Large Group Festival to be Held March 17th at Monarch High School

The third annual Colorado ASTA Large Group Orchestra Festival will be held at Monarch High School on Thursday, March 17, 2016 for both middle and high school. The fee for the festival is $275 per orchestra. Three judges and a clinician will hear your performance, and you will receive a clinic immediately following your performance. The registration form can be accessed here. Please contact Nancy Allwein (cameostring@gmail.com), Colorado ASTA Large Group Festival Chair, or Fred Jewell (fred.jewell@bvsd.org), Monarch High School Orchestra Director and Colorado ASTA Large Group Festival Site Host, with any questions. 

CMEA Schedule

Wednesday (January 27, 2016)

5:00-6:45 CHSAA Adjudication Training (Colorado Hall F)

7:00-8:45 Orchestra Adjudication Workshop (International Center)

Thursday (January 28, 2016)

8:30-9:50 Opening Session (Broadmoor Hall A)

10:00-10:45 “Doubling Your Success In the Beginning String Classroom”--Gail Barnes (Jones Room)

11:00-11:50 "Back To Basics: Steps To Establishing Solid Rhythm, Intontation and Tone From the Beginning!"--Jeremy Woolstenhulme (Jones Room)

12:00-12:45 “Building a Strong Team From the Middle. An Orchestra Director’s Guide To the Viola Section”--Margaret Miller and Sue Temple (Ross Room)

1:00-1:50 “Digital Practice Card”--John Hermanson (Theater)

2:00-2:45 Performance: Longmont High School-Chamber Orchestra (Main Ballroom)

3:00-3:45 “Successful Involvement of Special Needs Students in Music Ensembles”--Rebecca Jonas and Nicole Kmoch (Theater)

4:00-4:45 “String Players vs. Rhythm...Let the Battle Begin!"--Jeremy Woolstenhulme (Jones Room)

7:30-10:00 Opening Concert: Colorado Symphony Orchestra (International Center)

Friday (January 29, 2016)

8:00-8:50 “The ‘IT’ Factor in School Orchestra Literature”--Gail Barnes(Jones Room)

9:00-9:45 Colorado ASTA General Membership Meeting (Jones Room)

10:00-10:45 “Integrated Arts”--Catherine Beeson (Ross Room)

11:00-11:50 All-Conference Session: “Through the Looking Glass: Into the Future” (Broadmoor Hall A)

12:00-12:30 Performance: Falcon Creek Middle School-Orchestra (Main Ballroom)

1:00-1:45 “Posture, Pulse, Pitch...and Praise: Priorities in the String Classroom”--Gail Barnes (Ross Room)

3:15-3:45 Performance: Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School-Orchestra (Main Ballroom)

4:00-4:45 Performance: Colorado State University Symphony Orchestra (International Center North)

Saturday (January 30, 2016)

7:30-8:30 All-State Orchestra Governors’ Meeting (Lake Terrace Dining Room)

8:30-9:15 Performance: Cherry Creek High School-Chamber Orchestra (International Center North)

9:00-9:45 “I Want to Start a Chamber Music Program For My Students--How Do I Begin?”--Margaret Miller and Sue Temple (Jones Room)

10:00-10:45 “What About Us?: Teacher Wellness Strategies"--Margaret Berg (Ross Room)

10:30-11:15 "I’m Teaching Choir. Now What?"--Brian DuFresne and Connie Dewlan (Jones Room)

10:45-11:30 Performance: Fort Lewis College String Ensemble (Main Ballroom)

11:00-11:50 "How to Better Prepare Your Orchestra For Festival"--Wes Kenney and Leslie Stewart (Centennial Room)

12:00-12:45 Performance: Fort Collins High School-Symphony Orchestra (International Center North)

1:00-1:45 Orchestra New Music Reading Session (Main Ballroom)

President-Elect Elections

Voting for the new president-elect of Colorado ASTA is now open!  Voting will close at the Colorado ASTA general membership meeting at the 2016 CMEA conference. Please go here to cast your vote. More information about the nominees can be found below and on the Colorado ASTA website.

President-Elect Nominees:

Alison Mayes

Colorado native Alison Mayes began playing viola in 1996, sparking her joy in orchestral music. She has studied viola privately with Amber Campbell, Carlos Elias, Leslie Harlow, and Erika Eckert. Alison discovered her passion to instruct, inspire, and encourage young musicians through an intern teaching program that she co-founded with her own high school orchestra director in Grand Junction. She has been teaching music in Colorado public schools since 2007. Currently, Alison is the Orchestra Director at Grandview High School, where she also teaches AP Music Theory, Piano, and Rock and Roll History, as well as conducting the annual musical productions. Previously, Alison taught Orchestra at Broomfield High School (as a long-term interim director) and at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, Colorado. In May 2016, Alison will have completed her Master’s Degree in Music Education (Musicology Emphasis) from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Alison has been Counselor, Head Counselor, and Teacher with Camp Con Brio, String Camp of the Rockies (formerly C*ASTA String Camp) since 2001, and is now Camp Director as of 2013. In 2016, Alison will be co-pioneering the first annual Camp Con Brio High School String Camp. Additionally, she has taught music at several summer camps throughout Colorado, New Mexico, and Michigan. Alison also served as Chair Person for the Colorado High School All State Orchestra from 2013-2015. In September 2015, she accepted the position of Strings Ensemble Music Director with the Longmont Youth Symphony, Northern Colorado’s premier community youth orchestra.

In 2014, the Grandview High School String Orchestra auditioned and was accepted to perform at the American String Teachers Association National Conference in March 2015; out of hundreds of ensembles that auditioned from across the country. Including Grandview, only three ensembles from Colorado have ever earned this honor. In December 2015, the Grandview High School Chamber Orchestra performed at the 2015 Colorado Association of School Boards annual conference. The membership of Colorado ASTA also voted for Alison to receive the Outstanding Teacher Award in 2015.

Alison plays amplified violin with the Worship Team at Smoky Hill Vineyard Church in Centennial. Aside from teaching and performing, Alison enjoys cooking, baking, shopping, watching movies, listening to Beethoven and Led Zeppelin, going to Colorado Symphony concerts, hanging out with her husband Jason, and playing with their dogs – Cheyenne, Cassie, and Brio.

Announcing the 2016 CCAP Dates

The dates for the 2016 CCAP exams are Saturday, April 23, 2016 at D’Evelyn High School in Lakewood, and Saturday, May 7, 2016 at Front Range Community College in Ft. Collins. There have been some changes in the ASTA handbook, so please be familiar with the requirements. The registration form will be posted on the Colorado ASTA website soon. Encourage ASTA members to participate in this growing program for our Colorado string students. Please contact Margaret Miller (violaco@comcast.net) with any questions. We look forward to seeing many of you in the spring!

2016 National ASTA Conference Approaching

The 2016 National ASTA conference will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida on March 2-5, 2016. Additional information and registration instructions can be found on the national ASTA website. Orchestras from Denver School of the Arts (Enrique Lasansky, director) and Legacy High School (Aaron Carpenter, director) will be performing at the National Orchestra Festival associated with this conference. We hope to see many Colorado folks in attendance!

Upcoming Events and Important Dates

January 27-30, 2016:  Colorado Music Educators Clinic/Conference

February 11-13, 2016:  All State Orchestra

March 2-5, 2016: National ASTA Conference

March 17, 2016: Colorado ASTA Large Group Festival

Do you have an article, announcement, or other information you'd like to share with the Colorado ASTA membership? If so, we'd love to include it in our monthly newsletter! Please send your newsletter submissions to coloradoastawebmaster@gmail.com by the 20th of each month, and we will be sure to add them the next newsletter, which is published on the 1st of each month. Contact Hannah Smith (coloradoastawebmaster@gmail.com), Colorado ASTA webmaster and newsletter editor, with any questions.