The mission of the Louisiana Music Educators Association (LMEA) is to provide leadership, professional development, and support for its membership to ensure quality music education. LMEA is a federated state association of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Membership in LMEA is a joint membership with NAfME.
LMEA’s first constitution was adopted on February 21, 1936. It was incorporated on May 16, 1957.
The Louisiana Music Educators Association is a nonprofit association for music educators engaged in music instruction in all areas of music education, including preschool, elementary, middle/junior high, high school, and music in higher education. There are currently about 700 members, active, retired, and collegiate, in LMEA. College and university students planning music education careers are associated with LMEA through the Collegiate NAfME chapters at their institutions of higher education. High school students may also be members of Tri-M, a honor society for music students.
The Board of Directors that governs LMEA consists of elected executive officers, division chairs, and district directors and also ex-officio members representing LMEA’s various committees as well as its partner organizations.
The LMEA Annual Professional Development Conference, held in November, offers a variety of professional development sessions for teachers, All-State Ensemble rehearsals and performances, and guest performances by ensembles from state university. The state universities perform on an annual rotating basis.
LMEA provides a variety of high quality events for individual student and school ensembles:
- LMEA All-State Ensemble Information
- Solo and Small Ensemble Assessments
- District Assessments for bands, choirs, and orchestras
- State/Regional Large Ensemble Assessments for bands, choirs, and orchestras
- District Marching Band Assessments
Membership in LMEA includes automatic membership in the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the largest national association addressing all aspects of music education. In addition to providing a wide variety of professional development opportunities, NAfME also provides music education resources for both classroom music teachers and ensemble directors and actively advocate for strong, comprehensive school music programs at all grade levels. Together, LMEA and NAfME strive to orchestrate success for all students by encouraging and promoting quality music education in Louisiana and in schools throughout the country.