It is hard to believe that another academic year is upon us. Obviously the recent economic woes have taken their toll on many music programs. The association has worked with many members this past year to protect their string programs from budget cuts. Hopefully, the stimulus money has helped some arts organizations to weather these turbulent times. ASTA plans to continue focusing on advocacy in the coming year and is committed to providing members with the tools they need to strengthen string programs. There will continue to be sessions at the National Conference in California. The Advocacy Committee also stands ready to help any program that needs support.
Tanks to a grant from the NAMM Foundation, we have developed a new recruitment poster that teachers can use in their classrooms and studios. This poster was created as part of the “Increasing Access to Strings” grant and makes a colorful and compelling addition to your current recruitment materials. The posters are free and can be requested by sending an email to Mary Jane Dye at maryjane@astaweb.com. As part of this same grant, we were able to develop some small tabletop displays that can be borrowed by state chapters in their efforts to promote strings in their state and their communities. The artwork was designed to allow customization for your particular program. You can add or delete photos to the display; whatever suits your audience. If you are interested in learning more about these marketing materials, please contact Mary Jane Dye at maryjane@astaweb.com. NAMM also recently awarded ASTA a grant to help several communities launch afterschool string programs. Members will be receiving complete details on this opportunity via email. The grant provides money for teacher salaries, instrument rentals, and professional development. You can learn more about this great opportunity be contacting Deb Bissen at deb@astaweb.com We also continue to offer our popular Why Strings? brochures for those who request this terrific promotional material.
We are grateful to the NAMM Foundation for their ongoing support of string education. We are fortunate to work in a profession where the industry remains wholeheartedly committed to string education. When you see our String Industry Council members at the conference and you meet representatives of NAMM, please join us in thanking them for their support.
We also want to thank everyone who took the time to both get signatures on local petitions and sign the national petition encouraging the support of comprehensive music programs that include string instruction. We will be presenting these materials to key officials in Congress and at the Department of Education. The comprehensive music curriculum that is currently being developed by a group of volunteers from the membership will be a powerful tool in making our case to key decision makers. We are hopeful to launch this new curriculum sometime next year. Special thanks to Steve Benham for chairing this landmark committee.
Finally, we hope that everyone is making plans now to attend the 2010 conference in Santa Clara, California. Registration materials will be available by early fall. In the meantime, you can find a registration form in this issue of AST. We hope to see you in California.
ASTA Board of Directors
President • Jeffrey Solow 7914 Park Ave. Elkins Park, PA 19027–2629 solowcello@gmail.com
President-Elect • Kirk Moss 1218 18th Street S Moorhead, MN 56560-3127 mosskirk@mnstate.edu
Past President • Mary Wagner 5833 Burke Cove Landing Rd. #204 Burke, VA 22015 mscello@cox.net
Secretary • Judy W. Bossuat 2913 Hempstead Way, Stockton, CA 95207 jwbossuki@onebox.com
Member-at-Large • Mark Wood PO Box 2074, Port Washington, NY 11050-0500 mark@markwoodmusic.com
Member-at-Large • Gail Barnes 3028 Manchester Blvd., Columbia SC gbarnes@mozart.sc.edu
Member-at-Large • Andrea Meyers 4881 E. Greenwich Dr. Highlands Ranch, CO 80130 andreameyers@comcast.com
Publications Chair • Marilyn Seelman 2075 Briarwillow Dr., Atlanta, GA 30345-3501 musmms@langate.gsu.edu
String Industry Council President • Dalton Potter 4706 Highland Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814 mailus@pottersviolin.com
Executive Director • Donna Sizemore Hale ASTA National Offce 4153 Chain Bridge Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030 donna@astaweb.com
American String TeacherEditor • Mary Jane Dye
Interim Articles Editor • Mary Wagner
Reviews Editor • Marg Schmidt
Design and Layout • Stephanie Lewis (this issue)
Advertising Representative • Steve DiLauro
Correspondence Subscriptions, change of address (send mailing label), individual issues, billing, membership, and other business matters should be directed to the ASTA National Office, 4153 Chain Bridge Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030; tel. 703-279-2113; FAX 703-279-2114; Email: asta@astaweb.com.
Advertising Deadlines are: August issue–June 5; November issue–September 5; February issue–December 5; May issue–March 5. Inquiries should be directed to ASTA National Offce, 4153 Chain Bridge Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030; tel. 703-279-2113; FAX 703–279–2114; Email: asta@astaweb.com.
Editorial AST welcomes letters and articles from its readers. Query letters are preferred over unsolicited manuscripts. For a copy of the AST Author Guidelines, visit www.astaweb.com. Inquiries and articles should be submitted to ASTarticles@astaweb.com.
Reviews Review materials should be sent to Marg Schmidt, School of Music, ASU, 40 Gammage Parkway, PO Box 870405, Tempe, AZ 85287-0405. Requests to become a reviewer should be addressed to Marg Schmidt, tel. 480-965-8277; Email: marg.schmidt@asu.edu.
Submission Deadlines For material to be considered for publication in the Departments and Association News sections (including Letters to the Editor), it must be received by: February issue–November 10; May issue—February 10; August issue—May 10; November issue—August 10.
