twenty-seven studied general music in public school 

with the rest having varying degrees of musical experience 

throughout their career. Two respondents held 

degrees in music, although their specific area of musical 

expertise was not mentioned. 

Thirty-seven participants responded that they 

were either “comfortable” or “very comfortable” with 

observing and scoring music teachers. Only six of the 

participants were “somewhat” to “not comfortable.” 

Another question asked how they felt about using 

the TEAM rubric to assess teachers of non-tested 

subjects. Twenty-nine participants responded that it 

needs improvement or should be changed completely. 

However, thirteen participants expressed that the 

TEAM rubric does not need any changes for assessing 

teachers of non-tested subject areas. Another question 

asked if they had ever given a music teacher a 

“1” in teacher content knowledge and five participants 

answered “yes.” When asked if they felt it was fair to 

combine student’s scores in math and reading together 

with observations to get an educator score for special 

area teachers twenty-six replied “no” while fifteen 

responded “yes.” 

The lesson, according to state standards, is 

inappropriate for first graders. Sixteenth notes are not 

typically introduced until the third grade. Not one 

administrator remarked on this element even though 

a majority of the respondents indicated that they were 

knowledgeable of the state standards for music. 

The majority of respondents scored the lesson 

at a “3” or above in the area of teacher content knowledge, 

even though the music content issues stated 

earlier were evident. One administrator, who scored 

the lesson as a “5”, expressed that the “teacher demonstrated 

content mastery.” Other respondents who 

scored the lesson a “4 “made note that “she covered 

the standards,” and “displayed accurate content knowledge.” 

Only one administrator mentioned that some 

students were having issues reading the sixteenth note 

icons, stating “the confusion of understanding of the 

sound start is a bit bothersome- many student(s) were 

early in their start of the eighth notes or sixteenth 

notes after the quarter. The instructor did not make the 

start of sound groups as much a focus as necessary.” 

It is interesting to note that this respondent was one of 

two that had a degree in music. Another respondent 

said that “as a class it sounded like 100% mastery,” 

which was not true of the lesson in the video clip. 

Another administrator who gave the lesson a 

“3” commented that there was “no extended writing” 

in the lesson. This was an interesting comment to me 

as I considered if a music teacher in this administrator’s 

school would be required to have writing assignments 

with every lesson to get a score higher than “3” 

on their observation? I fear this may be the case for 

numerous music educators. 

When analyzing the short answer responses I 

came across a few similarities. Eight respondents commented 

about the effectiveness of using many different 

strategies to help students gain mastery. Six respondents 

commented on the vast knowledge of the content 

possessed by the teacher. Five noted that they had seen 

evidence that the students had mastered the target. 

When my colleague taught the song “No 

One’s In the House but Dinah,” she did not break it 

into smaller segments. She taught the whole song with 

words, melody, and movement simultaneously. As music 

educators we know that teaching line by line is the 

most effective strategy. Not one administrator commented 

about this issue. She also began the song in too 

low a key for 1st grade voices and she modulated to 

an even lower key after singing it a few times. Again, 

not one administrator took note. Sixteenth notes were 

taught using the words “Dr. Pepper” but also “takadimi” 

was used without any explanation. None of the 

administrators commented on this inconsistency. 

This pilot study has shown that “good” teaching 

techniques may disguise issues in content knowledge. 

Unfortunately, the administrator evaluating the 

music teacher may not even recognize these content 

knowledge issues due to lack of training in the content 

area. Beginning music educators may not get the feedback 

that they truly need. In addition, music educators 

who are very skilled in content knowledge may not 

receive the higher score they deserve because of the 

lack of knowledge of the administrator. Administrators 

need to be equipped with the proper training to really 

assist their specialists through the process of TEAM 

evaluations. Further discussion on this issue may 

include the possibility of others conducting the TEAM 

evaluations of arts specialists, such as university music 

education faculty or retired, veteran music educators. 

TM 

31

TM 

Practice Personalities: What’s your type? 

Thornton Cline 

Recently I was asked by a fellow ASTA colleague 

Alessandra Schneider-Leopold to write an article on a 

summary of my new Centerstream/Hal Leonard book, 

Practice Personalities: What’s Your Type? This was a 

result of my recent teacher workshop Practice Personalities 

which was held at Music and Arts located at 

Arundel Mall in Hanover, Maryland. 

Practice Personalities was written based on 

my research of over twenty five years of teaching 

in the private and public venues. During that time I 

interviewed and observed over one thousand music 

students from elementary to adults. Students were at 

all levels of ability. They studied various instruments 

from the string, woodwind, brass and percussion categories. 

As a result of the interviews, observations and 

teaching experiences, I discovered nine music personalities 

that were evident in these students. I named 

them” Practice Personalities”. Each practice personality 

has specific traits or characteristics associated with 

it. In my observations I found that no two students 

are exactly alike and no “one size fits all” teaching 

strategy is successful for all students. 

This observation and interview research 

evolved out of the necessity to be able to reach each 

student with a tailor-made teaching strategy. For so 

many years I had been teaching utilizing general 

strategies which were supposed to be a fit for all of 

my music students. Unfortunately, there were quite 

a few students I was unable to reach successfully due 

to this “one size fits all” approach. I believe that there 

are teachers today who continue to teach without using 

any tailor-made strategies. They, like myself, need to 

continually think “outside the box”. If we can identify 

and understand these nine practice personalities in music 

students, we are able to effectively teach, motivate 

and inspire them. We need to try to accept the practice 

personalities of our students and not try to think of 

these personalities as necessarily positive or negative. 

We, as teachers, need to develop effective and efficient 

teaching strategies tailored to each of the practice 

personalities. Notice I use the words practice personalities 

in the plural form. I have discovered that most 

music students have more than one practice personality. 

This is why I coined the ninth personality description, 

“Build Your Own Personality” in my book. I 

have provided useful monitoring charts in chapter 18. 

Each practice personality is listed with the characteristics 

and traits of that specific personality. Teachers 

can track each student’s practice personality or personalities 

from a period of one month to one year. Once 

these personalities are determined, effective teaching 

strategies can be used to tailor fit each student’s 

personality. I have included some effective teaching 

strategies tailor-made for each practice personality 

in chapter 14 of my book. I have also provided some 

motivational rewards in chapter 16. 

Some important information to keep in mind 

about personalities is that they cannot solely be linked 

to the DNA of a human. In Lynda L. Warwick’s, The 

Everything Psychology Book, she states the following 

factors that can influence personalities: race, gender 

and age, physical attributes, heredity, environment, 

rewards and punishments, and among other factors. 

Warwick states that many of us today are multifaceted; 

we project a different personality depending 

on whom we encounter. An example of that would be 

the difference between personality when a student is 

around his or her school principal or teacher versus a 

student’s personality around his or her closest friend. 

In conclusion, I believe that teachers can be 

more effective in reaching their music students if they 

think in terms of identifying and understanding these 

nine practice personalities that are discussed in detail 



in my new book. We need to stop thinking that all music students are the same when it comes to personalities 

and stop using the “one size fits all” teaching strategies. Once we can develop and apply the tailor-made teaching 

strategies for each personality or personalities, our music students can learn more effectively and efficiently 

than before. It will require a lot of patience, persistence, praise and encouragement from us. It will take a lot of 

energy and hard work. Basically, it won’t be easy. But, as we know, anything worthwhile takes lot of hard work 

and dedication. If we call ourselves teachers, we need to realize why we wanted to become teachers in the first 

place. It wasn’t because we wanted to make a lot of money, or to become rich and famous or just because we 

wanted to try something new. If we are doing it for the right reasons, it is all because of our love and passion for 

our students and music. TM 

Thornton Cline is an in-demand performer, clinician and teacher. Author of the book and DVD, Practice Personalities: What’s Your 

Type on Centerstream/Hal Leonard, Cline has been invited as a featured speaker at music stores, book stores, state and national conventions 

throughout the United States. His violin performances have been heard in the Ryman Auditorium to the Kennedy Center for 

the Performing Arts. He has recorded and performed with such artists as Brenda Lee to the Gaithers to Chris Golden of the Oak Ridge 

Boys. Twice winner of the Songwriter of the Year Award by the Tennessee Songwriters Association and nominated for Dove Awards, 

Cline has had his original songs recorded by over 150 major and independent artists. Cline is director of the acclaimed Nashville 

Suzuki Players, concertizing with television appearances in 10 states in the Southeast. He is registered as a Suzuki violin teacher in 

books 1-5 with the Suzuki Association of Americas. Cline has written numerous articles for such journals such as the American String 

Teacher and Choral Journal. His educational choral and string works are published with Alfred Music Publishing; Lawson-Gould 

(Music 70 Publishers and Bourne Company in New York. He is a frequent reviewer for the American String Teacher and a long-time 

member of ASTA. Cline teaches violin, piano and guitar and is on the faculty of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. 

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Why Music Education? 

Facts & Insights on the Benefits of Music Study 

“Every student in the nation should have an 

education in the arts.” This is the opening statement 

of The Value and Quality of Arts Education: A Statement 

of Principles, a document from the nation’s ten 

most important educational organizations, including 

the American Association of School Administrators, 

the National Education Association, the National 

Parent Teacher Association, and the National School 

Boards Association. 

The basic statement is unlikely to be challenged 

by anyone involved in education. In the sometimes 

harsh reality of limited time and funding for 

instruction, however, the inclusion of the arts in every 

student’s education can sometimes be relegated to a 

distant wish rather than an exciting reality. 

It doesn’t have to be that way! All that’s 

needed is a clear message sent to all those who must 

make the hard choices involved in running a school or 

school system. The basic message is that music programs 

in the schools help our kids and communities 

in real and substantial ways. You can use the following 

facts about the benefits of music education, based 

on a growing body of convincing research, to move 

decision-makers to make the right choices. 

The benefits conveyed by music education can be 

grouped in four categories: 

· Success in society 

· Success in school and learning 

· Success in developing intelligence 

· Success in life 

When presented with the many and manifest 

benefits of music education, officials at all levels 

should universally support a full, balanced, sequential 

course of music instruction taught by qualified teachers. 

And every student will have an education in the 

arts. 

SUCCESS IN SOCIETY 

Perhaps the basic reason that every child must 

have an education in music is that music is a part of 

the fabric of our society. The intrinsic value of music 

for each individual is widely recognized in the many 

cultures that make up American life — indeed, every 

human culture uses music to carry forward its ideas 

and ideals. The importance of music to our economy 

is without doubt. And the value of music in shaping 

individual abilities and character are evident. – NAfME 



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Data shows that high earnings are not just associated 

with people who have high technical skills. In fact, 

mastery of the arts and humanities is just as closely 

correlated with high earnings, and, according to our 

analysis, that will continue to be true. History, music, 

drawing, and painting, and economics will give our 

students an edge just as surely as math and science 

will. – Tough Choices or Tough Times: The report 

of the new commission on the skills of the American 

workforce, 2007, page 29. 

The arts provide one alternative for states 

looking to build the workforce of tomorrow – a choice 

growing in popularity and esteem. The arts can provide 

effective learning opportunities to the general 

student population, yielding increased academic 

performance, reduced absenteeism, and better skill 

building. An even more compelling advantage is the 

striking success of arts-based educational programs 

among disadvantaged populations, especially at-risk 

and incarcerated youth. For at-risk youth, that segment 

of society most likely to suffer from limited lifetime 

productivity, the arts contribute to lower recidivism 

rates; increased self-esteem; the acquisition of job 

skills; and the development of much needed creative 

thinking, problem solving and communications skills. 

Involvement in the arts is one avenue by which at-risk 

youth can acquire the various competencies necessary 

to become economically self-sufficient over the long 

term, rather than becoming a financial strain on their 

states and communities. – The Impact of Arts Education 

on Workforce Preparation, May 2002, The National 

Governors Association. 

The abilities associated with the humanities 

and the arts are vital, both to the health of individual 

nations and to the creation of a decent world culture. 

These include the ability to think critically, to transcend 

local loyalties and to approach international 

problems as a “citizen of the world”. And, perhaps 

most important, the ability to imagine sympathetically 

the predicament of another person. One of the best 

ways to cultivate sympathy is through instruction in 

literature, music, theatre, fine arts and dance. 

When people put on a play or a dance piece together, 

they learn to cooperate – and find they must go 

beyond tradition and authority if they are going to express 

themselves well. The sort of community created 

by the arts is non-hierarchical – a model of the responsiveness 

and inter-activity that a good democracy will 

also foster in its political processes. And not the least, 

the arts can be a great source of joy. Participation in 

plays, songs and dances fills children with happiness 

that can carry over into the rest of their education. 

We need to favor an education that cultivates 

the critical capacities, that fosters a complex understanding 

of the world and its peoples and that educates 

and refines the capacity for sympathy. In short, an 

education that cultivates human beings rather than 

producing useful machines. If we do not insist on the 

crucial importance of the humanities and the arts, they 

will drop away. They don’t make money; but they do 

something far more precious; they make the world 

worth living in. 

– Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service 

Professor of Law and Ethics, University of Chicago; 

Newsweek International, August 21 – 18, 2006; 

“Teaching Humanity”. 

Secondary students who participated in band 

or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current 

use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs). – 

Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Report. 

Reported in Houston Chronicle, January 1998. 

The U.S. Department of Education lists the arts 

as subjects that college-bound middle and junior high 

school students should take, stating “Many colleges 

view participation in the arts and music as a valuable 

experience that broadens students’ understanding and 

appreciation of the world around them. It is also well 

known and widely recognized that the arts contribute 

significantly to children’s intellectual development.” 

In addition, one or two years of Visual and Performing 

Arts is recommended for college-bound high school 

students. – Getting Ready for College Early: A Handbook 

for Parents of Students in the Middle and Junior 

High School Years, U.S. Department of Education, 

1997. 

The fact that choral singing is a communal activity 

is especially significant today when we increasingly 

rely on internet-based communications, rather 



37

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than face-to-face interaction. Several recent studies 

have shown a significant decline in civic engagement 

in our communities. Robert Putnam, Harvard University’s 

Kennedy School of Government scholar, asserts 

that the significance of choral singing goes beyond 

music making, and even beyond the arts. He sees 

group performing as contributing directly to the social 

trust and reciprocity that is the basis of civic engagement. 

His work shows that the mere existence of choral 

groups helps foster America’s democratic culture. 

Chorus America found that choral singers are 

far more likely to be involved in charity work, as volunteers 

and as donors (76 %), than the average person 

(44% according to a 2001 report by Independent Sector). 

Choral singers are also more than twice as likely 

as non-participants to be aware of current events and 

involved in the political process. They are also twice 

as likely as the general public to be major consumers 

of other arts – and not just music. – America’s Performing 

Art: A Study of Choruses, Choral Singers, and 

their Impact (Chorus Impact Study, 2003). 

SUCCESS IN SCHOOL AND LEARNING 

Success in society, of course, is predicated on 

success in school. Any music teacher or parent of a 

music student can call to mind anecdotes about effectiveness 

of music study in helping children become 

better students. Skills learned through the discipline 

of music, these stories commonly point out, transfer 

to study skills, communication skills, and cognitive 

skills useful in every part of the curriculum. Another 

common variety of story emphasizes the way that the 

discipline of music study — particularly through participation 

in ensembles — helps students learn to work 

effectively in the school environment. – NAfME 

The term ‘core academic subjects’ means English, 

reading or language arts, mathematics, science, 

foreign languages, civics and government, economics, 

arts, history, and geography.” 

– No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, Title IX, Part A, 

Sec. 9101 (11) 

“When I hear people asking how do we fix the 

education system, I tell them we need to do the opposite 

of what is happening, cutting budgets by cutting 

music programs…. Nothing could be stupider than 

removing the ability for the left and right brains to 

function. Ask a CEO what they are looking for in an 

employee and they say they need people who understand 

teamwork, people who are disciplined, people 

who understand the big picture. You know what they 

need? They need musicians.” – Former Arkansas Governor 

Mike Huckabee, MENC Centennial Congress, 

Orlando, Florida, June 2007. 

Schools that have music programs have significantly 

higher graduation rates than do those without 

programs (90.2% as compared to 72.9%). In addition, 

those that rate their programs as “excellent” or “very 

good” have an even higher graduation rate (90.9%). 

Schools that have music programs have significantly 

higher attendance rates than do those without programs 

(93.3% as compared to 84.9%). –Harris Interactive 

poll of high school principals conducted Spring 

2006; funded by NAfME and NAMM. 

Students in high-quality school music programs 

score higher on standardized tests compared 

to students in schools with deficient music education 

programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of 

the school or school district. Students in top-quality 

music programs scored 22% better in English and 20% 

better in math than students in deficient music programs. 

Students in top-quality instrumental programs 

scored 19% higher in English than students in schools 

without a music program. Students in top quality instrumental 

programs scored 17% higher in math than 

children in schools without a music program. Students 

at schools with excellent music programs had higher 

English and math test scores across the country than 

students in schools with low-quality music programs. 

Students in all regions with lower-quality instrumental 

programs scored higher in English and math than 

students who had no music at all. – NAfME Journal 

of Research in Music Education, Winter 2006, vol. 

54, No. 4, pgs. 293- 307; “Examination of Relationship 

between Participation in School Music Programs 

of Differing Quality and Standardized Test Results” 

Christopher M. Johnson and Jenny E. Memmott, University 

of Kansas. 



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Students of the arts continue to outperform their nonarts 

peers on the SAT, according to reports by the College 

Entrance Examination Board. In 2006, SAT takers 

with coursework/experience in music performance 

scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the 

test and 43 points higher on the math portion than 

students with no coursework or experience in the arts. 

Scores for those with coursework in music appreciation 

were 62 points higher on the verbal and 41 points 

higher on the math portion. – The Student Descriptive 

Questionnaire, a self-reported component of the SAT 

that gathers information about students’ academic 

preparation, gathered data for these reports. Source: 

The College Board, Profile of College-Bound Seniors 

National Report for 2006. 

Schools that have higher levels of student 

participation in the fine arts receive higher academic 

ratings and have lower dropout rates. Average student 

enrollment in fine arts courses is 17 percent points 

higher in high schools that are rated “exemplary” than 

in those rated “low performing”, based on data from 

the Texas Education Agency on 951 high schools. 

Schools with the lowest dropout rates on average 

have 52% of their students enrolled in fine arts classes 

while schools with the highest dropout rates have only 

42% of their students in fine arts courses. The data 

from 864 middle schools followed the same trend 

as high schools. – Analysis conducted by the Texas 

Coalition for Quality Arts Education and the Texas 

Music Educators Association. 

Nearly 100% of past winners in the prestigious 

Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science 

and Technology (for high school students) play one 

or more musical instruments. This led the Siemens 

Foundation to host a recital at Carnegie Hall in 2004, 

featuring some of these young people, after which a 

panel of experts debated the nature of the apparent 

science/music link. – The Midland Chemist (American 

Chemical Society) Vol. 42, No.1, Feb. 2005. 

The Georgia Project found that school districts 

in Georgia that made staffing and funding of their arts 

programs a priority tended to have higher overall rates 

of student participation in the arts, and higher rates 

of arts student retention. Such districts tend to have 

lower dropout rates in grades 9 – 12 and thus keep 

their students in school longer and graduate more of 

them. Students tended to score higher on achievement 

and performance tests, such as the SAT and 

Georgia High School Graduation Test. They tended 

to graduate more of their students with college prep 

diplomas, percentages increasing with diversity of 

arts curriculum and percent of students participating. 

While these findings do not prove a cause and effect 

relationship, they do indicate “strong arts programs 

need not come at the expense of academic achievement. 

Rather, the arts are an important factor in 

achieving academic excellence.” – Executive Summary, 

The Georgia Project: A Status Report on Arts 

Education in the State of Georgia, 2004; Dr. John 

Benham, President, Music in World Cultures Program, 

Bethel University, St. Paul, MN. 

“Music is an extremely rich kind of experience 

in the sense that it requires cognition, it requires 

emotion, it requires aesthetics, it develops 

performance skills, individual capabilities. These 

things have to be developed and all have to be 

synchronized and integrated so that, as a person 

learns music, they stretch themselves mentally in a 

variety of ways. What we are finding is that the kind 

of mental stretching that takes place can be of value 

more generally, that is, to help children in learning 

other things. And these other things, in turn, can 

help them in the learning of music, so that there is a 

dialogue between the different kinds of learning.” – 

from the Music in Education National Consortium, 

Journal for Learning through Music, Second Issue, 

Summer 2003, “What Makes Music Work for Public 

Education?” – pg. 87 Dr. Martin F. Gardiner, Brown 

University 

Harvard Project Zero researcher Larry Scripp 

investigated how intensive music study could serve 

as the basis for academic excellence. His research 

at Conservatory Lab Charter School attempted to 

identify innovative ways to incorporate music into 

the curriculum and then measure its impact. Among 

his findings: notational skills in music, not musical 

performance, correlate positively with achievement 

in math and reading. According to Scripp, “The ability 

to process musical symbols and representations, 

a skill relegated to the training of the talented few in 



41

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the past, is a leading predictor of music’s association 

with learning in other subject areas”. He also found 

that musical pitch is more predictive of mathematical 

ability while rhythm is more predictive of reading 

ability. 

James Catterall (Prof. of Education, UCLA) 

stated, in response to Scripp, that “since our education 

systems ideally focus on academic and social development, 

the arts should legitimately be considered in the 

array of potential instructional strategies contributing 

to these goals”. — EXCERPTED from Terry Teitelbaum, 

Stephanie F. Gillis, “Arts Education: A Review 

of the Literature”, Blueprint Research and Design, 

Inc.; prepared for the Performing Arts Program of the 

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. 

SUCCESS IN DEVELOPING INTELLIGENCE 

Success in school and in society depends on an 

array of abilities. Without joining the intense ongoing 

debate about the nature of intelligence as a basic 

ability, we can demonstrate that some measures of a 

child’s intelligence are indeed increased with music 

instruction. Once again, this burgeoning range of data 

supports a long-established base of anecdotal knowledge 

to the effect that music education makes kids 

smarter. What is new and especially compelling, however, 

is a combination of tightly controlled behavioral 

studies and ground breaking neurological research that 

show how music study can actively contribute to brain 

development. – NAfME 

Results of an IQ test given to groups of children 

(total: 144) who were provided with lessons in 

keyboard, voice, drama or no lessons at all, showed 

that the IQ of students in the keyboard or voice classes 

increased from their pre-lesson IQ score, more than 

the IQ of those students taking drama or no lessons. 

Generally these increases occurred across IQ subtests, 

index scores, and academic achievement. – Summary 

by NAfME; Original source: August 2004, Psychological 

Science, a journal of the American Psychological 

Society; Dr. E. Glenn Schellenberg (University of 

Toronto). 

Children with music training had significantly 

better verbal memory than those without such training, 

and the longer the training, the better the verbal 

memory. Researchers studied 90 boys between the 

ages of 6 and 15. Half had musical training as members 

of their school’s string orchestra program, plus 

lessons in playing classical music on Western instruments 

like the flute or violin for one to five years. 

The other 45 students had no training. Students with 

musical training recalled more words in a verbal 

memory test than did untrained students, and after a 

30-minute delay, students with training also retained 

more words than the control group. In a follow-up one 

year later, students who continued training and beginners 

who had just started learning to play both showed 

improvement in verbal learning and retention. – Summary 

by NAfME. Original source: Ho, Y. C., Cheung, 

M. C., & Chan, A. Music training improves verbal but 

not visual memory: cross-sectional and longitudinal 

explorations in children (2003) Neuropsychology, 12, 

439-450. 

A 2004 Stanford University study showed that 

mastering a musical instrument improves the way the 

human brain processes parts of spoken language. In 

two studies, researchers demonstrated that people with 

musical experience found it easier than non-musicians 

to detect small differences in word syllables. They also 

discovered that musical training helps the brain work 

more efficiently in distinguishing split-second differences 

between rapidly changing sounds that are essential 

to processing language. About 40 adults, divided 

into groups of musicians and non-musician, matched 

by age, sex, general language ability and intelligence, 

were tested. To qualify, the musicians need to have 

started playing instruments before age 7 and never 

stopped, practicing several hours/week. Functional 

magnetic resonance imaging showed the musicians 

had more focused, efficient brain activity. “This is the 

first example showing how musical training alters how 

your brain processes language components.” – Prof. 

John Gabrieli, former Stanford psychology professor, 

now associate director of MIT’s Athinoula A. Martinos 

Center for Biomedical Imaging (Nov. 2005). 

Young children who take music lessons show 

different brain development and improved memory 

over the course of a year, compared to children who 

do not receive musical training. The brains of musically 

trained children respond to music in a different 

way to those of untrained children, and that the musi- 



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cal training improves their memory. After one year 

the musically trained children performed better in a 

memory test that is correlated with general intelligence 

skills such as literacy, verbal memory, Visio spatial 

processing, mathematics and IQ. Dr. Laurel Trainer, 

Prof. of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behavior at 

McMaster University, Director of the McMaster Institute 

for Music and the Mind. 

Playing a musical instrument significantly 

enhances the brainstem’s sensitivity to speech sounds. 

This relates to encoding skills involved with music 

and language. Experience with music at a young age 

can “fine-tune” the brain’s auditory system. – from a 

study supported by Northwestern University, grants 

from the National Institutes of Health, and the National 

Science Foundation. Nina Kraus, director of NWU’s 

Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory and senior author 

of the study, which appeared in April 2007 Nature 

Neuroscience. Other contributing researchers/authors: 

Patrick Wong, primary author “Musical Experience 

Shapes Human Brainstem Encoding of Linguistic 

Pitch Patterns” Other researchers Erika Skoe, Nicole 

Russo, Tasha Dees. 

A study of 31 children found that children who 

received keyboard instruction for two years beginning 

at age 3 continued to score higher on spatial-temporal 

and arithmetic tasks two years after the instruction 

was terminated (Rauscher & LeMieux, 2003). The age 

at which children begin instruction appears to affect 

the duration of extra-musical cognitive outcomes, and 

longitudinal research suggests that at least two years 

of music instruction are required for sustained enhancement 

of spatial abilities (Rauscher, 2002); ERIC 

Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting , Can 

Music Instruction Affect Children’s Cognitive Development? 

ERIC Digest; Frances H. Rauscher; ERIC 

Identifier: ED480540, Publication Date: 09/2003. 

“Academic work is really about certain types 

of deductive reasoning, and especially some forms of 

verbal and mathematical reasoning. Developing these 

abilities is an essential part of education. But if intelligence 

were limited to academic ability most of human 

culture would never have happened. There’d be no 

practical technology, business, music, art, literature, 

architecture, love, friendship or anything else. These 

are big ideas to leave out of our common-sense view 

of intelligence and educational achievement.” Sir Ken 

Robinson, Senior Advisor, Education Policy, Getty 

Foundation, in an Arts and Minds: Conversations 

about the Arts interview; Education Commission of 

the States, April 2005 How Creativity, Education and 

the Arts Shape a Modern Economy. 

SUCCESS IN LIFE 

Each of us wants our children — and the 

children of all those around us — to achieve success 

in school, success in employment, and success 

in the social structures through which we move. But 

we also want our children to experience “success” on 

a broader scale. Participation in music, often as not 

based on grounding in music education during the 

formative school years, brings countless benefits to 

each individual throughout life. The benefits may be 

psychological or spiritual, and they may be physical as 

well. – NAfME 

To put it simply, we need to keep the arts in 

education because they instill in students the habits 

of mind that last a lifetime: critical analysis skills, the 

ability to deal with ambiguity and to solve problems, 

perseverance and a drive for excellence. Moreover, the 

creative skills children develop through the arts carry 

them toward new ideas, new experiences, and new 

challenges, not to mention personal satisfaction. This 

is the intrinsic value of the arts, and it cannot be overestimated. 

– Education Week, Issue 20, vol. 24, pg. 40, 

52; Jan 26, 2005, Rod Paige (former U.S. Secretary 

of Education), Mike Huckabee, former Governor of 

Arkansas, Education Commission of the States Chairman, 

Chairman’s Initiative on the Arts in Education. 

“The arts are not just affective and expressive. 

They are also deeply cognitive. They develop the tools 

of thinking itself: careful observation of the world, 

mental representation of what is observed or imagined, 

abstraction from complexity, pattern recognition and 

development, symbolic and metaphoric representation, 

and qualitative judgment. We use these same thinking 

tools in science, philosophy, math and history. The advantage 

of the arts is that they link cognitive growth to 

social and emotional development. Students care more 

deeply about what they study, they see the links 



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. 

WORKSHOPS 

Viola Celebration Nov 1-2, 2014 

Single Reed Day Nov 7, 2014 

Orgelfest Jan 24, 2015 

Tennessee Cello Workshop Feb 27–Mar 1, 2015 

Jazz Festival Mar 7, 2014 

Violin Festival Mar 27–28, 2014 

45

TM 


between subjects and their lives, their thinking capacities 

grow, they work more diligently, and they learn 

from each other.” – Nick Rabkin, Executive Director of 

the Center for Arts Policy, Columbia College Chicago; 

Robin Redmond, associate director of CAP. “The Art of 

Education Success”, Washington Post, January 8, 2005, 

pg. A19. 

An education rich in the arts and humanities 

develops skills that are increasingly crucial to the productivity 

and competitiveness of the nation’s workforce: 

the ability to think creatively, communicate effectively 

and work collaboratively, and to deal with ambiguity 

and complexity. Just as important, exposure to the arts 

and humanities fosters cultural literacy: the ability to 

understand and appreciate other cultures, perspectives 

and traditions; to read and understand music and literature; 

to craft a letter or essay; to design a Web site; 

and to discern the “hidden persuaders” in a political or 

commercial advertisement. Arts and humanities education 

also develops skills necessary to participate in one 

of the fastest-growing, economically significant set of 

occupations and industries in the American economy – 

the arts, cultural and intellectual property section. The 

“creative workforce” – which includes traditional artist 

categories (dancers, musicians, painters, actors, photographers, 

authors), as well as individuals employed 

in advertising, architecture, fashion design, film, video, 

music, publishing and software development – is growing 

at a rate more than double that for the rest of the nation’s 

work forces. – Summary of paper by Prof. Ann M. 

Galligan, Northeastern University, in her paper “Creativity, 

Culture, Education and the Workforce”, Center 

for Arts and Culture, December 2001, www.culturalpolicy.org; 

summary provided/written by Suzanne Weiss, 

in the “Progress of Education Reform 2004: The Arts 

in Education”; vol. 5, no. 1, January 2004, Education 

Commission of the States. 

While many executives turn to golf, tennis or 

boating for recreation, some unwind by making music 

together. They may be members of relatively large 

organizations like the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, 

whose 55 members are almost all executives, 

or of smaller outfits, like a rock ‘n roll band or a jazz 

ensemble. Beyond the pure pleasure the music brings, 

some executives say, there can be chances to advance 

a career. And creating a performance can help 

executives develop basic management skills. “If you 

are in an improv jazz ensemble or a small chamber 

group, you learn to think fast on your feet and how 

to be flexible and to collaborate and compromise, 

and that may yield a creative outcome.” (J. Richard 

Hackman, a professor of organizational psychology 

at Harvard University who has studied symphony 

orchestras). Amy Zipkin, “Learning Teamwork by 

Making Music”, for the New York Times, November 

16, 2003. 

“I dream of a day when every child in America 

will have in his or her hand a musical instrument, 

be it a clarinet, a drumstick or a guitar. And 

I dream of a day when there’s no state legislature 

that would even consider cutting funding for music 

and the arts because they realize that it’s a life skill 

that changes the lives of students and gives them not 

only better academic capability, but it makes them 

better people. We sometimes forget that many of 

us in this room, including this guy standing right in 

front of you, would not be where he is today if not 

for having music introduced in my life because it 

gave me the understanding of teamwork, discipline 

and focus.” – Mike Huckabee, Former Arkansas 

Governor; NAMM University Breakfast Sessions 

2007, NAMM Playback Magazine, Spring 2007, pg. 

36. 

“Music has a great power for bringing people 

together. With so many forces in this world acting to 

drive wedges between people, it’s important to preserve 

those things that help us experience our common 

humanity.” – Ted Turner, Turner Broadcasting 

System 

“Music is one way for young people to 

connect with themselves, but it is also a bridge for 

connecting with others. Through music, we can introduce 

children to the richness and diversity of the 

human family and to the myriad rhythms of life.” 

– Daniel A. Carp, Eastman Kodak Company Chairman 

and CEO 

“Casals says music fills him with the wonder 

of life and the ‘incredible marvel’ of being a human. 

Ives says it expands his mind and challenges him 

to be a true individual. Bernstein says it is enrich- 



47

TM 


ing and ennobling. To me, that sounds like a good cause for making music and the arts an integral part of every 

child’s education. Studying music and the arts elevates children’s education, expands students’ horizons, and 

teaches them to appreciate the wonder of life.” – U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley 

“The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of the nation, is close to the 

center of a nation’s purpose – and is a test to the quality of a nation’s civilization.” – John F. Kennedy 

I have made a career doing things that weren’t even invented when I graduated from high school 40 

years ago. It will be the same for today’s graduates, only on a sharply accelerating timeline. Much of what I 

learned in the classroom is obsolete or, at best, only marginally useful. What has made a difference in my life 

has been the ability to learn as I go, to adapt to new ideas, to have the courage to take risks, and to feel confident 

I will be able to perform and successfully meet the challenges of new situations. These skills I learned 

through participation in band and drama. - Fred Behning retired from IBM Corporation after a 32-year career 

that included assignments in systems engineering, product development, management, and customer technology 

briefings, and is still an IBM consultant. A life-long musician, Fred plays oboe and English horn in the 

Williamson County Symphony Orchestra and the Austin Symphonic Band. TM 

National Association for Music Education, Why Music Education? 

Facts and Insights on the Benefits of Music Study 2007. 



Vest - National Core Arts Standards: An Introduction continued from page 29: 

These Common Anchor Standards encapsulate the Nine National Standards, which should make for easy 

transfer between the old and the new. For example, Standard 1 from the old standards, “ Singing, alone and with 

others, a varied repertoire of music,” would easily fit under the “Perform” category in the NCAS. Standard 6 

from the old standards, “Listening to , analyzing and describing music”, would easily fit under the “Respond” 

category in the NCAS. These common anchor standards come from the Tennessee Arts Growth Measures System, 

colloquially known as the “portfolio evaluation model.” That’s right—the NCAS have their roots here in 

Tennessee! 

Underneath these Common Anchor Standards are the Enduring Understandings and the Essential Questions. 

Enduring Understandings are the big ideas that we want our students to leave our classrooms and rehearsal 

halls pondering. These go beyond rote knowledge. The statement “Someone who writes music is called 

a composer” is rote knowledge. While that is definitely a term we want our students to know, contrast that 

statement with, “Musicians’ creative choices are influenced by their expertise, context, and expressive intent” 

(Shuler, et. al, 2014). With this, students not only define what a “composer” is, but they can explain, and hopefully, 

understand how and why a composer makes creative choices. Composing can be a frightening concept for 

many students (and teaching it can be frightening to many music educators). When someone truly understands 

something, however, it becomes less scary, less intimidating, and is more likely to try it him or herself, which is 

ultimately what we want for our students, right? 

The final concept in the NCAS are the Essential Questions. These questions are the core ideas and inquiries 

within our discipline. They are not answerable with one word, and can’t be succinctly categorized on a 

multiple-choice exam. Consider these examples of Essential Questions from the NCAS: 

“When is a performance ready to present?” “How do context and the manner in which musical work is presented 

influence audience response?” Questions like these allow our students not only to perform music, but 

to think critically and speak intelligently about those performances, and hopefully, elicit a stronger (and more 

positive) audience response. 

This may all seem like a lot of stuff coming from a lot of different places, and it can be confusing. It’s 

important to remember that NAfME is, first and foremost, an advocacy group. NAfME (and TMEA, for that 

matter) does not enact educational laws or policy; it can only recommend, and at this time, the standards are 

only recommendations. There has been no push for these to be adopted at the federal level. 

Many states took the Nine National Standards and elaborated on them, building a curriculum map and/ 

or scope and sequence around them. My assumption is that this will happen with the NCAS, and hopefully, 

TMEA will have a part in making that happen in Tennessee. There is one important commonality between the 

old standards the NCAS; they don’t dictate how you should teach them. You will still be able to bring your own 

personal strengths and teaching style into your classroom; after all, that’s what makes you great and what makes 

students want to keep coming back to your class. 

Should I be using the new standards? 

So what should you do right now, today? Throw out the old and start with the new? In Tennessee, we 

currently have standards for music education based on the Nine National Standards. Keep using these! These 

are very good standards with attainable goals for our students. I would suggest looking at the NCAS and trying 

to find a way to slowly implement them into your day-to-day lessons, activities and rehearsals. If your school 

system is using the Tennessee Arts Growth Measures System as part of your evaluation, then you may want to 

do even more. The NCAS also includes some “Model Cornerstone Assessments” that can help get you started 

with assessment and data collection. If the NCAS are adopted in TN, then you will already have a working 

knowledge of them and the transition might not be quite so jarring. 

In some ways, we are very lucky that we aren’t the victims of quick policy decisions like our colleagues in 

some other content areas. We have time to figure this out! I, for one, am very excited about what these standards 

can bring to our field. The music educators in Tennessee are some of the finest in the nation, and I look 

forward to seeing how we approach this next chapter in our profession. TM 

49

TM 

2014-2015 Tennessee Music Education Association 

Board of Directors and Council 

TMEA EXECUTIVE BOARD 

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 



TM 

2014-2015 Tennessee Music Education Association 

Board of Directors and Council 

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 

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-10 th 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 

9th-10 th 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-12 th 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 

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 

Webmaster: 

Lisa Leopold 

Normal Park Museum Magnet 

1219 West Mississippi Avenue 


W 423-209-5914 

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 

51

Tennessee Music Education Association 

129 Paschal Drive 

Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37128 

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