Spring 2023

President’s Message
The winter months have been extremely busy but
productive for the NCMEA leadership. As spring
approaches, several of our music educators are preparing
for Music Performance Adjudication (MPA). Best of luck to all of
the music educators who are participating in MPA state festivals.
As music educators, we all hold MPA in high regard. It is a great
opportunity to receive adequate and legitimate feedback on our
ensemble’s growth from year to year.
As a young educator, MPA can be extremely intimidating.
Because of this, we have encouraged our individual sections to
have virtual “MPA Happy Hours” where educators can receive
more information about the MPA process from experienced
music educators and understand how to begin to prepare their
ensembles and students for the MPA process. Please ask your
section president to provide you with the location of those videos.
Collegiate Presidential Chat
In the 2022 Membership Comparative Report, we noticed
our membership is beginning to grow to what it was before the
pandemic. Analyzing the data, we also noticed that out of all of
our membership, the section growing the least was the collegiate
students; particularly at our Historically Black College and
Universities (HBCUs).
As a result, we have begun to have Presidential Chats where
Susan Heiserman and I meet with collegiate music education
majors via Zoom or face-to-face. During this time, we discuss the
privileges of NCMEA membership, first year expectations, and
the importance of instrumental and vocal method classes. I am
very proud to report these students were engaged, eager to learn
and asked many thought-provoking questions. I am very sure the
future of music education is in good hands.
Recently, I had the
opportunity to present
to the HBCU collegiate
music educators and
students at the 63rd
Annual Intercollegiate
Music Association
(IMA) Conference.
The IMA Conference
was founded in 1960 as a vehicle for enriching and enhancing
the development of the students of its member institutions;
HBCU students from Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and
South Carolina. During this session, I had the opportunity to
answer questions and debunk myths about local MEAs and their
acceptance of HBCUs.
Popular Music Committee
I am sharing an excerpt from an article I wrote for the April
Johnathan Hamiel
2019 edition of NAFME’s Teaching Music entitled, “Every Child
has a Song to Sing… Is Your Bias Silencing Your Classroom.”
“As a music educator, one of the most detrimental
things I hear students say is that he or she loves music
but hates music class. Have we done these students a
disservice by not accepting their music as art forms
worthy of study? Rejecting your students’ music, to them,
can mean not accepting them, their family history, or
the culture and community of which they are a part. I
challenge you to reflect on the practices that you use and
to ask yourself whether they welcome and include each of
your students in all of the demographic areas that your
school serves. Are the art forms they cherish authentic
to the culture represented? Is there evidence of cultural
pluralism and different musical points of view? I challenge
you to listen to the ideas and the music of your students!”
I also wrote an article that was featured in the August 2021
“Jam Session” in Teaching Music, which stated, “The most
important thing I’ve learned from students during the pandemic
is that an interested mind is an invested mind.”
Why are these articles important or relevant now? We are
at a precipice of a new era of music education. At a time where
student interest in any subject is at an all-time low, one thing
they are continually interested in is music. But are we listening to
the voices of the students we serve? Better yet, how can we listen
to the voices of the students not in our music classes? Who will
speak for them? What are their thoughts and beliefs and why
aren’t they in the room if they love music? Money? Access? In the
aforementioned articles, I described how educators in any school
in the country can see students with earphones on, listening to
– and enjoying – music while going to class. Some of them are in
music classes and some are not.
We have to accept that everyone may not be interested in the
traditional forms of music education. Just because they are not
interested in the typical band, orchestra, and chorus setting does
not mean they can’t participate in music education. So many
students are making music with technology, on their phones or
other types of platforms.
As president of NCMEA, I feel it is our job to provide
opportunities for students and teachers to share what they are
creating and embrace their work! Music is the same, regardless
of band, chorus, orchestra, or electronic and popular music. All
sections are finding and creating new ways to manipulate sound,
rhythm, form, melody, style, and texture. At our core, these
values are the basic elements of music.
With this in mind, and due to the ongoing trend of
technology in music, it is with great honor and excitement that
I would like to announce the formation of a new committee
on the NCMEA Board of Directors! In January, the board
voted unanimously to form a Popular Music Committee. This
committee will be chaired by Dr. Jonathan Kladder, assistant
professor of music education at UNC Wilmington. I am eager to
see the positive impacts of this committee and how it brings more
voices to our NCMEA table.
Music in Our Schools
Month
It has been said, March enters in
like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
Well, the leadership of NCMEA have
been ferocious when addressing our
advocacy goals in music education.
In March, we celebrate Music in
Our Schools Month. For more
than 30 years, March has been
officially designated by the National
Association for Music Education
(NAfME) for the observance of
Music in Our Schools Month®
(MIOSM®), the time of year when
music education becomes the focus of
schools across the nation.
In North Carolina, we had a
series of performances across the
state to celebrate MIOSM and bring
awareness to our hard-working music
educators, as well as highlight how
music education changed our lives
and the lives of our students. This
year, we had a series of performances
at NCDPI, which included:
• March 9: Martin Middle School
(Wake County), Allison Thomas,
choral director
• March 14: MScotland High Symphonic Band (Scotland
County), Matthew Jorgensen, band director
• March 16: W.J. Gurganus Elementary School (Craven
County), Luana Palimetakis, music teacher
• March 21: Walter Williams High School (Alamance County),
Veronica Biscocho, orchestra director
• March 22: Fox Road Elementary music students (Wake
County, Monica Keele Jones, music teacher
• March 29 (virtual): Nesbitt Discovery Academy (Buncombe
County), Ben Sharp, orchestra director
• March 23: W.B. Wicker Elementary School (Lee County),
Hannah Kauffmann, music teacher
NCDPI has been extremely supportive of music education.
So much so that our State Superintendent Catherine Truitt has
created a video to be shared with everyone about her story of
going to a performing arts high school and playing piano as a
child. She even mentioned her father, who is still a practicing
music educator/band director at the age of 77. We look forward
to collaborating with Superintendent Truitt and her goals as they
pertain to the future of music education.
We are very excited to bring you a new composition by Liz
and Chris Betsch from Onslow County. If you perform this piece
this year, don’t forget to add #MIOSM2023 to all of your social
posts and to send the composers an email to let them know how
their music has reached our community. The new music is free
to download at the NCMEA website
under MIOSM.
This year MIOSM is even more
special to NC music educators
because Governor Roy Cooper
has proclaimed March Music in
Our Schools Month. We are very
appreciative of Governor Cooper
and his office as he supports the
music educators, music students and
music education in the state of North
Carolina.
Upcoming Events/
Webinars
Guitar Literature – Guitar
Method
Books and
Curriculum
Resources
Saturday, May
20, 11a.m. –
12p.m., ET
There are
dozens of guitar method books and
resources available for teachers to use
in their classrooms. But, which one
would you pick? In this Zoom session,
Chris Perez will discuss different method books available so you
can tailor instruction to the needs of your guitar students and
program. We will also review guitar method resources (scales,
rhythms studies, warm-ups, solo/ensemble music and more) that
may be immediately applied to your classroom teaching as well as
the future.
Listening To & Learning From Rural Music
Educators
Saturday, May 20, 9 – 11a.m., ET
Music-teacher educators from UNC-Wilmington, East
Carolina University, and Louisiana State University will facilitate
a conversation to explore practical issues that K-12 music teachers
face everyday. They will share findings from recent research
as practical professional development, specifically designed
to address the needs and guide next steps toward equity and
excellence for rural music teachers and their students. If you are
one of the many music educators in rural North Carolina, be sure
to take advantage of this webinar for professional networking and
learning opportunity!
8 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 9