September 2009
Volume 75, Number 1

I hope everyone had a good summer and your fall is off to a great start!

First Round Auditions

     All first round auditions must be held by the last Saturday of September.  All first round results need to be delivered to me via email no later than 12:00 pm Monday September 28, 2009.  Make sure that you have senior preferences before submitting 1^st round results.  Please be prompt so that information can be assimilated and disseminated in a timely fashion.
 

Second Round Auditions

     Second round All-State auditions will be held on Saturday October 10, 2009 at Lafayette High School in Lafayette Louisiana.  In advance, I would like to give a very special thanks to Mr. Scotty Walker and Ronnie Gleason for their assistance and hospitality: They do a tremendous service for our state by volunteering their school and most important, their time!

          Senior wind and percussion students who audition for All-State membership will indicate their preference for band or orchestra at their first round auditions.  In assigning students to band and orchestra, only senior preferences will be honored.  If a senior’s rank places him or her in an unfavorable ensemble, the next highest ranked player will fill that ensemble’s slot.   Registration for second round auditions will begin at 7:45am and close at 8:15am for the students in districts 3,4,and 5 only.   Registration for districts 6,7, and 9 will begin at 9:00am and close at 9:30am.  The final registration for districts 1,2, and 8 will be open at 12:00pm and close at 12:30pm.  You must register during your district’s allotted time.  Students who do not show up for their registration window will not be allowed to register.  The new registration fees for All-State members are $30 for band and orchestra students and $35 for choir members.

LMEA Convention

     LMEA  Convention will be held in Baton Rouge, La. At the Holiday Inn Select.  All-State band members will report on Saturday November 21, 2009.  The All-State Symphonic Band will register at 4:00pm; the All-State Concert Band will register at 6:00pm.  The concerts will begin at 3:00pm on Monday, November 23, 2009.

     Begin planning now to attend our annual conference.  Plan to attend our annual Band Division meeting to be held on Sunday morning.  Please think of the names of adjudicators and clinicians that you have witnessed doing a great job and bring those names to the table.   It is important that the list of our All-State clinicians and State festival judges come from within the membership.  Please don’t wait until Sunday morning to start thinking.    I would like to extend a very huge THANKS to Wayne Winner and Richard Bresowar for volunteering to chair the All-State Concert and Symphonic Bands!
 

District Concert Festival

In an effort to help young or smaller band programs at larger schools, a new “Class D” has been created for district concert festival.  It is my hope that the new “Class D” will help those directors with smaller bands in large schools be able to build on success in order to get their band enrollment numbers up.  We all know that kids want to be a part of something successful.  Here are the details.

     “Class D:  Unusual circumstances many times prevent groups from participating in District Festivals.  A band director who feels that unusual circumstances warrant an opportunity to enter a lower classification as described in this handbook may petition a committee of the LMEA Board of Directors for consideration.  The director will present the facts and circumstances prompting his or her request to a committee of the LMEA President, the Division Chair, and the District Director during the Annual State LMEA Conference.  The Division Chair will notify the director immediately after the meeting if possible, but if the situation warrants further study, the director shall be notified within seven days.  A group may be allowed to drop a maximum of two classifications and shall be ineligible for qualification for State Festival.” Contact me to facilitate this process. 
 

State Solo Festival

After many years of trying, we are now in the process of adding a state solo festival in the late spring.   Students will go through a district round to be recommended to move on to the state round.  Right now we are coming up with the process, facilities, and date.  District directors will be passing on all of the details once they are finalized.   A big thanks to Carolyn Herringtion and everyone else for helping make this happen.  It is exciting for me just to be a part of these changes.   I am truly honored to be serving you as Band Division Chair.  If I can help you in any way, call or email.  School: 225-621-2564, email: craigm@apsb.org 

Craig Millet
St. Amant High School
Director of Bands
www.staband.com