Ashley Grebe, Artistic Director at Saline Fiddlers The Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic (SFP) has long been known as one of America’s premiere youth fiddling show bands. With alumni still playing all over the state of Michigan, the US, and internationally, SFP’s reputation is far-reaching. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the group’s founding by renowned
By Michael Hopkins, MASTA President-Elect 2019 Teacher of the Year On Friday, January 25, 2019, Linda Trotter, Orchestra Director at West Bloomfield High School & Orchard Lake Middle School was awarded the MASTA 2019 Teacher of the Year. Linda Trotter is finishing her 36th year of public school teaching, spending the last 21 years teaching
At the Michigan BassFest, young bassists have a unique opportunity to get together with other young bass players, play ensembles, get instruction from nationally recognized bass teachers and performers, and hear some outstanding bass playing. Michigan BassFest-West will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at East Rockford Middle School. The registration deadline is May 4th.
Performance by the Bulldog Chamber Orchestra By: Steven Fernandez, Orchestra Director at Brighton Area Schools The Bulldog Chamber Orchestra was founded in order to give 7-12 grade students an opportunity to play in an ensemble. In our second year of the program, we only offer orchestra classes in 5th and 6th grade, but will be
It’s time to vote for the MASTA Teacher of the Year. In 2014, our organization began alternating this award between studio teachers and classroom teachers each year, and this is the year to award a classroom teacher. Please read about each candidate below, and then cast your vote by following this link: Teacher of the
String educators from around the state gathered together in September to play and discuss the merits of new literature for middle and high school orchestras. Dozens of new pieces were generously donated by Luck’s Music, which were raffled off to teachers at the end of the event. Thanks to Sam Hickey and Joe Oprea for
by Michael Hopkins 30 bass students in grades 6-12 attended Bass Bash at the University of Michigan on Saturday, September 15, 2018. The festival was directed by MASTA president-elect Michael Hopkins with University of Michigan Bass faculty Max Dimoff and Robert Hurst. Longtime MASTA members John Kennedy and Larry Hutchinson taught at the festival as
In the wake of the 2017 Hurricane Harvey, Luck’s Music started a YouCaring campaign to raise money for affected Orchestra programs in Texas. Melissa Luck, Music Library President at Luck’s, mentioned in a press release: “We began hearing from many of our orchestra colleagues at school districts in Texas that Hurricane Harvey was much worse than expected and
MASTA is proud to present the 2018 Michigan Solo Competition Competition Guidelines & Entry Form
By Joe Harmsen Thanks to the generosity of MASTA through the Program Grant, the Escanaba Orchestra program was able to hire much-needed sectional and small ensemble coaches during the 2017-2018 school year. Escanaba is a small town in the Upper Peninsula with a population of just over 12,000 people. There are over 120 students in