District Presidents Meeting
April 16, 2008
Hershey Lodge & Convention Center
3:00 p.m.

Attendance: Chuck Neidhardt, Fran Nesta, Bret Mascaro, Scott Cullen, John Bugosh, Rick Hilborn, Andy Kolojejchick, Mel McConnell, Suzette Gardenhour (proxy), Jason Worzbyt, Chris Gankosky, Lori Luurtsema, Dennis Emert, Scott Sheehan, Russ Wynn, and Margaret Bauer (ex officio).

President Neidhardt called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m.

District Reports

District 1 – Dennis Emert reported that they are starting “Hybrid” auditions for district band.
District 5 – Lori Luurtsema reported that their new vice-president is Susan Jaworski.
District 2 – Chris Gankosky reported that they are updating their website.
District 3 – Jason Worzbyt reported that Oil City will be hosting their songfest and that their bylaws will soon be up on their website.
District 4 – Mel McConnell reported that they are looking for a vice president.
District 6 – Suzette Gardenhour (proxy for Alan DuBreucq) reported that they have had a good year and also are looking for a vice president.
District 8 – Russ Wynn reported that they are still discussing concerns about excusing students from festivals; they are also looking at the cost and length of district festivals.
District 9 – Andy Kolojejchick reported that all is well in his district.
District 7 – John Bugosh reported a concern that all directors are not signing required festival forms. Hosts need to be reminded that the region chair needs to check all forms at festivals. After some discussion, the district presidents asked if they could have the All-State Excel spreadsheet format in the fall so that they could be prepared in advance at their festivals to fill it out onsite. President Neidhardt will discuss their request with Dave Cree, All-State Coordinator.
There was further discussion about the All-State student contract and the student medical form. The contract will be amended to say “if selected to advance to the next festival level” to clarify a particular section of the contract for the parents.
John Bugosh also raised a concern about string-specific events at this conference.
District 10 – Rick Hilborn requested that the All-State contract ask for a cell phone # instead of “where you can be reached.”
District 11 – Bret Mascaro raised the issue of the bass trombone for Orchestra, his concerns about unprepared students, and communication regarding the oboe player getting an English horn.
District 12 – Scott Cullen shared about their new advocacy chair from the City of Philadelphia School District. His district has changed festivals to Thursday night auditions/Friday rehearsal, Saturday afternoon concerts to cut down on the amount of time that students and directors are absent from school.

Chuck thanked all of the districts which invited him to visit this past year. He was really impressed with activities that he saw happening in the districts. He encouraged (again) every district to get their bylaws on their websites.

Festival Rotation Change

Chuck Neidhart reported that ExCom recommended changes to the festival rotation schedule to the following:

The rotation, beginning in 2011 will be changed to:

2011, Chorus, Orchestra, Band
2012, Band, Chorus, Orchestra
2013, Orchestra, Band, Chorus
2014, Chorus, Orchestra, Band
2015, Band, Chorus, Orchestra
2016, Orchestra, Band Chorus

This change will mean that Orchestra occurs before band 2 out of 3 years.

 

Addition to State Orchestra Instrumentation

The presidents discussed adding 2 trumpets and 2 trombones to the All-State Orchestra, rotating between WRSO and East 2/East 4 Region Orchestras. In 2009, WRSO will provide one additional trumpet and one additional trombone; East 2 will provide an additional trumpet and East 4 will provide an additional trombone. In 2010, East 2 will provide the additional trombone and East 4 will provide an additional trumpet. WRSO will provide one additional trumpet and one additional trombone every year.

 

All-State Music Selection Committee

Chuck reported that ExCom had discussed reviving the All-State Music Selection Committee. A proposal for changes to the policy will be presented to the board in advance of the July board meeting.

Harp Audition Results

District Presidents are responsible for notifying students of the results of the auditions, notifying those who are selected as well as those who are not selected.

PLAN

Chuck reported that PLAN is featured on the front page of www.supportmusic.com for the month of April. Check it out.

Student Medical Form

Margaret will make formatting changes to the form so that parents can more easily see where they need to sign (they are required to sign in 4 places).

All-State Jazz Notifications

The district presidents asked if the All-State Coordinator could notify them at the same time as the students are notified as to their selection to the All-State Jazz ensembles.

Leadership Retreat

Chuck announced that the new district presidents orientation will take place at the leadership retreat on June 20-21 in York.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.