South Carolina Board of Directors President's Message Calendar of Events SC Cello Choir SC Violin Choir Teacher Awards Newsletter By-Laws and Constitution Minutes of Board Mtgs. Information Update National ASTA Web Page Membership National Solo Competition National HS Orchestra Advertisers Webmaster |
President's MessageSummer 2009
Speaking of local events, take a look at the website for information and links to the upcoming “Cello Choir Cellobration!” This year’s event will be held at the College of Charleston and Ashely Hall September 4–5, 2009 and is hosted by Natalia Khoma. In addition to what is sure to be a fabulous event musically speaking, being in Charleston over the Labor Day weekend can add a relaxing dimension to the workshop. I hope you will encourage your students to attend this annual event and I wish our hosts the best for a very successful weekend! I have begun working on the plans for the second annual violin/choir workshop, so please mark your calendar for January 30th with the tentative location being Wade Hampton High School in Greenville. I plan to have all the details finalized by our next newsletter. A great big thank you to Phillip Pagal for volunteering to chair the National High School Honors Orchestra audition process. If you aren’t familiar with this program, it occurs every other year and offers junior and senior high school students the opportunity to perform with other students representing their states at the National ASTA Conference. Students audition locally and then are advanced to the national committee for final evaluation. This year the judges advanced Sarah Land, an eleventh grade violinist from Spring Valley High School. Her orchestra director is Dr. Christopher Selby and Mr. Neil Casey is her private instructor. Also moving on to the national round is violist Michelle Hillenius, a tenth grade student at the Charleston County School of the Arts, where her orchestra director is Ms. Sarah Fitzgerald. Thanks also to our judges, Dean Angeles and Gail Barnes. We appreciate their willingness to serve as judges for this important event. Speaking of the National Convention, it’s not too soon to start making flight plans for the 2010 conference, which will be held February 16-20 in Santa Clara, California. Finally, mark your calendar for our annual reading session in conjunction with the SCMEA Fall meeting on September 12 at Irmo High School. Special thanks to Colleen Marcou, for coordinating the event again this year. Best regards, Kathy Robinson, President |
Greetings to all and I hope this finds you enjoying what’s left of your summer break. This edition of the newsletter marks our very first electronic web edition of the newsletter, and I wish to give a nod of thanks to our newsletter editor and President-elect, Theresa Jenkins-Russ for producing the electronic version. Going electronic will save us a great deal of money, which can be used towards funding ongoing and new projects. Please stay in touch with the SCASTA web site, which is well taken care of by webmaster Andrew Levin. This is a great way to stay informed of local upcoming events and announcements; it also provides important links to the National ASTA website. If you haven’t taken a look around, please do. I am always interested to hear your suggestions concerning improving any aspect of our state chapter communications.