A warm day at USM and lots of positive energy!
Chorus under the direction of Ysaye M. Barnwell
The All State Conference and Festival on the USM Gorham campus was filled with positive energy in spite of the very warm temperatures! I had goosebumps while watching and listening the high school students practice. There were a total of 433 students involved. 244 were in the chorus, 83 in the orchestra, 103 in the band from a total of 88 school administrative units.
We know these students did not arrive there without the help and guidance of their music teacher. The coordination and time commitment of the Maine Music Educators Association on this yearly event is HUGE! A great big THANK YOU to Ted Nokes and Nancy Cash-Cobb who gave hours and hours of their time paying attention to so many details. And to the managers who are phenomenal being available for the students and conductors. And to all the board members who helped with the numerous tasks. YOU are awesome!
Lunchtime at All State
Late in the day I had several teachers attend my session called: “It’s About the Arts: G/T, HS Grad., Syllabus, Technology, and More”. Many good questions came up around gifted and talented programs, statewide scoring guides, and the syllabus work. Just a reminder that there are many good resources on the arts ed webpages at the Department that you can find by clicking here.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to return for the rest of the conference or the performances. I understand the student performances held on Saturday at Windham High School were excellent! I am sure the students, teachers and parents were very proud! Click here to see pictures of All State.
