Fortissimo

2008-2009 Dates

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Next Years Festival Dates are as follows:

December 6, 2008 Northern Solo & Ensemble Festival

December 13, 2008 Southern Solo & Ensemble Festival

March 19-21, 2009 Concert Festival

Festival Comments and Feedback

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As we approach the 2008 Festival, I am most anxious to receive feedback about our conductors, the literature being performed, rehearsal organization and any other feedback that you might feel would aid us as we begin to organize our 2008 Solo & Ensemble Festival and our 2009 Concert Festival. As President, I will send your comments and suggestions to the appropriate person in charge of that particular area of organization, and if necessary, I will bring up your suggestions at the Executive Board level.

Any Festival of this nature is the work of numerous individuals that give of their time, effort and expertise because they believe in the value of this experience for young high school musicians. And even though we have organized and presented these Festivals every year since 1927, we are always changing and always trying to refine and streamline the process. Communication is the key element in all of this, and it is my hope that this forum will aid us in this respect.

So please feel free to comment on this blog about all aspects of the Concert Festival, but also the Solo & Ensemble Festival. And it can be positive, you know! What adjudicators did you like this year in December? Did your students find the Solo & Ensemble Festival a worthwhile experience? How can we make it better? Which Concert Festival conductors did you enjoy? Do you have suggestions for future conductors? I hope that these few sample questions may prompt you to comment in this forum. We appreciate and desire you to be active members of this association of music educators. We want to hear your ideas, and we will do our very best to act upon those ideas when we feel it is for the betterment of the Festival. And we will implement change when we feel it will improve the experience that we offer. But we cannot act unless we hear from you. So.......let us hear from you!

Upcoming Concert Festival

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The New England Concert Festival is almost upon us, and I thought I might share some information about this upcoming event. We are proud to be holding our 2008 Festival this year at Mt. Anthony Union High School in Bennington, Vermont on Thursday-Saturday, March 13-15, 2008. There will be three performing ensembles, each rehearsed and directed by three outstanding conductors.

The 2008 Concert Chorus will be directed by Dr. Daniel A. Gordon, the Director of Fine Arts Ministries at First Presbyterian Church in Lakeland, Florida. Formerly the Director of Choral Music at the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, New York, Dr. Gordon brings with him many accomplishments that will serve our students well. His program is as follows: "Zadok The Priest" of George Frederick Handel, "Ouvre Ton Couer" of Georges Bizet, "I Have Had Singing" by Ron Jeffers, "You who never arrived" by Paul Basler, "A Red, Red Rose" of James Mulholland, and "Daniel, Servant of the Lord" by Undine Moore.

The 2008 Concert Band will be directed by Richard Clary, Professor of Music, Senior Band Conductor and Director of Wind Ensemble Studies at the Florida State University in Tallahassee. The program is as follows: "Lauds" of Ron Nelson, "Sussex Mummers Christmas Carol" of Percy Grainger, arranged by Clark, "Festal Scenes" by Ito, and "Selections from Porgy and Bess" by George Gershwin, arranged by Bennett.

The 2008 Orchestra is directed by James Tapia, Director of Orchestral Activities and Chair of the String Department at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. The Orchestra will be performing the "Overture from Candide" of Leonard Bernstein, the "Carmen Suite" of George Bizet, and the final movement of "Symphony #4" of Howard Hanson.

The performances will all be on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at Mt. Anthony Union High School in Bennington, Vermont. The Band and Orchestra performance will be at 2:00 PM, and the Chorus performance will be at 4:00 PM. Tickets are available at $10.00 each and can be purchased through the nemfa website http://nemfa.org/, or by mailing a check made payable to MAUHS and sent to Christina Gagrus, Mt. Anthony Union High School, 301 Park Street, Bennington, Vermont 05201.