SEArkCDA Minutes

August 29, 2006

The Fall meeting of the Southeast Arkansas Choral Directors Association was held at the Monticello Country Club August 29, 2006 at 6:15 PM. The meeting was called to order by Region Chair, Rodney Ford. The following region members were present: Marty Sewald, Charlotte Wilson, Annette Rushing, Denise Gray, Karen Robinson, Laura Ferguson, Kevin Dunn, Michael Binns, Sr., Mae Rowe, Cara Akin, Tammy Albrecht, Lucille Smith, Nathan Fitzpatrick, Susan Buckner, Kathy Felts. Minutes of the last meeting were distributed to the membership.

Rodney had the following announcements:

1 We were reminded to register our school on the website, and everyone needed to register a user name + a user name for voting.

2 The results of the recent balloting were that all proposals passed.

3 Eligibility forms and students lists are due October 1. These must be mailed to Tom after the AAA form is signed by the building principal.

4 State CPA scheduling: Tom will begin scheduling the 7A schools on Thursday morning and work downward from there, ending with the 1A schools on Saturday.

5 Registrations for All-Region auditions will be done entirely on the ArkCDA website. Sr. registration is due Sept. 22; Jr. registration is due Oct. 7.

6 Registration fees for All-Region Auditions will be $5.00.

There were several mistakes noted on the accompaniment CD’s for the All-Region music. For Jr. High, “Make a Joyful Noise” there are repeated notes in the alto part on m.23-24, and the same again at m. 53-54. It was agreed that this will not be tryout spot and the directors are to teach the music correctly, not as it is on the CD. Also, there are no optional notes on the CD so there is no Soprano II part on this song. In “Who Are the Brave” ALL the optional notes are on the CD, therefore they will be expected to be sung at auditions.

For Sr. High, in “Simple Gifts” on the part-emphasized track: for the altos at m.107 they play a g natural, but the correct note is a g sharp; for the basses at m.147 they play a b flat to g, but a b flat to f is correct.

Rodney announced that there is a good full-choir recording of “Kpanlongo” on the website of Santa Barbara Music Publications.

Retha Kilmer of the SW Region has offered to host the Jr. Honors Festival in 2008, but no one has volunteered for this year nor has a date been set. Tom Street has said he will be our event manager if we can find a date and a host. Various dates were discussed and Annette Rushing proposed Saturday, March 17, 2007 for Honors Festival. Cara Akins said she would check to see if we could have the event in the Drew Central Auditorium and Rodney said he would check with Tom, Mark Langley of the SW Region, and the AAA to see if that date is acceptable.

The region members elected Marty Sewald as our Senior Director of the Year and Susan Buckner as our Junior Director of the Year.

The new directors were introduced: Kevin Dunn at Crossett High School, Mae Rowe at Dermott, Tammie Albrecht at Monticello Middle School, and Nathan Fitzpatrick at Lakeside High School.

Annette Rushing told us to look at the Teacher’s Resources page of the ArkCDA website---there are video worksheets as well as discipline hints that are available to all teachers.

The implementation of our frameworks, 1.1.21, 1.1.17, 3.1.15, and 3.1.16, while teaching the All-Region audition pieces was discussed. Also sight-reading practices (1.1.20) were emphasized as necessary as a daily classroom activity.

The meeting was closed in due form by the chairman at 8:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Buckner, Secretary