June 23, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

I hope your summer is all you hoped it would be.  I want to thank you for allowing me to serve as your ArkCDA President these past two years. The time has flown and I have learned so much from this experience.  Choral Music Education is alive and well in Arkansas thanks to your untiring efforts.  I know that because of each of you, lives have been changed for the good and students have found a lifelong love for the magic of choral singing.

It won’t surprise some of you to know that I have a list of things to accomplish this summer.  While many of the moments are intentionally not spent on music, there are several that involve our art.  I intend to spend time reading and reflecting on what we do – (I have to confess that during the school year my copy of “Robert Shaw Reader” gets only one or two paragraphs before I snooze!)- So I have a few books picked out that I hope will inspire and instigate new choral thought patterns for me. I am also looking forward to the ArkCDA workshops to hear ideas from fellow directors and of course, I am very excited to hear the President of ACDA Hilary Apfelstadt at the Summer Reading Clinic. I look forward to seeing many of you at both of these events.

Tom often speaks of the ArkCDA Constitution and Manual as a “work in progress”. Your Executive Director and officers take seriously their job to make sure each event ArkCDA sponsors is not only fair and equitable but provides a venue in which our students can nurture their love of choral music. ArkCDA will continue this “work in progress” as Craig Jones begins his visionary service to you and your students.

Sincerely,

Tina Niederbrach, NBCT
ArkCDA President