ARCHIVES FOR THE ART OF PLAY- Copied November 7th, 2007

5 weeks out....

Donations-

We need help with securing donations for the rewarding of children's groups and the hospitable treatment of guest teachers. Please take a donation letter to your nearest Trader Joe's, Cost-co, Safeway, Lucky's, Office Depot, etc. and get a donation coupon...we will be getting snacks, water, pens pencils etc. When you have done so, let Nancy Zakar know ( For a complete list of what we are looking for, click here. For a copy of the in-kind donation letter, click here...

Sign up to help

Contact one of the committee chairs to offer your help. At the conference, the committees that will need the most help are: Boutique, Hospitality, Registration, Banquet, and Children's Performances. Click on the index to the left to find out more about these committees and who to contact.

Sign up to be a session host

If you are signed up for workshop sessions, volunteer to host for the sessions you are attending. Contact Janet Thorgrimson at Session Hosts to let her know you can host.

Equipment Committee needs your help

We need people to schlep and set up instruments on Tuesday and Wednesday before the conference. We also are looking for drivers who could transport instruments down to the conference and back up from various locations. Contact the EQ committee...

Useful Documents: For worker logs, reimbursement forms and other useful documents, click here.

What's been happening? Since January, Karen has been working non-stop to solicit contracts from a fabulous line-up of presenters and performers (for a list of workshop presenters and titles, click here). The schedule of workshops, performances and evening sessions is now complete, and the "Call to Conference," our official brochure, has been mailed out to all AOSA members and is now available on the AOSA website.

On the local side, our fundraising drive is off to a strong start. We still have far to go, but we'll make it with your help! The Children's Performance Committee has been reviewing submissions and is making recommendations to Karen about lunchtime and evening performances featuring children. The Entertainment Committee has lined up a spectacular set of Bay Area performers for Thursday and Friday nights. The Boutique Committee has launched a series of hands-on gatherings to make fantastic items to sell. The Hospitality Committee has had tea parties to discuss ideas for making our national and international guests feel welcome. The opening session is taking shape, with Gina and Mahala crafting their collaborative "Playground Nocturne" and James and Heidi finding some fantastic children's dance groups to showcase the cultural diversity of the Bay Area. The Banquet Committee has decided the title and theme of the banquet, "Have a Ball!" and is searching for an excellent local band to make us dance the night away after our triumphant conference!

May 18th-19th Meeting Report

On May 18th, Karen, James, and Heidi met with Rosie Koepfle (AOSA Conference Point-person) and the representatives from Experient (the conference organizer) and the AV provider to tour the facilities of the San José Convention Center, Civic Auditorium and surrounding hotels. This was our chance to find out about the details of the spaces that we will be using.

Karen, James and Heidi also met with the staff of the Children's Discovery Museum to confirm a plan for the museum to host a day of Music in the Museum, parallel to our conference, where families could enjoy a day of active music and movement workshops featuring local artists and, hopefully, some of the presenters and performers from our conference.

The next day, May 19th, all the local conference committee chairs joined the team above for a meeting to answer questions relating to the conference site, and to continue to clarify our jobs and get ready for the push ahead. In the evening, many of us drove up north to Martinez to see the first performance of "Playground Nocturne" a collaboration between the Synergy School of San Francisco and John Muir Elementary School in Martinez which will be featured in our opening session. Bravo to teachers Gina Graziano and Mahala Bundy for a very exciting and promising show!

Some Upcoming Dates to Mark:

Monday, June 25th- Boutique Work-Party 10 am - 4pm, Oakland. Come for any part of the day! At Greacian Goeke's house (see Boutique Page for more details)

Saturday, August 25th - Meeting with Karen Medley with the Local Conference Chairpersons down in San José (place to be determined). This will be the official kick-off to the home stretch, if that isn't a mixed metaphor...If you would like to join us, please contact Heidi or James.

Saturday, September 8th- Work and Play Day for the Northern California Chapter. Join is in the morning for music and movement games from all over the world taught by Sofía López-Ibor and Doug Goodkin. Stay for the afternoon, where many hands will make light work of tasks that need to get done as we enter the home stretch!

The AOSA 2007 National Conference in San Jose

Note: This page is no longer being updated. Click here to go to the active site...

Heidi Tzortzis Conference Co-Chair jimandheidi@copper.net	James Harding Conference Co-Chair jharding@sfschool.org

Please contact us with any questions, offers of help or suggestions about the National Conference. We look forward to working with you!

Update (3/4/07)

Publicity Campaign

We have a good letter to send to school administrators telling them about the conference and why they should send their music teachers and elementary classroom teachers to it. We are specifically mentioning the State funding for Arts Education and how this is a good use for it. Bill Erlendson of the San Jose School district is looking the letter over and giving us some advice about how to proceed. We're currently compiling a list of where to send this letter, including all South Bay School Districts. Let us know if you can think of other places it should be sent.

Fund-Raising 

Nancy has been working hard to draft standard letters for contributions by individuals and corporations. Our efforts are already being appreciated by National, and it seems like we may be up to about $10,000 raised from private sources. It has to be said that a huge number of contributions have come from Heidi, who has written over a hundred fund-raising letters with personal notes attached.....In this effort, it's not only $ amounts that count, but numbers of people contributing that will show our commitment when we go to corporations and grants. Download a PDF of our personal fund raising letter and a PDF of the fund-raising insert and a PDF of Nancy's return address for printing envelopes and send five letters out today....

Children's Performances

Kevin and Amanda and Heidi and James got together on a Saturday to view submission videos. Now we are sending our recommendations to Karen.

Opening Session

Talking to Amanda and Kevin, we realized that many people are not aware of the basic plan for the opening session in the Civic Auditorium, so we want to let you know what's somewhat clear so far.....The first portion of the session with consist of short performances (2 minutes) by 5 different childrens dance/performance groups representing the cultural diversity of San Jose....we don't have definite commitments yet, but we are hoping for a mexican folkloric group, a Chinese ribbon dance...a Vietnamese Dragon/Lion dance.....a South Indian dance group....and a African-American stepping group....these performances will be woven into the standard business items and official speeches in a simple but effective way. For the last part of the session, Gina Graziano's 5th graders and Mahala Bundy's 8th graders will be collaborating on an Orff celebration of play....and, perhaps, at the very end, all performers will join together, possibly joined also by singers from local South Bay schools, for a big finale. Mahala and Gina are already hard at work on their part, and are putting together a collaborative performance for the 19th of May in Martinez.

Presenters   

Karen has been finalizing the list of presenters for the conference, and we have a very exciting line up. She will be sending an initial article about the conference to the Reverberations magazine this weekend, and that should be published by the end of March.

Entertainment 

Thursday night is going to be "Keith Terry and friends (TBA, but it's rumored that Linda Tillery will be one of the friends). We will probably feature an excellent children's choir that night as well.

Friday night....Mallet Madness or Playing with Sticks-- We are going to have San Jose Taiko, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, and Chinyakare Zimbabwean ensemble performing in the Civic Auditorium...

Update (2/2/07)

Our Students on Stage: Application Deadline extended to February 28

The National Conference is a wonderful opportunity for our local children to perform for an international audience of music educators. Directors and coordinators of children’s performing groups must submit an application and include some video footage of a past performance by February 28. Application forms are available for download here.

Update (1/10/07)

Shadowing Our Counterparts in Omaha

All committee chairs and the local chairs appreciated the shadowing process at the Omaha  conference Nov.6-11, ’06. The atmosphere was cordial and welcoming.  Our counterparts talked honestly about the do’s and don’ts so that we feel absolutely ready for the tasks to come.

Sensational Skit

Highlight of the conference was for us all the presentation of our skit, created in collaboration and masterfully directed by Sarah Noll and James Harding.

“Do You Know the Way to San Jose?  -- Will You Come and Play in San Jose?”...written on huge , yellow balloons, tossed into the audience at the end (and spontaneously reused in the banquet dancing).  The Golden gate spans turned into jump ropes…A simple, but intriguing ball passing game that introduced some serious and thought-provoking quotes about “PLAY”…Accompanied by a sensational orchestra… Did any other skit in the past years get a standing ovation?!  People raved and ALL want to come to San José!  They expect a lot and we will deliver.

Meeting with National Co-Chair, Karen Medley, in San Francisco, January 6th

Each chair reported about the experiences and eye-openers in Omaha.  Karen Medley, our dedicated National chair, answered many questions and addressed some issues and concerns.

Crucial for making this conference into a unique, typically California-style event is the commitment of all NCAOSA members and neighboring chapters !

• Commit interest, time and effort to one of the committees: Hospitality,  Registration and Equipment need lots of people immediately before and at the conference.
•  Boutique needs help NOW, for sewing, knitting, handicrafts, etc.  Ask family members, friends and colleagues to join in the fun and follow their calls on the website.
• Read and answer the calls of different other chairs like Children’s Art , Children’s Performances and Donations on this website.

Fundraising

To create a very special, rich and sensational conference we need financial help!  A fundraiser expert recommended to use personal contacts to find the $80,000 we need to reach our goal (The AOSA covers the minimum and limits our dreams of showcasing many international master teachers, creating a spectacular opening session and evening performances etc.)

Therefore each of us is asked to find five potential donors and hand or mail them an already prepared, well-written fundraising letter and insert.  Any amount is welcome.  BUT only if you all commit to this task we can reach our goal.

We will have printed-out copies of this letter at our next workshop (Feb.3 ’07 in San Anselmo) If you have other questions or ideas, please contact our Donations chair:  Nancy Zakar, (707)745-5508 or n.bz@sbcglobal.net

We absolutely count on you.

Update (11/6/06)

Our Students on Stage: Application Deadline January 15

The National Conference is a wonderful opportunity for our local children to perform for an international audience of music educators. Directors and coordinators of children’s performing groups must submit an application and include some video footage of a past performance by January 15. Forms are available on our website. Download form (coming soon).

All On Board for AOSA National Conference 2006 in Omaha

Our Local Committee Chairs will be working hard in Omaha, shadowing their counterparts, rehearsing and performing our promotional skit and helping to pack and load all the instruments at the end of the conference. If you will be attending the National Conference in Omaha, November 8 – 11, 2006, and would like to volunteer or get involved, please contact one of us. We can use all hands!

Pondering Presenters for San José 2007

Many AOSA members and teachers from all over the world have proposed workshops for our conference, and Karen Medley and the National Board are considering these proposals. They will be creating the line-up of workshops by January 2007. We can’t reveal names yet, so watch for news at the next chapter workshop and on our website.

A Big Update (10/6/06):

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS to a collaborative book project:
SIMPLE PLAY: making music with everyday objects
Greacian Goeke and Liz Keefe, editors

The Instruments are Coming! Application Deadline October 20.

Information about borrowing AOSA instruments for the year (Due October 20, 2006). Here is the actual form to fill out.
One year before the conference (this November) a big truck loaded with ten complete sets of Orff instruments and supporting percussion will be arriving in the Bay Area. All NCAOSA members with Level I training or higher will be eligible to apply to use one of these sets for the entire year before our conference in San José. The application form and instrument inventory are on the website and are due to Liz Keefe, Instrument Chair, by October 20.

Calling for Art for The Art of Play
Roberta Lipson, Chair, Children's Art

Create and save any and all children's art relating to PLAY for the exhibition at our National Conference in 2007. Think art in connection with playground, instrument, drama, voice, movement, performance. . . all facets of play! In particular, we are seeking large works such as stage sets, oversized props or murals that will make a statement (and not get lost) in the huge lobby of the San José Convention Center. We would also love to have a photography component including images of children engaged in play.

Email Roberta at secretary@ncaosa.org or have your school's art teacher contact her so we can include your students' art in this fantastic show.

AOSA National Conference 2007 News (10/6/07)

Here’s what’s been going on as we gear up to host the AOSA National Conference next year:

Local Conference Committee Chairs Appointed
We have a wonderful team of volunteers heading the various committees responsible for making the National Conference a success. They will each be recruiting their own team of volunteers--that means you! To see the list of committees you can sign up for and the LCCC (Local Conference Committee Chair) in charge, click on AOSA San José 2007 in the contents bar of our website home page: www.ncaosa.org.

Logo Launched
This summer Susan Kennedy created an elegant logo for the conference, working from our initial brainstorming back in the winter and with help and input from designer Lorna Strutt, Greacian Goeke and National Conference Chair Karen Medley. This logo will now appear on official conference stationery, in print advertisements and on t-shirts and other merchandise which we will sell at the conference. Thank you, Susan!

Skit Sketched

These are some of the ingredients of our fabulous promotional skit that we debuted at the October 7 chapter workshop in Los Gatos. Local Conference Committee members led by Sarah Noll gathered twice this fall to create and rehearse this miniature masterpiece (less than five minutes to perform!), and we’ll be taking it on the road to the National Conference in Omaha in November. Thank you, Sarah!

Skit rehearsal at Synergy School

Sarah Noll

Doug Goodkin

John Ashfield and Bee Tee

A report back from the San Jose Conference Planning Meeting on May 13th , 2006

Our main focus was to familiarize ourselves with the site of our conference, including the spaces we will be using within the San Jose Convention Center, the four hotels and the San Jose Civic Auditorium. National Conference Chair Karen Medley and AOSA conference coordinator Rosie Koepfle were on hand to answer our questions and help us formulate new ones. We even tested the acoustic properties of several spaces by singing enthusiastically in a circle while one of us went next door.

Actually being inside the spaces was inspiring and our excitement grew as we started imagining the possibilities for our banquet, opening and closing sessions and evening performances.

We also had exciting conversations about the national, local and international presenters and performers we'd like to see at our conference. Now is the time to make these invitations, so if you have ideas of people you would like to see invited, please contact local chairpersons Heidi Tzortzis jimandheidi@copper.net and James Harding jharding@sfschool.org

Susan Kennedy and Greacian Goeke brought in several beautiful possibilities for our soon-to-be-revealed logo for "The Art of Play."

Sarah Noll, skit committee chairperson, invited us to think more about our promotional skit for the Omaha National Conference this November, and it looks like "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" is going to make an appearance somehow, along with intricate ball-passing routines, ribbons, and perhaps the launching of some giant balloons into the audience. Karen and Rosie enjoyed watching us improvise and create together. If you are planning to attend the Omaha conference, please look out for rehearsals, which will take place early in the Fall.

Local Conference Chairpersons:

We now have most of these positions filled with wonderful people from our chapter.

Registration: Merlyn Ketechis and Bee Tee
Hospitality: Diana Matarangas
Boutique: Sue Woodruff, Graecian Goeke
Equipment: Liz Keefe, John Ashfield
Audio/Visual: Scott Walz
Entertainment: Doug Goodking, Maddie Hogan
Session Hosts: Janet Thorgrimson (AROSA chapter)
Session Introducers: Michael Levy
Session Monitors: John Buschiazzo
Children's Art: Roberta Lipson
Banquet: Jeannie Mc Kenzie
Signs: Jason Jones
Skit: Sarah Noll

If you have ideas or would like to help in any of these areas, please contact Heidi and James.

May 13th Meeting San Jose Update: The meeting will take place in the San Jose Marriot, Willow Glen rooms 2 and 3. We'll meet from 9:00-10:00, then have a tour of the Civic Auditorium (the site of our opening sessions and maybe more) and the main spaces of the convention center. After lunch we'll reconvene for more discussion and then those who are interested in trouing the hotel facilities can stay for that from 2:oo-4:00PM.

May 3 Update: Our next planning meeting for the National Conference 2007 San Jose will be taking place Saturday, May 13th, at the San Jose Convention Center from 9:00 Am to 4:00PM. We will be reviewing progress with our logo, continuing to think through and try out ideas for our promotional skit, tour the conference facilities and discuss presenters inside and outside of the Orff world who we would like to invite to our conference. This meeting is primarily for the local committee chairs, but is open to all who have interest. If you would like to attend, please let Heidi or James know you are coming (e-mails below).

We are still looking for someone to be local committee chair of the donations/fund raising committee (see descriptions of committees below). This person would try to raise money to support special projects at the conference, such as inviting world class performers to present and perform. (some exciting possibilities may be Evelyn Glennie, Scottish percussionist, Bobby McFerrin, and Dr. Ysaye Barnwell of “Sweet Honey in the Rock.” ) If you know of any potential donors or likely sources of financial support, either corporate or individual, please let us know (even if you don’t want to be on the committee…). Also covered by this committee are donations of useful items (e.g. bottled water, bags, pencils, pens, notebooks, California Wine for presenters…etc.).

March 31st Update: Here's a more complete version of the Local Conference Committee Chairpersons (LCCC) Job Description.

March 25th Update from Heidi and James:

News about the National Conference coming to San Jose in November, 2007

Back in November, 2005, at the National Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, many of us met with the National Conference Chairperson, Karen Medley, to come up with a theme for our conference. After much thoughtful and creative discussion, a wonderful theme emerged and was excitedly approved by all:
THE ART OF PLAY

On February 25th , 20-30 of us gathered in San Jose at the Convention Center for the first time, and Karen Medley spelled out the responsibilities of the local leadership positions, called "Local Conference Committee Chairs." We also worked together to imagine a logo for our conference (in progress as of this writing) and to start planning for our promotional skit, to be performed next November at the National Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. For a summary of these discussions, click here.

On March 17th, at a National AOSA Board Meeting, Heidi Tzortzis and James Harding were officially approved as the Local Conference Co-Chairs for the conference.

What's Next?

In the coming month, Heidi and James will be trying to determine who will take on leadership of the more than 20 conference committees (for a list of these committees, click here). These Local Conference Committee Chairs will be forming a team which will meeting together regularly until the conference, beginning with a meeting in San Jose on May 13th to tour the conference facilities.

If you are interested in serving as one of these leaders, please contact Heidi or James as soon as possible. We would like to have all the positions settled by May 13th .

We are in special need of someone with interest in conference publicity and someone with interest in grant writing and soliciting donations from local businesses.

We hope to see you at our next chapter workshop with Sanna Longden on April 29th at the Town School in San Francisco.

Sincerely,

Your Local Conference Chairs

Heidi Tzortzis and James Harding

Saturday, February 25, 9 a.m. at the San Jose Convention Center. We will be meeting in Room D. Their website has directions. This will be a most-of-the-day affair.  We will finalize the 2007 theme and logo at this time and then tour the San Jose Convention Center. (Please note: this page previously noted that lunch would be provided. Those were the good old days... at present, we plan to send small teams off to try lunch in different places. These are the good new days, and we hope you still come).

Check the Orffion for information about this meeting regarding the 2007 AOSA conference.

Want more information? Read a note from Karen Medley, National Conference Chairperson. Also, take a look at the Committee Descriptions from the jumpstart meeting to see if there's a committee you might like to volunteer for!