Missouri Music Notes
Fall 2018 Newsletter
Upcoming Deadline
President's Message
I hope your year is getting off to a great start! Looking ahead, next month is Parade of American Music! I'd love to hear more about your events and see pictures. Be sure to share! Best wishes for a great year!
President Julie Watson
MFMC Fall Meeting
I wanted to share some details from our Fall Meeting. You'll see our state goals included in this newsletter. We enjoyed performances by 2018 Church Musician of the Year, Bill Gibson and MFMC Opera in the Ozarks Award recipient, Ira Stecher. The Junior Track had discussion on Festival Management and the Senior Track discussed opportunities for clubs to earn awards and ideas for keeping people motivated.
Parliamentarian Donna Kinslow shared details on parliamentary procedure and adhering to our Constitution and Bylaws.
There was a big concern that we need more clubs participating at the State level. So a decision was made to assess local clubs $45 for State Convention and Fall Board to send a delegate, whether or not they attend. Truly we want every local club to send a delegate so your interests are represented. We plan to revise our Bylaws and they will be voted on at the State Convention in Cape Girardeau on May 17-18, 2019. We hope to see you there!
PREPARE NOW to celebrate THE PARADE OF AMERICAN MUSIC during the entire month of November!
Since one of the main objectives of the Federation is to promote American music, let’s set the goal of each club, Senior and/or Junior, to give at least one program in celebration of American Music Month.
Start by getting info from website: http://www.nfmc-music.org, Click on Publications, then American Music Division. Download AM 1-1
Your program can be counted if most of the music on the program is by an American composer.
The printed program must include the wording “The National Federation of Music Clubs observes American Music Month annually in November through the Parade of American Music” or words to that effect. Use the NFMC logo if possible.
Certificates and monetary awards are available so be sure to check them out on the website.
Report any and all events to the South Central Region chair by March 1. She is Carla Johnson, Box 12883 Austin, TX 78711.
NFMC wants to hear about all celebrations across the country. Let’s make Missouri proud!
Marilyn Caldwell
MFMC American Music Chairman
Junior Division News
Junior dues forms have been sent via email attachment to all Senior Club presidents and Festival Chairs, with the request that they distribute them to all the proper members and treasurers that need them. The form is also on the state website. The deadline for all Junior Dues to reach our state treasurer, Duane Langley is November 1, 2018.
Festival State Certificates have been ordered for Missouri. After they arrive, I will notify each Festival Chair so that I can make a plan for the delivery to your particular festival. A wonderful goal will be to distribute as many as possible in ways that will NOT incur shipping costs.
Theory tests have also been ordered for our state. The National office reports that they will be sent electronically to the state chairman by early February. At that point, they will be sent onward to each Festival Chair in Missouri.
Welcome to Missouri’s newest Festival: St. Louis Music and Performing Arts Club will be holding their inaugural Festival this spring. Their counselor is Marschnee Strong. You may contact her for exact details if you are interested in joining with that festival.
Take note of the State Gold Cup Chair: Yukiyo Lake – dyanpiano1@gmail.com. State Competition Chair will be announced soon. State Competition Date and Location: Saturday, May 18 – 1:30 p.m. – Cape Girardeau, MO.
Updates from NFMC from Festivals Committee: There is a deadline of June 1st for all JR 3-16 Applications for 12+ Year Consecutive Superior Certificates to be sent to the National Festivals Chair.
● Proper Rating Sheet: "All Area Festivals must use the official NFMC Rating Sheet for Federation Festivals (JR 3-9). Ratings other than those titled "Superior, Excellent, Satisfactory, Fair, Needs Improvement" will no longer be recognized by NFMC for Consecutive Superior National Certificates or Federation Festivals Cup point accrual and will be non-transferable between states (K-2).
● Festivals Bulletin amendment: Entrants in the Drum Set Event are permitted to use a recorded accompaniment.
Adjustment to current Bulletin and inclusion in 2020-2024 Bulletin
Guitar Solo Event rules: Participants in Guitar Solo events will be allowed to select choice literature from the required list if so desired.
Adult Festival Event
- A. Eliminate the mandatory progression after three years in the same class for adult festival participants.
- B. For all adult festival events, points toward Federation Cup will accrue for up to three years in the same class. Progression to the next class will restore point accumulation.
Chris Vitt, Festival Chair
State Goals for Missouri
Please review the following list of Missouri state goals for your music club and see how many of them you can accomplish!
● Increase your membership - share the music!
● Every club should be represented at the State Convention! Bring a friend to the State Convention!
● Have a club fundraiser for the Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony to help purchase music stands (which are $50 each). See if you can raise enough for several music stands to help out.
Share your plans and take pictures and send them in for this newsletter!
Here are some suggestions for fund raisers for your club:
~“No Bake” Bake Sale
~ Walk for IPFAC
~ Pennies/Presidents for the Point
~ $1 per member
~ Cabaret Night
~ Concert featuring your local talented musicians
● Participate in Parade of American Music (Nov.), Founder's Day (Jan.) and National Music Week (May). Use Together We Sing (same yellow books as last year).
● Include the NFMC and MFMC logos (or at least a mention) on your printed programs.
● Attend Federation Days at Opera in the Ozarks. We'd like to have at least five Night of Opera sponsors. The cost is $300 and are great publicity for your clubs/donors and for the state of Missouri.
● Entries for National Music Week Essay contest, Handbells, and other individual awards.
Award Opportunities with NFMC
A Message From Our Treasurer
Now is the time to order NFMC Liability Insurance for events between January 1 and August 31, 2019. The deadline for these requests is November 15, so I need your information pretty soon.
The procedure is the same this year as it was last year. The forms can be found on our state website under Forms (https://missourifmc.wordpress.com/forms/).
Please use the Liability Request Form. This document can be returned to me either as an e-mail attachment or as a printed copy. The price information is included on the page.
The second required document is the NFMC Child Protection Policy (. I do need a signature on this form, so it needs to be printed and sent with payment to me or scanned and attached to an e-mail. If you have sent me this form since August 2018, I do not need another copy.
The Preventing Child Sexual Abuse pamphlet, which is reference material for the NFMC Child Protection Policy is available on the website, also under Forms. This is the same booklet sent with last year's insurance requests.
Please get your requests back to me as soon as possible.
Duane Langley, Missouri Insurance Chairman
Missourians Prominent at Opera in the Ozarks Meetings
Several Missouri representatives attended Federation Days at the Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony (IPFAC) in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. This is the group that produces Opera in the Ozarks, and is a special project of the South Central Region of NFMC.
Attending on behalf of Missouri were Missouri Federation president Julie Watson, Betty Watson, Carole and Duane Langley, Starla and Terry Blair, Connie Craig and Don Dagenais.
Don Dagenais was the featured speaker at one of the luncheons, and also received a surprise Servant Leadership Award for his work with IPFAC. Connie Craig ran the silent auction for OIO at Federation Days. Missouri was the host of the banquet held on Friday, July 20.
It was announced during Federation Days that Missouri’s own Starla Blair will be a candidate for the presidency of NFMC at the next election. Our best wishes and good luck to Starla on this new chapter in her storied NFMC career.
The delegates enjoyed an elegant “Taste of Opera” dinner on the Wednesday evening preceding the first opera performance, and enjoyed three outstanding opera productions, The Fledermaus (The Bat) by Johann Strauss, Jr., The Barber of Seville by Gioacchino Rossini, and Douglas Moore’s American classic The Ballad of Baby Doe. All were excellent.
During the meetings it was announced that some philanthropists have given funds to IPFAC to finance a planning study which will look at the possibility of constructing a new theater and affiliated campus at Inspiration Point to ensure the continued vitality of the Opera in the Ozarks program for many more years.
As part of that process a committee of IPFAC Governing Board members will be meeting with a consultant to look at possible designs, construction costs, financial models, and possible uses for such a theater during the off-season, the implications for staffing and board structure, and many more related issues. Three of our Missouri members, Carole and Duane Langley and Don Dagenais, are serving on that committee.
This is an exciting time for Opera in the Ozarks with this possibility on the horizon. Nothing is assured, however, and the coming months will tell whether a new theater and campus can move beyond the talking stage to the planning stage.
Meanwhile, IPFAC finished a successful opera season and now is looking forward to a short respite before auditions are held during the winter for next summer’s season, which will be the 64th at Inspiration Point.
President Julie Watson
Email: MoFMCPres@gmail.com
Website: www.MissouriFMC.org
Phone: 913-908-2386