TN Musician Vol. 69 No. 1 (proof 4)

TMEA STATE CHORAL CHAIR’S MESSAGE
by W. Fitzgerald Patton
I
BELIEVE THAT MUSIC EDUCATORS HAVE A GREAT CALLING
to change and inspire the lives of our students each and every
day we are in the classroom. As state choral chair, my job is to
keep you informed on issues relevant to choral music education
so that teachers across this great state can continue fulfilling their
purpose. I am privileged to help strengthen music education in
our state through serving choral directors across the regions.
Having a unified audition process
will make the process throughout the
state more fair. In addition this uniform
approach will better ensure that the
top students are placed in each choir
because the process a student would
go through to get in a mid-state or allstate
chorus would be the same.
Before I introduce myself, let me take a moment to thank Jan
Johnson, our previous state choral chair, for all of her hard work.
Her dedication to serving choral directors is most appreciated. I
am Gerald Patton, choral director and fine arts chair at Blackman
High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I have taught elementary
general music, high school chorus, general music and music
theory. I have nearly 20 years of experience in music education. I
have served on the MTVA board for eight years as freshman honor
choir chair. I am the founding organizer of the Rutherford County
High School Choral Festival which has been in existence since
2006. I am also the artistic director for the Wilson County Civic
League Summer Arts Academy, a non-profit organization, located
in my hometown of Lebanon, Tennessee. Finally, I am a church
musician and worship leader at the Lebanon Cumberland Presbyterian
Church.
This is my first year on the state board, and I am honored to
serve in this capacity. The board met in early June to discuss many
issues for the upcoming school year. Most of our discussion centered
on our next TMEA conference in Nashville, Tennessee April
5 - 8, 2017. There were several hot topics, but the one that I believe
most of you are concerned about is this year’s all-state choral performance
venue. I can assure you, a lot of work has been devoted
to making sure our students have the best experience at all-state.
With that being said, we will not be at “the barn” again. Ron Meers,
TMEA executive director, is working tirelessly to ensure that we
have the performances at the presidential ballroom. But in order
for TMEA to acquire this space, we need ALL music directors
(band, orchestra, and choral) to stay at the Opryland Hotel. More
specifically, if we can book 800 rooms, then we are almost guaranteed
the ability to have the presidential ballroom for our all-state
performances. Directors, please help us and encourage your colleagues
to stay at the Opryland Hotel for our 2017 conference.
Other issues that were discussed included uniform audition
standards across the regions, transgender equality, diversity in
the NAfME and TMEA leadership, general assembly, conference
rooming coordinator, and new state music standards. Some of
these topics generated a great deal of discussion. With others
there was less discussion because of the need to do more research
and follow up.
Regarding, the transgender policy, the TMEA board will have
much more discussion before we elect to give an official recommendation,
but our main point is that students who are transgender
are not excluded in participating in music performances.
There is still a lot of dialogue that needs to happen, and I welcome
your feedback. But the bottom line is this; make sure all students
are included in your performances and make necessary accommodations
within reason so these students are not singled out.
Being African American, I am very fortunate to have attained
the successes I have had in my career, but I owe my success to the
teachers who inspired me and to my parents. I am on the state
board because I had a fellow colleague in my county recommend
me because she believed in me and knew that I possessed leadership
skills that would help further music education in our state.
Both NAfME and TMEA desire to have more African American
26 | TENNESSEE MUSICIAN | 2016 | Volume 69, No. 1