Greetings TODA Members!
On behalf of the TODA Board, I hope this newsletter finds you well and in good health as we’ve made it through the first month of the new year. A new year brings about so much new energy and excitement, and allows us to re-evaluate what we feel is important to us in both the classroom and our personal lives. I have personally found it difficult sometimes, as I am sure many of you will also attest, to juggle the workload that comes at the beginning of the spring semester when it can feel like everything is constantly happening all at once. The start of the spring semester brings a number of challenges, from campus musicals, to UIL events, to recruitment and retention drives, and so much more.
Now, more than ever, it is important to find time for one's own personal mental and emotional health. It is okay to take time to do something that brings you joy away from the classroom! Challenge yourself to try something new, or dust off an old hobby or interest you have not considered in a while. The energy you put into yourself, refilling your cup with a new activity or interest, can positively impact your life as a music educator. It’s a long semester, but it can be all the more enjoyable when you take time to address your needs.
TODA has had an exciting start to 2023 with a number of events already taking place, and many more in store in the near future! January 14th marked the return of the TODA Winter Clinics with a focus on rehearsal labs. The rehearsal lab concept, which began after conversations with Dr. Clif Evans and TODA Past President Margaret Brown–both at the University of Texas at Arlington–expands the traditional orchestra conducting workshop platform beyond baton to the ins and outs of a normal classroom rehearsal. Our attendees arrived with pedagogical questions related to issues they may be having with their students and the classroom literature, and left with a number of new solutions that could instantly be applied to their rehearsals back in their own classrooms. This year, the TODA Winter Clinics expanded to three locations:
Texas State University with Dr. Jacob Harrison
The University of Texas at Arlington with Dr. Clif Evans
The University of Texas at Austin with Maestro Farkhad Khudyev & Dr. Laurie Scott
We are fortunate to continue to offer this regional event, with outstanding clinicians, and continue to collaborate with our collegiate partners and the music education students on the campuses!
TODA also partnered with the American Musicological Society (AMS) in a panel discussion centered on the ethical incorporation of diverse repertoire in the K-12 orchestral classroom. The panel was moderated by Marcus R. Pyle (Dallas-area native, musicologist, and violist at Davidson College), and included Ashleigh Gordon (violist and founder of Castle of our Skins), Matthew Morrison (musicologist and violinist at NYU), and TODA’s own Desiree Overree (Orchestra Director at Seven Lakes High School) and Aryc Lane (TODA President and Orchestra Director at Reedy High School). We look forward to continuing this partnership with AMS and expanding upon the important conversations that were started from this event.
A recording of the discussion will be made available to TODA members in the coming weeks.
Finally, registration for our Summer Convention, July 20–22, 2023, will open in the coming weeks. We cannot wait to share our exciting lineup of headliners and clinicians as we gear up for another exciting TODA Summer Convention!
We look forward to seeing everyone at the TODA Reception at TMEA, sponsored by Gandy Ink, on Thursday, February 9, from 7:45 PM to 10:00 PM at the Westin Hidalgo Room!
Don’t forget to stop by the TODA Booth (#12) at TMEA in the Exhibit Hall!
All the best,
Aryc Lane
TODA President
