Presenter at NYSSMA/MENC

I am just back from NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) Summer In-Service Conference in Albany, NY.  NYSSMA is considered one of the best MENC Chapters so I was honored to have been asked to present.  My presentation was bright and early Monday at 9AM and I managed to get a some what awake crowd of about 25 people.  Since this is the smaller of the two conferences NYSSMA does each year, I was happy to have the numbers.  My 1 hour and 15 min presentation was entitled, “Digital Media In & Out of the Classroom”.  My presentation covered two areas:

1 ) Keeping it safe and legal outside the classroom with regard to CD or video sales and posting student work on the Internet 2) How digital media can be used in the classroom to demonstrate an idea or concept or be used as materials for student projects

I used examples of student podcasts and compositions and also gave examples of how popular media, video, YouTube and contemporary songs can be used in the classroom.  Each participant left with a nice packet of information discussed in the presentation and several lesson plans that were discussed.  They seemed enthusiastic and appreciative of the presentation.

All in all, I had a good time and meet a few really nice people. Given I am a New Yorker at heart (I was raised in Brooklyn and have Permanent NYS Certification), it was nice meeting several people from Long Island with an accent I could easily recognize!

New Widget to Listen to Student Music

It seems obvious but… take a look at the left side bar.  There’s a new widget generated by Tunecore that let’s you listen to student music available for purchase.  Track 3 of the first CD listed is the winner of the MENC/NSBA 2009 Electronic Music Competition, Gothic Memory Land, by Emily.

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL THIS MUSIC! The proceeds from this music goes directly to the GHS Electronic Music Student Activities Fund to help us purchase equipment.  Well, that’s where it would go if we actually made money!  We barely make enough money each year to offset the the cost of using Tunecore’s service for their distribution to iTunes, Amazon, Lala, Napster and others.  It’s really cool that kids can tell their friends they are on iTunes!So, please, buy a tune and help us distribute student music.

GHS Student Takes First Place in National MENC/NSBA Electronic Music Composition Competition

Congratulations to GHS junior, Emily Boyer, who is THE winner in the Music Educator National Conference (MENC: The National Association for Music Education) and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Electronic Music Composition Competition (high school division)!  Emily is a member of the GHS Wind Ensemble and the Sound Beach Community Band.  She is also an artist & designer and excels academically taking AP and Honors classes.

Here’s an excerpt of Emily’s piece, Gothic Memory Land .  The full piece is now available on the new GHS Electronic Music CD  available at the GHS Student and on line through iTunes and other aggregators in 6 – 8 weeks.

Sponsored by MENC and the National School Boards Association (NSBA), the Electronic Music Composition Competition recognizes outstanding compositions and is held to help influence school administrators to include or improve music technology in their schools’ curriculum. Entries are judged based on their aesthetic quality, effective use of electronic media, and the power of the composition and its presentation in communicating to school board members, administrators, and others, the excitement and effectiveness of electronic music composition in the school curriculum.  The annual competition has several dozen submissions from all over the country.  GHS submitted 18 entries alone this year.

For more information on the competition:
http://www.menc.org/gp/nsba-student-electronic-music-composition-talent-search

For more information on the NSBA and their related technology conference:
http://www.nsba.org/tl/

Emily, her parents and I hope to attend the conference in Denver, CO in October where she will be honored.