Tennessee Musician - Vol. 67 No. 1

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
TM | Volume 67 number 1