TN Musician Vol. 75 No. 4

from last year after the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the second
year that our All-West Clinic Weekend was hosted in the newly
renovated Renasant Convention Center in Memphis with all
performances in the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.
West Tennessee groups that performed at the TMEA Conference
included Sound Fuzion from the University of Memphis and the
Collierville High School Wind Ensemble. Briarcrest Christian
School served as the site host for the inaugural TMEA All-
State Modern Band. Eight ensembles and seventeen solos
from WTSBOA auditioned for the opportunity to perform in
the Tennessee Bandmasters Association Solo & Ensemble
performance this year at the TMEA Conference.
WTVMEA
Adrian Maclin, President
Reachel Hudgins, President-Elect
We had a very successful school year in the West Tennessee Vocal
Music Educators Association (WTVMEA). Our regional honor
choirs were a huge success. Our senior high ensembles were
conducted by Dr. Dante Webb and Dr. Gaylon Robinson, both of
whom taught choral music in Shelby County until they moved on
to pursue advanced degrees. Joseph Powell (White Station High
School) was awarded Music Teacher of Excellence by the CMA
Foundation, and J.D. Frizzell and Frances Cathlina are semifinalists
for the 2024 Grammy Music Educator Award.
There were multiple West Tennessee schools who took choirs to
national and international festivals and returned with Superior
plaques and trophies. Briarcrest Christian School and Collierville
High School performed tours of Spain and England, respectively.
A special thanks to Dru Davidson, who has served as the Fine Arts
Coordinator for Shelby County Schools for the past seventeen
years, and to Mrs. Carol Culbreath, who spent her 40-year long
career at Whitehaven High School. The choral community in
West Tennessee wishes you both, along with the many retiring
music educators in this region, the very best. Thank you all for
the decades you have spent investing in the lives of children
and their families in West Tennessee.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE
MTGMEA
Corynn York, President
Abbi Miller, President-Elect
Middle Tennessee General Music Education Association
(MTGMEA) offered membership through their organization this
past school year for the first time in recent history. MTGMEA
offered a professional development workshop for music teachers
in Fall 2022. This event had a great turnout and helped increase
interest in our organization and build community among general
music teachers in the area.
This year, we launched our newsletter, which features updates
on all general music events in the Middle Tennessee area and
spotlights a different general music teacher in the Middle
Tennessee area. We proudly welcome Christina Stuible as our
President-Elect for 2023-2025. She is in her second year teaching
general music and choir at McFadden School of Excellence. We
are excited about her new ideas and fresh perspective.
MTSBOA
J.R. Baker, President
Stacy Jernigan, President-Elect
The 2022-2023 school year was a successful
year for the Middle Tennessee Band & Orchestra Association
(MTSBOA) with our band and orchestra programs thriving in
a full year of post-pandemic normalcy. Our membership hit
record numbers as we have over 400 members for the first time
in history. Participation was up at all of our major events this
year, and we saw our Mid-State auditions and CPA numbers back
up to pre-COVID levels. MTSBOA continued to refine our Mid-
State audition process, and this year was our first time using
composed etudes.
Our members were honored with several accolades, including
several being recognized as CMA Music Teachers of Excellence,
TMEA award winners, and a plethora of other honors.
Ravenwood High School won the MTSU Contest of Champions
for the first time. Metro Nashville Public Schools organized and
hosted the MNPS Marching Classic, spotlighting its marching
bands performing a variety of marching styles. Nolensville
High School gave a stellar performance at the TBA Hall of Fame
concert at TMEA. Eight of our band programs were awarded
the ASBDA Award of Distinction, and two of our orchestra
programs were awarded the ASTA Award of Distinction in
concert performance. MTSBOA also awarded two very talented
students with scholarships to help with their college expenses.
We are proud of all the accomplishments of this year and
look forward to a great year next year!
MTVA
Lorna Pyka, President
T.J. McLaughlin, President-Elect
Middle Tennessee Vocal Association (MTVA) successfully put
on the following events this year: Middle School Mass Choral
Festival, Freshman-Midstate Honor Choir, Elementary Mass
Choral Festival, Elementary/Middle School Honor Choirs, Choral
Performance Festival, and Solo & Ensemble. We were especially
excited to be able to bring back our Elementary Mass Choral
Festival this year, as we had not been able to have that event since
before the COVID-19 pandemic.
We had a significant rise in the number of schools/students who
auditioned for and participated in events this year. We were
also proud to not only have several of our local directors serve
as clinicians this year, but also host clinicians from Trevecca,
Georgia State, UTC and TTU. We made some changes to our
Choral Performance Assessment that allowed this event to be
better accessible to more schools, and we continue to add more
members to our organization. We are looking forward to an even
more successful year next year!
Tennessee Music Education Association | www.tnmea.org | 9