Get it While it's Hot—Updating News from September Music Educators Journal

September Music Educators Journal: "MENC Today" News Briefs Expanded

2010 National Honor Ensemble Audition Deadline Approaches

The MENC National Honor Ensembles are the newest addition to MENC's Music Education Week, and will take place June 24–29, 2010 in Washington, DC. The deadline for MENC members to submit National Honor Ensembles audition materials for their high school sophomores and juniors is November 16, 2009.


The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will host the 2010 National Honor Band, Choir, and Orchestra, while the National Honor Jazz Band will perform during the MENC Jazz Academy Gala Concert.

Details including audition music and application forms will be posted on the MENC Events Web site. Contact Chris Meeker at chrism@mencevents.org or 800-479-8247 with questions. The 2010 National Honor Ensembles' Conductors will be:

• Concert Band—Anthony Maiello
• Choir—André Thomas

• Orchestra—To be announced

• Jazz Band—Maria Schneider.
   

MENC Issues Calls for 2010 Biennial Conference in Anaheim

The 2010 Biennial Music Educators National Conference, with a special focus on music education research and music teacher education, will be held March 25–27 in Anaheim, California. MENC’s new forum is aimed at music education researchers, music teacher educators, college students, and PreK–12 teachers interested in the cutting edge research and pedagogical innovations that will shape the future of the profession.

MENC issued a call for papers and sessions for the conference. Submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Savings Time, October 15, 2009. Extensions will not be granted.

Organizing Chair Glenn E. Nierman said of the event’s special focus, “What could be more exciting than learning about the latest research on the musical brain or discovering how technology could enhance pedagogy and assessment in general music classrooms and rehearsals at all levels?”

The conference will also provide opportunities to brainstorm about ways to improve music teacher recruitment and retention; to discuss how to provide support for educators new to the profession; and to network with music educators from other North American countries who will be present in Anaheim for the International Society of Music Education’s (ISME’s) Regional Conference.

MENC’s Societies for Music Teacher Education, Research, and General Music, along with the National Collegiate Advisory and Supervisors of Music Education Councils, are working together on the conference, Nierman said.

Bennett Reimer Answers Questions about His New Book

MENC and Rowman & Littlefield Education have co-published Seeking the Significance of Music Education: Essays and Reflections, a new book by noted music education scholar Bennett Reimer. 

For the book, Reimer selected 24 of his previously published journal articles that explore significant issues in the past, present, and future of music education. For each essay he offers reflections on issues in music education, the positions he took on them at that time, and their relevance to present thinking and events.

Visit Rowman & Littlefield for more information on ordering the book. MENC members receive a 25% discount off the list prices of $90 for the hardback version and $44.95 for the paperback edition.

In a Web feature Reimer discusses his changing views of music education and a career as a music educator, performer and writer.
 

Get the Green Details for the 2010 World’s Largest Concert^® and Music In Our Schools Month^® Contest

Plans for the 2010 World's Largest Concert^® (WLC^®) are well underway. The WLC Web site offers sheet music and rehearsal tracks. The 2010 WLC sing-along event will be March 11, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The Hal Leonard Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, once again provides the vocal and piano accompaniment sheet music for use with the World’s Largest Concert.

MENC will include “The Green Anthem” in the 2010 World’s Largest Concert. Visit the Web site for “The Green Anthem” lyrics, sheet music, and rehearsal tracks, and information on the lyric-writing contest.

The songs for the 2010 World's Largest Concert are:

• "America Goes West"
• "Beautiful World"
• "Children of the World"
• "The Green Anthem"
• "Horch, was kommt von draussen rein?"
• "Koinobori"
• "The Star-Spangled Banner"
• "This Is My Song"

 MENC to Conduct Online Elections for MENC President-Elect 2010-12

For the first time, MENC members will vote online for this national office. Voting will begin January 1, 2010 and end March 7 at 11:59 p.m. Members with an e-mail address on file with MENC will be notified by MENC where they should vote online. Members without e-mail will receive paper ballots.

Read biographies of Nancy Ditmer and David Weatherred, the two candidates for MENC President-Elect 2010-12, and listen to their National Assembly addresses. 

--Roz Fehr, September 10, 2009. © MENC: The National Association for Music Education