North Carolina Bandmasters Association

General Meeting

2004 NCMEA Fall Conference

Monday, November 15, 2004

 

President Neil S. Underwood called the general meeting of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association to order at 3:00 pm.

 

The minutes were approved as presented.

The treasurer's report was approved as presented.

 

News from SDPI - Christie Howell

 

1)      Band Directors were encouraged to go to the SDPI website and complete the Arts Education survey. The survey should only take about 5 minutes to complete.

2)      Teacher Grant opportunities were presented. Additional information was available for those who were interested.

3)      Concerns over marching band fees were expressed. The concerns came from parents phone calls.

 

Awards and Recognitions

 

The following members were presented the "Award of Excellence":

 

Central - David Albert, Eastern- Hosea Brower, Northwest - Ron Amos, South Central - Richard Holmes, Southeastern - Beth Faircloth Pope, Western - Dr. Tim Babb.

 

The following retired members were inducted into the NCBA Hall of Fame:

 

Herb Hazelman - Jim Hill, presenter

Charles Isley - Bill Witcher, presenter

Dr. Robert Palmer - Ed Keifer, presenter

J.C. Sykes - Deborah Davis, presenter

 

Robert "Bob" Buckner was presented the "Lowell Mason Award" from MENC.

 

The meeting was paused to allow family members of the Hall of Fame inductees to leave.

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

1)      Election for Officers

         Anne Reese presented the following nominees for President-Elect and Secretary.

 

         President-Elect: Phillip Riggs and Michael Williams Secretary: Richard Holmes

 

2)      Honors Band

         a)      Requirements list on website. The 11/12 timpani solo needs to be corrected. The correct etude is listed but not the correct book. The correct book is Musical Studies for the Intermediate Timpanist.

 

         b)      The chromatic range for the 9/10 oboe needs to be correct. The lowest note is not a low  ÒAÓ below the staff. Oboes used by public schools will not have the instrument capable to play this note. The correct starting note is the B natural below the staff.

         c)      Auditions will be held at East Davidson High and Brown Middle School (same as last year) on March 5, 2005.

         d)      The clinic will be held on the campus of UNC-G on April 22-24, 2005.

         e)      The clinicians will be: MS - Jeff King, 9-10 - Ed Keifer, 11-12 - Lowell Graham

         f)       Bylaw Proposal Change

 

ÒAuditions will be the first or second Saturday of March determined by need and calendar issues. The make-up date will be the Saturday after the scheduled audition date.Ó

Motion and second to approve. APPROVED

         g)      New Fees for Honors Band: Auditions: $15.00       Clinic: $35.00

3)      Festival List

         a)      Additions/deletions to be made at New Music Clinic during Honors Band Clinic this April.

         b)      Six grade three pieces were left off the list that was first published during the summer. The pieces have been added back to the list and the complete list is on the state webpage.

         c)      Thanks to Bill Pendergrass for his work on the list.

4)      Jazz Committee Report - Ted Neely

         a)      Ted gave information on the current year events for Jazz in North Carolina. Be sure to check the state website for additional information.

         b)      Jerry Lowe was introduced as the new NCMEA Jazz Chairperson.

         c)      Ted Neely was presented a plaque in recognition of his work on the Jazz Committee.

 

5)      Marching Band Committee Report - Bob Buckner and Chris Ulery

         a)      Bob gave info on how things went this fall with the use of the system.

         b)      Bob stressed that the system is just a starting point and that changes will be made to improve the system.

         c)      The next step the committee will do is to develop procedures/rules for members to be rotated onto and off of the marching band committee.

         d)      A plaque was presented to Bob Buckner and a plaque was presented to Chris Ulrey in recognition of their work on the marching band committee.

6)      Website Committee Report - Bill Pendergrass and Amy Hinson

         a)      All District sites should have standard information on them - officers and their contact info, the webmaster's email address, links on every page (no orphan pages), and a link to the state site.

         b)      Information posted on the state site is only as accurate and timely as the people who send the information.

         c)      Event chairman are asked to be as concise and precise as possible with info that needs to be posted.

         d)      If a band director has a question with the info that is posted, please contact the event chair. Bill and Amy are just the messengers. They will not be able to make decisions for the event chairperson.

 

7)      Sightreading Committee Report - Richard Holmes

         a)      Richard thanked the members of the committee for their hard work.

         b)      A handout was available for members to see.

         c)      The "highlights" were presented.

         d)      A few questions were asked. The Sight-reading Committee will still meet to address any concerns that the membership may have to improve the criteria.

         e)      If approved, the criteria will be used for this school year (2004-2005).

 

         Motion/second to approve. APPROVED

 

8)      PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE

 

If a band receives straight "three- III"s, "fours - IV's" or "fives - V's" on stage then they will receive that score as their overall rating regardless of the sight-reading score. (Unanimous Stage rules)

 

         This proposal only changes six ratings from our current system and they are as follows:

 

         333-1 would become a 3 (currently is a 2)

         444-1 would become a 4 (currently is a 3)

         444-2 would become a 4 (currently is a 3)

         555-1 would become a 5 (currently is a 4)

         555-2 would become a 5 (currently is a 4)

         555-3 would become a 5 (currently is a 4)

 

         Discussion of the proposal took place. Motion and second to approve. APPROVED

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

1)      BYLAW PROPOSAL ADDITION

 

The following proposal is presented for its first reading. The membership will vote on the proposal at the 2005 Honors Band General Meeting in April.

 

         ÒBands may enter the NC Concert Band Festival for comments only. Sight-reading will be optional for these bands.Ó

 

2)      Announcement of Newly Elected Officers

 

         President-Elect: Phillip Riggs Secretary: Richard Holmes

 

3)      "Changing of the Guard"

 

         Dave Albert officially became the President of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association.

 

 

 

The general meeting of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association adjourned at 5:25 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________

 Richard Holmes, NCBA Secretary