LLMEA Newsletter

Welcome to December!

As we finish off the turkey and pie it’s that “most wonderful time of the year” where we bust out our best holiday sweaters and look forward to all the versions of Jingle Bells the month has to offer. Throughout December please keep in mind that January will begin a busy time for our LLMEA and PMEA auditions and festivals and welcome spring musical season to many of you. Welcome back to “normal!”

This Saturday, December 3rd, District 7 band and orchestra auditions will be taking place at Eastern York High School. Please check the pmeadistrict7.org website for information regarding this year's auditions. If you have students auditioning, you should have received an email from Audition Chair, Keith Gromis. Please pay close attention to the information contained in and attached to that email.

Next week, LLMEA will conduct our high school county band and orchestra selection meetings on December 7th at 4:15pm. Please take note to the locations for each meeting! Also, deadlines for private teacher of the year and LLMEA teacher of the year are due this month, please see below for specifics regarding each award and their individual deadlines.

Make sure to mark your calendars for our mid year general membership meeting which will take place on Wednesday, January 4th at 4:15pm via zoom.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from the LLMEA Executive Board!

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in the County Middle School Orchestra festival held at Palmyra Middle School on November 19th. The 'Rockers' and The 'Jammers' did a great job and hopefully learned something new from the two guest conductors, including our very own Ann Ahlers, who conducted the 'Jammers' group. Thanks to Andrew Kurtz for hosting this festival!

On Wednesday, December 7th at 4:15pm, we will meet to select our participants for this year's county band and orchestra festivals. County MS and HS Band South along with County HS Orchestra directors will meet at Manheim Township High School's band room. County HS Band North will be meeting at ELCO High School. Please be sure to confirm students' availability and commitment to these festivals before nominating them for a place in these ensembles. Those students who qualify for District Band and Orchestra Festivals will automatically be placed into each festivals' respective wind ensemble and Sinfonia groups. All other students selected for these county festivals will be done by round robin selection. Simply come to the meeting with a list of your students and their respective instruments and a laptop computer. If you have any specific questions about these selection meetings, please email David Fair, dfair@elcosd.org. Good Luck to all of your students auditioning this Saturday!

The inaugural LLMEA Middle School County Chorus Festival will take place on Saturday, April 29th 2023 at Pequea Valley High School. Our guest conductor is Dr. Marci Major from West Chester University. The cost per participant is $26 and each school may bring up to 9 students. The choral selection are all three part, please only register 3 per voice part. I have them listed as Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Participants can be in 6th, 7th or 8th grade. If interested, list 3 alternatives if we are able to add additional singers

Please click on the link below to register and additional information will be sent out. Email alicia_trescavage@pequeavalley.org with questions.

LLMEA Registration

Donegal School District is asking for some help in gathering some data regarding music course offerings, ensembles, etc. in other districts in an effort to help grow their program. Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey. These types of surveys are a good way to reflect on our own programs and how we could possibly make them better.

https://forms.gle/ncu3bJ5vvbmVcRpU7

The LLMEA Honors Banquet returns! Mark your calendars for Tuesday April 18, 2023 for an evening at the Eden Resort...stay tuned for more details in upcoming newsletters....!

Believe it or not, plans are underway for LLMEA festivals for the 2023-2024 school year. The following high schools are scheduled to host according to our rotational schedule.

HS ORCHESTRA - Ephrata

HS BAND NORTH - A-C/Palmyra

HS/MS BAND SOUTH - Lancaster Mennonite/Lancaster Catholic

HS CHORUS - ELCO

MIDDLE SCHOOL COUNTY CHORUS FESTIVAL - Columbia

Looking to make a lasting impression on your school? How about being a festival host!? LLMEA is currently looking for 2023-2024 Festival Hosts for…

Middle School Band North Festival

Middle School Orchestra Festival

Main items to be addressed at this point would be reservation of facilities and letters from your superintendents acknowledging the responsibility of hosting a festival. If you have any questions or concerns about hosting a festival or would like to volunteer to host one of the middle school festivals next school year, please contact Melodie Fair mfair@elcosd.org or David Fair dfair@elcosd.org ASAP. We would like to have festival hosts solidified by January of 2023.

The LLMEA Teacher of the Year Award serves to recognize outstanding music educators in LLMEA who:

• Exhibit the same standards of excellence toward which LLMEA strives,
• Have shown qualities of exceptional teaching as exhibited by colleagues that further the development of the institution’s music program,
• Consistently demonstrate and incorporate effective and innovative teaching techniques into the curriculum as a means to extend and refine the music learning of all students.

Guidelines

• Nominations are due to the Vice President, David Fair dfair@elcosd.org prior to the January general membership meeting (Deadline, December 16, 2022).
  
• Any music educator (K-12) in any LLMEA member school is eligible.
  
• All disciplines are eligible - band, orchestra, chorus, music technology, classroom/general music, other music electives, etc.
  
• Nominees must be a curricular member of the school’s music/fine arts department.
  
• Members may not be nominated based solely on extra-curricular positions (i.e. marching band drill writer, musical vocal director, etc.). Extra-curricular positions may be used to complement the contracted duties of a curricular employee that teaches in an LLMEA member school during the school day.
  
• Educators teaching multiple grade levels (i.e. middle school and high school) would need to be nominated in the grade level in which they primarily teach (i.e. the educator teaches both middle school and high school, but is primarily at the high school).
  
• Nominations will be read at the January General Membership Meeting, with an online vote of the membership being held after the meeting.
  
• Recognition will be given at the LLMEA Banquet to the LLMEA Teacher of the Year.
  

In December 2009, LLMEA adopted a way to recognize local private teachers who:

1. exhibit the same standards of excellence toward which LLMEA strives,

2. consistently support public and private school programs in Lancaster and/or Lebanon Counties.

This award can strengthen our connection with the private teacher community surrounding us. We will not only confirm the positive efforts of the most outstanding teachers, but also encourage other teachers toward the same goals. At this time, there is no specification regarding the nominee’s instrument(s) or voice. At the May 7, 2008 General Membership Meeting, a motion passed stating that we will present two (2) private teacher awards each year. Those teachers will be our guests at the LLMEA Honors Banquet where they will receive recognition. Please summarize in a paragraph or two why you are nominating this teacher. Please email your nomination and supporting information to:

Mrs. Sara R. Masten

2nd-Vice President, LLMEA

sara.masten@pennmanor.net

DEADLINE: E-mail nominations must be received by Friday, December 23, 2022.

Please read the following language from our By-Laws:

Directors are required to accompany their students to the festival (and audition) and to remain in attendance at the festival (and audition) while their students are there. In the case of an emergency or other exceptional circumstances, the director will contact the LLMEA President and Festival Host(s) for permission to send a substitute. In order to be approved, a substitute must be on the teaching faculty in the member district and be capable of fully performing the role of the absent director. Other substitutes may be approved at the discretion of the LLMEA President and Festival Host(s).

December 3 - District 7 Band and Orchestra Auditions - Eastern York HS

December 7 - LLMEA County Orchestra String Selection Meeting - 4:15pm Manheim Twp HS

December 7 - LLMEA County Band North Selection Meeting - 4:15pm ELCO HS

December 7 - LLMEA County MS/HS Band South Selection Meeting - 4:15pm Manheim Twp HS

December 8 - Band Selection Meeting Snow Make-Up date

January 4, 2023- LLMEA General Membership Meeting 4:15pm via Zoom

January 4 - MS County Band North Selection Meeting following general membership meeting

January 21 - LLMEA County Chorus Festival Lancaster Mennonite HS

February 4 - LLMEA HS County Band North Festival Warwick HS

February 4 - LLMEA HS/MS County Band South Festival Hempfield HS

February 18 - LLMEA County Orchestra Festival - Lampeter-Strasburg HS

March 6-10 - LLMEA Adjudication Festival

March 31-April 1 - LLMEA County MS Band Festival - Ephrata HS

April 18 - LLMEA Honors Banquet - Warwick HS

April 29 - LLMEA MS County Chorus Fest - Pequea Valley MS

May 3 - LLMEA Executive Board Meeting - Bulls Head Pub