President's Message - Fall 2023

President’s Message Fall 2023
 
Welcome to another school year! I hope the summer has afforded you all the opportunity to rest, relax and recharge for the 2023-24 academic year. I am excited, as I always am, to start the new year and get back to the business of teaching and making great music. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that this year’s festival (2024) will be held at the Boxboro Regency in Boxborough, Massachusetts with the concert being held at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. I had the opportunity to tour that facility recently and think that everyone will be thrilled with all it has to offer. Special thanks goes to Tom Reynolds for all his hard work in the planning of this event. He has spent countless hours this summer working to put together a festival that promises to be one of our best yet.
 
You will notice some edits and additions to our solo and ensemble repertoire which has been done with the intent of adding some pieces of music that are a bit more approachable for the students who choose to participate. To that end, we have Lauren Churchill and Amy Ranta of The Woodstock Academy (our hosts for the 2023 festival) to thank. They have spent countless hours during the spring and summer to make it all happen and I can’t thank them enough.
 
In addition, and for the first time, there will be a New England Music Festival Jazz Ensemble as part of both the solo and ensemble and concert festivals this year. Our deepest appreciation goes to Matt Davide and Steffen Parker for making this a reality. 
 
Most of all I would like to thank our entire membership for your unwavering belief and support of NEMFA and its cause.  As an executive board we work diligently all year long to bring you an adjudication and performance experience that you and your students will remember for a lifetime. On that note, I would like to ask a couple of things of you. To begin with, I’m asking that you all do the best you can to adhere to all deadlines for the submission of paperwork and digital registration materials. When deadlines are missed it slows down the whole process and makes progress grind to a halt. Just by being as punctual as possible with any and all needed information you contribute to the overall success of the entire festival. Secondly, we all know and love NEMFA for what it does for our students. Like every other organization and many of our school music programs, the Covid-19 Pandemic has really negatively impacted what we do. If you all love this organization as I do, and believe you do, why not find another director/school to get involved. If every current member could bring one other school either back to the organization or as a new member we would be in fabulous shape. 
 
As always it remains my honor and privilege to serve as your President and I promise to continue my work for the betterment of the organization as a whole. 
 
Have a great 2023-24 school year!
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Musically yours,